I find this the weirdest part of reading old travel accounts, like from the 16th century or something. When travel really was a completely different beast. They never talk about getting lost or language barriers as being the big problems. The biggest problem is always getting sick or accidents.

And looking at my own life and traveling before smart or even mobile phones existed. I feel exactly the same. I always knew where I had to go, even if I had to search for it. And I was always able to get around and buy things without speaking a word. Just gestures and an attempt at learning a few simple words.

But I always had something to fall back on. A landline. A travel agency. A random person that shared a language. I always was curious how travel went before those things existed. And now to see a next generation being curious about how travel was before another thing to fall back on.

The thing to fall back on just gets more and more competent. From having to use a post system that took weeks to get an answer back. To being able to call anyone anywhere anytime. I think every step has made travel easier, less intimidating, and cheaper.