Many campers need, and expect, wi-fi everywhere they go
There was a time when taking the Big Lap inevitably meant travelling corrugated dirt roads and being out of touch with friends and family for days and weeks at a time.
However, the Australian wilderness is not quite as wild as it once was. Bitumen is continuing its relentless march into the bush, and so too is modern communications technology. Last month, Optus switched on satellite small cells at several sites in Karijini and Millstream national parks in WA’s remote Pilbara region. It’s hard to imagine a future where communication ‘blackspots’ don’t continuously get gobbled up by tech companies eager to allow us all to stay connected.
While there are some grey nomads who say they are saddened by what they see as their growing inability to truly ‘get away from it all’, many more are embracing the opportunities afforded by this seemingly inevitable ‘progress’.
As well as keeping in closer contact with loved ones at ‘home’, long-term travellers commonly use their devices to track investments, work, research routes, locate and book campsites, find sports results, and just stay informed about current events.
There are apps for just about everything, and even the most hardened anti-tech traveller would admit to the occasional burst of relief at being back in contact with the wider world. Caravan Industry Association of Australia chair Grant Wilckens says the future has to mean even better telecommunications networks in the bush.
“Caravanning and camping is big business in regional areas, providing employment and a considerable injection of cash into the local economy,” he said. “If we are to truly meet the needs of travellers we’ll need to harness internet technology that enables them to translate and truly experience regional areas.”
According to traditionalists, the real tragedy though is not that travellers will have better access to information, it is that the habitual use of technology will simply destroy the simple joys of ‘living in the moment’.
According to a survey of 2,000 US travellers conducted by marketing research company, OnePoll, more than 20% of respondents checked their smartphones once per hour during their most recent holidays, while 14% checked it twice per hour. Incredibly, nearly 8% said they checked it more than 20 times per hour.
Grey nomad Candice G admits that the spread of Wi-Fi hasn’t always enhanced her travels.
“I do feel this constant pressure to put news and pictures up on social media as a way of letting everyone what we are up to,” she said. “But the worst thing is that my husband Jimmy just won’t get off his devices … he constantly checks his phone even when we are on bushwalks and I know he’s got nothing important to look for … he’s retired after all!”
