Yes, you are old fashioned and, it seems, quite judgemental, too. I like to cycle and camp and I love nothing more than camping in a municipal camp site in France (often in the best locations) not just because of cost but because it is my way of letting go. There's nothing I enjoy more after a day's cycling than to lay out my map flat and see where I'm going and where I've been.
However I also like to have technology at hand, be that access to creature comforts like the internet or a cycle computer to record what I've done.
I have also bought a Kindle yet I still find it difficult to read a book unless I have a copy in my hand, that doesn't mean I don't think the Kindle is amazing.
Each to their own is what I say.
At least people on here are cyclists and, in my opinion, generally the friendliest type of person to bump into.
I sometimes find myself somewhat confused with the modern way of thinking by potential cycle tourist these days. On one hand they seek advice with regard to touring in the cheapest possible way. Then a few posts later they are seeking advice on buying all the latest electronic gismo, for navigation and comms, the total cost for these items are often into some hundreds of pounds.
In some cases more than the cost of the proposed tour if it is just a short few days that is proposed.
I appreciate that I come from a older era, where we toured both at home and abroad with just paper maps, and in the days international phone calls had to be booked a few days before, so a tour outside the UK meant we disappeared from our families until our postcards arrived from distance parts to tell them we were still alive at the time of posting.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti modern Electronic gismo’s I have my GPS and my Mobile phone,
I just worry that potential cycle tourist seem to worry too much about venturing out on tours feeling naked if they don’t have all the gismo’s. Any thoughts?