Travel Megatrends 2019: Real-World Experiences Trump Tech Burnout

The sight has become so commonplace it’s no longer remarkable: Travelers hunched over their phones as they walk through a foreign street, crowded around a piece of art only to view it through a screen, or posed in front of some stunning vista just to grab a selfie.

But through the constant glow, a consensus is emerging: This is not good. This is not healthy.

“There’s this sort of idea that there are limits, and the basic functioning of our physiology is pointing to these limits,” said Christopher J. Lee, a Lafayette College history professor whose book, Jet Lag, explores the negative implications of modern technology. “It’s simply important to listen to our bodies, sort of identify what’s preventing us from getting rest. Is it this technology that keeps our attention and keeps us awake longer than it should?”

Apple and Google are giving customers tools to cut back on phone use. Silicon Valley executives are trying to keep their kids away from screens. Facebook is trying to de-emphasize mindless videos. And former tech company bigwigs at the Center for Humane Technology are working to combat the problem of technology “hijacking our minds and society.”

Wired wrote in mid-2018 in a story about digital wellness: “Our devices have never been more powerful, and people have never been so desperate to escape them through ‘digital detoxes’ and