4 Types of Internet Junkies That You Never Want To Turn Into When Travelling

What kind of traveller are you? Do you revel in the peaceful and quiet time away from your phone? Or do you have a penchant for hunting out whatever sources of internet you can find in a foreign land, just so you can reply to all your WhatsApp messages and work your fingers through scrolling Facebook? Yikes.

If you’re the former, then good for you! If the latter… Well… Let’s just say that wouldn’t make for a very good vacation, would it, with you being in a constant kan-chiong state from trying to dig out any source of Internet you can find, not to mention your travel buddies getting more than a little miffed at your addictive tendencies!

Check out these 4 types of Internet junkies you NEVER want to turn into during your travels. If you’re any one of the below, well let us tell you on behalf of your travel companions – it’s about time to stop!

Also read: What NOT to Do While Travelling

1. The Predators of Wi-Fi

Image credit: Alan Levine

“Excuse me, do you have Wi-Fi?” “Eh, what’s the Wi-Fi password ah?” “Eh look!! Free Wi-Fi!!!”

These are some of the more common phrases that you’ll hear from the mouths of these Predators. Always on the lookout, these people simply cannot help but scan their surroundings for their most favourite phrase: Free Wi-Fi. Once spotted, you can see them rapidly whipping out their mobile phones, and then – silence, as they happily retreat into their bubble of excessive Internet usage for long periods of time.

2. The Cafe Hoppers

Image credit: Stephen McCulloch

For them, nothing beats chilling on a comfy seat, sipping at their lattes, and watching the world go by… Or rather, taking endless photos of their food from all angles possible. Not to mention scrambling after the internet in the cafes to spam these photos to their friends. Think the hike you went for this morning was tough? Or that cliff diving moment you had the day before was death-defying? Well… Trust me, trying to eat your food before the Cafe Hoppers are done snapping up photos will be your most daring act yet.

3. The Email Enthusiasts

Image credit: Joi Ito

What do these people do every morning right after they wake up, and every night the minute they step into their hotel lobby?

Check their emails, duh. These Enthusiasts really, really love their jobs, and cannot imagine going a day – no, a second – without checking their emails for more work from their bosses, or firing rapid emails themselves to the poor souls at the receiving ends of these emails. It’s best to give these people as much alone time as possible when at hotels, just so they don’t snap at you when you guys are out.

4. The Gadget Grabbers

Image credit: Harsh Agrawal | www.callingallgeeks.org

Why do they need so many gadgets with them, anyway? Nobody knows. Best not to question though, lest they get irritated to no end as they try to juggle their multiple devices, and having to deal with your questions. Let them use their thousand and one devices in peace!

… Although, you’re going to have a pretty hard time dragging them away from their source of internet, especially when it requires quite a bit of packing up.

Also read: 10 Travel Hacks to Get a Truly Authentic Local Experience

So what kind of Internet Junkie unfortunately are you? Or are you the poor travelling companion of one of these types, constantly wondering how one can be so addicted to the Internet! Either way, maybe it’s best to just use data roaming instead, much more convenient and effective than any of those above methods, saving you a whole world of pain. Seriously, you really wouldn’t want to end up like any of the Internet Junkies mentioned.

And no, it won’t burn a mammoth hole in your pocket, especially if you sign up with Singtel’s DataRoam Daily 100MB Plan for only $10, or with its 1GB, $20, 30 Days ReadyRoam deal (available in South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, and Indonesia)!