The Truth Behind the Travel Photo

 

I am traveling down the backbone of California’s Route 395 and have stopped at Death Valley. After days of traveling through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I have fallen in love with “other California”-that often overlooked stretch of deserts, mountains and canyons that people forget when soaking up the sun on the West coast. I am on a press trip with the California tourism board and have been walking that fine line between capturing a destination and experiencing it. When I arrive in Death Valley, I’m unceremoniously shoved over that line when our hotel proves to have no WiFi, no internet access and no functioning computers. I am cut off completely.

 

The first few hours prove stressful as questions flutter across my mind. How can I check my emails? What about letting my family and boyfriend know I’m alive? What about Instagram?! Embarrassingly (and admittedly) it is the Instagram question that has me the most stressed. I am concerned about my social media, about sharing live updates from my trip as well as making good on the Instagram takeover I had arranged. I’ve seen incredible views of the Sierra Nevada, haunted ghost towns, deserts and sand dunes and after editing the photos and looking up inspirational quotes to pair with these idyllic images, I’m flustered that my ability to press “post” is now disrupted. How silly. I can chalk it up to many things: I’m a travel writer, I’m a travel blogger, I’m on assignment, I’m supposed to do this for my editor, I’m supposed I to do this for my self. But what is the truth?

 

This week a story about a social media star-turned activist, Essena O’Neill, took the Internet by storm. Essena amassed half a million followers on social media, earned a healthy income from her posts and then did the unthinkable: she deleted her accounts. Essena realized what so many of us already know but fail to remember: that social media is not real. For every perfect shot, there are multiple failed ones behind it. For every effortless selfie there is an hour of preparation going into the look. For every “on-the-fly” travel shot there is a half an hour of photo editing to make it look idyllic. Essena took a stand and decided to leverage her following to share an even stronger message: why not just be real?

In my Open Letter to the Idyllic Travel Bloggers out there, I ponder this question too. Why pretend that we look perfect when catching a red eye flight? Why pretend that our travels are flawless when it is our flaws and mishaps that make our stories unique? I am just as guilty of constructing a dream on social media and fueling the fire that we all live in this perfect Utopian society. So to celebrate life’s imperfections and the rise of the truth, I am starting a monthly series to share the real stories-for better or for worse-behind a few of my Instagram travel snapshots.

 

The “Perfect” Autumn Snapshot (well, sort of…)

 

This photo was taken at the coffee shop outside of my apartment in New York. I was in between travels and thinking of ways to keep my Instagram account updated despite the fact that I wasn’t traveling at the moment. For lack of a better idea, I defaulted on that classic, autumn photo seen on every social platform-the coffee cup and the leaves. Here’s where it get embarrassing. I wanted leaves under my boots for this shot but in New York the sidewalks are swept pretty fast so to get this shot I had to kick leaves from a nearby pile just to then stand awkwardly by said pile to get the perfect image. My nails were not manicured so I took more failed shots than I’d like to admit just so I could get both the leaves and the coffee cup shot without showing my nails.

 

 

A Slip & a Fall

 

This shot was taken while I was on a press trip in Jamaica hosted by the Jamaican Tourism Board. We were visiting a holistic wellness center and spa in the town of Negril that was about a two hour drive from where we were staying. Once we arrived at Jackie’s on the Reef, I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the ocean and saw an opportunity to take one of those “idyllic” travel shots. When on assignments and press trips, I travel with a Nikon DSLR, my iPhone, a selfie stick and a collapsible tripod tucked away in my camera bag so to get this shot, I set up my tripod and iPhone with a self timer and then walked out towards the sea. It took perhaps 3-5 attempts to nail this photo and during one of the tries I slipped on a patch of algae and landed hilariously in a puddle of wet water on the pier. Of course, you would never guess this from the inspirational quote paired with this image.

 

 

The “Perfect View”

 

At the end of the summer my boyfriend and I took a road trip upstate to the Finger Lakes Wine Region where I was invited for a weekend by the local tourism board to explore the area. On the way up, we passed by some gorgeous views of perfect blue skies and mountains that I was excited to capture in a photo and share with my readers. This image was taken at (wait for it..) a Chipotle parking lot! Yes, this picturesque image of wanderlust was taken just steps away from a parking lot with a view behind the camera that was less than ideal.

 

 

One too Many Cameras on a Camel

 

While on a Topdeck tour in Morocco I ventured into the Sahara Desert for what would prove one of the more incredible experiences I’ve had while traveling: camel trekking into the desert to spend the night at a local Berber camp. For about an hour our caravan of travelers snaked its way around sand dunes and flawless desert vistas as we made our way to the camp where we would be spending the night under the stars. In the first 15 minutes of my camel trek I went into technology overload as I alternated between selfie stick, Nikon camera, iPhone snapshots and iPhone video. After fumbling with my equipment in a sort of attention-deficit way, I realized I was spending more time trying to capture the moment than actually enjoying it. After this shot, I put away my selfie stick, camera and iPhone and listened for the crunch of the camel’s hooves on the sand, the feeling of the swaying ride, the sight of the vibrant sand dunes-allowing myself to experience the moment.

 

 

A Wedding & a Sunset

 

When I ask my boyfriend to take a photo, my wonderful “ride or die” partner will say “I’ll take the wanderlust-y shot.” Having traveled with me to France, England, Colombia, New Orleans and soon the Dominica Republic; for better or for worse he is all too familiar with what it’s like to date a journalist and travel blogger. This photo was taken at a friend’s wedding in New York during an absolutely perfect sunset. The outdoor wedding was right on the sand and after the ceremony, I asked my boyfriend to snap a quick photo as I walked out towards the water with heels in hand. It was a quick photo and one I was embarrassed to have taken since the other wedding guests were making their way back towards the reception hall. Although there was nothing “wanderlust-y” about it (I was after all just a short drive from home), I felt the photo captured a sort of whimsy and magic that I wanted to share.

 

 

The “Action” Shot

 

While on a recent press trip in California, I was traveling down Route 395 towards Las Vegas. The first stop was to Lake Tahoe where I immediately fell in love with the melancholy weather, the dark color scheme and moody clouds hanging over the blue-grey lake. Our press group had a talented photographer, Max, whose job was to snap photos for the journalists to use in stories and social media. Max snapped this candid shot of me taking a photo with my Nikon of the surrounding nature up in Lake Tahoe. Thankfully, I am facing away from the camera because this photo was taken the same day I flew in from New York leaving me visibly exhausted from a red eye flight across the country and the subsequent “easy” hike to this vista point.

 

 

Monkeying Around in Morocco

 

While traveling through Morocco with Topdeck Travel, our group drove through the Atlas Mountains and stopped at a sweet-smelling cedar forest along the way. The cedar forest is known for its monkeys that roam wild and free; occasionally approaching tourists who arrive with a treat in hand. I had a banana I had earlier purchased and so our local guide instructed me on how to feed the monkey so I could get close enough for this photo. Thrilled by the experience of both feeding this fella and getting the action shot of my photographing him, I eagerly looked through the photos when back in the car only to realize that every single picture had one of my trip mates awkwardly standing and gawking in the background. No matter the angle, each photo showed this tall, lanky man dressed in blue peering out from the trees. To salvage the photo and still share the experience I edited the picture (something I have limited experience doing) to remove him from the background. If you look closely at the wooded area just above my camera lens, you’ll notice how the woods seem to jut out into the street-this is where he had stood.

 

When I travel I often feel this push-pull between disconnecting and staying connected on social media, between capturing my travels and simply enjoying them. Often I have to remind myself to simply put down my camera and take note of what I smell, what I hear and what I see-allowing myself to truly appreciate a beautiful moment and remember it for more than just a photo. I both admire social media’s ability to inspire and connect and also lament it for its tendency to make one feel insecure about their looks, career and how they’re spending their day. I hope this new series will wipe away the facade of perfection by sharing the truth behind the photo!

 

 

Your turn! Share a social media photo below and the real story behind it. The best one may be featured in next month’s “The Truth Behind the Travel Photo” post!