Backpackers are travelling the world with high-tech toys and are often searching as much for free Wi-Fi as for historical sites. And they are in touch with family and friends thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Skype and instant messaging.
"It's for family and friends who first of all want to know that I'm safe, or know what I'm doing, where I'm going and what I'm seeing," said Dave Arnold, who set off for a year after taking a buyout from a Canadian telecoms company.
"In the past, you'd get a postcard or a letter in the mail every month if you were travelling around the world for a year. It definitely gives family peace of mind," the 35-year-old from Toronto added.
Arnold, who is carrying about $9,000 worth of technology, including a netbook, an unlocked Android mobile phone, an iPod touch, two USB drives and a SLR camera with three lenses, said the gear helps him update his blog, Twitter and Facebook, and to call home and book hostels using apps on his iPod.
Since he began travelling in July, he's used free Wi-Fi in hostels, on buses and in McDonald's and Starbucks. In Amman, Jordan, four of five travellers in his hostel lounge were on their own personal netbooks.
"Within the last three years, the landscape of backpacking has changed dramatically just from the evolution of technology," said Arnold, whose iPod contains 100 downloaded guidebooks, 10 books and his entire music collection.
"There are Lonely Planet guides that you can download and pay for as opposed to lugging around a book for every country that you've been to. As I travel, I can download them as I go," said Arnold, who has 20 DVD movies for buses and flights.
Many backpackers are not leaving home without gadgets to book accommodation, do banking and to meet up with other travellers they've met in different cities and countries.
"Pretty much every hostel has free Wi-Fi," said Zac Grimes, 21, of Melbourne, Australia. "There's only one computer per hostel because most people have smart phones or laptops."
For Michael Slaven, a 27-year-old Australian engineer working in London, travelling with gadgets is convenient, efficient and stress-free, and it doesn't remind him of work.
"I prefer using my computer. It's set up the way I like it," said Slaven. "I don't have to deal with international keyboards and I don't have to queue for hostel computers."
On his iPod touch he can download e-mails containing directions for accommodation. "I've never had trouble finding Wi-Fi or power," Slaven said, adding he's not worried about losing the valuables because he is extremely careful. For many travellers, apps have replaced guidebooks.
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