When I went backpacking around the world way back in the dark ages of, er, 2004, we did things properly. I packed a bag with the cheapest clothes I owned, a pair of hiking boots, plenty of Immodium and a Lonely Planet. I opened a few extra credit card accounts for good measure, said a not particularly teary goodbye to my loved ones and buggered off for the forseeable future. Just me and the world. (And, I was soon to discover, half the population of Ireland.)

I checked in with home maybe once every few weeks, just to assure my family I hadn’t been caught drug running/beheaded by rebels/drunk into an early grave by the Irish, but the internet was the last thing on my mind for 99% of the time.

However, over the course of the last couple of weeks in the hostels of Rio, I was amazed to discover that many of today’s backpackers have no intention of leaving the real world of home behind. No, these days it seems the done thing is to return from your day’s pursuits, whip the Eee PC out of your bag, and let everyone know that even though you’re in a rickshaw in Tibet you’re still going to update your Facebook status every seven minutes.

“David has got the trots. Can someone Sky+ Prison Break for me?”

It wasn’t just Eee PCs either, I saw at least a few Aspires and several rebranded Winds (it seems other countries have their Advent equivalents too – does anyone actually buy MSI’s version?). Some hostels had free WiFi, and it was a common sight to see those not from the alcoholic territories (that’s everyone but us and the Antipodeans) rather unsociably whiling away the evenings on MSN.

I’m torn by all this. The PC Pro part of me thinks if I travelled the world again today I’d take an Eee PC and do the whole professional and insightful blogging thing, a la Dave Stevenson.

But the non-PC Pro part of me (that’s basically just the little finger they cut off during my initiation) is appalled by the thought of being constantly contactable, and always up to speed with things at home. It goes against (for me at least) the great appeal of backpacking to faraway places.

Whatever your point of view, it’s certainly another interesting progression made possible by the rise of the ultra-cheap netbook. And seeing as one of my colleagues just expressed astonishment at discovering I haven’t checked my emails for two whole weeks, I imagine it’ll only get more common from here.

For the record, the picture above of Christ the Redeemer and his netbook is not real – it’s merely an incredibly convincing Photoshop mock-up. He begged me not tell his dad, but I can exclusively reveal the big JC’s Eee PC is actually – whisper it – black.