Travel blogs/vlogs and other related publications...
Apr 12, 2018, 6:25 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: Qatar, Turkish, Aeroflot
Posts: 546
Travel blogs/vlogs and other related publications...
(Advanced apologies to admin if this isn't the right place to post)
...what do you think of such things?
While I may not be as experienced or have flown as much (or as luxuriously) as a lot of people here (despite having clocked up 93 countries across all 6 continents, 235,000 miles/380,000km, and 180 individual flights within 9 years, entirely self funded (bar a couple of short business trips) and not using miles etc), one thing I have noticed over the last 9 years of travelling is the increase of travel blogs, vlogs, online journals etc etc etc, and to my mind, it's got completely out of control.
As time has gone on, a few web pages here and there sharing one's experiences of their recent travels with photos and the occasional stories was great to look at. Nowadays, it seems like everyone has got their own blog page, YouTube channel etc and believe only theirs is the point of view that should be listened to/adhered to etc. Although I noticed subtleties between different nations.:
1) Take Russians, for example, given I live in Russia now. They tend to post highly posed, heavily edited and very limited numbers of photos with rather basic facts about the place the photo is in. For example, a photo of a beach in Australia giving a couple of easily Googled facts about the place. Many argue Russians do this to give off the impression of being able to afford a very bourgeois middle-class lifestyle and will go to great lengths in order to do this (my husband is somewhat guilty of this as well)
2) Brits (where I spent most of my life and one of my countries of origin), on the other hand, seem to take photos of just about everything they do when out of their motherland, arguably to try and passive-aggressively conjure up jealousy or to rub it into other people's faces that they're sipping overpriced cocktails at some plastic hotel in Dubai whilst their compatriots are slogging away on the Tube going to work.
3) (Now I know I'm going to get my head bitten off for this one but...) and Americans seem to write quite a lot about their own adventures, albeit in a somewhat "Oh, this is not like the USA, this is so weird and I don't understand why they don't do it our way", plus (IMO, uselessly) photographing just about every aspect of their travel, as well as tending to adopt a more in-your-face approach to their publications.
As far as I'm concerned, reading blogs or following Instagram accounts or whatever for me is one of the most nauseatingly dull things to do in terms of learning about a place. Particularly when most publications tend to be about the major hotspots of the world e.g. Paris, LA, Dubai, London, etc. There's just nothing interesting about such places. Even less travelled places are somewhat difficult to make interesting. Although I do make the exception for the very few who do truly go off the beaten path e.g. Sao Tome and Principe or go to places where would be considered suicidal by many e.g. Afghanistan etc.
Yet everywhere one goes online, one is faced with a barrage of posts from (for example) various Americans who live and work in Moscow writing on Facebook about their "Russian adventures", almost always little more than going to some slightly lesser known part of Moscow and being in some bar with a couple of locals for one night or someone is promoting their blog and asking for donations for the privilege of it. I recently found about a couple of crowdfunded their "mission" (i.e.vlogging) to pass through every UK railway station from Penzance to Wick, from Fishguard Harbour to Dover Priory etc and I thought to myself "Why in the world should you expect others to fund this for you?" I know UK rail travel is expensive and yes it is impressive they got through all 2000+ stations, but on other people's penny? Seriously?!
The aspects of luxury is another thing. I won't lie, I do find the experiences people write about on here not only sleep inducing but also somewhat self-important and egoistic. Like, it's all well and good giving people information about what Emirates First Class is like, but surely there are ways to get that experience across without sounding like an egomaniac? Yet on the other end of the spectrum, budget travel (which is what I lean a lot more towards), self-promotion is even more forward and demanding to the point that critiquing someone can result in blocks and bans from various media. I myself have been banned for pointing out to others that posting publicly about extremely well documented places is useless due to the sheer amount of information present online already.
Yes, I am going to face backlash for this and I make no apology for expressing my own opinions on the matter. But it would be interesting to see what people think on the matter too.
...what do you think of such things?
While I may not be as experienced or have flown as much (or as luxuriously) as a lot of people here (despite having clocked up 93 countries across all 6 continents, 235,000 miles/380,000km, and 180 individual flights within 9 years, entirely self funded (bar a couple of short business trips) and not using miles etc), one thing I have noticed over the last 9 years of travelling is the increase of travel blogs, vlogs, online journals etc etc etc, and to my mind, it's got completely out of control.
As time has gone on, a few web pages here and there sharing one's experiences of their recent travels with photos and the occasional stories was great to look at. Nowadays, it seems like everyone has got their own blog page, YouTube channel etc and believe only theirs is the point of view that should be listened to/adhered to etc. Although I noticed subtleties between different nations.:
1) Take Russians, for example, given I live in Russia now. They tend to post highly posed, heavily edited and very limited numbers of photos with rather basic facts about the place the photo is in. For example, a photo of a beach in Australia giving a couple of easily Googled facts about the place. Many argue Russians do this to give off the impression of being able to afford a very bourgeois middle-class lifestyle and will go to great lengths in order to do this (my husband is somewhat guilty of this as well)
2) Brits (where I spent most of my life and one of my countries of origin), on the other hand, seem to take photos of just about everything they do when out of their motherland, arguably to try and passive-aggressively conjure up jealousy or to rub it into other people's faces that they're sipping overpriced cocktails at some plastic hotel in Dubai whilst their compatriots are slogging away on the Tube going to work.
3) (Now I know I'm going to get my head bitten off for this one but...) and Americans seem to write quite a lot about their own adventures, albeit in a somewhat "Oh, this is not like the USA, this is so weird and I don't understand why they don't do it our way", plus (IMO, uselessly) photographing just about every aspect of their travel, as well as tending to adopt a more in-your-face approach to their publications.
As far as I'm concerned, reading blogs or following Instagram accounts or whatever for me is one of the most nauseatingly dull things to do in terms of learning about a place. Particularly when most publications tend to be about the major hotspots of the world e.g. Paris, LA, Dubai, London, etc. There's just nothing interesting about such places. Even less travelled places are somewhat difficult to make interesting. Although I do make the exception for the very few who do truly go off the beaten path e.g. Sao Tome and Principe or go to places where would be considered suicidal by many e.g. Afghanistan etc.
Yet everywhere one goes online, one is faced with a barrage of posts from (for example) various Americans who live and work in Moscow writing on Facebook about their "Russian adventures", almost always little more than going to some slightly lesser known part of Moscow and being in some bar with a couple of locals for one night or someone is promoting their blog and asking for donations for the privilege of it. I recently found about a couple of crowdfunded their "mission" (i.e.vlogging) to pass through every UK railway station from Penzance to Wick, from Fishguard Harbour to Dover Priory etc and I thought to myself "Why in the world should you expect others to fund this for you?" I know UK rail travel is expensive and yes it is impressive they got through all 2000+ stations, but on other people's penny? Seriously?!
The aspects of luxury is another thing. I won't lie, I do find the experiences people write about on here not only sleep inducing but also somewhat self-important and egoistic. Like, it's all well and good giving people information about what Emirates First Class is like, but surely there are ways to get that experience across without sounding like an egomaniac? Yet on the other end of the spectrum, budget travel (which is what I lean a lot more towards), self-promotion is even more forward and demanding to the point that critiquing someone can result in blocks and bans from various media. I myself have been banned for pointing out to others that posting publicly about extremely well documented places is useless due to the sheer amount of information present online already.
Yes, I am going to face backlash for this and I make no apology for expressing my own opinions on the matter. But it would be interesting to see what people think on the matter too.
Apr 13, 2018, 6:09 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP, mid-tier with pretty much everyone else
Posts: 873
Not sure why you feel you're going to be attacked for sharing your opinion, it's yours to have. Lots of people enjoy reading blogs and watching vlogs, doesn't mean they're right and you're wrong (or vice versa).
Apr 13, 2018, 11:55 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: Qatar, Turkish, Aeroflot
Posts: 546
Because apparently having any unpopular opinion is automatically deemed WRONG these days and wrong to make known publicly.
Apr 15, 2018, 1:39 pm
#4
Original Member, Ambassador: External Miles and Points Resources
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Digital Nomad Wandering the Earth - Currently in LIMA, PERU
Posts: 58,597
(Advanced apologies to admin if this isn't the right place to post)
...what do you think of such things?
While I may not be as experienced or have flown as much (or as luxuriously) as a lot of people here (despite having clocked up 93 countries across all 6 continents, 235,000 miles/380,000km, and 180 individual flights within 9 years, entirely self funded (bar a couple of short business trips) and not using miles etc), one thing I have noticed over the last 9 years of travelling is the increase of travel blogs, vlogs, online journals etc etc etc, and to my mind, it's got completely out of control.
As time has gone on, a few web pages here and there sharing one's experiences of their recent travels with photos and the occasional stories was great to look at. Nowadays, it seems like everyone has got their own blog page, YouTube channel etc and believe only theirs is the point of view that should be listened to/adhered to etc. Although I noticed subtleties between different nations.:
1) Take Russians, for example, given I live in Russia now. They tend to post highly posed, heavily edited and very limited numbers of photos with rather basic facts about the place the photo is in. For example, a photo of a beach in Australia giving a couple of easily Googled facts about the place. Many argue Russians do this to give off the impression of being able to afford a very bourgeois middle-class lifestyle and will go to great lengths in order to do this (my husband is somewhat guilty of this as well)
2) Brits (where I spent most of my life and one of my countries of origin), on the other hand, seem to take photos of just about everything they do when out of their motherland, arguably to try and passive-aggressively conjure up jealousy or to rub it into other people's faces that they're sipping overpriced cocktails at some plastic hotel in Dubai whilst their compatriots are slogging away on the Tube going to work.
3) (Now I know I'm going to get my head bitten off for this one but...) and Americans seem to write quite a lot about their own adventures, albeit in a somewhat "Oh, this is not like the USA, this is so weird and I don't understand why they don't do it our way", plus (IMO, uselessly) photographing just about every aspect of their travel, as well as tending to adopt a more in-your-face approach to their publications.
As far as I'm concerned, reading blogs or following Instagram accounts or whatever for me is one of the most nauseatingly dull things to do in terms of learning about a place. Particularly when most publications tend to be about the major hotspots of the world e.g. Paris, LA, Dubai, London, etc. There's just nothing interesting about such places. Even less travelled places are somewhat difficult to make interesting. Although I do make the exception for the very few who do truly go off the beaten path e.g. Sao Tome and Principe or go to places where would be considered suicidal by many e.g. Afghanistan etc.
Yet everywhere one goes online, one is faced with a barrage of posts from (for example) various Americans who live and work in Moscow writing on Facebook about their "Russian adventures", almost always little more than going to some slightly lesser known part of Moscow and being in some bar with a couple of locals for one night or someone is promoting their blog and asking for donations for the privilege of it. I recently found about a couple of crowdfunded their "mission" (i.e.vlogging) to pass through every UK railway station from Penzance to Wick, from Fishguard Harbour to Dover Priory etc and I thought to myself "Why in the world should you expect others to fund this for you?" I know UK rail travel is expensive and yes it is impressive they got through all 2000+ stations, but on other people's penny? Seriously?!
The aspects of luxury is another thing. I won't lie, I do find the experiences people write about on here not only sleep inducing but also somewhat self-important and egoistic. Like, it's all well and good giving people information about what Emirates First Class is like, but surely there are ways to get that experience across without sounding like an egomaniac? Yet on the other end of the spectrum, budget travel (which is what I lean a lot more towards), self-promotion is even more forward and demanding to the point that critiquing someone can result in blocks and bans from various media. I myself have been banned for pointing out to others that posting publicly about extremely well documented places is useless due to the sheer amount of information present online already.
Yes, I am going to face backlash for this and I make no apology for expressing my own opinions on the matter. But it would be interesting to see what people think on the matter too.
...what do you think of such things?
While I may not be as experienced or have flown as much (or as luxuriously) as a lot of people here (despite having clocked up 93 countries across all 6 continents, 235,000 miles/380,000km, and 180 individual flights within 9 years, entirely self funded (bar a couple of short business trips) and not using miles etc), one thing I have noticed over the last 9 years of travelling is the increase of travel blogs, vlogs, online journals etc etc etc, and to my mind, it's got completely out of control.
As time has gone on, a few web pages here and there sharing one's experiences of their recent travels with photos and the occasional stories was great to look at. Nowadays, it seems like everyone has got their own blog page, YouTube channel etc and believe only theirs is the point of view that should be listened to/adhered to etc. Although I noticed subtleties between different nations.:
1) Take Russians, for example, given I live in Russia now. They tend to post highly posed, heavily edited and very limited numbers of photos with rather basic facts about the place the photo is in. For example, a photo of a beach in Australia giving a couple of easily Googled facts about the place. Many argue Russians do this to give off the impression of being able to afford a very bourgeois middle-class lifestyle and will go to great lengths in order to do this (my husband is somewhat guilty of this as well)
2) Brits (where I spent most of my life and one of my countries of origin), on the other hand, seem to take photos of just about everything they do when out of their motherland, arguably to try and passive-aggressively conjure up jealousy or to rub it into other people's faces that they're sipping overpriced cocktails at some plastic hotel in Dubai whilst their compatriots are slogging away on the Tube going to work.
3) (Now I know I'm going to get my head bitten off for this one but...) and Americans seem to write quite a lot about their own adventures, albeit in a somewhat "Oh, this is not like the USA, this is so weird and I don't understand why they don't do it our way", plus (IMO, uselessly) photographing just about every aspect of their travel, as well as tending to adopt a more in-your-face approach to their publications.
As far as I'm concerned, reading blogs or following Instagram accounts or whatever for me is one of the most nauseatingly dull things to do in terms of learning about a place. Particularly when most publications tend to be about the major hotspots of the world e.g. Paris, LA, Dubai, London, etc. There's just nothing interesting about such places. Even less travelled places are somewhat difficult to make interesting. Although I do make the exception for the very few who do truly go off the beaten path e.g. Sao Tome and Principe or go to places where would be considered suicidal by many e.g. Afghanistan etc.
Yet everywhere one goes online, one is faced with a barrage of posts from (for example) various Americans who live and work in Moscow writing on Facebook about their "Russian adventures", almost always little more than going to some slightly lesser known part of Moscow and being in some bar with a couple of locals for one night or someone is promoting their blog and asking for donations for the privilege of it. I recently found about a couple of crowdfunded their "mission" (i.e.vlogging) to pass through every UK railway station from Penzance to Wick, from Fishguard Harbour to Dover Priory etc and I thought to myself "Why in the world should you expect others to fund this for you?" I know UK rail travel is expensive and yes it is impressive they got through all 2000+ stations, but on other people's penny? Seriously?!
The aspects of luxury is another thing. I won't lie, I do find the experiences people write about on here not only sleep inducing but also somewhat self-important and egoistic. Like, it's all well and good giving people information about what Emirates First Class is like, but surely there are ways to get that experience across without sounding like an egomaniac? Yet on the other end of the spectrum, budget travel (which is what I lean a lot more towards), self-promotion is even more forward and demanding to the point that critiquing someone can result in blocks and bans from various media. I myself have been banned for pointing out to others that posting publicly about extremely well documented places is useless due to the sheer amount of information present online already.
Yes, I am going to face backlash for this and I make no apology for expressing my own opinions on the matter. But it would be interesting to see what people think on the matter too.
jk! jk!
As for the proliferation of social media 'entrepreneurs', it's just a thing: Take your hobby, put it online, try to monetize it, see what happens. Best case you sell some ad space and/or get kickbacks from credit card issuers. Worst case, you gave it a try. There have been some real success stories in that space, and people who are successful often try to extend that success by showing others the way to do it. Then unthinking people follow the formula they were sold and look around and realize they are now one of thousands of people following the formula, the market is saturated and so the formula fails. This phenomenon is not limited to this space, either. Same thing is happening in online retail and lots of other spaces.
As for the different styles, I'm not sure they are based on the country of origin so much as they reflect the priorities of the 'entrepreneur.' You've got strivers who seem to need to prove something, eggheads who think they are smarter than everyone, crass capitalists who are just in it for the $$$, adventurers who are just out to have a good time (ok, not so many of those!!!).
As a consumer of this type of information the good news is that there are plenty of choices. And we can consumer what we like and enjoy and ignore the rest. ^
Apr 15, 2018, 6:54 pm
#5
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: AVV
Programs: QF, HH
Posts: 1,112
Oh for sure, there is much wisdom to be gained from your post. I agree, and your sterotyping there I find amusing - it reminds me of
if you don't mind me sharing it. Beware the frequent F-bomb!
In cases where I might need to research logisitcs prior to travelling to common places, many such blogs and websites along the lines of those you've mentioned are useful in helping us get from A to B, orto know what to look for and what not to do.
That said, I do enjoy travel writing but it's got to the point where the genre itself is rather cliché. Even Everest and Greenland are overkill these days. That's why I appreciate, and wholly applaud, original work written by those who travel - no, voyage - to far flung and exotic places that most folks either haven't heard about or would not consider going to.
As you say, Afghanistan, for one, and Sao Tome or the deepest, darkest heart of Africa or a random island out in the Pacific that has no air traffic. There's also something to be said for survival stories and those living life on the edge. I mean, it'd be hell at the time but for the rest of us they make for cracker tales. I've read some biographies of news reporters, journalists and camera men who work in hot spots and war zones and they are most captivating!
I went to the Azores once before Lonely Planet took an interest - now that was a fascinating place and it just made things all the more exciting.
So who's up for a BGW Do just to reignite the trip report forums?
In cases where I might need to research logisitcs prior to travelling to common places, many such blogs and websites along the lines of those you've mentioned are useful in helping us get from A to B, orto know what to look for and what not to do.
That said, I do enjoy travel writing but it's got to the point where the genre itself is rather cliché. Even Everest and Greenland are overkill these days. That's why I appreciate, and wholly applaud, original work written by those who travel - no, voyage - to far flung and exotic places that most folks either haven't heard about or would not consider going to.
As you say, Afghanistan, for one, and Sao Tome or the deepest, darkest heart of Africa or a random island out in the Pacific that has no air traffic. There's also something to be said for survival stories and those living life on the edge. I mean, it'd be hell at the time but for the rest of us they make for cracker tales. I've read some biographies of news reporters, journalists and camera men who work in hot spots and war zones and they are most captivating!
I went to the Azores once before Lonely Planet took an interest - now that was a fascinating place and it just made things all the more exciting.
So who's up for a BGW Do just to reignite the trip report forums?