What is wrong with people that they would rather stay home than go on a vacation? Society has taken a very, VERY, bad turn according to this study, and is missing out on actual real life fun due to the dependence on the stranglehold of the internet.
A survey of 2,000 American adults has found that 49% of those would consider having no access to the internet while on vacation as disaster; 54% said lost luggage would be a disaster; food poisoning was 47%; bad weather 47%; and a lost credit card was 44%; getting sick 40%; lost passport 40%, bad location 43%; plumbing issue 38%; and a lost reservation 33%.
3 in 4 Americans consider WiFi access in their vacation destination to be an absolute must have, for more perspective only 61% said air conditioning was essential and 53% said laundry service was needed. The internet is more important than the AC, weather, food poisoning, getting sick, being in a bad location, having a reservation, and having a credit card, that is just wrong, priorities are way out of whack.
Having access to a television also rated as being very important, especially when children are involved. Participants reported asking children to watch the TV within a half hour of reaching their destination, and 4 in 10 reported that their children wouldn’t last 15 minutes without the TV.
On average participants reported asking for the hotel/resort WiFi password within 27 minutes of arriving at their destination; 42% were even more needy and dependant on the internet and asked for WiFi access within 15 minutes of arriving. 48% reported forgetting to log out of their online accounts before heading back home, as they made it a priority to keep up with their favorite apps even while on vacation.
Going on a vacation is to relax, unwind, and have fun. Is society becoming so obsessed and reliant on the internet that they need it to tell them how and when they can have fun? Why do we have to be attached at the hand to mobile devices? Put down the device and enjoy being in the here, now and real life present, there is a whole world out there to explore, even more so when on vacation. Go have fun and create some memories, every moment does not have to be online. Break the addiction, if only for a few moments.
There is something to be said for privacy. One day soon people will want their 15 minutes of privacy, yes you read that right, not fame, privacy, and reliance on mobile devices/internet will be the cause.
