by Alex Vishnevsky

A twenty-five-year-old colleague taught me the words “step away”. I used to know the words and they meant quite a specific thing to me, but suddenly it turned out that my colleague and his friends use it like this: “I’m stepping away to London for a week”, “We stepped away to Hong Kong.” The words seem to be very important: it is not about the new lingo, but about the new logic of travelling, and I like this logic.

First, “to step away” means to leave the place you’re used to – but not totally, not all-the-way. It sounds more like “stepping away to fetch some ice-cream“ – just around the corner, as if you never really left. And it seems right to use these words because the first thing the new generation cares about is not the hotels or restaurants but the Internet. Stable, cheap Internet with no need to constantly search for wifi, – they, for example, get a single SIM-card that works all over the world: you arrive to your destination, get off the plane, answer some messages, do some check-ins and rush into the city. You did not go anywhere, You just “stepped away” for a week.

Secondly, the “new generation” of travelers almost does not use hotels but it uses Aibnb, coaching, apartment exchanges – anything but boring rooms and trivial breakfasts. And this is also about the new way of thinking: when they come to the city they want to live the life of the city, and not the faceless average life of an international tourist.

Thirdly, they do not carry huge bags with them. In their logic, a normal person flies in a T-shirt, a pair of jeans and some sneakers, buys three more t-shirts and a toothbrush right at the airport and does not think about all this anymore. This generation is accustomed to the fact that the world is global, that they can find almost everything anywhere they need it, and, most importantly, that their clothes should be clean, but there’s no need to find anything special for a dinner or an office meeting. That tradition is almost dead. That’s why they “step away” to any part of the world as free people with almost nothing to carry onboard.

Fourth, they do not even think about currency exchange: they do not withdraw cash and do not change cash, because they pay with cards or apps. Always, for everything, everywhere. And, by the way, about the apps: before a trip to an unfamiliar city they do not ask friends and forums “what to see” or “where to eat”, but “what apps to install”. Each city has its own transportation, food, music, and you need to live by it, and not by outdated guidebooks (even electronic ones).

And, finally, they do not relate to traveling as to something out of the ordinary: for them to “step away” to Luxembourg or to Taiwan is a normal part of life. They know that any city can become their next place of life, work, love – or just remain a good memory: stepped away, came back.

The other day, my colleague, the one who taught me the expression “to step away”, returned from Chicago. He stayed there for two weeks, did not use any vacation days (‘Why bother’, he told me, ‘I was always in touch’), he exchanged apartments with two unfamiliar girls who wanted to see his native San Francisco, and a small backpack was quite enough for him. He said that he considers working there for a couple of years: “It’s a good city for me,” he said. I’ve never been to In Chicago but I  want to. Do you know what app should I install before going there?