> Mobile phones, free wifi, Facebook, Instagram – and all that – have ruined backpacking. It's one of those arrogant, old fart things to say and you wouldn't u

> Mobile phones, free wifi, Facebook, Instagram – and all that – have ruined backpacking. It's one of those arrogant, old fart things to say and you wouldn't understand it unless you'd lived it but it's 100% true. EDIT - what's also contributed to this is AirAsia. Now you can have breakfast in Hanoi and lunch in Phuket on the same day for just 50 bucks of travel costs. Back then you'd fly for 10x more or taking several days of gruelling overland travel and it's those moments that add the kind of character to trips that's now hard to obtain.