There’s an abundance of terms to describe different ways of traveling. It can be confusing to keep track of them all, let alone the differences between them.
Mindful tourism is a type of travel that serves as a bridge to sustainable tourism.
The differentiating factor between mindful tourism and other ways to travel more responsibly comes down to mindset.
Rather than being action-oriented, mindful tourism emphasizes being more intentional about how certain perspectives, attitudes, and approaches can impact a destination as well as their own experience.
In other words, mindful tourism is more inwardly focused (thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs) rather than externally focused (decisions and actions).
A mindful traveler is 1. aware of their impact in a destination, 2. embodies humility and respect in their interactions, and 3. seeks meaningful engagement throughout their trips.
- Be aware of your impact.
- Consciously choose to invest in experiences that support and empower the destination’s community and environment.
- Educate yourself on the history of the destination such as its oppression, colonization, or wars, and consider how your identity may affect how you are perceived or treated.
- Learn how tourism, and thus your role as a tourist, impacts the destination.
- Embody humility and respect.
- Reflect on how your identity, worldviews, and home life may affect your interactions in a foreign environment
- Engage in social interactions with open-mindedness, curiosity, and gratitude.
- Practice active listening and respectful questions
- Seek meaningful engagement
- Practice mindfulness: engage your senses and be in the present moment
- Seek out enriching experiences that either bring you joy (not your social media followers), teach you something new, or give back to the local community
- Take your time by practicing slow travel: allowing adequate time to truly get to know a place, rather than rushing to tick off a bucket list
- Encourages you to rely on overland travel, which reduces your carbon footprint, versus air travel
- Staying longer puts more money in a destination
- Inherently encourages more mindfulness in the destination
- Second-city tourism: pairing trips to major cities with less visited cities to mitigate overtourism in destinations.
Travel in the Age of Social Media
Mindful tourism is more important than ever in a time where trying to be mindful, or conscious, of the present, is constantly challenged.
Our attentiveness to our current environment competes with technology and the internet, which should be tools to remember what was happening at the time, yet paradoxically take us out of the moment.
We ironically feel anxious to document the reality we’re in to avoid future anxiety about not having documentation of past experiences.
I’m sure many of us can relate to this scenario:
You’re traveling somewhere we’ve never been before. You’ve saved up, you’ve anticipated this moment for a long time — and it’s finally arrived.
You’re standing before a breathtaking sight; it’s mesmerizing.
In awe, you instinctively reach for your phone. Click, click, click.
Wait, the angle is off; you frown as you flip through the photos.
Click, click, click.
Perfect. Now that you’ve memorialized the scenery, you feel now is when you can fully take in the moment. After a couple more minutes, you’re off to the next sight.
This seems to be the new travel experience in the 21st century.
In On Photography, American writer and cultural critic Susan Sontag writes that “Photographs will offer indisputable evidence that the trip was made, that the program was carried out, that fun was had… A way of certifying experience.”
Yet she elucidates that “taking photographs is also a way of refusing it — by limiting experience to a search for the photogenic, by converting experience into an image, a souvenir.”
Modern society begets a need to stage moments for an audience in exchange for a feeling of validation for our experiences.
How many times have you witnessed a family in full smiles for the camera, only for them to drop immediately after the shot is taken?
Thanks to the internet, we no longer take photos to preserve a moment in time, but to perform in real time.
Not only does our compulsion for photo documentation pull us out of an experience, but seeing others’ photos online affects our expectations and thus experiences of a place before we even arrive.
The “expectations vs. reality” social media trend is popular because we all have experienced the disappointment of being somewhere that was not as it was portrayed online.
Rather than foster inspiration or appreciation, social media photos set up unrealistic expectations.
How to Practice Mindfulness in the Age of Social Media
- Take time to fully experience a moment before capturing it
I like to follow this simple rule when I feel the urge to photograph:
Before I even pull out my camera, I pause and take three full, deep breaths.
Within these 30 seconds, I let go of any urge to immediately start snapping away, and focus on fully taking in what I’m experiencing.
I soften my gaze and scan my whole environment in its splendor.
I breathe in all the sounds and smells around me.
I take a moment of gratitude for simply being where I am.
Once my initial anxiety to record the moment before it goes away fades, then pull out my camera.
This short practice ensures that I actually experienced the moment I captured.
- Focus more on the authenticity of a photo, rather than its aesthetics
Social media pressures us to have the most impressive, vibrant, mind-blowing photos.
The lighting should be complementary and soft; the landscape should be something out of National Geographic; and there should be no one else in the background.
But photos under these factors are usually not the reality of a moment. So we meticulously stage and edit the moment.
While there is nothing wrong with having a photoshoot or trying to get the perfect shot, it should not be the primary reason we travel somewhere. Nor should it be such a habit that we forget to live the moments we are documenting.
Sometimes, simply raising the camera to shoot what you’re actually experiencing, rather than trying to get the perfect angle, results in the photos we treasure the most afterward.
- Be conscious of when you’re performing
I get it. We all want photos that will garner the most “likes” on social media.
But if you choose to stage a moment, at least be aware that you’re doing so — or risk unconsciously always trying to manipulate a moment to look perfect and feeling unsatisfied when it is not.
- Post to evoke inspiration, rather than jealousy
Before you post, ask yourself: am I genuinely posting this photo to educate or inspire? Or am I posting to get validation from others?
Clarify your intention for sharing before you do.
- Follow ethical photography guidelines
Always keep in mind your responsibility when taking and sharing photos.
Did you get all the subjects’ permission?
Should you or should you not geotag? Hint: it’s best not to if the place you’re visiting is sensitive to increased traffic.
How can you add context to your photo in the caption?
Read more in my previous article on ethical photography.
Conclusion
Being a mindful tourist is about being as intentional as we can in our mindsets and actions when traveling.
Traveling mindfully is a key aspect of responsible travel.
Not only will mindful travel practices result in more meaningful travel experiences, but more sustainable tourism for destinations.
What are your thoughts on this article? I’d love to continue this discussion with you in the comments!
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