Double Tap

Tourists Taking the Paths Most Traveled

June 25, 2019 – Not From These Parts

By now it might be noticeable that I am not the biggest fan of tourists, that being said, I am one. Though I like to think that I do tourism differently than others, that is not always the case since my travel destinations have recently been made based off of famous movies none other than the Cheetah Girls, Lizzie McGuire and the Sound of Music. Regardless of those choices I do like to think that when I am on vacation I like to get away from the crowd, go to the local places and I hang up and hang out, not just try and get pictures to post on social media.

The title double tap refers to liking a picture. That is because constantly I am seeing primarily girls, but sometimes guys too, go around and take copious amounts of pictures and hear them talk about the angles and what they are trying to look like for their instagram. I was on a river cruise one night and there was a man with crutches sitting in his seat, as we all should have been, but he could not see because flocks of tourists from other parts of the boat came in front of the boat to take pictures. There were literally lines of people in his view and the only people that could see the view were the followers. Not the people in the photos facing away, not the people taking the photos staring at the phone and most definelty not the man sitting trying to enjoy his vacation.

As for this photo it shows the people just walking in the background not even looking at the art and the person in the foreground taking a picture. This is no longer a rarity. I have even heard people say or comment that they are “living through you” meaning they see pics of someone in a different place and they feel like they are living that life too. Even I am guilty of feeling as though I am best friends with my favorite TV show character because I know them, their story and their personality so well from watching them for hours on end throughout the years.

My point is just that not all people choose to live the life they want to live. They choose what they think will be cool based off of what a social media platform has showed them or what the pop up ad suggests you look into. People are living through their phones and their platforms and it needs to end, people need to live their life and forget who will see it and want to double tap.