Globalization Continues At a Scorching Pace!

On my recent visit to the USA that ended last month, I was pleasantly
surprised at the transformation that is taking place at various levels of
day-to-day life.

1. The ticket booking process was a very good learning and educative
experience using sites such as http://www.kayak.com/ and http://www.orbitz.com/. My choice was British Airways.
2. The process of online check-in including meal preferences, seat
selection and boarding pass generation was a very welcome and convenient
experience and a first for me in relation to international travel
3. I was most impressed and surprised to note the breadth of
entertainment services lined up on board the flight……obviously, it should
not come as a surprise that I watched three movies on one leg alone.

The whole experience made me realize the extent of of technology control
over our lives – especially the internet. I wonder how the future experience
would be, especially when internet access aboard the plane becomes a reality
and complimentary at that…interestingly, I came across two very interesting
crystal-gazing attempts at the future of air travel – one written by British
Airways and the other on Forbes. The thoughts they reflect really make me
wonder on the net effect of travel on the future traveller…that is something
I would love to witness.

Another phenomenon that I witnessed was the increased proliferation of
vegetarianism in the USA. This was not the case during my trip around 5
years back when a vegetarian meal availability was more of chance than
choice.

Now, every eating place has a good choice of vegetarian and healthy food
options -> a definitive transformation towards managing calories and
eventually health better. And yes, one cannot forget the C phenomenon.
Everything and everything is made in China, China and China. Their influence
is very dominant in our lives today (I realized their fooprint in India is
no less when I visited one of the local toy shops…they are definitely taking
over the world!)

This is clearly a case of an increasing pace of globalization that I have
been witness to.

One is coming across more and more of such examples on a daily
basis…..geography has surely become history!!