The Traveliving Series: The Social Media Phrenitis

You are about to live the dream of starting travelling around the world. You picked up your favourite vehicle, you set it up, you purchased all your necessary equipment, you shopped your travel insurance, you issued all the necessary paperwork (passports, driving licence, etc.), you planned your itinerary according to the weather patterns and local regulations and you are ready to set off. (Time & money function is a thing that you will work on your way).

Did you forget something?

Yes! You forgot to set up your social profile and create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all the popular social media platforms that the last decade have radically changed the way people interact. Plus, the way people choose to travel!

30 years ago, when people like Ted Simon and Susan & Grant Johnson were exploring the  world, there was not even GPS and the only way to share their trip was sending post cards to friends & family and taking pictures with film cameras.

Today, the vast majority of travellers -somehow- see it as a mandatory task to advertise, promote and share their trip through social media. A travel blog is not enough anymore. But a whole array of active accounts full of edited photos & well-presented stories is a MUST.

Most of the travellers are super careful about their online presence and the social media accounts are the first prerequisites before even shape the idea of the actual trip. They take extra care of how often they will push fresh stuff to their audience. They don’t want to feed them daily but, at the same time, they must remind them how cool and adventurous they are quite often, usually by picking up the right day and time they will publish their new posts. Increasing the followers, subscribers and likes is the new traveller’s obsession along with pushing as much as hashtags they can. Besides that, travel-related businesses come to fuel this phrenitis by “rewarding” them with contracts, products placements, sponsorships, etc.

People used to travel for a loooong time ago and we are pretty sure that after 100 years, people will still do the same. Recreation, curiosity, boredom, escape, adventure, you name it!

The question, however, will always be why? Why people choose to travel instead of staying home? This is the question you have to answer for yourself before doing anything else. Your social media impact can wait along with your desperate attempts to be noticed by people who would never leave their comfort zone to go out & travel. Ask twice yourself why you need to utilize business tools for your travels and, eventually, what you want to achieve.

After 5 years on the road, we got our own answers and the concept of traveliving sheds some light to the ones who are wondering. We already know that our social media presence is below zero but guess what? We want to and we are striving to keep it as it is.

Interaction with the locals, authentic cultural exchange, home stays, volunteering assignments & proper jobs, immersion to new languages, experience of the food culture and slow travel is why WE travel.

What about you?