When I wrote my first blog post, I wanted to start by outlining my perspective on travel. Travel is something that I not only enjoy but it’s something that also gives me a sense of fulfillment. It’s a lot more satisfying than any material object that I’ve bought or could buy in the future. When you travel often, your friends and relatives often ask you how your trip was. You narrate your story with excitement. Well, the world has now truly changed as we’ve all been sitting at home during this pandemic. With Social media, we’ve still been able amplify our voices and share our travel experiences with the world.
However, the key question to ask is whether social media has really killed the wonder and excitement about travel. Has the constant need to update everyone and the rampant need to measure your likability by the number of likes you get messed things up?
Real Travel Experience v/s Social Media Posts
Experiencing gorgeous Lake Tekapo
When someone asks me about my trip to New Zealand, yes, I tell them about my thrilling bungee jump at the home of bungee jumping. However, what I tell them is the experience that I remember. The experience of waking up early in the morning and walking around lake Wakatipu with a cup of coffee in hand.
My morning stroll by Lake Wakatipu. So much tranquility!
The experience of soaking in the sights and sounds of dawn while taking a walk by the lake. These sights and sounds leave you mesmerized and leave you wanting more. As much I love flying business class by using miles, it’s these experiences that I cherish and remember even more fondly.
Bungee Jumping in Queenstown
Skewed Goals
Once you start blogging, a lot more people in your social circle as you the question: “Where should I travel?”. I answer by looking to know more about that person’s preferences. Does he/she like big cities, or wildlife or beaches? Sometimes, the answers leave me rolling my eyes. As social media becomes a more integral part of our lives, more people end up planning travel in order to imitate an Instagram celebrity or influencer. The sense of wonder about the world is nowhere in the picture. It’s about capturing that moment and getting ‘liked’ on social media.
Social Media Celebrities
Whether you accept or deny it, social media has become a monster. Far too many people are determining how they feel by how many likes they get on social media. This has messed up our way or feeling fulfilled or satisfied. I’m sure many of you have that one friend who must’ve said this: “I really enjoyed that trip to Europe but my photo in Venice only got 20 likes.” Yes, that’s someone whose priorities are messed up. It’s no longer about the journey or the destination. It’s no longer about exploring a new country. The whole exercise has been reduced to the number of likes on social media.
Devices Everywhere
Devices are everywhere. Smart phones, laptops, smart watches, you get the drift. Have all these smart devices necessarily made us smarter? In the good old days, people used to write travelogues. Since almost everyone has a device these days, everyone can take pictures and videos.
How many times do you enter a popular restaurant and see people clicking pictures of food? For many people it’s not about savoring the taste of food, but about posting a nice photo on social media in order to get the Likes flowing in.
Filtering and Editing
At what point does reality stop being reality? We live in the era when fake news is a term. Are Instagram filters the fake news version of social media? Do they enhance the quality of the photo or alter it? More importantly, all these devices and media platforms divert us from the core reason to travel. It’s all about how quickly your post on social media and which filters you use. It’s devoid of reality but it’s what people like to see.
The Pundit’s Mantra
Obviously, I don’t expect everyone to have the same travel philosophy and goals. Everyone has their freedom to choose. The freedom to choose whether you want to want long-term gratification or short-term attention. I love to read posts by fellow bloggers where they describe their experiences in detail.
In the miles and points world, many of us already know how to book that business class seat or get that hotel upgrade. However, how many of us really want to write in detail about how we feel? Are readers just looking for the best deals, business class seats and luxurious hotel stays, or looking for a window into your experience?
What determines where you want to travel? Do you feel the pressure to post pictures on social media? Do you think bloggers should write more about how they feel as opposed to just writing about how to get to a particular place? Tell us in the comments section.
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Social media is what you make of it. I remember hiking to a small village in Himachal Pradesh, Pulga, which is located at 9000 feet approx. Its bang in the middle of the Fairy Forest (so named by the hippies who went there looking for hashish).
Yes, I took a lot of photos, but shared only one or two on social media. For me the photos are more about the memories they evoke when you look at them.
What I do share on social media is by pictures from the airport. I dont share it for the likes, but because I love airports and aircraft
A lot of this behavior has actually made me travel during off or shoulder seasons at most places. I once traveled to Goa a few years back during the monsoon season. While the rains were crazy, it was my best trip. The place was serene, quiet, the beaches were pristine, suite upgrades were easy.
As a mid 30s non-user of social media, I am blissfully unaware of the entire train wreck it seems to be. But, god, I see people taking 1000s of pictures everywhere, of everything now. I wonder who is looking at these?
I will say though, that it’s very clear social media panic ruined 2020. No better way for a herd of people to panic about a virus than to rely on social media to spread fear around.
What a dreadful invention social media is for humans.
Everyone seems miserable, no one talks about it in any positive ways.
I can’t imagine people are still using it. Why?
I hear you. It’s the immediate obsession to share everything on social media and getting the likes flowing that drives such behavior. Far too many popular tourist places end up becoming an overcrowded logistical nightmare because people are spending way too much time to get the perfect photo.
People are more concerned about getting the perfect “shot” for likes and follows than they are about being present and enjoying the moment. Case in point… I was in Morocco last year with a couple of friends and visited the YSL garden and it was an awful experience where people where forming lines and climbing over themselves just to take selfies. It was sad and pathetic.
Exactly, far too many instances of people falling off cliffs or drowning in the ocean while trying to take a selfie. People have skewed priorities, boggles the mind.