Technology has quietly taken over travel. It sits in your pocket when you board a plane, checks you through immigration, finds your restaurant, pays for your coffee and, increasingly, tells you where to go next.
But just because something is clever doesn't mean it's useful.
Technology Reviews is where The Walking Critic tests the technology that increasingly shapes the way we travel, eat, cruise and spend money overseas. No breathless product launches. No five-star ratings because somebody has paid for a press release. And absolutely no pretending that an app is revolutionary because it has a shiny interface.
I look at the things travellers actually use — and ask the questions that matter.
Does that travel app really make your holiday easier? Is the latest translation technology genuinely useful when you're standing in a Tokyo restaurant? Can digital passports really save time at the airport? Is eSIM technology worth switching from your traditional SIM? Which travel apps are brilliant and which are simply another icon taking up space on your phone?
And then there is AI.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the way we plan travel. Instead of spending hours jumping between websites, travellers can now ask AI to suggest destinations, build itineraries, compare hotels, research cruise ships, translate menus, find restaurants and even reshape an entire holiday around a particular budget or interest.
But here's the catch: AI can be confidently wrong.
The Walking Critic will look at where AI genuinely improves travel planning — and where you should absolutely check the facts yourself. I'll test AI travel tools, compare their recommendations with reality and examine whether they actually understand the difference between a great hotel and one that simply has thousands of reviews.
And then there is money.
Digital currency, mobile payments, travel cards, cryptocurrency and foreign exchange technology are changing how travellers pay around the world. Some are genuinely liberating. Others are solutions desperately searching for a problem.
Cruise technology gets the same treatment. From wearable devices and digital boarding systems to shipboard apps, internet connectivity, smart cabins and expedition technology, I'll look at whether the technology enhances the experience — or simply gives you another screen to stare at while you're supposed to be looking at the ocean.
Visa and passport technology will also come under scrutiny, particularly as governments move towards digital visas, electronic travel authorisations, biometric processing and increasingly paperless borders.
The Walking Critic's approach is simple: technology should serve the traveller, not the other way around.
I'll test it, question it, compare it and, where appropriate, tell you to save your money.
Because the best technology is often the stuff you barely notice.
And the worst technology?
You'll know about it within five minutes of leaving home.
