I Have a Weird Habit That Might Seem Creepy to Most Travelers

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I’m not arguing that Uber and its counterparts have made all the right decisions, or that they’re not guilty of the same capitalistic selfishness that plagues technocratic institutions. But ride-hailing completely shifted the flow of international travel in the 2010s in a manner that hadn’t happened since the rise of Wi-Fi and the subsequent decline in cybercafes a decade prior. That is to say, it made getting around a foreign place significantly less stressful.

Stopping at the airport’s currency exchange counter and getting ripped off is not necessary when your ride to the hotel is paid for via an app. Heck, you don’t even have to know where you’re going, beyond the name of the hotel or the address of an Airbnb. Equally comforting is the security of knowing that your GPS-tracked and logged driver will not rip you off or drive around for an extra 20 minutes racking up the fare meter.

That last part is where my admittedly corny nostalgia kicks in. Sometimes, when I’m home but craving adventure, I open the Uber app not to book a ride, but to scroll backward through years of shuttling around from place to place in other people’s cars. I love, and routinely participate in, an activity I’ve come to call “route reminiscing.” It started with a July 2017 ride from the airport to the Cosmo Hotel in Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle, my inaugural Uber trip outside the United States and probably the first time I’d taken one for anything beyond returning home from a bar. Route reminiscing is the very simple hobby of opening the ride history in your Uber app and mentally hopping into the back-right seat of the vehicle, momentarily recalling the excitement of watching an endless slate of foreign high-rises blur past the window while wondering what kind of crazy experience awaits once you step outside.

When I’m bored at work (sorry, Ross) or lounging on the couch while my daughter re-watches K-Pop Demon Hunters for the 76th time, I utilize this tool to put myself in Mexico City or Medellín or Madrid, imagining myself en route to a cold pint over exciting conversation.

Photo: Tim Wenger

It’s not just ride-hailing apps, either. TripIt is equally productive for the wistful yearning of one’s vagabonding past. Here, in the “Past Trips” section, I can relive not only the transport between events but the actual travel memories themselves, be they a particularly epic boutique hotel stay or that time I arrived in Mexico City with Blink-182 tickets, only to learn upon checking into my Airbnb that the concert had been canceled. (Hey, not all travel memories are good ones.)

And then there’s Google Maps, the unquestioned king of travel nostalgia. Is there a better website for both learning about a place you’re going to and then reliving the experience afterward? I’d make the case for a firm “hell no, there isn’t.” Here I’ve found so many hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurants I’d never have known about despite their proximity to my accommodation, and then later been able to zoom in on the dining room and gaze longingly at the table where I ate. Or I can plan the best bike route through a city I’ve never seen, and then later confirm the exact location of the photos I took along the ride.

Creepy? Eh, maybe. But certainly no more so than the technology itself. And anyhow, I’m a nostalgic guy, and to that end, there’s nothing more satisfying than staring longingly into the digital ether.

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