Iphone and Travel

For many years, I watched all my friends strut around with their Iphones in and out of fashion events, parties, and nightclubs in New York and Los Angeles.  It was like the coolest thing to have and if you didn’t have one you were “Out.”

For years, I was “Out” and I refused to conform to the “Apple Iphone World.” For years, I was content with my Ipod shuffle that held 200 songs or so. It was not about having all the expensive gadgets to be in trend. When you have an Iphone, you are making a statement and I was not interested in making the statement.  It was my responsibility to sometimes send text messages or look something up with my friends Iphone. The touchscreen was actually hard for me to use and I didn’t understand how to properly use it-true fact. 

Often when traveling, I saw American’s and travelers with these Iphones. It looked convenient and like something that would be handy for information.

After 5 years of not having an Iphone, I conformed when returning from Morocco and received a Free Iphone 5.  I still did not want to get one when I came back, but it was Free.  It’s not a great excuse as values and morals trump materialism, but not in this case.  I hopped on board to the Iphone world and as I figured-it’s a point of no return.

There is no possible way to say that having an Iphone while traveling is not useful. It is extremely useful for me to write and connect to WIFI to communicate back home.  I am behind with technology as I just started using Whatsapp this year and was not even aware of how you could connect for free with the world.  It would have been great to use on my first trip and preferred over facebook, which I will not use anymore. 

Abroad, it’s not so cool to have one when you are a traveler because practically everyone does.  Although, it is still very cool for one person- the local.  The local who can’t afford one and the local who wants one so badly-it’s a reason for me to not have one. 

The biggest thing I do not like about having one is presenting in front of others.  When I use it for Notes constantly, I have it out and it is always on display.   It is very exciting to a local who sits and stares at it with such envy as if you had a thousand dollars sitting in your hand.  In some countries with the value of the Iphone, it is almost $1,000.  This part of having it is what makes me want to not have one.  The last thing I want to do is present materialism as flashy, cool importance.  That sends the wrong message and I have to provide clarity to children and adults. 

For example, a man singing a trumpet in the middle of the market stared at my phone and asked about if it records.  I told him that it does record, but it has limited space.  This is a Belizian man who is very poor and probably can’t afford to buy groceries for a full week. 

He says to me, “I’m going to get the newest version of that very soon.”

Pris: “Really? How much do you think a new one costs here.”

I don’t know, but I want it. 

Pris: Okay why do you want it?

To record video.

Pris: Don’t you think you could use something else to record? Something less affordable?

Yeah I could

Pris: What if you didn’t record and you just kept playing beautiful music for people? The Iphone holds no importance in your self-expression. If you really have a purpose for a video camera, then you can buy one second hand.  The only reason I have this phone is to voice record and write-that’s it. It’s not important, it’s just an electronic. 

Okay, that’s very nice. Thanks so much young lady. Thank you.

You’re welcome. God Bless and Take care.

These conversations happen frequently with locals who don´t have a smart phone, but they desire it so badly.  While it´s not important, the world of Apple makes it important. At the end of the day, our human values trump the phone because it holds greater importance to our being and growth. The Iphone will never outshine the interpersonal interaction-never, never, and never.