Temptations of Technology

After reading Elliott's article you realize his main concern is the over using of technology while traveling.  He challenges the reader by showing how the experiences you want to take in while traveling are destroyed by the way technology has evolved society.  It made me think about how most people put up pictures from their trips and update there Facebook's  for the sake of their outlook and for the people looking at their profile.  It seems as if it is more important to have everyone else envy your traveling experience through Facebook then one actually enjoying and taking advantages of the experience itself.
My purpose for going to Australia and New Zealand is to live up the expectations of the trip. But not only to do that but challenge myself on strive to learn more and more as every experience and chance to acquire knowledge is given.  My purpose is to go and meet the natives from the land and ask them about the history and the myths they were told.  I want to go there and not only compare and contrast the what I have already researched but really challenge myself to get everything I can out of this voyage to Australia and New Zealand.
After reading this article there was one quote that really caught my eye it was when Elliott said "technology isn't really the issue.  But too much of it is.  It trivializes travel, turning it from a much-needed, multisensory recreational experience into fleeting and utterly forgettable entertainment"(22).  It really shows that technology is not needed but abused.  This article really opened my eyes and changed my mind on how much technology should actually be used.  I think that half the time the technology is used it is more of a distraction then necessary. This article really shows how society is wrapped around society to where we even have started saying "there is an app. for that!" We are no longer spontaneously exploring and finding the hidden treasures in traveling, we are looking on the internet for the best rated tour and for the five star restaurant. 
I do think there should be boundaries for the use of technology for the class.  I know the rule is set to where we cannot use a cell phone unless of an emergency or after "school hours", meaning at night while in our hotel rooms.  I think that there should be rules to Facebook and Twitter and basically all connection to home life other then our parents.  At first there will be complaining but in the end I think everyone will have respect for the rule because instead of wasting their after hours time on Facebook they could have been journaling or looking through pictures or just bonding with their roommates.  All the unnecessary  use of technology can wait until we arrive back in the United States.  We should be living the trip to the fullest and I think that all the technology would do is hold us back from a hidden adventure.