Through the years, travel has changed by leaps and bounds.
- Reservations that used to be made by talking to someone on the phone are now done on your computer or handheld device
- Paperwork used to be done on actual paper – now that’s all electronic, too
- You used to buy a flight reservation and it included checked bag, seat assignment, and sometimes even a meal! Nowadays airlines nickel and dime you for just about everything.
Of course, it’s not just the hotels and airlines that have changed. Us passengers have changed what we bring when we travel, too. In fact, there are some items people used to bring when they travel that you just don’t see at all anymore.
I mean, when was the last time you saw…
Travelers checks
Before credit and debit cards became the most popular way to spend money, travelers would use travelers checks as their main form of money. Travelers checks were as good as cash in local currency, and if they were lost or stolen, the issuer (typically Amex, Visa or AAA, if you got them in the U.S.) would reimburse you for their value.
You could also use your travelers check to get cash, either by asking your hotel to cash it out, or using it to pay for an item and getting the change in actual cash.
Travelers checks began going out of style in the late 20th century and today none of the major issuers offer them anymore. You’d also be hard pressed to find hotels or shops that would be willing to accept them as payment.
That being said, there are still billions of dollars of uncashed travelers checks in the world – here’s how you can cash them out, if you find one forgotten one hidden in a drawer.
Heavy, hard-sided luggage with locks and no wheels
Aside from both being designed to carry your belongings, today’s luggage has little in common with the bags of the past.
Way back when, suitcases were always hard-sided and they weighed a ton. They had no wheels (the first wheeled suitcase wasn’t patented until 1972) and you closed them with clasps, not zippers. It was long before the TSA was a thing, so the bags also came with locks, so no one could steal whatever was in your suitcase.
Nowadays there’s soft-sided luggage that can be as light as 4 pounds and, thanks to modern inventions, even hard-sided luggage is lightweight. You’d be hard pressed to find a carry on bag without wheels, never mind a checked bag. And the only “lock” you’re going to find for most suitcases are TSA locks.
Paper maps
Before the advent of Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze (and yep, those multi-page MapQuest printouts—IYKYK), travelers would use paper maps to figure out where they were going.
You could buy your maps at book stores, or get them for free from AAA (if you had a membership). If you go back far enough, you might remember when you could get paper maps from gas stations, too.
Once you had your map, you had to figure out for yourself how to get from Point A to Point B (although if you went to AAA, they could help you) AND try to figure out how long it would take you get from “here” to “there.”
Nowadays, a simple app on your phone does virtually all the work for you.
Guidebooks
Getting to your destination was only half the battle – you still had to know where you were going at your destination, their hours, etc. Guidebooks, complete with bookmarks and notes, were a huge help for all of that!
Nowadays, your phone is a virtual guidebook for anywhere on the planet.
Car radio
I’m old enough to remember being in a rental car with an audio system that included radio and nothing else, and trying to find a “good” radio station in a town where I was a stranger. Or, for that matter, ANY radio station in the middle of nowhere.
AM/FM radios are still typically in rental cars or used on road trips, but when was the last time you used it?
Nowadays there’s satellite radio, radio apps, plus your own tunes stored on your phone.
Film camera
There was a time when you had to be REALLY careful about taking pictures, because you had to pay to get every shot developed…at the Photomat Store…and wait a week for it to come back. 😉
Nowadays? You’ve got unlimited shots with your phone camera and it takes better pictures than that old 110 camera did ANY day.
Travel alarm clock
If you HAD to wake up at a certain time and you weren’t sure if the alarm clock in your room would work, you’d have a travel alarm clock with you.
That’s not needed anymore, since everyone’s phone has a clock app. So everyone has a built-in travel alarm clock.
How times have changed!
It’s kind of wild to think about how many things we used to consider essential for travel that have quietly disappeared over the years. What once took careful planning—and a whole lot of extra packing—has gradually been replaced by simpler, more streamlined ways to get from point A to point B.
Makes you wonder what we’re packing today that future travelers will look back on and wonder how we ever thought we needed it.
What’s something you used to always pack that you haven’t thought about in years?
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