Switching off digitally and from routine life is incredibly hard. Even with the best of intentions to do so before a holiday, the days leading up to it can seem quite manic and even if you have managed to do so from work and routine life, a digital disconnection is just plain difficult. Being connected is so intertwined with how we map out our days and function that sometimes it seems impossible to do so without a phone.
For my birthday last week, my husband took me to one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to in my entire life, Zanzibar. I naturally wanted to remember all of it and take it all in, in all ways possible. In a digitalized world, sometimes you are pressured into thinking that the only way this is possible is with pictures. Sure, pictures are great but at times they can serve as a distraction when you are trying to be fully present.
Though my digital connection was intermittent, which allowed me to be more present, I found myself trying to save every picturesque moment digitally. Perhaps I was suffering from some sort of digital FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) a culture we have developed which pushes us to justify recording everything we have done by taking pictures.
I don’t have a photographer’s eye so naturally all of my moments were minimally captured while some were too complex and too time consuming to photograph.
After the second day, I gave up as I grew impatient with feeling I was doing a horrible job at trying to keep a log of everything. I relied heavily on my husband to capture the memories, whilst I tried to consistently be present in every experience.
I took in the sprinkled crowds of people at the nearest corner shops gathered around a TV to watch football matches. It made me reflect on how technology has accelerated individualistic behaviour as opposed to community togetherness
I keenly observed how devoted believers are in their religion as fishermen left shore and you could see them kneeling on their dhows to offer their prayers. I pondered on how obsolete religion has become in some western societies.
I admired the women walking through the villages fetching bundles of various items on their heads and gazed in awe as they washed their clothes in soapy basins in the gruelling sun with their littles ones carefully wrapped around their backs in traditional cloth. I felt guilt for my own personal access to a washing machine at home and incredibly weak in comparison to these women.
It’s a common sight when on holidays to see people with all sorts of technological devices everywhere trying to save everything so they can relive it later. But can you really relive a moment if you were not 100% present?
Our desire for travel is incredibly influenced by the bucket-list phenomenon. We subscribe to a culture in which we are obsessed to be able to say that we have checked off certain locations. And while this is up to individual taste, all we will truly be left with are pictures with no real holistic memories. This is not to say throw away your camera while on holiday, but you should try your best to truly be in sync with the environment around you. http://instagram.com/theonlinerunway
