I recently took a trip that made me realize a lot of things about traveling habits that I hadn’t noticed before. This holiday, in which I was completely present and at peace, opened my eyes to the little things that make places so special for us. Unfortunately, I also realized that these are the things most undervalued and underappreciated even though without them, we could just vicariously live through other people’s Instagram photos.
Of course, on my first ever visit to Paris, I took a billion photos of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and famous cafes which I had always seen on social media, however, I noticed that those did not even come close to making my trip meaningful. The things that you feel in the heart and ingrain in your mind might not always be the most photogenic or prove anything to people, but they carry the most weight in our soul.
Photo by Behzad Ghaffarian
I might not post a photo of the small Chinese restaurant found in the hidden alleys of Paris (where I had the best spring rolls of my entire life) and I might not have had time to capture the perfect ray of sunlight through the window of the balcony of my friend’s perfectly petite Parisian apartment, but those are the things I’m actually going to cherish. I’m going to remember walking for hours and admiring the old architecture of Paris as opposed to whether or not I have the perfect photo from the fancy dinner I had so I can tag it on Instagram.
Photo by Andreas Selter
My point is that sometimes we get caught up in following trends and catching up with other people that we forget to enjoy the real and authentic beauties around us, and that is something that I think we all need to focus on changing. Taking pictures is not wrong, in fact, sometimes it’s the only way to hold on to memories when we inevitably reach the old and forgetful stage in our lives, but I think it’s important to know exactly what to capture. Then again, it’s harder to capture feelings on camera.
Photo by Kris Atomic
Before I traveled to Paris, I had this misconception that I had already been there because of the number of photos I have seen of people at the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and Café de Flore. But boy was I wrong. The Parisian balconies, the unbelievable view from the Ferris wheel at the Christmas Market, the breath of fresh air while sitting in the Luxembourg Gardens and discovering the best vegetarian burgers in the city proved to me that there is a whole lot more to Paris than what people put on their Instagram.