I want you to cast your minds back to a time when Donald Trump was still the host of a bikini contest, Netflix was mailing you DVDs, the financial crisis had rendered you borderline unemployable and Instagram hadn’t been invented; a time when we were still poking each other on Facebook, a platform used for hooking up with people, not destabilising democracy.
asserted
we → want → democracy
It might not sound like it, but this was the backdrop to the beginning of the greatest period in travel history: the year 2009.
uncertain
this → sound → history
Of course, it’s a bold claim to say that something is the greatest of anything, unless that something is a beer in Japan.
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something → ’ → Japan
And, while I’m sure people glorify the Before Sunrise romance of travel in the ’90s, or smoking on planes in the ’70s, those planes also got hijacked way more often.
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planes → ’m → 70s
And if I hooked up with the love of my life, agreeing to meet them at a train station in Vienna in six months’ time, I’d say that was a wildly impractical way to start a relationship.
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that → hook → relationship
This is what made 2009 such an incredible year in the history of travel.
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2009 → make → travel
Not the lack of plane hijackings (although that certainly helped), but the fact that it had the benefits of technology, before technology got around to killing the benefits of analogue travel.
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technology → help → travel
Even with infinite access to information, it still felt like we were discovering something about the world, as opposed to walking through it in secondhand shoes.
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we → feel → shoes
With that in mind, I want you to come with me on a journey back to the halcyon days when guidebooks and online booking platforms coexisted in perfect harmony.
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guidebooks → want → harmony
It might be a vanished era, but
uncertain
It → vanish → ?
with the magic it left behind, you can still relive the joy of travelling like it’s 2009.
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it → leave → travelling
Instagram didn’t yet exist
When reaching for this tree, it’s best to start with the lowest-hanging branch; 2009 was the year before Instagram started.
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Instagram → exist → branch
I’m not going to say Instagram ruined travel, but it did dramatically expand the audience to our trips.
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it → go → trips
It became all too easy to share our journeys and reap the delicious dopamine of likes and followers.
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It → become → likes
No longer were we lugging around Kodachrome slides in our rucksacks, nor did we have to waste hours at internet cafes uploading photos on dodgy connections.
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we → lug → connections
Phones made it instantaneous, filters made it polished, and what was supposed to be a memory became a piece of content.
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supposed → make → content
Instagram was the grease on a slippery slope, and we’ve been sliding down it ever since.
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we → slide → it
It destroyed our ability to be present in the moment when we travel – we’ve become so concerned with capturing and sharing it, we’ve forgotten how to enjoy the moments themselves.
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we → destroy → moments
How to travel like it’s 2009 Ditch social media, even if it’s only for your trip.
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it → travel → trip
I did for years, until the Tripologist (aka Michael Gebicki) told me it was career suicide (far be it from me to argue with his wisdom).
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it → do → wisdom
My time away from social media was blessed.
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time → bless → media
I stopped caring about what other people did or thought and focused only on what was in front of me.
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what → stop → me
Booking platforms existed but weren’t ubiquitous
I only booked one hotel in 2009, and it took me a solid hour of stumbling around Shinjuku Station to try to find it.
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it → exist → it
At one point, I was so spun out, I pulled up at a konbini, grabbed a beer and a fluffy egg sando, and entertained the thought of camping there for the night.
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I → spin → night
To compare, when I was travelling around South-East Asia that same year, I didn’t book a single thing and spent many joyful afternoons walking up and down beaches in search of the cheapest guesthouse I could find.
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I → compare → guesthouse
It was a golden age for the romance of spontaneity and the convenience of technology, when you could comfortably book hotels online in Japan (and be fairly certain of how to find them), but didn’t have to book a single thing in places such as Thailand.
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you → book → Thailand
There were still hundreds of family-run guesthouses that didn’t even have Wi-Fi, let alone a profile on booking.com or Airbnb.
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that → be → booking.com
How to travel like it’s 2009 There are still places in Thailand you can turn up to with no plans, and nothing booked.
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you → travel → plans
My favourite is Koh Phayam where, despite a growing presence on online booking platforms, a number of bungalows are the kind you find with your feet, not your fingers.
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you → grow → feet
Applying for jobs in 2009 was wild.
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Applying → apply → 2009
Employers would straight-up tell you they were going to pay you next to nothing, treat you like dirt and, if you didn’t want the job, that would be fine, because 10 other people would jump at the opportunity.
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people → tell → opportunity
In the face of this, travel seemed like a pretty good alternative.
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travel → seem → alternative
Those one-off cash payments, the ones that were meant to stimulate the Australian economy during the Global Financial Crisis.
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that → mean → Crisis
Well, I used mine to stimulate an economy, alright, but it wasn’t the Australian one; I took that money to South-East Asia and stretched it as far as it could go.
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it → use → it
But it wasn’t just the free money that made this such a good time to travel.
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that → make → ?
The downturn was global, flights were reduced and it was the worst year for travel numbers this side of the century (COVID excluded).
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it → reduce → century
If you were lucky enough – or willing to go into debt – you could experience what it feels like to travel when tourist economies are cheering your arrival, not lamenting your presence.
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economies → go → presence
How to travel like it’s 2009
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it → travel → ?
I’m not in a financial position to cut you a cheque for 900 dollarydoos, but I can suggest avoiding destinations such as Bali and Barcelona, and travelling to places such as Fukushima, where tourists are considered a blessing, not a burden.
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tourists → ’m → Fukushima
Digital connections didn’t come at the expense of physical ones
To save a few bucks, I’ve recently gone back to staying in hostels.
asserted
I → come → hostels
…and 79 more, not listed.
The Aporia
