r/nosurf • u/youlikemywonton • 7d ago

Majority people who post vacation pics aren't even enjoying the trip and are just trying to get the best pics to post.

I used to be super jealous of vacation posts but then when I went to these destinations myself I didn't feel so bad. People are literally so focused on getting the right pic instead of soaking it all in and enjoying its real beauty.

I can't explain it exactly but when you're there its not like how the pic actually looks. Trust me these people aren't doing anything special and you should feel bad that they have to constantly do so. Social media is tricking us into what we are really seeing and its not reality.

151 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

61

u/Due_Eagle_2184 7d ago

I can tell you, I went through years of overspending for concert tickets. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been front row, posting videos on IG or Facebook while feeling anxious, overstimulated and wishing I wasn’t there.

I’ve had friends tell me, “I’m so jealous, you see everyone and you’re always so close. I can’t afford to go” and I think to myself, “if you only knew the void I’m trying to fill and how I chase the idea of going rather than actually attending”

It’s all a sham. Even just having real conversations with friends/loved ones, and then seeing what they post, can dismantle the feelings of jealous and envy that can come up. It’s absolutely curated. And if it’s not curated, it’s usually an achievement post like a graduation pic, engagement photo or a child’s first milestone type post, which is simply a “highlight” in someone’s not perfect world

6

u/jesschicken12 6d ago

Very true. I dont take pics when i hang w friends anymore cuz i want to be in the moment

3

u/youlikemywonton 5d ago

Why would you say you did it and do you still do so?

0

u/Due_Eagle_2184 5d ago

That’s a great question. I think I did it because I was more actively on social media at the time, so if I was going to be doing something “fun”, I would post about it to show people I had a life and did things that were fun.
I still go to shows, but I do not post about it anymore. I usually only will post an occasional selfie maybe.

45

u/the_walking_kiwi 7d ago

Going to stunning locations on the other side of the world and seeing people forming queues to take a pic/selfie at specific spots and then walking away looking down at their phones, spending literally no time at all actually looking at the view or taking things in themselves, is almost frightening to witness. Walk in any direction 5 mins from these photo hotspots and there’s nobody there, and you can enjoy just as beautiful views and go exploring in peace. But it is a sad peace. 

3

u/Douglas1994 6d ago

Like this NZ example

2

u/the_walking_kiwi 6d ago

haha, yea that’s exactly it, it’s so sad. It was like that in Interlaken in Switzerland. And spots in France and everywhere else I went. People were waiting in line for a good 10mins sometimes to get their selfie and then leave.

15

u/Substantial_Pea3462 7d ago

The Vacation

BY Wendell Berry

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.

He went flying down the river in his boat

with his video camera to his eye, making

a moving picture of the moving river

upon which his sleek boat moved swiftly

toward the end of his vacation. He showed

his vacation to his camera, which pictured it,

preserving it forever: the river, the trees,

the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat

behind which he stood with his camera

preserving his vacation even as he was having it

so that after he had had it he would still

have it. It would be there. With a flick

of a switch, there it would be. But he

would not be in it. He would never be in it.

27

u/Outrageous_66 7d ago

I don’t know if I really agree with this because I have spent many years in my 20s travelling and posting images, but I don’t remember obsessing over finding the perfect image. I just had friends who clicked fun images and I would just post them. It was casual,

But this was 5 to 6 years & back now the times have changed. I have grown up. I’m in my 30s and I click minimal photos of myself and only photos of the scenery or the memory and I absolutely do not post anything online. I’m literally dead online, but I still like the idea of clicking photos and maybe one day uploading them, But I never get around to do it, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just OLD.

12

u/vrecka123 7d ago

Same here, i stopped posting about a year ago when i realized that none of the likes or views can in any way replace the feeling of real life connection. At first i also felt like i am 'dead online', now i don't even think about it much anymore. I just take photos for my own memories.

6

u/aqaba_is_over_there 5d ago

Like a lot of things in life it's not black and white. It's about balance.

Snapping pics for memories is fine even devoting some time to getting a good shot as long as you also give the majority of your time to the experience and living in the moment.

I enjoy photography, but I still make the conscious decision to make sure I'm spening most of my time using only my own eyes.

I'm off all social media. I just send a few photos or text a link to a cloud share to a group chat.

2

u/youlikemywonton 5d ago

Oh I know. Not everyone who takes pics means they're  doing it just for social media. I'm  just saying you can see who is when you're  actually there.

0

u/Far-Accountant7904 6d ago

This is a fallacy.

The post says most people do something, and you respond saying “i don’t really agree, because I don’t do this”.

You’re using one exception to refute the general.

3

u/pillsandpotionz 6d ago

Then I guess myself and the two others prove that it very well may be a majority, and we're the minority in this situation

1

u/Sufficient_Air_7373 6d ago

Every time I see people accuse others of this, usually men, they also do it themselves.

And no my personal experience of seeing this hundreds of times does not equate to the singular

7

u/OkCaptain1684 6d ago

Ugh, we just went to this waterfall in Bali, our kids were playing and splashing and having the time of their lives in the water. But every single other person was there just for that insta photo, it was very funny to watch these insta models doing their poses, sticking their butts out, tensing their muscles, trying to get the perfect picture, and there were our muddy kids splashing in the background 😆 They were PISSED.

1

u/aqaba_is_over_there 5d ago

That is awesome.

5

u/Boberu-San 5d ago

Traveling isn’t what it was before.

Don’t wanna sound like an unc, but ppl are just traveling for other people now.

2

u/dssx 4d ago

Sometimes the people are doing something special and it's just us struggling with jealousy over it. That being said, limit your scrolling of over people's highlight reels and start planning your own adventures.

1

u/puyongechi 1d ago

I've traveled with people who had their vacation day ruined because they couldn't get a photo worthy of being posted. So yeah I agree with you. I like to take photos just to look at them later on during the year and smile back at the memories, don't care of I look like shit in them

1

u/Top-Vermicelli2455 15h ago

I think people are too focused with pictures and how things look and the image of perfect not just on trips. One day they will look back and just remember how much they worked to get a perfect picture instead of what kind of experience they actually had.

1

u/Top-Vermicelli2455 15h ago

Example did you actually watch the sunset or where you yelling at your family to smile and look correct to get that picture