[QUOTE=djb;15522631]One aspect I suspect comes into play is the effect of the internet on all this....[QUOTE]

Your post resonated with me. I barely had Internet access leading up to my first tour in '99, and my only email account was through work. I lost that when I got "downsized" and was so Internet-ignorant that I was completely unaware of free email accounts through providers like Hotmail until someone on the tour clued me in. Even then I didn't get one until I got back home.

How in the world did I prepare for and then survive nearly 4 months on the road without having been able to ask questions like "Which tent?" and "How do you carry flip flops on a tour?," especially since I had never spent one night in a tent in my life.