By Emma Di Salvo
If there’s one thing we humans cherish more than travelling, it’s the joy of re-experiencing and savouring our trips by talking about them. However, as the title may suggest, our audiences may not always welcome our tales of travel and adventure.
So, that begs the question—why do we do it? For whose benefit? And do people really not care about our travel stories? Let’s explore!
Are We Oversharing?
Looking back to a world before social media, we can see how our way of communicating has clearly changed. Meaningful, face-to-face conversations have been replaced by reading each other’s status updates, “following” our friends and nosing through copious pictures and albums. Some of these photo galleries have titles such as “Exploring the World,” and “A New Chapter Begins” as people share their travels online.
Indeed, we’re sharing more about our personal lives than ever before. When we sign in, Facebook even greets us with, “What’s on your Mind?” We are all guilty of oversharing (myself included). Still, travel stories, in particular, seem to spill out of us uncontrollably. We can’t seem to hold it in! But why?
Why The Overshare?
The truth is that people overshare their travel stories for many different reasons. We enjoy offering information and connecting with family and friends. Still, according to many sociologists, it’s mostly about having an inflated sense of self-importance.
It is never easy to admit our faults, and incredibly easy to deny our flaws, but being egotistical, especially in this day and age, might not be 100% our fault. We now live in a society that encourages us to constantly share and talk about our feelings. It has become ‘the norm’.
When something is so deeply embedded in our society and way of life, we’re hardly to blame for following it. While it might very well be true that people don’t care about our travels, those same people are very likely posting their own holiday pictures and stories! The irony is that while we find this annoying, we can’t help but do it ourselves.
What’s The Harm?
Scenario: You’ve just returned from an amazing holiday abroad and are currently creating an album on a social media site. Most of us are pretty familiar with this. But have you ever stopped to think about the negative impact your pictures could have on others?
For example, many people can’t afford to travel, and if they can, it might be somewhere local instead of some exotic destination abroad. How do you think they will feel when they see your pictures? Will they see it as informative or simply showing off? Are we merely bragging? And if so, why?
These are the questions we should ask ourselves before posting about our lives. It’s essential to be considerate of others. It’s what sets us apart from being kind to being narcissistic.
Does Talking About Travel Make It Less Meaningful?
I recently took a trip with my husband to The Perhentians, a beautiful cluster of islands in Malaysia. We took a walk along the beach and then decided to sit down and rest for a while. In front of us was a young couple taking selfies.
This is a regular sight in this day and age. Nothing unusual about that, you say. Except this couple took selfies and videos of themselves for almost an hour. The guy would set up the camera, the girl would run across the frame laughing, and they would repeat this process over and over again.
We couldn’t help but feel a little sad that they weren’t in the moment enjoying the fantastic views or each other’s company in a more intimate way.
I’m sure their photographs and videos were lovely. I took and shared fewer pictures for that trip than usual, yet it was one of my favourite holidays ever! So, does sharing our travels with others make them less meaningful? It’s certainly something to think about.
What’s The Solution?
How do we get around this? Do we simply stop telling people about our trips? At the end of the day, it is up to us as individuals to decide. The truth is that travel and exploring are things that need to be experienced and felt.
Sure, take some pictures, but keep them just for you. Or take baby steps; choose one photo from your trip that you really love and just post that.
Travelling is a luxury not everyone can afford. Try to be mindful of others and not shove your stories down other people’s throats. Why not just make meaningful memories for you and only you?
Remember, the value of your personal memories is not determined by the number of likes or comments on social media. The most important thing is your personal enjoyment of your vacation, not the validation from others. If they’re not asking, the truth is, they probably don’t care!