The Value of Travel:

Instagram Edition

We just read an article online on The New Yorker called Travel Adventures Through other People’s Instagram Stories by Farah Brook @farahbrook https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/travel-adventures-through-other-peoples-instagram-stories/amp

It’s a must read! It’s funny and cheeky but above all that it’s just kinda....sad.

The article covers the realities of all of us going through Instagram story after story and the obvious sneak peak into people’s lives that has somehow become a milestone setter- a gage to compare and a tool to vicariously live through other people’s experiences! One of those are travel stories.

Let’s face it we all luvvvvv Italy... Amalfi coast is a must see... don’t skip out on Positano , Rome or let’s head to the beaches of Greece , romance in Santorini or move over...,how about bustling streets of Instanbul?

Instagram’s curated or non curated content is just beautiful - because it reminds us in every square post or every story that this life can be achieved through travel. Farah’s article pokes fun at this by sharing that we can just be sitting on our couch all day long and have travelled half way across the world and back in time for lunch!

Well that got us thinking. Here is the truth about the Instagram travel experience :

There is absolutely no shame if you enjoy photos of people’s travels. It’s a fun activity to look through their vacations, great inspiration and frankly free advertising for that region.

The photos can show the same cities /towns/ regions in totally different perspectives and based on who’s Instagram you are viewing it on, that can filter the style of travel photos and experience that is showcased.

There is an authentic effort and global movement in the quality of photography and staging that is beyond anything we have seen before, so hats off to Instagram on that.

Geography trivia has also increased with exposure to countries and cities and towns that were perhaps under the radar or not given their rightful degree of merit.

However, the lows are really low. There is the obvious inevitable comparison to others Instagram well traveled lives. Then the realization that one can’t actually afford to go on a trip that an influencer was on last week or your wealthier friends may have access a yacht because they have oodles of money. Then comes the misery associated with “how do they have time to go on these trips? I can hardly finish folding my laundry with the amount of tasks and responsibilities I have ? “

This eventually amounts to feelings of sadness that Farah refers through witty sarcasm in her article. There is a fix though... and it’s quite simple.

People traveled well before Instagram existed. It’s just a media platform that has allowed for you to see all these images in one place at one time and connected it to people you know or identify with. So if we all as in all of society were traveling before, you can still do it now- who’s stopping you ? You don’t have to go all over the world but you can start small and build your way up. Let Instagram be a motivation or inspiration or idea generator and leave it at that.

The key is in your intention. Focus on the goal of a family vacation, a couple retreat or girls trip - whatever your bucket list desires. Now take that focus and plan it. Not for today or next week or next month but maybe in six months or a year. Guess what those places will still be there, your savings will actually go towards living your life and most importantly eliminate the wish that you too want to post on Instagram a fully accounted log of your entire trip. Share snippets , give some tokens and tips but keep the experience to yourself largely. Travel is education, it is meant to be felt and tasted and experienced. People took professional cameras and traveled all around long before Instagram. Don’t let the perfect picture or perfect curated photo be your end goal because it’s just a flat image. Bottom line - realize that a marketing tool was designed to promote and sell so instead of window shopping, invest in your travel experience and make that trip because that feeling you get when you do travel is the best return on investment.