These days it’s becoming easier to stay connected than ever before. World phones, Wi-Fi in the sky, SKYPE, and the Internet put us just a few clicks from all our Tweets and Peeps. We can upload photos on FaceBook, a video on YouTube, and update a Fan Page all within seconds of seeing the Eiffel Tower or climbing the Great Wall of China. It’s all about sharing the experience, we think as the SEND button is pressed.
But is all this connectivity a good thing? Back in the days before digital, it could be weeks before the film got developed and you forced friends and family over to suffer through yet another vacation slide show. During that time you hoped the film didn’t get ruined in the heat of your suitcase or the airport x-ray, but it forced us to take things a bit slower. More time was spent in conversation than at a keyboard. A scenic view had to be savored in the mind’s eye, rather than behind a video camera. Getting to know the people surrounding you was more important than sharing the view with those back home.
Has the influx of “connected travel” made you wonder? Are we missing something vital in our manic desire to record every image and share every moment? Should some moments while traveling belong solely to the individual?
I’m torn. I LOVE to take pictures. Pictures help me jog memories months later when my brain might have been filled to capacity while traveling. I enjoy re-living the experience through videos, especially the laughs shared. But I also am aware of so many times my focus is on recording the experience rather than living the experience.
How do you feel? Is “connected travel” a wonderful new friend or moocher of true memories and experience?