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Travel

March 23 2019

Why Social Media Lies and How it Affects You

These days, most of the pictures you see on social media are hugely edited to enhance them. Some are edited to look more natural than others! Also, some pictures are completely made up or created from 2 or more photographs that have been merged together. They look awesome but can be very misleading. Social media lies in many different ways and although it can help you to plan an itinerary, this can be a problem if you base your expectations purely on photos.

Fake Images on Social Media

We ended up taking a 2 hour detour to go see this amazing waterfall in a tiny town because of looking at a photo on pinterest. It turns out it wasn’t real and was a photoshopped picture. A waterfall photo was added to add the existing building (it turned out to be a school)! We thought it was weird that there wasn’t much water anywhere near the town! Turns out there was just a patch of grass and a car park where the ‘waterfall’ is. Take this as a lesson from our mistake and do not believe everything you see on social media!

The Power of Editing a Photo for Social Media

7 coloured earth Mauritius as seen in social media

Here is an original vs edited photo that I took in Mauritius and Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. We expected it to look how it does on social media (the right-hand-side photo). When we got there and saw the reality we felt it was a bit of a let-down in comparison! Ha Long bay was beautiful but we went on a very hazy day so it looked grey. There were also hundreds of tourist boats everywhere which ruined the peace- particularly with the constant bad karaoke!

Location Vibes

The other thing that you do not see on social media is the 360 degree view of the location. I could take an amazing photo facing one direction but turn around and it would be an absolute dive!

This especially happened with accommodation. On the website it looks lovely but when you get there the area can be quite dodgy or it could be opposite a sewage works with an awful smell.

See the post The Awful Indian Hotel Experiences for more on how social media can be misleading. You could feel very uncomfortable in the accommodation you choose!

The best advice to get an idea of what a location is like, other than looking at photos, would be to look on google maps and do the pin drop where it allows you to see a 360 degree image of the area and streets near-by. You can also read reviews on a few different websites to see if they mention the location and any issues.

Most of The Time You Cannot Tell How Many Tourists There Are From Looking At Social Media

tourists that you don't see on social media in the USA

Sometimes there are also hundreds-thousands of people in the same location as you despite it looking like there would be nobody else there in the photos. This was in the middle of the dessert in the USA but as you can see there were hundreds of other people, going to and from the attraction like little ants. Sometimes the amount of other people at the same location as you can ruin the whole experience, especially if you weren’t expecting it.

I will always opt for the quieter sights if possible. Luckily I enjoy hiking so the further away you walk from any tourist car park, the less people there are. Going off the beaten track tends to be more rewarding and more beautiful than following the crowds anyway!

Note: you may have to queue to stand in a certain spot so you can get your photo there in popular destinations. We did this on many occasions, but wouldn’t be able to tell from the photos that were taken or from social media. Here is an example (we queued for 20 minutes to get to pose for this photo!):

Most of the time these things weren’t a problem, but you may have to factor this in to time limitations and word of warning: you may say “I’ll come back and do this later” but 99% of the time that doesn’t happen for many different reasons (we did this several times but soon learnt). There were a few things we missed out seeing or doing because of it.

Prioritise What You Want To Do

It’s really important to prioritise what you want to do in each place just in case you do run out of time or even money. Do the things at the top of your list first and work your way down (providing it isn’t a logistical nightmare).

Top Tips

1. Try to find out when the tours tend to visit places with high attraction and avoid going at these times when possible- you learn to hate coaches because coaches mean lots of people in one place at one time!

2. The best advice to get an idea of what a location is like, other than looking at photos, would be to look on google maps and do the pin drop where it allows you to see a 360 degree image of the area and streets near-by. You can also read reviews on a few different websites to see if they mention the location and any issues.

3. Don’t assume you will be able to come back later, you probably won’t.

4. Do not base your expectations purely on what you see on social media and take it all with a pinch of salt.

Have you ever been caught out by expecting one thing and then experiencing another? Let me know in the comments below!

March 2 2019

Why You Should Travel- The Top Reasons

BryonyDique Personal, Sri Lanka, Travel 0

Words cannot even begin to describe how amazing it is to travel. Sure, you still have to adult and be responsible but it’s on a completely different level…it’s fun (mostly)!

Variation When Travelling

When you travel, every day is completely different. Every day you experience entirely new things. You see new things, smell new things (which are not always pleasant), hear new things and learn new things. Most importantly meet so many new people. You actually interact with humanity… People you would never otherwise interact with…and its GREAT!

Potentially Find Love When You Travel

It may sneak up on you when you least expect it. Because you are in situations which you may not usually be in and do social activities on a regular basis, the chances of you meeting someone could be significantly increased. Many people go travelling and then find their forever person and sometimes they don’t return home!

Make Friends When You Travel

Some of your closest friends can be made travelling. You get to know people on a deeper level because you see people at their worst most grimey state. There’s a mutual understanding of “we all look gross but let’s embrace it”. It’s actually really liberating. I think in the whole time we were away I wore make-up only a handful of times. Before I left I wouldn’t have dreamt of leaving the house before putting on a least a little make-up!

I was massively fortunate to be able to travel the world non-stop without working. I travelled for 14 months with my friend Emma and a further 2 months staying with Ed in Canada. A year prior to leaving I was just about breaking even, but we decided to book our first flight and started furiously saving money. That combined with some inheritance, and some major financial planning and budgeting, meant we didn’t have to work at all whilst we were away.

The more people you meet and make friends with, the more friends you have in different countries across the world! This comes in very handy because in the travelling community people help each other out. This sometimes means somewhere to crash if you’re in the area and potentially a local tour guide!

We met people who didn’t have much saved up before they left but were able to travel and work in various locations around the world to continue their adventures. As long as you have a passport and enough for your first flight and somewhere to stay for a few weeks, YOU can travel!

So…Why should you travel?

We get so caught up in how we look and what we own, status, careers and competing with everybody else, that we forget what truly matters to ourselves. That phrase “I’m going to find myself when I travel” is a bit cliché and I don’t necessarily agree with it because I don’t feel I ever lost myself, but it has definitely made me realise what is important in my life, who is worth my time and attention, and some of my core values and beliefs.

Not one person will have the same experiences when they are travelling- I was with Emma pretty much 24/7 the whole time we were away and we met the same people, saw the same things, ate the same food, and we both took away something different from the experience.

So many people say “I wish I had gone travelling” or “It’s too late now”. It’s never too late. There will always be a way. You may just have to travel in a slightly different way depending on age, mobility, health, financial situations etc. There are an increasing number of people travelling including those who have retired. Get in touch if you would like more information about the types of things that may be more suited to you if you have a certain illness or disability.

travelling friends Uluru New Zealand travelling friends Western Australia travelling friend

travelling friends Travel friends playing monopoly Travelling friends in hobbit

A Fresh Take on Life

It is so easy to fall back into your old ways and routine and ways of thinking when you return home, but I have tried to keep this from happening by regularly reviewing what I have discovered and learnt during my time away. I think that’s partly why I want to start up this blog. I want to share the amazing things that I have seen and learnt along the way with you, but I also want to hold on to that precious time and keep it alive in my mind.

The Travel Bug

The travel bug is real- my mindset changed so much that it has opened up many new and exciting opportunities. I am now emigrating abroad, already knowing a large number of people in another country. It’s crazy but super exciting. Who would have thought?! (Also- Canada gets some of the coldest temperatures in the winter and I hate the cold- it makes no logical sense and was the last place I thought I would live when we were learning about jobs abroad at university…but if you ever go or have ever been you will understand why it’s such an amazing country! It is sooo beautiful!)

Travelling friends hiking travel friends hiking
Anyway, this was a very long introduction to say hello and I hope that you find my blogs and site both useful and interesting.

Check out my other posts such as How to Choose Where to Travel andBudget Travel Vs Luxury Travel- Which One You Should Choose.

Please say hi and introduce yourself- I would love to hear from you! Have you been travelling/ travelling at the moment/thinking of going travelling? Where are your favourite places? Do you have any recommendations for me?