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When I suggest to people that they don’t bring their iPod on a long trip, they often react as if I’ve told them not to bring any underwear. But it’s a perfectly sane suggestion, even for the tech-savvy, music-loving vagabond. Here’s five reasons why:
1. Start Conversations. When people in, say, Nepal see you listening to an iPod, here’s what they might actually see: A person who really doesn’t want to talk to them. In my view, it’s already awkward and difficult enough to start conversations with complete strangers without the iPod. Listening to an iPod at a restaurant while eating alone, for example, just discourages conversation further.
2. If you don’t bring it, it can’t get stolen. This, sadly, I know from experience.
3. Do more reading. If I’m carrying both an iPod and a book, and I’m stuck on a long bus ride, chances are I’ll usually reach for the iPod. I suspect I’m not alone in that regard either. On my last trip, by eliminating the option of listening to music, I read more than I ever have, and became a lot more smarter as a result!
4. Bridge the gap. The gap between relatively wealthy backpackers and their third-world hosts is impossible to bridge completely. Even if you go to Jamaica and grow dreadlocks. But one thing that widens the gap even further is when travelers display their fancy gadgets like iPods. What might seem to the traveler to be an innocent hour listening to music might appear to someone else like an ostentatious display of wealth.
5. Most places already have a built-in soundtrack. Bangkok isn’t Bangkok without its distinct sounds. This holds true for most cities, and rural areas as well. Honking horns, screeching tires, the white noise of people chattering in a foreign language– failing to experience these is failing to experience a place at all.
For more on the joys of traveling “unplugged,” check out this recent article on Brave New Traveler.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I may print this out and put it on my desk! I work as a travel agent and I cringe when people ask me the best way to pack their Ipods, Cell phones, Laptops, and portable DVD players and other “must have” electronic items. My advice? Take your camera, leave the rest!
March 28th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I agree with your points except for #4. It seems like I’m supposed to feel guilty for owning an iPod and therefore should not use it in a developing nation. Is it my obligation not to show/use it, or could I use the iPod as a conversation piece?
I think #2 is a good point, but I think not bringing an iPod (or other gadget) helps to make you look like less of a target (as hard as it may be to not completely look out of place).
March 29th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Great post. Personally when traveling, I only listen to my iPod to break up long flights (better than Valium) or to listen in bed as I’m falling asleep. Most of the time I keep it in inside the pack.
Although in most cities (and increasingly small towns) around the world, it seems that everyone is staring at or yelling into their cell phone, creating just as big a gap.
March 29th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Couldn’t agree more with #5… I don’t use mine on trips (aside from long incoming and outgoing flights) because I don’t want to miss anything. Overheard conversations can be great, too, as well as the general noise of a place.
#3 makes a lot of sense, but I can’t read on buses without getting violently ill. It’s a major travel limitation.
March 30th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I think the Ipod is a crutch. There is nothing wrong with crutches when you need them. I have been far from home in really alienating situations, and the little taste of home afforded by the Ipod gave me some much needed comfort. It did not deter me from having my “authentic experience.” It just let me regroup to face the sometimes very stressful experince of world travel alone. I think the more experince you get the less you would have to rely on crutches like the ipod. I always have lots of interactions with or without my Ipods.
March 31st, 2008 at 2:17 am
Regarding the worries over theft, just buy a cheapy.
It’s good to set limits but I think mp3 players are great when you need to relax, especially on the plane.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
In response to #3: I get easily distracted by background noise and especially by people talking, so for me having an ipod makes it more likely that I’ll be able to read, rather than distracting me from reading.
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
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June 26th, 2009 at 11:29 am
The iPhone is definitely the best cell phone I’ve over owned, really happy I got it!