In fact according to the research commissioned by the Hilton Hotel Group in aid of The Great Getaway (which offers members of their Honours Programme up to 40% off any worldwide stay between now and the 30th September) more than forty percent of us like to ‘brag’ about our every holiday move by uploading endless photos (not to mention texting) – while we’re abroad… Will we ever relax? In aid of this quite fascinating information we’ve teamed up with one of our favourite television personalities; intrepid travel expert Ben Fogle, who has of course been on some of the most extreme journies across the globe, but who’s also happy relaxing by a pool…. Ben gives us his views on the scourge of the ‘travel uploader’...
So Ben… Is Mark Zuckerberg to blame for this obsession with 'bragging', or is it just our nature as humans to want to show off?
I don’t think Mark Zuckerberg is exactly to blame for our bragging on holidays, you know I think there’s still a place for people to use Facebook, to use Twitter while we're away. I think it can enhance a holiday in terms of finding alternative restaurants, alternative beaches, attractions for the family but I think what we need to do is have an off switch - not just on our phones and laptops and mobile devices but on ourselves. Personally what I do is avoid temptation completely and lock my phone or computer in a safe when I go out for the day and try and ration myself, you know I think Mark Zuckerberg has enhanced our lives but we need to find a way to ration it.
Why do you think as a society we have evolved like this? Why can't we just keep ourselves to ourselves?
I think society has evolved like this because we like to communicate, we like to share and we like to show off. There are a minority of people around the world that like to keep themselves to themselves but ultimately we’re a very social creature. If you look at the animal kingdom we live in great prides, we live in great groups of animals. I think the community feel, spirit, community living that we used to have perhaps has changed a little bit and that’s where social media, social networks like Facebook or Twitter have totally changed that, they have connected us all together.
What do you think the effect is of this 'compare and despair' culture? Are we missing the point of the holiday completely?
I think the effects of this ‘compare and despair’ culture can have negative connotations. I think we all know someone who chooses their holiday destination purely on bragging rights or photo opportunities but I’d like to think that’s definitely the minority of us.
I think traditionally we’ve always compared cars, houses, phones, whatever we have and I think holidays were always naturally going to turn into the ‘compare and despair’ culture, my shed’s bigger than yours, especially with low cost airlines and access to countries far and wide, but I think we sometimes forget what a holiday is about. A holiday is for switching off, for getting away from your normal day to day routine. I think as office life becomes possible on a mobile device and you can be almost anywhere in the world, there is a danger of the whole world becoming one giant office and I think physically and mentally we need to have that off button.
In your opinion are people choosing destinations for the photo opps as opposed to the experience?
I don’t think people are really choosing their holiday destination for photo opportunities rather than experience. I suspect there’s a couple of people, but I also imagine they’re also at the wealthier end of the scale, where money is no object, so being able to fly to Antarctica, take a picture and come back is may be something that they would do. I think most of us will still choose it for the experience, the weather, the food, the climate, for all of those.
What are the biggest mistakes people make when going on holiday in terms of not switching off? How can they really take a break?
I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is that a phone can be used for virtually everything now, not only is it a phone to communicate verbally but text messaging, you can go online, you can use it for navigation, shopping, and banking now. I think it’s becoming indispensable which means that even if you don’t use it to physically communicate with people, you might need it for navigation for example, or taking photographs. The problem is that we end up taking the phone promising ourselves that we won’t use it for tweeting and Facebook and we succumb to temptation. We need a sort of aeroplane mode, a holiday mode button that you can switch on and it turns off everything except the bare basics.
What are your top travel tips for rest and relaxation?
My top travel tips for travel rest and relaxation is a nice beach holiday with an ocean away from everything preferably with no wifi connection and no mobile connection!
Where do we cross the line between entertaining and being boring? Are we pushing people away with all this bragging!? Do you have personal experience of friends who have done this?
I think it’s pretty irritating when you are on holiday and someone is on their phone the whole time tapping away. On a scale out of ten that would get a ten and my wife knows that so we firmly leave the mobiles at the hotel. And if you are with friends I think you politely say ‘why don’t we actually enjoy our holiday rather than stay in the office'.
What's the best way to deal with someone like this?
I think you should leave the mobile not necessarily at home because you might need it to communicate with the family but leave it in the safe at the hotel.
Do you think as a culture we're just too obsessed with technology? Where does it cross the line between help and hindrance?
I think we are a bit obsessed with technology but it enhances our lives so I don’t want to sound terribly old by saying that it’s hindering out lives but we have to ration it. I always travel with my blackberry and my ipad and I have to say it really helps me, I have all my photo’s which I’m able to show people, Twitter which I use a lot, it can be incredibly enhancing - especially when you are lost, when you need help, you put a plea out there and you’d be amazed at the number of people that come to actually help you!
Finally how can we make the most out of travel?
I think to make the most out of your travel you have to embrace what you’re doing. Perhaps be a little bit more adventurous, perhaps look at alternative destinations and maybe try to be experimental. I think we all tend to return to the same haunt, the same resort, the same country but why not try and experiment a little bit and if traditionally you’ve been to Spain on holiday look at Portugal, if traditionally you’ve been to France look at Belgium, if traditionally you’ve been to Germany look at Austria. They all have the same sort of flavour so you aren’t going to be missing out completely on what you loved but there’s just that frisson of difference and I think that will enhance your holiday experience.
06th June 2012