I travel (for pleasure) a lot with my wife. I want to talk about phone uses besides the camera (which I think others in this thread have covered extensively). W

I travel (for pleasure) a lot with my wife. I want to talk about phone uses besides the camera (which I think others in this thread have covered extensively). We have a DSLR camera, and those photos IMO are much better than what phones could take at the time. First, when we were in Japan having a phone was invaluable for transit. We used a few apps to keep track of where each attraction was relative to the subway stops and bus routes. Otherwise we would have had to carry and constantly pull out 3-5 maps. Second, my wife likes to sleep in and I don’t. So I’ll wander the area around the hotel in the mornings, and she texts me when she’s up so we can have breakfast together. Third, in China it was basically impossible to get a taxi the “normal” way - everyone was using local ride hailing or taxi apps. In other countries like Vietnam, using the local apps is part of experiencing the culture (we ordered takeout on Dash, and took a ride on the back of a scooter). Finally, I carried a kindle version of two guide books. I would not have been able to do that without my phone. They were invaluable for making backup plans (ex something was closed, or we finished somewhere early and what do we do now). There always has to be a balance - being on your phone all the time is unhealthy. But leaving the phone behind can also make it hard to function in the modern world.