Calendars

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Traveling today feels less like an adventure and more like a pilgrimage—a global congregation of screen worshippers, heads bowed, palms up, with Wi-Fi as our holy grail. At the Trevi Fountain I watched a tourist scroll while coins splashed into the water behind her. In Venice, a couple snapped selfies on a water taxi instead of soaking up the canals. In Amsterdam, what might have been a perfect meet-up…if they had just turned around. From the Shanghai skyline to the Tokyo subway, and even Tiananmen Square, it’s the same: people immersed in the glow, living life both through and for their screens. Are we lost without them—or just differently lost? “Be present”, we say. “Just put the phone away.” Nope, ain’t gonna happen. Because it’s our camera, our map, our shopping list, our ticket, our ID, our TV, our radio, our theater, our alarm clock, our watch, our room key, our translator, our calendar, our address book…and, sometimes, it’s our phone. —December 2024