Have tech, will travel: Why the phone is now essential when travelling

THE stallholder couldn’t understand a word I was saying.

I’d been browsing around the Bretxa Market in San Sebastian, trying to buy some of the Basque country’s wonderful cured meats to take home. But my Spanish — awful, at best — was falling flat on its face.

Specifically, I wanted to know whether the meats would keep on the plane. After several minutes of pointing, gesticulating and repeating ‘frío’ (cold) in various accents, I had a mini ‘Eureka’ moment. I whipped out my iPhone, called up Google Translate, typed in what I wanted to say, and showed the Spanish translation to the lady.