Nailed it with this piece. Cannot stand the words content and content creators. I actually work in one of the largest tourist area in the US. Seeing the people daily not exploring their surroundings but looking at screens and looking for the perfect Instagram photo. Well done.
Thank you so much! It makes me really sad because taking videos of absolutely everything cheapens the memory - I fully believe things that are experienced without a phone camera stay with us longer - even if the details become fuzzy over time.
I loooove that description of “been to a lot of places” vs being well-travelled. Because travelling far is now much more accessible, it’s become like a checkbox and move on to the next place. I even notice people using checkboxes on to describe the cities they “hit” when travelling around a country.
So pleased to read more of your writing! And I love this post! My son sometimes reminds me to put my phone down and enjoy the moment. On holidays, I find taking a separate camera helps curb the urge to share and helps to foster real relaxation!
On a recent trip to NZ I took the tranzalpine railway, which is meant to be one of the most beautiful railway trips in the world (and pretty expensive). The amount of people on that train who spent the entire trip looking at their phone instead of outside was crazy to me. There was an open air viewing deck and for most of the trip it was only myself and one other person out there - not to set myself apart here because part of being out on the viewing deck was to take better photos ahaha, but still it really made me think about how consumable these experiences are to us now. Just a thing to tick and take photos of to prove we did it, but not even really seeming to care about the experience itself. Loved this piece!
Literally. I challenged myself to walk every day without whipping up my phone to snap beautiful pics, appreciating life and the scenery as they are. Yes I take some pictures of what I cook, eat, and places I visit, but I'm trying to exercise restraint from posting too much.
Hi Caoilainn, I found you via Berlin Writers group. Thank you for the piece, I really like your boldness in the several texts of yours I've already read, and I also like that I disagree at some points, so there could have been an interesting conversation as we explain what we really mean by these and these words and statements, and finally agreeing 😁
I'm thinking about this topic for several years. It all started with me growing up working class in USSR and earning generational grief of not being able to “see the world”. Then, after the iron curtain fell and some capitalism arrived, I felt pushed to do it because so many people couldn’t. It even felt as a moral choice, as a fuck-you to the repressive state, as a naive way to reach “friendship of the people” — before I found out that I am a product (see: AirBnb), a consumer (see: souvenirs), that locals sometimes see me as a walking wallet and sometimes as a reason they cannot afford an apartment in their city.
I still learned a lot and dismantled many false beliefs. My biggest insight was that people deep down are not too different everywhere, and I couldn’t have known it so viscerally without my travels.
I jokingly, but also not so jokingly, call my current emigration “a slow travel”, explaining that for getting to the right depth, one needs to master the language, participate in the boring local actions, not only see things through the camera. I sometimes need years to notice things. In my previous city, I’ve spent 15 years. Now, I’m 3 years deep in getting to know Berlin.
I am torn between saying “I don’t travel anymore and I think short-time travel is merely scratching the surface” and understanding how sometimes only a fraction of population of giant countries have foreign passport and have ever traveled abroad. Isolationism increases when all people around know only one “truth”. Also, longer travels stem from shorter, safer travels, and seeing at least something is better than not seeing anything.
I am okay with not traveling because of a privilege of having been to many places already, getting tired of it and focusing on what I have around. It might be the result of me traveling a lot previously that I’m content now without taking a flight somewhere. As well as not posting a lot now might be a result of me previously trying different things in blogging and reaching the saturation and looking for quieter things now.
(P.S. Love the lavender color of the blog design!)
Nailed it with this piece. Cannot stand the words content and content creators. I actually work in one of the largest tourist area in the US. Seeing the people daily not exploring their surroundings but looking at screens and looking for the perfect Instagram photo. Well done.
Thank you so much! It makes me really sad because taking videos of absolutely everything cheapens the memory - I fully believe things that are experienced without a phone camera stay with us longer - even if the details become fuzzy over time.
Exactly.!
Wonderful article!! Spot on!! There really is a difference between someone who’s “been to a lot of places” and a well-traveled individual.
Going to out-of-the-way/off-the-beaten-path places (both near and far) - and at off-season times - helps avoid the throngs of tourists.
Homestays or Airbnbs at a local’s home are also a great idea.
I have so many stories about neat and unique things I experienced because of either staying with or making an effort to talk to locals!
I loooove that description of “been to a lot of places” vs being well-travelled. Because travelling far is now much more accessible, it’s become like a checkbox and move on to the next place. I even notice people using checkboxes on to describe the cities they “hit” when travelling around a country.
beautiful! absolutely agree.
So pleased to read more of your writing! And I love this post! My son sometimes reminds me to put my phone down and enjoy the moment. On holidays, I find taking a separate camera helps curb the urge to share and helps to foster real relaxation!
Separate camera is such a good idea! Bring back camcorders! 🎥 And thanks so much Rachael 🫶🏻
On a recent trip to NZ I took the tranzalpine railway, which is meant to be one of the most beautiful railway trips in the world (and pretty expensive). The amount of people on that train who spent the entire trip looking at their phone instead of outside was crazy to me. There was an open air viewing deck and for most of the trip it was only myself and one other person out there - not to set myself apart here because part of being out on the viewing deck was to take better photos ahaha, but still it really made me think about how consumable these experiences are to us now. Just a thing to tick and take photos of to prove we did it, but not even really seeming to care about the experience itself. Loved this piece!
Literally. I challenged myself to walk every day without whipping up my phone to snap beautiful pics, appreciating life and the scenery as they are. Yes I take some pictures of what I cook, eat, and places I visit, but I'm trying to exercise restraint from posting too much.
Hi Caoilainn, I found you via Berlin Writers group. Thank you for the piece, I really like your boldness in the several texts of yours I've already read, and I also like that I disagree at some points, so there could have been an interesting conversation as we explain what we really mean by these and these words and statements, and finally agreeing 😁
I'm thinking about this topic for several years. It all started with me growing up working class in USSR and earning generational grief of not being able to “see the world”. Then, after the iron curtain fell and some capitalism arrived, I felt pushed to do it because so many people couldn’t. It even felt as a moral choice, as a fuck-you to the repressive state, as a naive way to reach “friendship of the people” — before I found out that I am a product (see: AirBnb), a consumer (see: souvenirs), that locals sometimes see me as a walking wallet and sometimes as a reason they cannot afford an apartment in their city.
I still learned a lot and dismantled many false beliefs. My biggest insight was that people deep down are not too different everywhere, and I couldn’t have known it so viscerally without my travels.
I jokingly, but also not so jokingly, call my current emigration “a slow travel”, explaining that for getting to the right depth, one needs to master the language, participate in the boring local actions, not only see things through the camera. I sometimes need years to notice things. In my previous city, I’ve spent 15 years. Now, I’m 3 years deep in getting to know Berlin.
I am torn between saying “I don’t travel anymore and I think short-time travel is merely scratching the surface” and understanding how sometimes only a fraction of population of giant countries have foreign passport and have ever traveled abroad. Isolationism increases when all people around know only one “truth”. Also, longer travels stem from shorter, safer travels, and seeing at least something is better than not seeing anything.
I am okay with not traveling because of a privilege of having been to many places already, getting tired of it and focusing on what I have around. It might be the result of me traveling a lot previously that I’m content now without taking a flight somewhere. As well as not posting a lot now might be a result of me previously trying different things in blogging and reaching the saturation and looking for quieter things now.
(P.S. Love the lavender color of the blog design!)
I whole heartedly concur with this, I love your writing and perspective, thank you Caoilainn.