A lot has changed since the digital revolution of the late 90s, especially in travel. Louise Slyth reflects on her backpacking heyday in NZ and beyond, and asks if everything was more fun before Facebook. I was clearing out some cupboards recently and came across my old photo albums.
They contained memories of my time backpacking with my boyfriend in the late 1990s. In my early 20s, after two years of uninspiring jobs and hard saving, I took my dream trip – a year of backpacking through Bali, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Those were my halcyon days.
I travelled light both physically and mentally; I had one rucksack and no responsibilities. Looking through those photo albums got me thinking about how travel has evolved. We’ve become so immersed in our digital world that it’s almost hard to comprehend how much has changed in the past 27 years.
.
