How has ubiquitous Wi-Fi and portable gadgets changed your down/idle time when travelling?

I fail to see any real difference between now and when everyone was reading a book or newspaper. That is what I always did and when I look around me today, that is what others are doing to, if they aren't on their ipad, kindle or phone. People don't like to just stare out into a restaurant, cafe, or train all the time. Occasionally yes, but not all the time. I always have a book in my bag to read. Always, even in line at the Post or store, just sometimes I play Candy Crush instead while in line instead of pulling out a book.

Trains are different from restaurants, people do look out the windows, but if it is dark, or that person rides this route every day, why should they not keep busy doing something else?

This subject comes up on the forum every few months, and there will be the same old diehards that refuse to carry one of those new-fangled phone or ipads and claim all the rest of us are missing some kind of mystical experience with the locals because of our electronic devices.

The trend I like is the one that has more and more people going on bike tours, walking tours, segway tours, or even jogging tours rather than listening to a taped recording on a giant, gas guzzling bus. Perhaps there is something to be said about joining a live tour and interacting with others rather than listening to a pre-recorded tour that leaves you isolated and alone?

I've found that good wi-fi provided in hotels is not something you can count on, in Europe and even some places in the US.
By good I mean fast and it's always there.
It's better in the US than in Europe, but even for US travel I carry a hotspot as a back-up, because I need wi-fi for business and can't be without in on most US trips.
However, for European trips, I just figure I won't have good wi-fi in the hotels and am pleasantly surprised if I do. And in Europe I'm not on business so good wi-fi connection at night in the hotel room is not critical.

Hasn't changed my travel at all.. never had travelled with it.. ( and managed just fine ) but last year took my tablet .. but. didn't use it for more then a few minutes every couple evenings for checking emails.

Its impacted our travel not one way or another.

In museums I have rented audio guides.. I can live with the 3-4 euro charge.

I think sometimes people have to worry too much about stuff they bring.. having the chargers , converters, and not loosing or having them stolen.. my tablet was fairly cheap .. about 220 dollars so if I lost it wouldn't be the end of the world.

I realize some people think it would be difficult to navigate without all the apps available.. but really this has never been an issue for me in last 40 years of travel.. I ask people, I use maps, and I reads signs. I have managed.

Good question, Andre. You've contributed a lot to this forum over the years.
I'll just add to what I said above: that I try not to let the internet and portable devices distract me from what I'm in Europe to do, which is soak up the experience and the differences between here and there.
This is just a matter of personal travel preference.
And I'll admit that sometimes it's nice to have internet in Europe, to plan the next day.
But in general I found for me that it works best, in Europe, to travel the old fashioned way, maps and books.
It's just me.
Everyone will have a difference travel style.

Three main uses for my i-Gadgets while on the road:

-- My business doesn't go on vacation when I do, so unfortunately I do need to check e-mail once a day.

-- They take the place of guidebooks and maps -- saves weight and space.

-- Most of my time online while abroad is spent uploading photos to the cloud, as protection against loss or damage to my camera or memory card.

Andre,

I don't believe that ubiquitous Wi-Fi has changed my travel all that much. I tend to use Wi-Fi only at the hotel for things like checking E-mail, researching train times or whatever.

On long rail journeys, I've found that on many of the trains there's a charge for Wi-Fi, which I won't pay. If it's a long journey, I may occasionally fire up my Netbook to do off-line work such as updating my trip journal, but I only do that once in awhile. Most of the time, I just enjoy the scenery, visit with other travellers or perhaps take a short nap.

When dining at restaurants, it seems that these days many people have their noses glued to a Smartphone. I tend to use my Smartphone sparingly on cellular data to keep the costs down and I may check something briefly, but don't spend much time doing that. I prefer to "people watch", talk to other travellers or to the waiter (if h/she is not too busy). However I will at times have a look at a guidebook while dining to plan my next stop of the day (something I wouldn't do if there was someone else sitting with me).

The last time I was in Florence, I watched four tourists sit down at the table next to me. They all had a brief look at the menu, placed their order and then spent the rest of the time with their noses stuck to their phones and didn't converse with each other at all. On that particular occasion, chatting with the waiter proved to be very helpful for me, as he was also a photographer and gave me directions to a great camera shop (which is something I'd been looking for).

On my last visit to Rome, I stayed in a Hostel and one of the other guests in the four-bed dorm seemed to be permanently tethered to his Laptop/iPad (can't remember which). It didn't seem to matter what time of the day or night I returned to the room, he'd be there tapping away on his computing device. The question that occurred to me at the time, "why did you bother to come to Rome at all, just to sit in a dark hostel room plugging away on a computer for hour after hour". Oh well, "each to their own".

I agree, the trend is here to stay and will probably get worse!

Good question, Andre.

I use my phone very seldom, usually to confirm arrival time at the next destination. My iPad gets a lot more use: email, photos, emailing photos, e-books, trip info searches. I like the option of being able to use electronics on the road, but most of the time I'm just looking at Europe. In person, not virtually.

The biggest change coming for me is VR. Virtual Reality allows me to hold up my phone or tab in a museum, or even better, a large outdoor area like the Forum or Pompeii or Paestum covered by WiMax, and see what it was like before, or an animation, or at least a description. Much better than an audio guide, because you are learning about what interests you rather than what is next in the pre-programmed tour, or having to key in a number.

Bring it on..

When I am out in public in a foreign country (actually here at home as well) I don't play with my phone, much prefer to be in the moment and aware of everything. On the rare occasion that I need to look up something on the internet I'm always glad for free Wi-Fi in museums, coffee shops, etc. but I'm big on planning and always use a laminated map so it's rare that I'd need anything else. In my room at night I do like to play Scrabble and check in on Facebook briefly, but I also travel solo and that helps me feel not quite so alone.

The first map apps (like those on Blackboard) were crap, and they drained the battery in half an hour.

I'm now much more impressed with recent updated to offline apps and gadgets that last for hours.

I retired my own use of printed maps for pedestrian navigation in 2012 and the use of printed maps for car navigation in 2007.

Andre to answer your specific question regarding down time. I appreciate having a ton of books on my e-reader, rather than hard copies. What I lose with that, is the fun of checking out local bookstores while traveling. I also think digital cameras has made it so much easier to take good photos, that I take fewer of them. I don't do games or watch movies while traveling, even if only foreign language television is available.

I avoid turning my phone on while traveling, and only use wifi at hotel to consult, or most usefully, to check-in for flights. I like paper maps and paper guidebooks, and like to ask locals for directions & recommendations, etc. I am amused to see people pulling out their device to check restaurant reviews online from anonymous bloggers, rather than ask someone right there, or just make a judgment call. I think having all that information at your fingertips takes the serendipity out of travel.