Where would we be without the internet? Remember when we had to find and then look up an encylopedia if we wanted to know something? When we had to write letters to our family and friends when we were away from home? When we read actual books as opposed to kindle and the like, and when our choice of clothes were what ever was in our local shops?
How life has changed, with it’s online conversations, friends and even dating. Recently I decided to use this wonderful time and money saving invention to book my family a summer holiday. I smiled as I opened my laptop, no standing in a travel agent queue, waiting as she tapped away at a computer before giving me a couple of choices as to where I’ll be going and then breaking it to me how much it would cost. No I’d have choice and I’d save myself a fortune.
Yes it all sounds so wonderful, but you know what… fast forward three weeks and I can tell you it’s not really that feckin great!
For three weeks I trawled, searched, the internet. How fussy are we? Well not at all actually.
Our request was simple, a resort we could fly to from Cork. 
Easy google a couple of airlines and see where they are flying to, put in dates, and number of passengers and hey presto see what is affordable. Yep how easy is that?
The reality… hours online googling flights by ryanair, aer lingus etc, trying to remember what the different flights cost. Mmmm not great prices so try changeing the dates to see if that would make any difference to cost. Excitedly discover two very cheap dates only to realise that would mean we were going on holiday for all of twenty four hours! Re enter dates and eventually hours later forget all I have googled so leave until the following day, after I buy a special holiday notebook to document everything.
Finally weeks later, after a total time of close to a million hours online my holiday is booked. I triumphantly told my gang it was done and they gathered to view where we were going.
Unfortunately I could only show them the airport, as I’ve only booked the flights. Here’s hoping after another couple of weeks we’ll make it past the airport.
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photo credit: Air New Zealand Boeing 747-475; ZK-SUH@LAX;18.04.2007/463mo via photopin (license)
My thoughts on a page. 
best of luck with your trip and i get so frustrated trying to book airlines online that it makes me even need a vacation that much more! )
Thanks Beth, the sooner it’s all booked the better. Every year I swear never again and then…
Sounds like too much work to me.
You and me both Deb.
Ahhhh…..the benefits of having the husband do all of this!!!! 😉
Sadly mine is worse than useless in that department, and no matter how often I will tell him where we are going he will tell people we are off to Lanzarote as he always does, even though we have never gone there 🙂
Okay….I laugh at your husband’s wit. 🙂
I always book on-line, but you are so right that it isn’t as easy as it should be. You’ll have to give us a final analysis after your vacation:)
Hopefully I’ll get time this week to find a place to stay. I’m always last minute, but sure it works out in the end.. fingers crossed.
Holidays are an example of how companies have taken advantage of the internet to make things stupidly complex for the consumer, I think. Probably with the intention of getting us to spend more money than we need. But are there not on-line travel agents? If not, there should be.
Time poverty is my biggest problem, and the internet can provide instant locations for items that I could spend days searching for in the shops. Days I simply don’t have. A new laundry pen was the latest example…
I’ve never used online agents (not sure if they exist) and hate going through this madness every year, but thankfully nearly there only another crazy amount of hours left to book accommodation. 🙂
Yep. We were talking about this last night – about booking a trip to Australia in Trailfinders about fifteen years ago, and how nice it was to just walk in and get it all done. The internet is great but sometimes I miss the good old days 🙂