Wednesday, August 14, 2024 In 1985, I found myself in Paris, covering the Paris Air Show for an aviation magazine. My essentials? A couple of reporter’s notebooks, a few pens, and a wallet filled with traveler’s checks—essential back then. Navigating the intricate streets of Paris, I relied on a paper map from my hotel, asking for “Avez-vous un plan de ville?” whenever I got lost.
Fast forward to today, and technology has revolutionized how we travel, making it much easier to navigate, stay connected, and share our experiences with loved ones and colleagues. Back in the day, if you wanted to make your family and friends back home envious of your travels, you’d buy postcards—those little pieces of paper with beautiful photos of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. You’d write a short message, address it, and send it off, knowing it would likely arrive after you returned home.
I fondly remember sitting at a café with my wife, Susan, comparing the amusing messages we penned on our postcards. The only part I don’t miss? The trips to the post office for stamps. In 1988, while covering the Tour de France, I wrote my stories longhand in a notebook.
Although typewriters were available in the press tent, French typewriters were a challenge with their different keyboard layouts. So, after writing my story on the final day in Paris, I went to the post office, provided the clerk with my newspaper’s phone number, and was assigned a phone booth. There, I dictated my story.