There used to be a time when traveling was seen as rare and unique, not as an opportunity solely for emulating the latest photo trends. It used to just be about enjoying the time away from your current environment and/or discovering new things.

However, it seems with the current phase of social media (I’ll try not to paint it as the enemy here), everyone’s on this rush to produce content, and there is no longer a genuine desire to explore and actually seize the moment. It’s almost like if you aren’t doing what everyone else did while they were there, it doesn’t count.

Following what popular influencers say is how you should spend your itinerary in a destination is the way people tend to go nowadays. Now before anyone leaps into their defense, say, “Well, they provide useful information” (personally, that’s questionable, but I’ll get to that bit later) or “They can tell me what it’s like from first-hand experience” (I can somewhat agree with that).

As a matter of fact, even I take advice before I travel to any country. A caveat is that I also tend to read blogs, which for me are jam-packed with information that a video might omit, and I find them more personal and genuine. And yes, I do agree that certain people give valuable advice and opinions on how to spend your time and do things while traveling.

I’m literally one of them; I’m a vlogger.

Same Old

The issue I have is with people relying heavily on what an influencer says, almost following blindly and religiously, and refusing to do any research for themselves or even leaving room for exploring hidden gems for themselves. Sometimes, I kid you not, people follow it so closely, even down to what they eat and where (which more times than not is paid to advertise, but you already know that). Taking all of this into account, it begs the question:

How are you supposed to create a unique travel experience if everyone does the same thing?

When it comes to photos and content, this too follows suit. Stand in front of this building snap, hold onto this random statue snap, walk up these stairs snap, ohh, don’t forget this fountain it’s a magic fountain take a picture of that too.

Now I get it… that’s just what tourists do. I mean, everyone’s a tourist somewhere, right? Personally, I’ve never been one for following the crowd or doing touristy stuff that much whenever I travel. Look, I’m not claiming to be better than anyone or anything, or that I haven’t done some of these things myself; here, I’ll even share some photos of popular tourist destinations I’ve been to.

In 2018, I visited New York City’s world-famous Times Square, and while it was a dream of mine, reality hit me when I saw the size of those New York rats and the number of tourists all flocking around to snap photos, so I stayed for literally 10 minutes, got bored, and left. Everyone was photo-bombing everyone else, and it was a mess. My most memorable part of the trip however was just meeting Brooklyn locals and hanging out in their recommended spots, (shout out to Sweet Brooklyn on Nostrand Ave)

Exploring outside the box

It’s an aim of mine that whenever I’m shooting content, I try not to replicate what someone else has done by filming lesser-known areas, that have their own flavor and small pockets of communities and restaurants. An example is in my Brussels solo vlog, where I went to a place called Matongè, which has been around since the 1950s and is bursting with color, vibe, and a strong African community in Brussels. Here’s the vlog if you guys want to check it out.

At the end of the day, I view traveling as one of the ultimate privileges and will continue to explore more places in the world, not just internationally but also locally.

There are many ways to travel, and to put it frankly, one doesn’t necessarily need to travel to travel; you can do it in your own country. The uniqueness of travel is what it’s all about.