Last week was the first time in a long time I have been away long haul for work. Of course, I met some great people, had some interesting conversations, together with plenty of great food along the way too.
However, what really struck me is just how much globalisation has moved on again. Development is happening at an accelerated pace, especially when you are not looking it seems.
Some examples
- Getting picked up at the airport. No need to run the gauntlet of the taxi rank anymore… nor risk being given the long city tour, all being you have even checked in at the hotel…. there is now an app for that, a couple of clicks, all arranged and paid for before you arrive.
- Need to send an email. With fast WiFi in the hotel room, it was all pretty seamless… teams calls, emails, messages, no one even realised I was not in the UK.
- Out and about with mobile data… you can now easily avoid extortionate roaming charges (£7 for 150mb … who uses mb of data these days!)… just activate an e-sim before you arrive … yes it maybe even cheaper to buy locally when you are there… but it was so convenient and a lot better value than through the carrier.
- Need cash. It was as easy as going to the atm with my card, just like home. Good rate, no extra fees and certainly no queuing at the money exchange with travellers cheques
- Finally, need to call home… just used WhatsApp.. it was secure, had no telephone charges and most of all no latency… I could have been in the house next door not halfway around the world, it was that good… amazing.
Of course, none of this progress has helped with what are some the age-old problems… these still remain… such as
- My failure to learn the Jedi mind tricks required to cross the road amidst a sea of approaching motorcycles… how do you do that…!? nor,
- The skills needed to pack half the supermarket trolley worth of local snacks into my luggage, and remain within my baggage allowance.
However, technology continued to advance every day… and with leaps and bounds in some markets. The world feels ever smaller and it is impressive… and was a delight to visit.
But, back to the realities of the British winter this week… not much technology can do about that I suppose, but still nice to be home.
Have a good rest of the week everyone.
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