I spent 6 months living and backpacking through Southeast Asia in 2010 and even then, I'd say my experience was very similar to the article in the OP. Yea, ther

I spent 6 months living and backpacking through Southeast Asia in 2010 and even then, I'd say my experience was very similar to the article in the OP. Yea, there was Lonely Planet, but hardly anyone carried one around with them since it was bigger than a brick. And even those who did use Lonely Planet books, it was because every hostel had a LP book in its communal library that people would flip through while sitting at the hostel bar. As for internet/cell service, it was mostly the same story. You could get cell service if you really wanted, but it was usually pretty costly and I don't think I met anyone who actually did buy it (I did for 1 week just to see if it would be worth it - it wasn't). Everyone seemed to prefer to use the hostel bar as the place were people gathered to use WiFi. And even just 8 years ago, WiFi in most parts of SEA were nowhere near good enough to do things like video chat, and in some places it wasn't even good enough to do live text chats. Some communities (esp. in rural areas) didn't have internet at all. An email every few days was the best I could do with most of my friends. Infrequent contact was pretty well understood then too, at least among the travelers I interacted with. When it came to getting around, some people had maps that they'd printed out and carried with them, but I'd say most people relied on word of mouth and asking other people for directions and arranging rides. It does seem to be quite a different story now. I've been back to SEA often in the past 8 years and each time I am surprised at the changes. The "banana pancake trail" has hit the mainstream, and the tourist infrastructure has grown to match. Buying a prepaid SIM card with unlimited data seems to be the first thing people do when getting off the plane in SEA. Hell, my cell provider (T-Mobile) gives me free data in every SEA country without even having to swap SIM cards. Uber/Grab is used for getting around in many places, totally removing the need for maps or asking directions. And you can get 4G coverage in all but the most remote jungles.