Insight
agency. The latter being places where staff would help
you from behind a counter, sending you home with a
stack of glossy travel brochures for exotic resorts to
peruse, and then you’d come back another day so they
could book your entire vacation for you. And then there
was the gas station attendant who didn’t just fill your
car’s gas tank, but also checked your oil and, before
you realized it, had cleaned your windshield. Even the
airline staff who check you in for your flight are
becoming a rarer breed. You choose your seat on the
plane from your computer, just like your seat for a
movie or concert. No more lines at the box office,
because you have already printed out your ticket. Or
you can show them an image on your smartphone—it
doesn’t get much easier than that. >Traveling through the wind and rain for that new pair of
sneakers used to be a requirement, if we wanted them
right away. These days, you don’t even have to get up
from your comfy chair to get what you want. No more
worries about opening hours, because online stores are
open 24/7. A quick search on Google for the best deal,
enter your credit card number, and voilà: With a little
luck, your package might even arrive that evening or
the next morning.
TRAVEL AGENCY BROCHURES
It’s actually bizarre how quickly we’ve become
accustomed to this new reality, and have so easily
forgotten how it used to be. Anyone in their 20s has
probably never seen the inside of a bank or a travel
These days, we take care of nearly everything ourselves
online. At first it seemed to save time, but we’re not so
sure now. Journalist Anneke Bots finds out how to keep
all that ‘shadow work’, as it’s known, manageable.Shadow Society