OOPS #15: A Holiday ViewPoint
OOPS (Outspoken Older People Subverting) is a series of occasional reflections on the business of getting older — what catches us by surprise, what makes us think, and what seems to matter more with each passing year. In this guest blog, WIGO member Martin Walker reflects on a holiday in Norway and an unexpected realisation: that in a world increasingly designed around technology, it is often the simplest human interactions that matter most.
This is the view from where I’m staying tonight.
I’m in Norway. My wife Ellen’s 60th birthday is coming up and she wanted to see the fjords — but not from a cruise ship. So here we are. Watch this space; there is more to come.
It’s been a while since I’ve flown, and we travelled from Manchester to Oslo.
What struck me almost immediately was how little we interacted with other people.
Signposting was often a challenge and we felt quite lost at times. There was hardly anyone around to ask for help.
I’d checked in online before leaving home. We printed our luggage labels at an automated kiosk and dropped our bags at an automated bag drop. Boarding passes lived on our phones, leaving us mildly anxious about battery life. We even ordered a meal before the flight using a QR code, and it simply appeared at our table with barely a word exchanged.
At the airport hotel, we checked in online and collected our room key from a lobby kiosk. We switched on our eSIMs and carried on using our phones as though we had never left home.
After a brief interaction at the car hire desk, we set off in a very impressive Volkswagen electric car. Even charging it on the drive to Vågåmo proved remarkably straightforward.
Efficient. Seamless. Convenient.
And yet, strangely, rather depersonalised.
So it was a real pleasure to arrive at our accommodation and be greeted by our hosts with a warm conversation, practical advice and an introduction to the area.
And here I am, halfway up a mountain with full 5G reception, reflecting on how we choose to live and how quickly the world around us is changing. Increasingly, we have little choice but to adapt.
Both Ellen and I found ourselves thinking about our ageing parents. They would probably have struggled to navigate much of this technology and might still be trying to work out how to check in for their flights.
“The challenge is not choosing between technology and humanity. It is making sure we don’t lose one in our enthusiasm for the other.”
It reminded me how important information, advice and support are when systems become complicated. Technology can make things easier, faster and more empowering. But when people are trying to navigate unfamiliar situations, community and human connection still matter enormously.
Care and support are, at heart, people businesses.
The pace of change in our society has really struck me over the last couple of days. As we continue to embrace new technologies, we need to make sure we keep people firmly at the centre. Innovation matters. Efficiency matters. But so do reassurance, conversation and the simple experience of being helped by another human being.
The challenge is not choosing between technology and humanity.
It is making sure we don’t lose one in our enthusiasm for the other.
