Traveling is always an exciting time in your life. For many, it’s a chance to finally visit their dream destination, while for others, it’s their time to unwind and take a break from the stress of their daily life. Traveling is a great time to reconnect with your family, make memories, and to have a good time.Social media is a big part of traveling for some people.But some travel tips about five reasons why you should avoid it at least once when you travel.
As technology advances, a lot of travelers have forgotten the essence of going on a holiday. Almost every minute needs to be documented on social media, to the extent that precious time is wasted just to get the perfect model-like photo shoot.
This shouldn’t be how social media is used for travel. Yes, you can use social media to research beforehand, like reading a British Airways review as a travel guide, search hotels, and looking for an exotic food you’re about to eat, etc.
As a tip, the moment you set on that plane to start your holiday, let your phone go. Here are good reasons why:
Travel Tips – Why It’s Good To Avoid Social Media When Traveling
1. You Can Make More Priceless And Enjoyable Memories
When you’re traveling, you want to be able to stretch the days as long as they should go and make the most priceless memories that you can. The more that you obsess yourself about taking photos every minute, you’ll just lose time that you cannot take back. Instead of taking in the beautiful scenery, you’re too focused on capturing it on your phone. Instead of enjoying the food by really taking it in, you spent time trying to post a photo of it and waiting to see how many likes you’ve already got.
Take a day on your holiday where you purposely leave your phone. Yes, you won’t get to post a photo of that surfing trip, but you’ll always remember it in your mind. You’ll remember and get to enjoy spontaneously bathing with the elephants in Thailand, or relaxing on the pristine beaches of the Carribean. Isn’t that what life is supposed to be about? These are better memories to make than simply trying to take that perfect, model-like Instagram shot for your curated feed.
2. You Can Interact With The Locals More
As you sat on that beautiful café in Paris with your loved ones, what is it that you do? Do you spend time to watch and observe how the locals go about their daily lives? Or are you still glued to your phone? If it’s still the latter, then you might as well have just been on that coffee shop back home. You are missing out on so much.
Taking a social media detox when you travel tips about means that you get to interact and listen more to the locals. Perhaps you can learn some foreign words? Meet a new friend? Get engulfed in the laughter and cheeriness of the other table? These are better experiences than trying to see how many people you’ve already made jealous about your trip on social media.
3. You’ll Be Safer
Social media can be a dangerous community, too, especially when you overshare. Remember all the horror stories of identity theft, stalking, abduction, robberies, all because the victims opened their life to the whole world to see?
There are dangerous syndicates all over the world that take advantage of social media for this purpose. When you check-in to locations in real time, you’re giving these people a chance to know where you are. Or worse, they can follow you to your hotel simply because you wanted people to know you were checking-in to that five-star hotel.
Also, when you let people know you’re traveling, it’s like inviting your doors back home to robbers. If you feel like you really must post a photo on social media, do avoid doing it in real-time. You can post pictures later on when you’ve already arrived home.
4. It Doesn’t Limit Your Travel
Was it your dream to go on that mountain hike in a rain forest or to enjoy that beautiful sunny beach? But, when you heard that there was little to no access to the Internet or social media, you just cut off that dream. Never waste opportunities like that.
When you make it a habit to cut off social media when you travel, you’re opening yourself up to all the travel tips about opportunities you have dreamed of, and not limit your options just because you can’t access your phone for a couple of days.
5. You Can Break The Cycle Of Comparison
Let’s face it, some of you might post your travel photos to compete against someone. Take note that traveling isn’t supposed to be a competition. It’s supposed to be a way to make friends, to enjoy life, and to connect. The fewer travel posts on Instagram, the more you pave the way to bring people back to the real purpose of visiting another city or country, and that is, the enjoyment of life.
Conclusion
No, the “post it or it didn’t happen” mentality just doesn’t cut it anymore. Of course, you’re going to take photos to document your amazing trip, but you don’t have to do every minute. In fact, the less you think about your phone, the more you can enjoy your holiday, as you unplug and breathe in every moment.
For your next holiday, try giving yourself a social media hiatus, and see how it changes your perspective at all.
