I used to be an avid amateur photographer and took a backpack full of gear anytime I’d visit tourist sites or anywhere cool. After a few years I stopped altogether because it dawned on me that I was missing the experience entirely. Now I just snap a few pics with my phone and try to enjoy the experience. Never did it for social media cred though.
See, I think that's cool. It's like a hobby or craft that you're invested in. It feels different from taking lame photos with your smart phone just for the cred.
I'm the same way. It's hard to explain to loved ones why I take so many pictures of fucked up industrial buildings 10 minutes from my home, but don't bring any cameras with me when I travel.
When I'm in a new place, I want to be present within that place.
I likewise used to bring a backpack full of gear, but I think the experience of traveling and taking pictures over and over again with the Big Nice Camera did a lot to hone my skills as a photographer.
I have photos I’m genuinely happy with, years later.
I feel like taking pictures is a fun experience in itself. For me, it isn't really "missing the experience". If anything, it makes me pay more attention to the amazing view and details that I'd have otherwise missed as I try to line up the shot perfectly.
I feel the same way, though I recognize it’s possible for me to get too caught up in taking a photo to appreciate the full breadth of a scene. Like everything, some balance is appropriate
You haven’t truly experienced an exceptional vantage point until you hear the influencer next to you say to his cameraman “Does my hair look windswept and interesting?”
It's imitation, I think. Influencers traveling for clout isn't exactly new, and they got it from existing conventions on social media. So now everybody feels compelled to do the same, or they'll have something to explain.
Maybe they don't like swimming. I don't. However it's really rare that I end up on a beach. Four times in the last 7 years? The first beach of them really deserved some pictures.
Was recently in Borneo, picked up a magazine in an accommodation, read an article about how traveling nowadays needs to be documented and is about experience as much as your feeds... I... felt old.
I think that in some cultures it's even more than others, for example I often saw hordes of Chinese tourists (but there are of course simply a lot of Chinese people) take turns in front of a waterfall (on flip flop or even heels), have some pics taken and go back to the bus.
I also visited food-markets and saw food stalls with large lines of people, where as some had hardly any people waiting, I ask: Why this stall? "It's popular on Chinese social media"... One by one they snapped a pic as the cook made their meal, and waited for >30 mins to do so.
People ask me when I travel (with family usually): Where is your Polarsteps? My what now? (Yeah yeah I know what it is I just pretend I don't.)
Amazing.
Edit: Also amazes me that many people told me: "Wow 5 weeks in Malaysia, you could have done Thailand, Vietnam, etc, etc as well!" Well yeah but I like to take some days to explore and not rush and get to know a nice restaurant and eat there again and rent a scooter or bike and drive around a bit. And sleep 2 nights in some small village that doesn't have a large temple or something and eat a great meal there for 2 euros, made by people that are very proud that you as a tourist sat down at the place and don't accept any tip. Moreover, there is a boatload of cool stuff in every country, to me this country hopping just adds travel time, not much more. Next time we'll visit another country, and if not, I still rather experience one country more deeply.
I really didn't know about Polarsteps. It's been a while since my last long journey. I used to select some pictures when I got back home and upload them to both my website and Facebook (the only time in the year I still used FB.) I also sent a few pictures to some friends of mine on WhatsApp when I was still travelling.
Notably, Chinese tourists have been notorious in Asia for decades (long before social media) for travel being very focused on, ahem, performative status seeking. It’s a big part of why counterfeit goods are such a big deal.
The ‘sweet smile in front of the camera, obsessive competitive behavior when no one is looking’ is a huge thing culturally.
> hordes of Chinese tourists (but there are of course simply a lot of Chinese people) take turns in front of a waterfall (on flip flop or even heels), have some pics taken and go back to the bus
In the early 90s in my region in southern europe we'd joke that the only Chinese tourists you'd see would be referred to as "5min for photo". They always only needed 5mins to get out with camera, snap pics, get back in. This is not a new phenomenon.
I really doubt there were any Chinese tourists outside China in the early 90s, they didn't (yet) have the purchasing power to travel to Europe, seems you are confusing them with Japanese, who were known for this behaviour
"Polarsteps is a popular travel planning, tracking, and sharing app that automatically plots your route on an interactive world map using your phone's GPS. It functions as a digital travel diary where you can add photos, videos, and stories, letting family and friends follow your journeys in real time."
for people like me who dunno about this secret, seems basically like Travelblog.org with few extra features
> article about how traveling nowadays needs to be documented and is about experience as much as your feeds... I... felt old.
this has nothing to do with nowadays really, people were documenting their travelling and sharing it with family/friends since invention of camera, personally I take photos to serve as my memory, not really to share them, I may share them through whatsapp private chats with my parents and maybe 1-2 friends who could find them interesting, in past I've had travel blog/diary as well, but certainly didn't visit any place or take any photo for my readers
> I often saw hordes of Chinese tourists (but there are of course simply a lot of Chinese people) take turns in front of a waterfall (on flip flop or even heels), have some pics taken and go back to the bus.
Japanese were doing this decades ago before Chinese, it's just that Chinese now have money (unlike Japanese who can less and less aford to travel abroad) and there is lot of them, so they just replaced Japanese doing this superfast photo tours (at least in Europe)
> I also visited food-markets and saw food stalls with large lines of people, where as some had hardly any people waiting, I ask: Why this stall? "It's popular on Chinese social media"... One by one they snapped a pic as the cook made their meal, and waited for >30 mins to do so.
again, nothing new, Lonely Planet guidebooks had same effect in past and for me they were pretty good list of places to avoid for accommodation/food
> Wow 5 weeks in Malaysia, you could have done Thailand, Vietnam, etc, etc as well!" Well yeah but I like to take some days to explore and not rush and get to know a nice restaurant and eat there again and rent a scooter or bike and drive around a bit.
5 weeks for mainland Malaysia is really a bit much, KL needs few days to city sightseeing and enjoy food, cameron highlands few days to do hiking, penang again few days to enjoy food, history and hiking, perhentian islands few days to snorkell and enjoy beach and you cover pretty much everything without repeating same stuff, <2 weeks in very very laidback pace for these 4 locations considering Malaysia is compact and there are cheap/fast air tickets/buses, I also don't like to rush, but not everyone has months long vacation or gap year to travel so people wanna see as many places as possible, so I can understand them, I spent travelling around SEA around year, but still can't imagine spending 5 weeks in row in Malaysia or basically any other country besides China (not in SEA, but neighbor), I would get bored
We also did Borneo (10 days) as well. But still we didn't even do the east coast yet, so getting bored while hopping around a country for 5 weeks makes me question what you do when you're not traveling...
(Btw, the trip was: KL, Kuala Kubu Bahru, Taman Negara, Cameron Highlands, Penang (GeorgeTown and then the west of the island), south Borneo - Kuching (2 national parks), North Borneo - near Sandakan (see Uran Utangs/Sunbears), Kinibatagan River, Jungle near Seremban, via KL to Pankhor island, back to KL. Bored? Not so much. I want to go back for the things we skipped and people were enthusiastic about.)
"and you cover pretty much everything without repeating same stuff"
you can see only so many "different" (as they say in TH SSBD) temples/mosques, beaches, jungles within same country especially if you are on tight time schedule, that's why I understand someone picking one beach destination, one food destination, one historical destination, one hiking/jungle destination and rather try each of these in two different countries rather than trying 3 of each within same country, if someone has limited time
btw. if by Pankhor you mean Pankgor island it's pretty bad quality by Malayisan standards (been there to my disapointment while having too much time and visiting less touristy places in MY), east coast has far superior quality, there is reason why people never heard about Pangkor rather than Perhentian islands or Langkawi or Tioman
and I forgot in my main MY destinations Melaka, I've been obviously to more (forgetable) Malaysian places which is why I understand why someone choose only few, same as I've been to some islands most of the people visiting Thailand never heard of (e.g. Ko Jum, Ko Chang (west coast)), but there is usually good reason why people never heard of them
If by Pankgor you mean Pangkor ;) then we only picked it because it was a drive away from KL. Indeed we got the impression that east coast + perhentian islands were something we missed. Ah well there are constraints in every journey, and you learn while traveling (another argument for going longer, or coming back ;)).
Overall Thailand is still my fav (with pearls like Koh Samet and Koh Phi Phi, we also had a wonderful time in Khoa Sok national park. But back then we skipped the entire north, and still felt like 1 month was too little), Vietnam had filthy beaches and generally a less good vibe, but we skipped the north there as well, that was probably a mistake. But I loved the food and people of Malaysia, most relaxed trip so far, just the kindest of people everywhere.
Malaysia is SEA Lite, it's basically West (at least the mainland part, never been to Borneo) compared to rest of the SEA
yeah, one of the most memorable experiences from my numerous stays in Thailand was doing multi-day Mae Hong Son loop on motorbike (it was really old semi-auto Yamaha or Honda, like 70s or 80s), highly recommended, Pai area is amazing, Chiang Mai is also interesting place, can't say same about the other two Mae, also Kanchanaburi area is one of my favorite places in TH where I've been numerous times and my personal favorite island is Ko Phangan, spent there few weeks on many ocassions (never been interested in FMP though)
agree with Vietnam, not very friendly country, didn't do much in north besides Hanoi (OK), Ninh Binh (great for motorbiking, though worse than Yangshuo in China or Vang Vieng in Laos), Halong Bay is nice but way too touristy, NB was nice empty
some people find it blasphemy - but I would say Malaysian cuisine (great mix of Malay, Indian and Chinese cuisine) is the best in SEA (especially in Penang) even compared to Thai, filipino probably the worst, might as well eat food at home in Europe (though their cakes in small bakeries in every street are great), Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos about same meh
by my experience higher the elevation, friendlier the people (same appliest to basically every SEA country I visited), the kindest/friendliest people I've met anywhere in SEA were in Dieng Plateau, but if I had to pick up the country Philipines would be by far nr. 1 in friendliness, Malaysia would be nr. 2 I guess, Vietnam would be on the opposite end, Thai people (at least in contact with tourists) are usually very fake, though I've had also many nice interactions with them (usually when no money is involved)
René Girard's theories on mimetic desire come to mind, even though I sometimes thing his thought was not as universal as some assume.
Maybe he was just describing a sickness of self-domesticated humans, or even Neoteny (babies need attention more...) finding a way to evolutionary adaptation but with large side-effects and massive selective wastage.
Or maybe resource constraints and competitive pressure within some societies make it a rational strategy to accumulate pictures of a 3 weeks' restful holiday in a one-week selfie-stick scramble.
Before social media, they would be taking photos (and later videos) just the same. In fact, before they became ubiquitous in phones, people used to buy cameras (and extra film) specifically for the purpose of using them in their travels.
People used get together to show their vacations as slide shows with a projector to family and friends and make a "party" out of it. If they were really fancy, they might have even had 8mm motion film to show. It always felt really strange to me then as a bit of bragging and showing off. I was told it was a bit of living vicariously through other's adventures, but it just felt weird to me. Maybe that's why watching other people on social media gives me the same creepy vibe.
Look at it this way: would those four out of ten people have visited those places if they weren't allowed to take any photos or videos? And how many would do a thing if they weren't allowed to tell anyone afterwards?
Tell me you’re Gen Z without telling me you’re Gen Z.
No, it was not always thus. People would take a camera or a disposable camera, sure, but it wasn’t the focus - it was “oh we should grab a photo for aunt Mabel”. And you’d have 30 shots. For the entire trip.
I travel to tourist sites to take the exact same photo that is taken thousands of times every day because I have an above-average camera so I can take better quality photos than most other people lol
If I'm a hundred meters away from a tourist site that I'm not overly interested in but can snatch a quick picture to send to friends? Well sure. I'd admit to that.
I visited the world's largest paving stone in Brussels to grab a picture for a friend who had told me about it.
> For 18% of respondents, an obsession with photos and social media can be considered a red flag when choosing a travel companion.
This is the number that surprised me. I'd thought that would be much higher.
Yeah, it does, as this behaviour was unknown previously. A camera was an accessory, not the focus of your trip.
Amazed by the number of kids on this thread going “but it’s always been like this!” - much like they always assume I had social media as a kid. In the 80s.
point is still same, they visit the site not for the interest in site itself, but to take the photo and that's pretty stupid reason to visit any site, though yeah "mainly" is doing there some heavy lifting
Every so often I see a news article about an instagram influencer that literally like, rolls off the side of a volcano while trying to capture "content", and I think to myself "well, I'm not surprised".
The nice thing about others taking photos, is that I can focus on the odd ones. I have photos of really well made knots on a guiding rope, and street gutter stones.
You wanna see what Venice looks like in general? Just go on Tiktok; they have better equipment anyway. You wanna see, up close, the nicely carved gutter stones that handles water without breaking the stone pattern? I'm your photographer.
If you do take a long-distance trip, the easiest way to cut carbon impact is to just not post about it. Social networks feed the envy that drives consumerism.
Let people enjoy things. If people want to visit a place, take some photos, and leave, then I don't believe that's morally inferior to someone who visits the same place but doesn't take photos. People enjoy tourist destinations differently and that's fine.
At this point, I'm more annoyed by the people who make a display of their sense of superiority over people taking photos or otherwise not enjoying the tourist destination in their approved way. Everyone has the same right to be there, IMO.
I think you missed the point, they say 4 in 10 "people want to visit a place TO take some photos", not to take photos while visiting, but visit TO take the photos as primary reason of the visit
That was the other question 4 in 10, 2 in 5, or 40%. Do the numbers actually affect the reader's understanding? It's not like we're measuring length with school buses or anything with a physical reference. Does using a number of people in a group actually make it easier to grok by the public? "Think of 10 of your friends and now imagine 4 of them are..." except, I couldn't count 10 friends so 2 in 5 might be better!
I was in Japan with my family last year and I deeply enjoyed taking pictures of people queued up to take "that perfect instagramnable picture": a person alone in the torii gate, with a hundred people in a line just outside the frame.
I'm sure they enjoyed the trip just as well as I did tho.
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[ 0.25 ms ] story [ 46.0 ms ] threadWhen I'm in a new place, I want to be present within that place.
I have photos I’m genuinely happy with, years later.
I think that in some cultures it's even more than others, for example I often saw hordes of Chinese tourists (but there are of course simply a lot of Chinese people) take turns in front of a waterfall (on flip flop or even heels), have some pics taken and go back to the bus.
I also visited food-markets and saw food stalls with large lines of people, where as some had hardly any people waiting, I ask: Why this stall? "It's popular on Chinese social media"... One by one they snapped a pic as the cook made their meal, and waited for >30 mins to do so.
People ask me when I travel (with family usually): Where is your Polarsteps? My what now? (Yeah yeah I know what it is I just pretend I don't.)
Amazing.
Edit: Also amazes me that many people told me: "Wow 5 weeks in Malaysia, you could have done Thailand, Vietnam, etc, etc as well!" Well yeah but I like to take some days to explore and not rush and get to know a nice restaurant and eat there again and rent a scooter or bike and drive around a bit. And sleep 2 nights in some small village that doesn't have a large temple or something and eat a great meal there for 2 euros, made by people that are very proud that you as a tourist sat down at the place and don't accept any tip. Moreover, there is a boatload of cool stuff in every country, to me this country hopping just adds travel time, not much more. Next time we'll visit another country, and if not, I still rather experience one country more deeply.
The ‘sweet smile in front of the camera, obsessive competitive behavior when no one is looking’ is a huge thing culturally.
In the early 90s in my region in southern europe we'd joke that the only Chinese tourists you'd see would be referred to as "5min for photo". They always only needed 5mins to get out with camera, snap pics, get back in. This is not a new phenomenon.
for people like me who dunno about this secret, seems basically like Travelblog.org with few extra features
> article about how traveling nowadays needs to be documented and is about experience as much as your feeds... I... felt old.
this has nothing to do with nowadays really, people were documenting their travelling and sharing it with family/friends since invention of camera, personally I take photos to serve as my memory, not really to share them, I may share them through whatsapp private chats with my parents and maybe 1-2 friends who could find them interesting, in past I've had travel blog/diary as well, but certainly didn't visit any place or take any photo for my readers
> I often saw hordes of Chinese tourists (but there are of course simply a lot of Chinese people) take turns in front of a waterfall (on flip flop or even heels), have some pics taken and go back to the bus.
Japanese were doing this decades ago before Chinese, it's just that Chinese now have money (unlike Japanese who can less and less aford to travel abroad) and there is lot of them, so they just replaced Japanese doing this superfast photo tours (at least in Europe)
> I also visited food-markets and saw food stalls with large lines of people, where as some had hardly any people waiting, I ask: Why this stall? "It's popular on Chinese social media"... One by one they snapped a pic as the cook made their meal, and waited for >30 mins to do so.
again, nothing new, Lonely Planet guidebooks had same effect in past and for me they were pretty good list of places to avoid for accommodation/food
> Wow 5 weeks in Malaysia, you could have done Thailand, Vietnam, etc, etc as well!" Well yeah but I like to take some days to explore and not rush and get to know a nice restaurant and eat there again and rent a scooter or bike and drive around a bit.
5 weeks for mainland Malaysia is really a bit much, KL needs few days to city sightseeing and enjoy food, cameron highlands few days to do hiking, penang again few days to enjoy food, history and hiking, perhentian islands few days to snorkell and enjoy beach and you cover pretty much everything without repeating same stuff, <2 weeks in very very laidback pace for these 4 locations considering Malaysia is compact and there are cheap/fast air tickets/buses, I also don't like to rush, but not everyone has months long vacation or gap year to travel so people wanna see as many places as possible, so I can understand them, I spent travelling around SEA around year, but still can't imagine spending 5 weeks in row in Malaysia or basically any other country besides China (not in SEA, but neighbor), I would get bored
(Btw, the trip was: KL, Kuala Kubu Bahru, Taman Negara, Cameron Highlands, Penang (GeorgeTown and then the west of the island), south Borneo - Kuching (2 national parks), North Borneo - near Sandakan (see Uran Utangs/Sunbears), Kinibatagan River, Jungle near Seremban, via KL to Pankhor island, back to KL. Bored? Not so much. I want to go back for the things we skipped and people were enthusiastic about.)
"and you cover pretty much everything without repeating same stuff"
you can see only so many "different" (as they say in TH SSBD) temples/mosques, beaches, jungles within same country especially if you are on tight time schedule, that's why I understand someone picking one beach destination, one food destination, one historical destination, one hiking/jungle destination and rather try each of these in two different countries rather than trying 3 of each within same country, if someone has limited time
btw. if by Pankhor you mean Pankgor island it's pretty bad quality by Malayisan standards (been there to my disapointment while having too much time and visiting less touristy places in MY), east coast has far superior quality, there is reason why people never heard about Pangkor rather than Perhentian islands or Langkawi or Tioman
and I forgot in my main MY destinations Melaka, I've been obviously to more (forgetable) Malaysian places which is why I understand why someone choose only few, same as I've been to some islands most of the people visiting Thailand never heard of (e.g. Ko Jum, Ko Chang (west coast)), but there is usually good reason why people never heard of them
Overall Thailand is still my fav (with pearls like Koh Samet and Koh Phi Phi, we also had a wonderful time in Khoa Sok national park. But back then we skipped the entire north, and still felt like 1 month was too little), Vietnam had filthy beaches and generally a less good vibe, but we skipped the north there as well, that was probably a mistake. But I loved the food and people of Malaysia, most relaxed trip so far, just the kindest of people everywhere.
yeah, one of the most memorable experiences from my numerous stays in Thailand was doing multi-day Mae Hong Son loop on motorbike (it was really old semi-auto Yamaha or Honda, like 70s or 80s), highly recommended, Pai area is amazing, Chiang Mai is also interesting place, can't say same about the other two Mae, also Kanchanaburi area is one of my favorite places in TH where I've been numerous times and my personal favorite island is Ko Phangan, spent there few weeks on many ocassions (never been interested in FMP though)
agree with Vietnam, not very friendly country, didn't do much in north besides Hanoi (OK), Ninh Binh (great for motorbiking, though worse than Yangshuo in China or Vang Vieng in Laos), Halong Bay is nice but way too touristy, NB was nice empty
some people find it blasphemy - but I would say Malaysian cuisine (great mix of Malay, Indian and Chinese cuisine) is the best in SEA (especially in Penang) even compared to Thai, filipino probably the worst, might as well eat food at home in Europe (though their cakes in small bakeries in every street are great), Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos about same meh
by my experience higher the elevation, friendlier the people (same appliest to basically every SEA country I visited), the kindest/friendliest people I've met anywhere in SEA were in Dieng Plateau, but if I had to pick up the country Philipines would be by far nr. 1 in friendliness, Malaysia would be nr. 2 I guess, Vietnam would be on the opposite end, Thai people (at least in contact with tourists) are usually very fake, though I've had also many nice interactions with them (usually when no money is involved)
Maybe he was just describing a sickness of self-domesticated humans, or even Neoteny (babies need attention more...) finding a way to evolutionary adaptation but with large side-effects and massive selective wastage.
Or maybe resource constraints and competitive pressure within some societies make it a rational strategy to accumulate pictures of a 3 weeks' restful holiday in a one-week selfie-stick scramble.
I like the memories. I enjoy looking through a photo album many years down the line and reminiscing about a great trip.
People take photos to brag.
People take photos to prove to non-believers that something happened.
People take photos to capture beauty.
People used to take photos and people continue to take photos. I suspect the reason has changed.
No, it was not always thus. People would take a camera or a disposable camera, sure, but it wasn’t the focus - it was “oh we should grab a photo for aunt Mabel”. And you’d have 30 shots. For the entire trip.
"Nearly four in ten respondents, 39%, admit they have visited a tourist site mainly to take a photo or video."
... That doesn't mean that it's just for social media
If I'm a hundred meters away from a tourist site that I'm not overly interested in but can snatch a quick picture to send to friends? Well sure. I'd admit to that.
I visited the world's largest paving stone in Brussels to grab a picture for a friend who had told me about it.
> For 18% of respondents, an obsession with photos and social media can be considered a red flag when choosing a travel companion.
This is the number that surprised me. I'd thought that would be much higher.
Amazed by the number of kids on this thread going “but it’s always been like this!” - much like they always assume I had social media as a kid. In the 80s.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=influence...
You wanna see what Venice looks like in general? Just go on Tiktok; they have better equipment anyway. You wanna see, up close, the nicely carved gutter stones that handles water without breaking the stone pattern? I'm your photographer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcx-nf3kH_M
At this point, I'm more annoyed by the people who make a display of their sense of superiority over people taking photos or otherwise not enjoying the tourist destination in their approved way. Everyone has the same right to be there, IMO.
Photography is some people’s hobby. Taking a little adventure to get a new photo is fun. Let them enjoy it.
personally I prefer exact percentages instead of fractions, but apparently people in news/PR disagree with me
I was in Japan with my family last year and I deeply enjoyed taking pictures of people queued up to take "that perfect instagramnable picture": a person alone in the torii gate, with a hundred people in a line just outside the frame.
I'm sure they enjoyed the trip just as well as I did tho.
I've wore out a DSLR doing this before social media really was a thing.
I've taken way more photos since a derecho decimated the trees in my town. I wanted to share these experiences with my distant friends and family.
I also learned that the utility bill I thought was way too high was a pittance compared to running a generator.