A couple of weeks ago, I was puzzled when a colleague belatedly uploaded stories on his IG from a trip that happened weeks ago. Social media does that to us. When we take photos and videos to chronicle our experiences, there's a pressing need to post them right away, so that our friends know what we're up to.

Many of my friends will only delay posting by a few days, not a few weeks. It was funny because while this colleague of mine was telling me about his trip in person, he was still overseas according to his IG.

When asked why he did this, his reply was simple. "I want to live in the moment, experience whatever it is, and not think about updating my IG until I'm back home"

That statement made me pause. Before smartphones and social media existed, we only had film cameras. Unless you bothered to get your film developed while on holiday, you had to wait till you returned home to send the rolls to be processed.

You'd wait till the trip ended and you were back home before seeing the photos, and perhaps a while longer before your friends could come over and flip through the albums. Photo-taking was part of the trip, but it didn't eat into the holiday itself.

(Image: Patrick Tomasso, Unsplash)

Today, many of us rush to take photos and record videos in a bid to quickly capture the moments for posterity and share them with our followers. But to my colleague, doing this meant missing out on the experiences. "Bro, that's the whole point of travelling, right?"

Yes, bro.

Today's technologies have made us forget yesterday's learnings. We allowed the insatiable need for instant gratification to dictate the pace at which we live, or in this case, travel.

Striking a balance

After some self-reflection, I realised that all along, I've been trying to balance between living in the moment and taking photos. I remind myself that not everything needs to be documented. If the establishment is dimly lit, I won't take any photos or videos. Also, not every dish looks delicious on screen.

Editing and posting is done at night when I'm in my hotel room, or early the next morning before going out. I'm not sure if I 'slow travel', but my holidays do not have packed itineraries. Instead, the missus and I have a list of things we'd like to do, see, and eat, and plan our activities according to their locations.

There's no point in waking up early to leave the hotel at 9am when most shops open at 11am anyway. And we don't have a checklist to complete - we're on holiday, not at the office.

The writer won't attempt photos or videos in these lighting conditions. (Image: Kiryl, Unsplash)

A return to film?

Folks who absolutely enjoy photography will carry on, for they live in their moment when they're behind a camera.

As for me, I've pondered bringing one of my film cameras and just using it instead of my phone. It's an extreme solution, but it would ensure that I enjoy each experience as much as I can.

However, shot discipline or refraining from documenting everything, is a far better solution in the long run. I can't escape the reality that there's an all-in-one device in my pocket, but I decide how much I use it and when I allow it to set the tone for my activities.

In effect, I'll practise what I was used to growing up, which is being patient. Photos should take a while before they come to life, so shoot now, but edit later. Ditto for video clips.

We try to capture fleeting moments on camera, so that we can use the images when we reminisce later. But remaining in the moment, rather than letting it pass us by as we stare at our screen, creates memories that are so much more powerful that we won't need our phones to remember them.

– Jeremy

Main Image: Vitaly Gariev, Unsplash