Having time to travel can be vital therapy, whether it be to take a break from work and everyday problems, to visit loved ones, or just to explore the world and mark a new chapter of adventure within your life. Even if you’ve never been out of your home country, or even home state, driving just a few miles away from your front door can refresh your psyche entirely. But as the technological revolution of this decade continues to develop, phones and other devices capable of recording every single living moment, surround us. Their presence begs the question: are these flashy new gadgets ruining the revitalizing experience of travel?
Fulfilling journeys are built from two major components: the creation of new, valuable memories, and being able to live in the present to enjoy the experience. As iPhones and heavy DSLRs accompany us on these voyages, they begin to split these attributes apart, and cause them to rival each other. The memories of your trip are easily recorded with one click of a button, and can therefore be remembered forever. But, instead of being placed into a scrapbook, photos capturing journeys are now posted immediately to social media sites, and serve for seemingly more counterfeit purposes than to preserve an event. The Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel in the Mediterranean is one of the many resorts the surround their services with technology and easy-access social media “pillars”. A New York Times article titled “Just Tap Here” illuminates the true purpose of this connection: “The pillars, positioned in envy-inducing spots like by the beach and on a rooftop, can take your photo and post it to Facebook, too. Signs remind guests of the raison d’être: ‘Don’t forget to make your friends jealous’” (Rosenbloom). Yes, making memories is easier with Facebook, but those memories are now valued as a proponent of competition. Voyages have shed their nostalgic purpose and become a way to validate a person’s meaning as opposed to others’.
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Living in the present is much easier said than done, as it depends not on your physical presence, but your mental one. Traveling, especially to a distant, exotic place, is a privilege for many, and cameras can easily promote the benefit of witnessing that beauty. National Geographic Magazine, a publication dedicated to displaying exquisite photographs of various places, along with sharing articles on the meaning of travel and adventure, is one of the few public resources Americans have that spreads the true message of what it means to travel. On their website, they include a statement from their founder, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, which summarizes their vision: “‘Our society will…include that large number who, like myself, desire to promote special researches by others…so that we may all know more of the world upon which we live’”. Not everyone has the opportunity to go spelunking in Thailand’s never-ending caves, or swim with the dolphins on the coast of Hawaii, but thanks to technology and its global network, everybody and anybody is able to appreciate those places, and marvel at the perfection of the natural world. The beautiful pictures that National Geographic, and many average civilians take, all contribute to appreciating the beauty of the planet, but the attitude of their posting on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, is what determines the place’s perceived value by the rest of the world.
Cameras and cell phones are helpful in many ways to our society, but as they travel with us inside our pockets, they carry a vital reminder to all of us that an experience isn’t what is displayed on your Facebook wall, but is an appreciation of what is before you, and what you will remember for the rest of your life. It isn’t what you take a picture of, but how you take it.
