The internet changes travel, like everything else

I have (sheepishly) done the unthinkable: booked rooms for most of the first half of my trip. I feel so unadventurous.

In the old days, before HostelBookers.com and the like, grungy backpackers knocked on the doors of the cheap hostels and asked whether they had any available rooms. If a room had no peep holes in the walls or bloodstains on the sheets (bed bugs), you took it. Part of the adventure was trudging up and down the streets looking for a place to spend the night. Travelers swapped recommendations and horror stories about the hostels.

Now the recommendations and horror stories are online, and you can see pictures of places you might want to stay (or not). And you can book a bed in advance over the internet. And, abandoning all street cred, I have. Here is the place I'll be staying in Kuala Lumpur when I arrive.

My excuse is that I want a private room, not a 20-bed dorm with people coming and going at all hours. Private rooms are scarce (at a super-cheap price, at least). After a long day seeing the sights in the tropical heat, I want to be sure I have a little privacy. Maybe I've become a flabby old curmudgeon, but I don't want to listen to the drunken conversations of a bunch of 20-somethings in the beds next to mine.

When I get there,we'll see whether this new world of planned travel feels too restrictive. I've left the last part of the trip unfettered, so a little of my self-respect can remain intact.