I moved to Germany from the US, and I’d say that traveling is still very different from being at home in 2019.

With regard to connection reducing the adventure when traveling, how connected you are at any time can be a choice. Sure, back in the day you had no life line. But to me it’s a bit like free solo climbing (no ropes) vs lead climbing. Free solo is max adventure but the consequences are higher. It’s your choice in what you want the challenge to be. But if you really only care about challenging yourself on the climb itself and you don’t fall in either, was there really much of a difference? Having the safety net let’s you push harder and avoid being too conservative