Abstract
Based on a content analysis of textual data containing people’s ideas to use wearable computing devices, this paper identified five patterns of personal motivations to use wearable devices for travel and tourism experiences. They are exploration, adventure tourism, travel documentation, travel reporting, and positive transformation. These patterns suggest a potential transformation in tourists’ behaviour due to perceived new ways of interactions with technology and with the near surroundings. The different features and functionalities that are unique to wearable technology trigger changes in three areas: the shift from tourists to explorers, an explosion of first-person visual travel narratives, and more social travel supported by real-time connectivity. Further, the findings also suggest a potential shift in terms of how personal technology is situated in human experience, from mediation to embodiment.