Skip the virtual, enjoy the reality
CHRISTINE HICKS- USTA Travel
I was perusing Faith Popcorn's Web site for some insight into trends. She publishes annually her list of what she believes to be the upcoming trends … and she's often on the mark. One of the things she has on her lists in the last couple of years is the idea that we cocoon and that we are tending to prefer virtual to real adventures in life.

Our world is filled with pods, 'puters, and PDAs, and the drive continues to seek ways to engage us - if but for just moments at a time, portable, digitized - a world that isn't real. Will someone please explain to me why on earth I would want or ever care about instant updates on the plot of a television series or the latest in Hollywood news? Some argue this is better than television, for in select or slight ways, these paraphernalia do take some interaction. It's the instant-ness and, more importantly, the unreality of it that concern me, not to mention that incessant bombardment of telling me what must be important to me.

First there were travel books. Then there were travelogues. These were shows given in a community by people who had just returned from long, well-planned and executed itineraries to places few ever went. As air travel became more affordable and as we became more affluent in time and money, the fascination of experiencing these places ourselves lured us to places farther afield. We lived the travelogue, bringing back photos and movies to prove it. Now there's the Travel Channel and the ability to surf the world on the Internet without having to exchange - or even spend - currency of any denomination.

This worries me.

Travel isn't clean or easy. Faith Popcorn addresses a trend that has us seeking maximum benefit and experience from minimal investment. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest we'd rather safely do a "virtual" bungee jump than actually do

it. Bungee jumping isn't on my "to-do" list, but everything that is deserves better than a sideline effort. Yet that's where the trend line appears headed.

The virtual world is seductive. It doesn't contain cancellations, lost luggage or rude encounters with strangers. Its insular quality offers guarantees the real world can't. But those guarantees trade high. Virtual travel feeds the senses with vapid memories, empty calories of captivation, an armchair voyage at arm's length. We don't learn anything until we learn that it isn't the destination but rather the journey that teaches us.

The journey is the benefit, whether it's to a beach in the Bahamas or Pikes Peak or Bust. No plugs or batteries are required. Lessons in tolerance are free. Life IS messy. Let it in. Enjoy the sights and sounds of a Third World open-air market. Observe life's individual and idiosyncratic ceremonies. Live a life not your own for at least moments. There's nothing virtual about real life … but then there's nothing as rewarding, either.

(Christine Hicks-Usta has enjoyed more than 30 years of globe-trotting as a member of the travel industry in various capacities. Direct questions to her at Bee Group Newspapers, P.O. Box 150, Buffalo, NY 14231-0150.)