Being a new age nomad, I have become accustomed to using my cellphone to navigate a new town with GPS, take scenic photos, book hostels online, work my job and most importantly, communicate with loved ones. Gone are the days where relatives would hear from travellers with a post card or a collect call because the current reality of interacting is, social media. Friends and family keep tabs on loved ones overseas with a status or picture posted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The global phenomena of social media is connecting all walks of life anywhere and anytime. Is this a good or bad thing? That’s the real question.

Here’s how I see it, any situation in life presents a pro and con, right? The same goes for social media. Here they are.

Pros
– Businesses thrive by marketing products, services and goods with social media
– Effortless communication through direct messaging
– Become Instagram “famous” and earn money through endorsements
– Keep in touch easily with friends who live all over the world

Cons
– Negative people and posts can sometimes be on overload
– Can become addictive with over usage resulting in hours of meaningless consumption
– Takes a person away from the present moment
– Genuine face to face contact is becoming a lost art

**The longest I shut of from social media while travelling was two weeks.

During that time, I allowed myself to check emails and texts once a day to inform my family I was alive and well. Being dethatched from my phone and computer throughout the time was an incredibly liberating feeling. A moment of clarity arrived with a thought of, “what’s the point of social media?” The high consumption of social media is hindering us from being unified with ourselves because we are persistently being slapped in the face by others. Social media showcases people’s alluring lives and can sometimes make us feel like our lives are not good enough. I truly believe this plays a role with the greater unhappiness, anxiety and loneliness in people today. We should consistently remind ourselves to not take social media so literally. I‘m not saying with this article to completely delete social media, I’m suggesting stepping away from usage more often. I mean, I’m still going to post pictures of my travels around the world, continue building my brand and influence people to travel, but you will definitely catch me on many hiatus!

**Travel is not cheap and you are investing time and money into seeing a new place. Make sure you make the most of your dollars and convey all your attention to the food, surrounding, culture and experience! 

Here are 5 reasons why you should be deleting your social media while travelling!

1. Social media is SOOOOOOOOO in genuine and it bothers the shit out of me

With my above statement, I can honestly express with my socials I try to stay as true to myself as possible. This means, I post words, pictures and blogs I truly believe represent myself as a whole. I’m not sure if I can say the same for the rest of the world. It has been too many times over of an overload of forged social media uploads and people trying to be something they are not. Stepping away from seeing this garbage from time to time saves you from major judgmental moments. Don’t even get me started with online dating and how in genuine it has become.

Fake social media examples:
– Status of an inspirational quote of accepting people/ REALITY: They are known as a judgmental individual, but who knows they may be trying to change.
– Excessive uploads of couple’s photos with captions like, “this girl is honestly the best and I love her”/ REALITY: We all know you’ve been cheating on her.

My question is, why do people do this? Is it for validation, attention, and approval of others??? Just stop and be authentic, it’s that easy.

2. Your thoughts are centred on emotions and surroundings

Having no social media distractions provides a clear perception while travelling because your consciousness is fully awake and open to the new surroundings. You become so in tune with how cities, landscapes and people make you feel. It’s the sight of a peaking mountain topped with fresh snow that fills your heart with joy. It’s the time you entered a city on a Friday night and felt the sparking energy of the nightlife. It’s the hospitality of locals from a small town who made you feel like you’ve lived in the town your whole life. You can only feel this when you put your phone away and appreciate the moment without documenting it. Don’t worry about filming for an Instagram story or taking the perfect photo. I beg you to try this even for one day and watch how much more you enjoy your trip.

3. You give more time to accomplishing your goals

The more we indulge with others lives online, the more time we take away from completing tasks and goals. I will be the first to admit how addicting social media can be and can find myself going towards my phone when I’m bored because Instagram viewing is a mindless time killer. I truly don’t want to ever know the amount of hours I have looked at screen in all the years of my using (I sound like a junkie). It is so important to take constant breaks and focus on YOU and your life. Stepping away and not posting for a bit helps me focus on areas of my life I need to work on or projects that need to be completed because there are no distractions.

4. You convey energy into caring about you

As selfish as that may sound, we need to stop caring about what others are doing with their life and start worrying about what we should be doing with ours. People who lack direction in life can easily feel down on themselves when they log into Facebook and see how other people’s lives are going. This is when social media acts as a negative outlet where people start comparing their life, body and possession towards others. Consequently, these results can build insecurities, jealousy and resentment. We sometimes don’t give ourselves enough self-love and stepping away from social media to free negative thoughts is an act of self-love. When you start to feel dispirited each time you scroll on your socials this is a sign to take a break for a while.

5. Skype, phone calls and face time chats are filled with more conversations

How many times have you chatted with a mate to tell them about your weekend or travel experience and they say, “I saw you went there on Facebook.” People are well versed with other’s lives and it leaves little room for a full depth discussion on current affairs. People are already in the know of your life before you can tell them about it, how dull is that? Well, if you step away from Instagram and Facebook you can have a rich catch up with a friend on your adventures social media missed out on. On the plus side, friends will be even more interested in your stories by bringing full attention because they won’t have any idea about it!