Parting is such Tweet sorrow - Let's disappear from it all, we said.

Let's put time and miles between us and the stresses and strains of London, we said.

Let's explore new places and new ways of thinking, we said.

Let's escape, we said.

Little did we know that two words would leave us completely communicado, in touch with everything we might want to know and every Spam email we didn't.

Yes. Free Wi-Fi.

In a way that UK major conurbations and some of its telecoms companies and meeting/eating places don't yet seem to have grasped, free wi-fi in Asia is a hygiene factor. Just as you wouldn't expect to pay separately for a chair at a restaurant table, so too should you be able to access your data on the Internet for free.

First off, we're uploading this sitting in bed at 4,200 metres overlooking the Khumbu Glacier just two days walk from Everest Base Camp. That's nuts.

Secondly, we stayed in a remote village in Flores, East Indonesia, which had one hostel (though we hesitate to say that the bedroom had either a bed or a room), no restaurants, no shower and the post was collected once a month. But it still had free access to the super wireless broadband highway. The canny guesthouse, cafe and bar owners over here realised very quickly that this is how you draw the punters in. Especially the news-hungry, photo-downloading, email-addicted travellers.

And it works. Those are the establishments where people spend their Rupiahs, Dong and Kwai. And it's not only the traveller purse, thanks to global adoption of mobile devices. Heck, according to the Kathmandu Post, even Indian MPs are getting lessons on how to use an iPad 2 to make the most of the growing connectivity.

On one hand, it's made travelling incredibly easy. Pack yourself an iPhone, iPad or NetBook and it's Mail Online all the way. Near-daily email exchanges. Chats over Skype and Viber. Regular reading of the BBC and, when you crack through The Great Fire-Wall of China, those all-important Facebook updates. Firing a quick email to your next hostel to confirm you're on your way. Checking out a restaurant on TripAdvisor before you go in (using their wi-fi of course). The next blog update just an iPhone app away.

For the comms world, it's a joy. O2 can still text us news about bundles when we're in Cambodia. Lloyds can tell us about new product developments when we've moved to Vietnam. Confetti can brief us on hot honeymoon deals when we're in SW China. QPR can still sell us cheap match tickets when we're in Tibet. Facebook can still push wrinkle cream at us (well, Nicola) in Nepal.

There's no customer detachment, and perhaps we're actually more likely to listen and remain brand-loyal as we're being bombarded with less electronic noise (and will be on the lookout for budget options on our return!).

Perhaps wireless fidelity can lead to high fidelity when away from your normal, daily life.

On the other hand, it's made it much harder to escape into remoteness. Connectivity means less chance to disconnect from life. Over here, wireless actually means plugged-in, and definitely not tuned out. We must admit that it's been disappointing to be so well-connected. Never having to utter "I wonder what's going on at home". Just as it's been a little bit disappointing to have regular access to Dove shampoo, Snickers bars, Nivea deodorant and H&M, we hadn't realised how deeply and remotely free wi-fi had penetrated. As one of Nicola's favourite Vietnamese sayings cites: "Before you can seek new horizons, you must first have the courage to lose sight of the shore." Many times, we've therefore had to actively choose to switch off all devices to leave thoughts of London shore in the bottom of our rucksacks, to have those obligatory Traveller Philosophical Thoughts (TM).

But it's never long before curiousity gets the better of us and we take a peek at the footy scores, the Economist lead or what Suri is wearing this week.

And, after all, curiousity is the traveller's chief motivation, wireless or not.