Paper Tickets - Huh???

Paper tickets from RailEurope.com.

This is just silly.

I finally received our train tickets for Europe and they're a throwback to yesteryear. Paper tickets. In ticket booklets. What the hell am I going to do with these???

After years of flying around the world, suddenly I'm scared. These are tickets like we used to use years ago. Lose them and you're screwed. I've gotten so used to paperless e-ticketing that I no longer think about "bringing my tickets" with me. Gone are the days worrying about leaving your tickets on the desk.

Gone, that is, until you decide to take the train in Europe.

RailEurope does not currently offer ticketless travel. One must be issued and carry paper tickets with them for validation at the stations and to use in the railcars. Now I must concern and worry myself over not misplacing them for the next two and a half weeks until we leave, and then I must not lose them in the midst of traveling.

The world of electronic travel means that nowadays, I hardly even print itineraries out anymore. Sent electronically? I got the iPhone, just in case. Need a reservation number? I can pull it up on the phone and show it to the clerk. I barely even think about traveling or keeping track of documents. Soon, I'll have the passport chip embedded under my skin so I can simply sleep on a cot while being hand-carried through immigration.

So much for travel in two thousand ten...