Societal Evolution

Of course it will eliminate jobs—it’s already started (analysts, management controllers, translators, journalists...). But like coachmen when the railways arrived, this (r)evolution will create other professions.

Can an AI come unclog your pipes at home? That’s a stretch...

You really have to have never closely examined AI to reduce it to a pile of data, even if that’s intrinsically what it is.

Using an AI platform, just like using a smartphone, doesn’t interest me much. For me to get into a philosophical concept, Wikipedia is enough. It’s not that it’s good or bad—it’s just not my thing.

Otherwise, the Lonely Planet has drastically reduced the pages about accommodations and restaurants. It has to be said that in the Internet age, these pages don't make much sense anymore.

That’s some lean management without calling it that. It just costs less to produce a guide; it means they don’t have to pay investigators, I think it’s that simple.

an AI can come unclog your pipes at home? That’s a bit much...

Did I mention plumbers? I almost could have, given how many tutorials there are online for “unclogging your pipes yourself.”

On the other hand, when it comes to coffee, I agree with you—I’d only trust my own machine. What? A machine that makes coffee all by itself! Things were better before! [;)]

Young people will have less and less work, so travel...

I wonder how this world is going to turn out.

I hope I won’t be around to see it.

Young people will have less and less work, so travel...

Young people have never traveled as much—they’re traveling more than any previous generation. Just go to an airport, and you’ll see it for yourself.

After COVID, we thought travel would slow down, but we’ve already surpassed pre-pandemic levels. People have never traveled this much, even though prices in the tourism sector have really gone up.

Hi Bruno, yes, things in the technical realm are moving very fast. But has the human being changed? I’m not so sure. People still fall into two categories: those who agonize over planning and those who go with the flow. At the Itinérance festival, which I’m organizing for the second time in the Vosges, the speakers span all ages and all belong to the second category. Here are a few examples:

Blandine Dupuis

The soul and spirit of a true adventurer

A few of her many lived experiences, which she’s put down on paper, capture her essence better than a long CV ever could.

“One day I was born, and ever since, I’ve improvised.” Nothing was planned. I just knew I wanted to discover the world, to slowly meet people and landscapes. So in June 2022, I set off to conquer the globe on my trusty steel two-wheeled steed, not really sure where to begin—it’s so vast!

The cold intensified and the nights grew longer at an alarming rate. One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the long, endless nights and the lack of light. I was tired all the time. I cried often. I felt alone and blamed myself for having no energy. Riding on ice was completely new to me and required so much effort with a loaded bike... The touristy side of the trip gave way to the athletic side of the adventure.

After pedaling 30,000 km across Europe, I found myself parachuted to the other side of the world. I spoke three words of Spanish (I never studied it in school). New culture, new language, new landscapes, new flora, new fauna, new continent—I was lost, everything was so vast. I was a little scared. A lone white woman facing the unknown... A new adventure begins!!! I didn’t really have a destination in mind. Someone had told me about the Carretera Austral. The name sounded wild... It made me want to go see. So I did what I do best: I hopped on my bike and pedaled toward... the Andes! Dragging a sciatica that had been bothering me for months and turned excruciating a few days after departure, I didn’t expect to last more than 15 days... As I write these lines from my tent, tucked into my sleeping bag, I’ve been on the road for 7 months, and even though the need for *‘dineros’* is starting to be felt, I really don’t want to go home—this epic has been, and still is, so rich in every way.

For her, the challenge is always lurking somewhere in her motivations. Before her big solo trips, she competed in Gravel racing. You know, those races where you ride rough trails through the mountains for thousands of kilometers, completely self-sufficient, just for the joy of hugging and smiling with other competitors at the finish line.

Brigitte Fournier She’s a great example of someone who gave her life meaning according to her own aspirations. After earning a degree from one of the most prestigious schools, she returned to her hometown of Briançon. She devoted herself to beekeeping for a long career, moving her hives along the Durance Valley. She always managed her own schedule and, as a result, spent a lot of time in the mountains and doing outdoor sports—ski touring, kitesurfing, and long-distance bike travel. In life, you have to make decisions, which isn’t always easy, and one of her sayings hits hard when she delivers it: “You have to choose between being a dog or a wolf.” It echoes something a long-time adventurer friend of mine once said: you always leave despite a multitude of good reasons not to. She’ll talk about one of her trips—the one she took when she retired: 18 months solo by bike across the three Americas (North, Central, and South), aptly titled *La retraite, vous y avez pensé* (Retirement, Have You Thought About It?).

I know she’s very modest and has already scolded me for talking about her like this, but I can only encourage you to come listen to her and chat with her.

Alexandra Husha Tata Alex is a young author from Nantes. She speaks at the pace of someone eager to move forward in life and satisfy her curiosity about the world and others. At 31, she learned she had breast cancer. The shock was brutal. It was while hosting a Brazilian during my treatments that I discovered the world of bike travel. Though I had lost all sense of femininity, we both fell in love. When Felipe promised to come back and take me to Romania by bike, I didn’t hesitate for a second—I bought a bike. Thanks to Grandma Jeannine’s inheritance, I bought a bike and the gear needed for long trips. In memory of Grandma, I named my bike Jeannette! I trained gradually, despite the treatments and their powerful side effects: pain, fatigue, cognitive issues, hot flashes... In the end, Felipe never came back... But the call of travel was stronger than anything, which is why I set off again on June 9, 2021, for a solo bike tour of Europe. I pedaled all the way to the Black Sea, with a detour through Greece and Italy. When I got home, I’d covered 8,450 km! This trip gave me a sense of accomplishment, especially because it gave me a goal during all my treatments—and even alone, I managed to see it through! When I returned from Romania, my nephews were loudly proclaiming that Santa Claus didn’t exist. That was all it took for me to find my next destination! Beyond wanting to prove those little rascals wrong, I mostly needed to prove to myself that the cancer was behind me and that my body was capable of taking on big challenges again—like pedaling into headwinds in Ireland, braving torrential rain in Wales, tackling the steep hills of Chianti in Tuscany, and sharing the road with wild reindeer in Lapland! I made it back home in November 2022 after 6 months of adventure and 10,450 km.

I share these two European tours during conferences where I show films of my travels and sign copies of my travel stories.

Julien Humbert

List of Trips:

2002-2003 “Objective Mongolia” (http://peuplesetmusiques.free.fr/index_fr.html) North Africa, from Mumbai to Kathmandu with a trek around the Annapurnas, Southeast Asia up to Mongolia and the Republic of Tuva. 2009-2019 Tour of Europe, crossing the Sahara followed by a transatlantic sail, then 8 years in the Americas (https://grand-sapin.blogspot.com/). 2020 Tour de France 2021 Tour de France 2022 Corsica, Belgium, Netherlands, England 2024 Round trip Cornimont-Rocamadour with a tour of the Massif Central in 3 weeks. 2025 Stevenson Trail followed by a deep dive into the southwest quarter of France and a tour of Catalonia. Coming in 2026: A major multi-year expedition starting in early May: Tour of the Baltic aiming for the North Cape—Silk Road and South Africa.

Description:

In summary, so far: - 50 countries visited - A total of 12 years spent abroad, including 6 on the road and 6 living in Mexico. - Around 100,000 km traveled in total.

A minimalist and sober traveler, Julien travels without any technological equipment (no cell phone, GPS, laptop, etc.). He also travels without a set itinerary, preferring to simply set a general direction and let encounters shape his route.

A big fan of bivouacking, he doesn’t use any accommodation apps, travels in all weather, and lets events guide him. Julien is my neighbor. I first saw his bike—a wreck after 7 years on the road. When he comes over for coffee at 9 AM, he can stay until midnight—the traveler who lives outside of time. Like Brigitte Fournier, he’s highly educated, but he needs to escape the framework of our lives. He’s helping me organize the 2026 festival. This morning, we filmed a short 20-minute promotional spot. The immense pleasure of talking with this kind of person! I was the timekeeper, but we could’ve talked for hours. Inevitably, the conversation turned to travel—a mix of dreams, projects, and lived experiences. He made a comment I’d never considered: one of the advantages of traveling without a return date is not having to think, *I’m halfway there*. People like him radiate a contagious joy for life, despite the terrible hardships they’ve faced.

Pierre Hérant Pierre Hérant was born in Touraine and lives near the Mercantour mountains in Nice, which serve as his playground and training ground. Passionate about mountains, nature, travel, and reading, he constantly combines these four themes in his accounts of his many long solo hikes and bike trips.

His books are published by Éditions Christine Bonneton for his travel stories and by Chamina Édition for the photo books that illustrate them.

Éditions Bonneton - Guides des Régions, Gastronomie & Patrimoine - Éditions Bonneton

Guides de randonnées pédestres, vélo, cheval & Beaux livres Chamina - Chamina Édition

Currently published titles include:

- « My Tour of the Hexagon by Bike – 7,600 km Along France’s Borders » (2023 for the photo book and 2024 for the travel story) - - « My Crossing of France on Foot – 1,750 km from Nice to Mont-Saint-Michel » (2024 for the photo book and 2025 for the travel story) - - « My Crossing of the Pyrenees on Foot – 775 km from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic » (2025 for the photo book and 2026 for the travel story).

His next title will be:

- « My Camino de Santiago – 750 km from Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port » (2026 for the practical guide and photo book, 2027 for the travel story)

These books are available or can be ordered in all bookstores.

Pierre Hérant has also self-published other accounts of major sporting trips in France and various mountains around the world on Amazon in paperback and digital formats.

Amazon.fr: Pierre HERANT: books, biography, latest updates

- « At the School of Trekking in the Himalayas – Volume 1 » (2018) recounts the Annapurna Base Camp Trek and the Great Crossing of Ladakh - - « At the School of Trekking in the Himalayas – Volume 2 » (2019) recounts the Annapurna Circuit and the Everest High Route - - « In the Mountains of Japan » (2018) recounts the crossings of the Northern and Southern Japanese Alps and Mount Fuji - - « At the School of Trekking on Islands » (2020) recounts the crossings of Corsica via the GR 20, Réunion Island via the GR R1 and R2, and the crossing and circuit of La Palma via the GR 130 and 131 - - « Downstream by Bike » (2021) recounts a Nice-Nantes-Bordeaux-Nice bikepacking loop of 3,700 km - - « At the School of Trekking in the Alps » (2024) recounts the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Crossing of the Dolomites via the Alta Via 2, and the Tour of the Oisans and Écrins via the GR 52.

A few other free-spirited travelers will also share their stories. I’ve decided to prioritize the sparkle in the speakers’ eyes and the conviction in their voices over drone footage. If I want to see stunning films, I’ll watch *The Big Blue* or *The Fifth Element*. I wrote *cavalier* thinking of Kessel. For travel storytelling, I try—imperfectly—to follow in the footsteps of Joseph Kessel or Ella Maillart. References that go back to the 1930s for Ella, and for Kessel, born in 1898, his stories span a very long period from World War I to the sixties.

So, some might accuse me of doing a little self-promotion for this festival. We look forward to seeing many of you in Cornimont in the Vosges from April 24 to 26 to exchange with these adventurers.

Hi Luc

I’ll admit I didn’t read your whole message, but I don’t mind the little plug for your festival at all—especially since this forum isn’t mine 😄. I’d even suggest you make a dedicated post about it in the bike travel section.

I’ve had the chance to follow a few of your travel journals, and I still admire your way of traveling—so free, just like you said!

Hi Luc

I could’ve written word for word what Bruno (Montagnard74) said, so I won’t repeat it all

Young people will have less and less work, so travel...

Young people have never traveled as much as they do now—more than any previous generation—just go to an airport to see it.

After COVID, we thought travel would decrease, but we’ve already surpassed pre-pandemic levels. People have never traveled this much, even though prices in the tourism sector have really gone up.

Young people struggle to find housing. Many still live with their parents, so they spend money on travel instead. They’re also having fewer kids for a bunch of reasons.

But I’m talking more long-term. With AI changing the world of work.

And then there’s the war in Iran and rising prices.

The world is becoming more uniform—we dress, eat, and live almost the same way in France as in Thailand or elsewhere... and it’s only going to get worse.

An article yesterday from "Tourmag" got me thinking about Cuba, which has remained frozen in time, far from this uniformity. They don’t even have a McDonald’s... It’s a country like no other in every way.

The article says that the United States is going to take over the island’s tourism by setting up major American hotel chains there. Cuba, geographically so close to the U.S., will quickly be "invaded" by American tourists, bringing with it everything that entails: rising prices, uniformity, and so on...

It’s great for Cubans, who will finally escape the stagnation they’ve been in for so long, but in terms of tourism, the country will become much more sanitized, and relationships with Cubans will likely be very different too.

It’s a country apart in every way.

Hey Sinforosa, I totally agree with that statement. Cuba has its own unique cultural identity. Just like many peoples around the world who have their own identity and culture. Even better, Cuba has a soul—the soul of Havana can’t be corrupted by dollars from the American economy. Money and finance can only buy material things. Cubans may be poor, living in rundown houses and old, beat-up cars. But that doesn’t stop them from having a joy for life. It’s not like living in the U.S., where the golden rule is "time is money," so the average American is stressed out by the rat race. But as they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade :) What I’m writing might ruffle some feathers, but the U.S. is a country without a distinct soul. Given that it’s the New World, which skipped straight to modernity. Don’t forget that the U.S. has only about 250 years of history.

Don’t lose sight of the fact that the USA has "only" about 250 years of history.

A quick subtraction makes me think you’re starting U.S. history at the date of its independence.

That would make Cuba an even younger nation, since its independence was proclaimed in 1902 by the Treaty of Paris after more than 300 years of Spanish colonization… And still under American tutelage until the 1959 revolution.

Anyway, we’re way off the original topic…

No, we're really getting to the heart of the matter now, at least in my opinion.

I think a good number of those who frequent forums are already a certain age, if not quite old. Travel forums, like travel guides, are a "old-school" thing—they’re not really used by people under 40, and even less by those under 30.

I’m picking up on this—hi again, Sinforosa, if you could tell me why travel guides are considered "for old people," I’d really appreciate it. And as a result, what channels do younger people use instead?

The facts are pretty telling, though. When it comes to guidebooks, we don’t know the numbers, so we can wonder... I have little doubt. For forums, if we take VF as an example, it’s clear right away: out of 10 members (among those brave enough to display their age), more than two-thirds are 60 or older!

And consequently, what channels do younger people use?

For several years now, I’ve been systematically joining French-speaking Facebook groups for my next destination (like “French people in Laos,” etc.), and I can tell you the questions (and answers) are pouring in! I also use Instagram, but communication there is a bit more complicated.

The issue with paper guides is that their updates are slow and unreliable, which leads to some distrust. Personally, I still use them, but also because they look “nice” on my bookshelf when I get back . I haven’t used them for accommodations or restaurants in a long time.

As for guides, we don’t know the numbers, so we can wonder

We know that travel guide sales are plummeting.

When it comes to readers’ ages, I don’t know any young people under 30 who use them. When I travel, I see them looking up info on their phones—it’s the screen generation, not the book generation.

There must be some young people who still use guides, but I think they’re rare. And it makes sense—today, we have all the info online.

For a few years now, I’ve been systematically joining Facebook groups

Young people don’t use Facebook either.

Since COVID, travel Facebook groups have replaced forums, which are now deserted.

It's hard to say how "young people" or "older folks" react... Saying "thank you" is first and foremost a matter of upbringing, and whether you're young or old, we always come back to that.

Regarding trends, here’s what I’ve noticed: Forums rely on just a handful of contributors (mostly older ones!), Travel guides are selling less even though people are traveling more, Social media is either outdated (Facebook) or just commercial advertorials for influencers (Insta and many others), A lot of travelers set off without a plan, People often criticize overtourism as if it’s always someone else’s fault ("the Chinese," for example—even though they’re often Korean ;) ), The app "PolarStep" is widely used by 20- to 35-year-olds to share their "experiences,"

By 2026, I feel that a series of well-structured AI prompts could be an effective way to plan trips (for those who want to plan). I tested it for trips I’d just taken, and it’s pretty mind-blowing!

In reality, when I travel, I prepare using this forum (and sometimes others) and a few travel blogs...

Hello,

I think AI is going to take up more and more space in trip planning.

As for forums, whether it's VF or others, they rely on a handful of participants, often retirees, some of whom have been around for years, and there’s no renewal, which doesn’t bode well for the future of these forums.

And today, there are fewer and fewer real exchanges between travel enthusiasts. Mostly, people come mainly for practical information or to have their itinerary made for them (they could just as easily ask AI these questions), and they don’t come back to share their own insights, help future travelers, or recount how their trip went.

Just look at the pre-COVID discussions on VF—there were fascinating exchanges about travel, fun and smart games (with lots of participants). Today, that’s all gone, and it’s the same on other forums.

I’m not sure what you mean by traveling "with the wind in your sails," but I think people today know exactly where they’re going and what they’ll see. They gather information differently depending on the generation, but they’re hyper-informed about their chosen destination, hotels, restaurants, etc. I’m not sure there’s much improvisation left in travel these days.

Otherwise, people still read travel journals (even though you might think they’re "outdated" like forums and travel guides). Even for destinations that aren’t widely discussed on forums—I wrote a journal about El Salvador on MyAtlas, and I was surprised by how many views it got in such a short time.

Good evening,

You only have to look at the pre-Covid discussions on VF—there were some fascinating travel exchanges, fun and clever games (with lots of participants). Now, they’re gone, and it’s the same on other forums.

So you were on VF before, then... [;)]

Michel

So you were on VF before...

Yeah, I was on VF before, not very long before it shut down (two or three years before) with a username I couldn’t reuse.

I think AI is going to play an increasingly bigger role in trip planning.

Good evening, let's not forget people who travel for spiritual or religious reasons. There are pilgrims heading to Mecca, Lourdes, St. Peter's in Rome, Jerusalem. These folks are guided by faith, not a smartphone...[:)]

often retirees,

I’d say it’s more like people in their fifties, even if retirees outnumber teenagers.

they could just ask AI these questions

The only time I asked AI a question where the answer was actually useful, it gave me complete nonsense.

And it wasn’t even complicated. (Going from point A to point B in three 500-kilometer stages—all in Western Europe, so well-trodden routes.)

I’ve also tested it with other questions. The answers are super generic. You have to really push it to get something slightly off the beaten path.

What both me the most is how sanitized it feels. You don’t get the sense you’re talking to a person—more like a sales rep who’s *way* too polite to be genuine. It’s all so smooth and bland.

Even when you’re wrong and getting worked up, it just keeps stroking your ego.

That’s definitely not the case here…

people still read travel journals

The real issue is finding them. Google’s search results prioritize ads, sponsored blogs, and all that—not actual travel journals.

It’s getting harder and harder to dig them up with just a few keywords.

That wasn’t the case before.

travel guides

For addresses and practical info, yeah, they’re pretty outdated.

But niche guides still have an audience.

Hiking guides, maps like those from International Photographer, pocket guides with day-trip itineraries, or ones focused on history, landmarks, local life, etc.

Young people aren’t using Facebook either.

True, the 20/30-year-olds are on Instagram. Facebook is more for the 40/50, even 60+ crowd.

The younger ones think both platforms are for "old people."

Instagram makes it easy to find accommodations. Quick presentation, lots of photos, videos, and WhatsApp for booking.

Facebook, on the other hand, is extremely ad-heavy with lots of doctored photos and tons of tourism businesses trying to hook customers.

Hello,

I think AI is going to play a bigger and bigger role in trip planning.

.

Hello,

As someone who uses AI, I tried it out for planning a trip—just out of curiosity. I simulated wanting to visit a city I love and know pretty well: Beijing. I asked ChatGPT and Gemini to whip up an original itinerary for me. I was blown away by the results. While ChatGPT’s suggestions stayed fairly classic, Gemini’s ideas were really unique and matched my request well. But be careful—at this stage of AI development, it’s probably risky (or premature) to rely on a chatbot for a ready-made trip. That said, it can be a great starting point to get a rough idea based on your expectations.

Anyway, it's common knowledge that paper guides are outdated when it comes to accommodations, and even more so for restaurants...

A few days ago in Tunisia, I was in a café reading a travel guide that mentioned it. The owner came over to ask if his place was in it and took a photo of the paragraph about his establishment.

I asked him what year they had visited, and he replied, "They never came—it's just because I have a good reputation!"

This confirms what I wrote above. These days, with the internet, the pages in paper guides about hotels, restaurants, and cafés are completely useless. With Google Maps, you can see where the place is located, and by reading several reviews on Google or TripAdvisor, you can get an idea of the quality. Not to mention that establishments featured in travel guides take advantage of their reputation to charge higher prices than other places that are just as good, if not better.

Personally, I’m considering ditching travel guides altogether (I realize I consult them less and less). Their only advantage over the internet is that the information is all in one place, which helps avoid drowning in a sea of sometimes contradictory details.

It’s been a long time since we’d just set off with *South East Asia on a Shoestring*—like, 250 pages covering 10 countries!

Long gone are the days when we’d just set off with “South East Asia on a Shoestring”—like 250 pages covering 10 countries.

These days, you can just head out with your phone, and that’s what more and more travelers are doing—not just those in their twenties. On your phone, you’ve got all the info you need, and you don’t have to lug around a heavy, bulky book anymore.

Travel guide sales are steadily and consistently dropping because they don’t offer anything you can’t find on your phone.

Sure, but a phone needs recharging, needs a network, needs Wi-Fi, needs a SIM card to check things offline.

Plus, too much information kills information, and details like photos are becoming less and less reliable—commercial links are always pushed to the top, and photos are heavily Photoshopped. With AI, you can even fake selfies from a trip you never took...

And then, you’ve got to know how to use it properly.

A book, on the other hand, can be consulted anywhere, anytime. Depending on the collection or the authors, the commercial side is less intrusive, photos are less manipulated, and practical info isn’t drowned in disguised ads (like those links to official ticket-selling sites, for example).

I find the internet less and less useful for finding real, lived-in, basic experiences. It’s turning into one big shopping mall.

on mobile we have all the necessary information and we no longer need to lug around a heavy, bulky book.

True, but what makes travel guides special is their curation of the best addresses. Not all the addresses you find online are necessarily worth it. It’s like Gallimard editions, for example—they receive thousands of manuscripts and have to make a selection. Or the Michelin Guide. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, on TripAdvisor in particular, there can be fake positive reviews.

Especially on Tripadvisor, there can be fake positive reviews

As I mentioned earlier (post 77), travel guides recommend places they’ve NEVER actually visited, so it’s no surprise that people later come to forums to say that a place recommended by a guide was terrible.

For reviews on Tripadvisor and Google, I read several and only pay attention to those posted by people who’ve shared MULTIPLE reviews. I never trust reviews from someone who’s only posted once, whether it’s positive or negative.

By following this "method" and looking at the many photos, you can get a pretty accurate idea of a place—I’ve verified this afterward several times. I think it’s much more reliable than a travel guide or a review from just one or two people on a travel forum.

Nowadays, the hotel, restaurant, and café pages in paper guides are completely useless. And as I mentioned earlier, places listed in guides take advantage of their reputation to charge higher prices than other equally good—or even better—establishments.

As I’ve said before, the only advantage of travel guides is that everything is in one place, so you don’t drown in a flood of sometimes contradictory information.

you don’t drown under a mass of information that’s sometimes contradictory.

And false, and purely commercial...

Tripadvisor and the like are over.

Reviews don’t mean anything anymore. A McDonald’s can almost have a 4.8...

And a good restaurant gets a 4 just because the prices aren’t slashed...

I also find there are fewer and fewer recent reviews, and like in a kids’ talent show, the ratings are ridiculously inflated.

A 7 should be a decent score. Now it’s become a terrible one. A 9 means not bad at all, when it should be pretty exceptional.

Everything ends up blending together.

Hello,

I think AI is going to play a bigger and bigger role in trip planning.

.

Not just in planning, but also on the ground: A few months ago, we were dining with a group in a restaurant in a small town in Brazil. We wanted to order wine, but the wine list only had bottles from South America. One of the guests said, "Wait, let’s ask AI for its opinion on this wine list." So we did, and we ordered the one with the best rating. Well, it wasn’t very good… *sigh* Can’t even trust machines anymore…

One of the guests: "Wait, let's ask the AI for its opinion on this wine list"

And why didn’t you just ask the server? 🤔

I think to get a satisfying answer, you need to be pretty specific in your questions—maybe by specifying your wine preferences, you’d have gotten a more tailored response.

But your example (and there are others like it in the forums) shows that today, almost everyone—not just 20-year-olds—uses AI for everything, and in a few years, it’ll be the norm, and no one will bat an eye.

And if people are gradually getting used to asking AI, it’s because, overall, they’re satisfied with it—otherwise, they wouldn’t keep doing it.

I agree with you—once you're there, a good old-fashioned paper map, a Michelin map, and a bit of intuition. The old-school way! [:p] And for prep: blogs or forums with recent info.

On the spot, a good old GDR And for prep: blogs or forums with recent info

Often, the GDR is really lacking compared to its competitors. It dedicates a lot of pages (useless, in my opinion) to hotels, restaurants, cafés, or souvenir shops and completely skips entire regions of some countries.

For example, for Guatemala, the GDR doesn’t mention Nebaj or the Ixil Triangle, while Lonely Planet and Petit Futé do. It’s a shame because it’s a stunning region (and super interesting for anyone into the country’s history), and travel blogs barely cover it (it’s an isolated mountainous area).

Lonely Planet has changed its format and cut down the space devoted to hotels and restaurants. For instance, in their Tunisia guide, they dedicate just one page to hotels in six cities, whereas the GDR gives at least one page per city.

Lonely Planet realized that with the internet, those pages are becoming less useful—especially since so many travelers now stay in Airbnbs.

These days, anyone can find a hotel in a few clicks. You don’t need a travel guide’s recommendations. I spent a week in Joyabaj (Guatemala), a city that doesn’t appear in any guide or blog, and I had no trouble finding a hotel on my own.

Beyond travel guides and blogs, visiting tourist offices (when they exist) can be helpful. It was on the advice of the Chichicastenango tourist office that I went to Joyabaj—a city I’d never heard of—and it ended up being the most memorable week of my two-month trip.

As for travel forums, no matter which one, I haven’t found much of interest since the pandemic. For my last big trips (Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama), the most useful info came from pre-COVID discussions. Latin American forums were super active before the pandemic, but now they’re either dead or overrun with ads for guides or agencies.

For my most recent trip, Tunisia, it’s the same—there’s hardly any recent info on forums (on VoyageForum, the last travel journal was from 2019).

I really enjoy browsing on Google Maps or Maps.me. The backroads, the viewpoints, the photos—usually still without added effects for landscapes—and the spots where there just aren’t any yet, or so few! [:p]

Guidebooks for the history, geography, etc. of the country, but also the main tourist highlights for a first look at the destination!

And travel journals. [:)]

Of course AI will take over, even for asking for wine list recommendations. Because the problem is that the vast majority of people working in restaurants, or even travel agencies, don’t know anything about what they’re selling. They’re only there to push a product, but when you need precise, in-depth explanations... there’s no one around.

Of course AI will take over, even for asking for wine list recommendations. Because the problem is that the vast majority of people who work in restaurants, or even travel agencies, know absolutely nothing about their subject.

AI will take over because it's the easy solution—this had already started with smartphones.

Nowadays, who asks a human for directions? If people are lost, they just look at their phone—it's so easy.

It's a shame because asking a person for directions can be nice.

I still don’t have a smartphone—I just have a basic Nokia with buttons that I never take on trips. I travel with a tablet that I leave at the hotel, so when I’m lost, I *have* to ask someone for directions, and it often leads to a conversation. The same goes for getting information about a place.

For example, in Italy, I’ve asked several times what certain buildings were that I didn’t recognize, and the people I spoke to launched into long explanations. I could’ve gotten that info from AI, but I find it nicer to ask people—and it helped me practice my Italian.

Other recent examples: I asked a man for directions in the medina of Sfax, and he took me to visit the four floors of his shoe-making workshop. In the dyers' souk in the medina of Tunis, someone showed me the machines dyeing fabrics. In Tunisia, I was often surprised when I asked someone for directions while they were eating cookies, fruit, or a snack, and they offered me some—a "custom" that doesn’t exist in Europe. And I have plenty of similar examples in other countries besides Italy and Tunisia.

If I’d had a smartphone, I would’ve missed out on these interactions with locals.

I’ve tried to resist buying a smartphone so I don’t spend my life glued to it, but I’ll probably get one soon because I’m going to South Korea for nearly two months, and I think it’ll make life easier for translations and getting around. But I’m really tempted to go like I usually do—without a smartphone, without apps, just with a tablet that stays at the hotel (not so long ago, tourists managed just fine without these tools)... and keep asking humans for directions (and information).

If I had had a smartphone, I would have missed out on those interactions with the locals.

Not necessarily—one doesn’t rule out the other.

For me, a smartphone is essential, or nearly so. [;)] Some apps are really useful when we travel. I couldn’t do without Organic Maps or my translation app anymore. I also use a hiking app, a weather app, a level app when we travel with our camper, and an app for the northern lights, etc. But that doesn’t stop me from chatting with people or asking for directions.