The thrill of tracking parcels

Spectator

6 days ago

Ordering things online can be a lottery. You can't touch, smell or taste the product you're buying, so it's hard to know whether you'll actually want it when it arrives. But we keep clicking anyway because it's more convenient than trudging to the shops and things are often cheaper.
For me, another reason to order online is the dash of childlike joy it brings to my to life when I click 'buy' and instantly set up a future treat. In fact, it's even better than childhood because now I can have a parcel to open any day I want, not just on birthdays and Christmas.
But most of all, I shop online because love tracking my parcel. Anytime I like, I can check in and see where my purchase is in the delivery process. And strange as it may sound, I get a thrill when I find out it's being packed, a fresh dopamine spike when I see the magic word 'dispatched', and then I'm gripped by following its journey across the country, countries or continents towards me. Sometimes I can track the package to within an inch of its life, even knowing which road the delivery van is on. The inner child gets even more excited.
I started to enjoy tracking during the Covid lockdown, when so many quiet hours stretched ahead each day and many of the little joys of life were denied us. It felt like the world had stopped turning so I loved being able to see where my latest parcel was and know that some sort of life was still going on out there.
But even as the world opened up again, I still got a kick out of tracking a parcel. It's a small, exciting distraction from the churn of life. As I open up the confirmation email and click on the link to find out what the latest news is, I sometimes feel more excited for the parcel's progress than for the oven mitts, novel or T-shirt it contains.
The journey can be as thrilling as opening the package itself. The premium tracking experience is for products sent from far, far away. A bansuri flute I ordered from India went through two Indian states and then stopped off in three different countries on its way to me. I enjoyed imagining my new musical friend sitting in the various airports, before it was whisked back into the air. Yes, lightning-fast Amazon deliveries from a nearby depot are convenient, but they're narratively dull compared to slower, more distant transactions.
When you buy something in a physical shop, you usually take possession of it right away. They pass you the product in a special bag and you carry it home. You don't get that with online shopping, but tracking the parcel's journey brings a different kind of satisfaction. It can feel almost regal to know someone out there is bringing you something you already own. Even if parcels get delayed for a little bit that's OK, because who doesn't love a plot twist? They (usually) show up in the end.
But there are downsides to online tracking, because when a parcel does go missing or get stuck somewhere, the inner child who set up that future treat can feel hurt beyond all proportion. We know not to take it personally, but it's really hard not to when we're so invested.
What a different world it was in the pre-internet era when you bought things through mail order. You'd fill in a coupon in a newspaper, magazine or catalogue, clip it out, walk to the post box and wave it off, with a cheque or postal order, to an essentially anonymous P.O. Box number.
Then you'd walk back from the post box and wait (and wait and wait). The standard delivery time was 28 days and there was no way of knowing where your package was in the shipping process, or even if it was being sent at all. The patience and trust involved would be unrecognisable to younger generations who've known only online shopping and next-day deliveries.
Nowadays, we don't have to trust because we can track. Then the parcel turns up – and although of course it's good to get the product you've paid for, its arrival on the doormat can be a little anti-climactic because that moment draws a line under all the excitement and intrigue of tracking. Sometimes, the chase is better than the catch.