Traveling in Spain has made me realize just how interconnected the world has become. Due to work, I barely had any time to plan anything beyond buying a plane ticket and booking rooms. However, I realized that today’s traveler only needs two things: a credit card and an iPad.

It’s amazing how the credit card has effectively reduced the need for hard currency and conversion. I showed up with almost no Euros and have been able to get around thanks to a 0% foreign transaction fee Visa card. If I do need Euros, my debit card can get them for far lower cost than normal foreign exchanges. Credit card penetration in Western markets definitely now has reached a point where it’s reliable to depend on credit cards and I wonder what China must be like now (4 years since I’ve been). I remember having had to lug around wads of cash to get by. At a local restaurant, I was fascinated to find that they would bring out a portable credit card terminal to my table to charge me, and I now wonder whether Square will soon come to dominate other parts of the world with new merchant types with its beautiful credit card processing system. The world really is becoming one giant market for some companies.

The iPad has been an incredibly useful guide. With a 3G connection, I was able to download a few traveling apps on my way to Spain. When I landed and connected to 3G, it was like watching magic. Any fears of being lost disappeared. Compared to my trip to China a few years ago where I had no Internet when I landed, I was well prepared in how to get around town. 3G has truly reduced the friction in traveling and has made the world a little less intimidating, at least for me.