15 things you did while travelling before your phone took over

What a fun post! Although I have not been abroad very many times, I remember and some of these ”difficulties” were experienced when traveling in Sweden and in neighbouring countries as well, I want to remember. Just this with standing in a long queue outside a phone booth at a larger campsite. 36 picture slide roll, yes it was expensive with development so there you did not waste the pictures. Haha... and the slide evenings, you have been through them with others and one with yourself. Of course, you sat in a tent or caravan and scribbled down a number of postcards, it was like a must to send.
The memories came back, fun!

Train hopping in 1989/1990 when I used both traveller's cheques and queued to call home in some places. Not something you did often because it was so complicated. Remember once when I arrived in Greece late one night and had forgotten to change into the right currency. Was invited to dinner by a man I had never seen before or since. It was both a bumpy time and at the same time full of meetings you hardly get now.
Just the part about going to the travel agency. Are you from Skåne?

I remember most of the things you listed,. Sure it's handy to have the internet so accessible, and easy to make calls. What I find sad in modern times is that so many are so engrossed in their phones. I also thought it was more fun with paper photos. Because I can still browse through my photo albums, while many travel memories are lost in phones that are no longer there.

I recognise myself in this. And I can miss this time and not least not always being reachable. ”Collect call” from around the world . Went really well. I travelled by train in Europe when I was 15 years old and it was a wonderful freedom. And I did a lot of travelling before the internet and mobile phones came along. And it went really well. There was nothing else.
Great post! And the memories from this time are still there. So are some slides and black and white photos.

RECOGNISE THE RUBBISH!!! What a fun post.
Yep, bought tickets at travel agency. Absolutely. Picked them up there. ONCE I lost a paper ticket like that. Thought I'd go crazy with anxiety, a lost plane ticket sort of thing. BUT my brother found it in the stairwell where we lived. WHAT a relief. As you say, today everything is digital and on the phone. BREATH. Or just in the passport, I rarely show any ticket at check-in to and from Europe, the passport is enough. But those behind the counter usually print boarding passes there and then. But no, no worries about lost tickets anymore. Postcards, always in the past. It was so fun to write them, and to GET! Never happens anymore. Travellers cheques, yep. When I went to the US ffg I had a whole stack of them. It worked out well. The film rolls yes, absolutely. A 36 roll was a luxury. And we couldn't shoot on and off like today. We chose our subjects with care.
Collect call, have made many such calls. ”Do you accept the charges?” was heard when they connected me with my parents. .
In some ways we were freer, in others not.
Would I want to go back to the old way? No. But it went very well then too. Super fun post, Helena!!!

Gets full of laughter as there is great recognition of almost everything.
Travel agency, yes, that's where you went and picked up catalogues to take home, which were then studied properly before it was time to order and the paper ticket. I belong to the crowd that still wants a ticket in hand, just in case haha. We were at the theatre and there was something wrong with the digital tickets and chaos ensued, while we with paper tickets could calmly go in and sit down.
Postcards, it's hard to find I noticed just the other day. Usually send to my mum via postnord, just upload your own pictures and send via their website.
We have also been hooked on internet cafes. Thick heavy Lonely Planet books that you carried with you and made notes in are now a memory, thrown away.
The fax machine, remember once at work a document had to be sent off. My colleague was going to do it and she got so angry, it turned out she thought the paper itself would disappear into the ether. We had a laugh about it later.
Maps, some we still have with us, fun to unfold and get the whole. Always map book with which is filled in where we go hahaha.
We have never used traveller's cheques, but the different currencies that were carried around in different bags. Collect call, I never called but received. The local calls in the kiosk cost a few dimes that you had to top up while the call was going on, and others stood in line outside and waited. In these kiosks, you stood on a wooden trolley and, at best, you could find dimes that fell down when you lifted the trolley, money that went to candy.
Hahaha think we belong to the rural bus stops because here we have timetables set up.
The film rolls that you could also choose colour or black and white. The worst was when the roll was incorrectly inserted and no pictures when developing. It happened to my former mother-in-law when she visited me in Africa, it was really sad for her.
It was a different time to remember back to and it was many years ago, not I feel so old hahaha
Fun post Hugs

Haha, VERY HIGH recognition on point after point! Of course it's different now! But it has happened that after frantic googling I visited a Ticket office and bought a trip. In some strange way, the people who work there manage to click through to hotels / places that I have not managed to find ...
Have saved a lot of paper maps. High nostalgia factor!

Great text. Have linked here from my blog.

P.S.
I often bought postcards, cheaper and better than my own developed photos.

When I hitchhiked around Europe in the mid 60's, my budget was 20 SEK/day, and I was not short of money, based on my needs. I carried a small photo album with photos of my family, the house where I lived, photos of the snow, the church, etc. This was appreciated by the locals in the countries and places I visited, and created many contacts.

Haha, wonderful post! And as you say, not very long ago really. I can put a check on all points except one. I've never been to an internet cafe. And I'm one of those people who has done a lot with slides myself, but I don't think I've bothered relatives much with hours of viewing. Once or twice I've shown my parents, who I know appreciate being allowed to look. Any decade now, I'm going to start digitising all these pictures...

Hug Lena