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Slow Travel in an Age of Social Media: Rediscovering the Joy of Being Present

Social media has transformed the way we discover destinations, but has it also changed how we experience them? This article explores how slow travel offers an alternative to checklist tourism by encouraging curiosity, presence, and deeper connections with the places we visit. Through stories from the road, discover why slowing down often leads to richer experiences—especially for RV travelers.

Social media & slow travel series
This two-part series looks at how social media has quietly influenced the way we travel—and what we risk losing when travel becomes more about documentation than discovery. It begins by examining how social media can subtly reshape our vacations then explores slow travel as an antidote: a way of staying present, noticing more, and reconnecting with the real texture of place.

In the first article, I explored how social media can quietly shape our vacations. Here, I turn to a different question: What kind of travel helps us rediscover the joy of simply being present?

Every year, new lists appear featuring the world’s most beautiful, most photographed, and most “Instagrammable” places. A hidden beach, a remote mountain overlook, a historic village, or a desert landscape can become a global destination almost overnight because of a single image shared thousands or even millions of times.

There is something remarkable about this. A photograph can inspire curiosity, introduce us to places we may never have discovered, and encourage us to explore beyond familiar surroundings. In many ways, social media has expanded our awareness of the world.

But there is another side to this new way of discovering places. When we encounter a destination first as an image, we can arrive with expectations already formed. We may know the view we want before we understand the place itself. We search for the famous overlook, capture the familiar photograph, and move on—sometimes without ever discovering what exists beyond the frame.

The challenge facing modern travelers is not whether we should use technology. It is whether we can still allow a place to reveal itself on its own terms.

Slow travel begins with a different question.

Instead of asking, “What is the one thing I need to see here?” it asks:

“What might I discover if I take the time to truly be here?”

Discovering the back roads of Lodi, California *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Slow travel: More than just taking your time

A different way of seeing, experiencing, and connecting with the places we visit

Slow travel is often misunderstood. It does not mean moving at a slower pace simply for the sake of moving slowly. It does not require long journeys, unlimited time, or months spent in one location.

At its heart, slow travel is about depth rather than distance.

It means choosing to experience fewer places more fully instead of rushing from one highlight to the next. It means staying long enough for a destination to become more than a backdrop—a place with its own rhythms, stories, and character.

The slow traveler looks beyond the obvious attractions. They may still visit the famous viewpoint, walk the well-known trail, or take the photograph everyone else takes. But they also notice what exists beyond the expected:

The conversation with a local shop owner
The quiet trail that was not on the itinerary
The changing light on a landscape seen from the same place two different days
The bird calling from a nearby tree
The history hidden in a small town that most travelers simply pass through

Slow travel replaces the question “How much can I see?” with a different question:

“How deeply can I experience the places I choose to visit?”

It is not about doing less. It is about noticing more.

Discovering the beauty of Lake County, Florida *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Why RV travel offers an alternative

A slower road in a faster travel world

In an age when social media often encourages travelers to collect destinations, RV travel offers a different possibility: the freedom to stay.

The advantage of traveling with an RV is not simply mobility. It is flexibility—the ability to linger, return, explore, and allow a place to reveal itself over time.

Of course, an RV can be used to rush from one popular destination to the next. The vehicle itself does not create slow travel. The mindset does.

But RV travelers have something many other travelers do not: the ability to choose a different rhythm.

A scenic overlook does not have to be a quick stop between destinations. A small town does not have to be passed through on the way somewhere else. A campground does not have to be simply a place to sleep.

With time, places begin to change.

A morning walk reveals birds and wildlife that were hidden the day before. A conversation with a local resident leads to a place that never appeared on a “must-see” list. A second visit to the same viewpoint reveals a landscape transformed by different light, weather, or season.

These are the experiences that rarely become viral posts because they cannot be captured in a single image. They require something social media often works against: patience.

Looking beyond the obvious in Frankfort, Kentucky *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Beyond the highlight reel

Discovering the stories that never appear in a single photograph

Social media has changed the way we discover places. A single image can introduce us to a landscape, a historic site, or a small community we might never have known existed. That is one of its greatest strengths.

But the same images that inspire us can also narrow our expectations. When we arrive already knowing the photograph we want, we can begin searching for the image instead of experiencing the place.

The most meaningful travel moments are often the ones that never become part of a highlight reel.

They are found beyond the famous viewpoint: the conversation with someone who has called a place home for decades, the quiet trail where no one else is walking, the local restaurant recommended by someone you happen to meet, or the unexpected story behind a landmark that seemed ordinary at first.

Slow travel offers an alternative to the pressure of seeing places only through their most recognizable images. It allows us to move beyond what is popular online and discover what makes a place unique offline.

A destination is not simply a collection of scenic views waiting to be photographed. It is a combination of landscapes, history, people, traditions, and everyday moments.

The irony is that slowing down often leads to discovering more.

Not more destinations.

More meaning.

Looking past what you came to see in San Antonio, Texas *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Seeing what you didn’t come to see

The richest discoveries often lie beyond the places everyone photographs

More than a century ago, G. K. Chesterton made an observation that feels remarkably relevant in the age of social media:

“The traveller sees what he sees; the tripper sees what he has come to see.”

His words describe two very different approaches to travel. The traveler arrives with curiosity, prepared to discover the unexpected. The tripper arrives with a checklist, focused on seeing what was planned before the journey even began.

Today, that checklist often isn’t written on paper. It lives on our phones. It is shaped by travel blogs, influencer videos, and an endless stream of beautiful images. Before we even arrive, we often know the photograph we want to take, the viewpoint we want to visit, and the experience we expect to have.

Slow travel invites us to do something different. It asks us to remain open to the discoveries that never appeared on our screen.

I’ve been reminded of this many times during my travels.

When I visited San Antonio, I certainly wanted to see the The Alamo and stroll along the San Antonio River Walk. They deserve their place on every visitor’s itinerary. But slowing down revealed a much richer city. Exploring the historic missions, wandering through older neighborhoods, lingering in local cafés, and learning about the city’s layered history gave me a deeper appreciation than another photograph of the Alamo ever could. The famous landmarks became the introduction rather than the entire experience.

I found the same lesson while traveling the Lowcountry between Charleston and Savannah. Social media celebrates the beauty of these two iconic Southern cities, and rightly so. Yet the journey between them proved just as memorable. Quiet marshes, historic churches, small coastal communities, scenic back roads, and unhurried conversations revealed a side of the Lowcountry that rarely appears in a highlight reel. Those discoveries weren’t on a checklist. They happened because there was time to notice them.

Again and again, slow travel has taught me that the places I remember most are not always the ones I planned to see. They are the ones I was willing to discover.

Exploring beyond Charleston, South Carolina *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

When a place begins to change us

The best journeys leave us with more than photographs—they leave us with a different way of seeing

One of the quiet rewards of slow travel is that it gives a place time to work on us.

The first day is often spent noticing the obvious—the famous landmarks, the scenic overlooks, the attractions that drew us there in the first place. But as the days pass, our attention begins to shift. We start recognizing familiar faces in a local café. We learn the rhythm of a small town. We notice how morning light differs from evening light, or how a landscape changes after a rain.

Without realizing it, we stop being spectators and begin becoming participants.

Social media excels at introducing us to places. Slow travel allows those places to become part of us.

That may be the greatest difference between checking a destination off a list and truly experiencing it. One adds another photograph to an album. The other leaves us with memories, perspectives, and stories that continue to shape us long after the journey has ended.

Perhaps that is why the places we remember most are rarely the ones where we were busiest. They are the ones where we gave ourselves permission to slow down, pay attention, and simply be present.

Choosing the journey over the image

The most meaningful destinations are often the ones that continue to travel with us

Social media has changed the way we discover the world and that isn’t entirely a bad thing. It has introduced millions of travelers to remarkable places, inspired new adventures, and reminded us of the beauty that exists far beyond our own backyards.

But every journey still presents us with a choice.

We can travel to confirm what we’ve already seen on a screen or we can remain open to discovering something we never expected. We can measure a trip by the number of places we checked off a list or by the depth of the experiences we carry home.

That is the quiet invitation of slow travel.

It asks us to trade urgency for curiosity, schedules for flexibility, and the pressure to see everything for the freedom to truly know a few places well. It reminds us that a destination is more than its most photographed landmark and that some of the richest travel experiences can never be captured in a single image.

The goal of travel isn’t to collect photographs of places. It’s to collect experiences that continue to shape us long after we’ve returned home.

Perhaps that is the greatest lesson of all. The world is filled with famous places worth seeing but it is equally filled with unnoticed places, unexpected conversations, and quiet moments waiting to be discovered.

The traveler who remains open to them doesn’t simply return home with better photographs.

They return home having seen more than they came to see.

Series reflection

Together, these two articles have explored both the challenge and the opportunity of traveling in a world shaped by social media. Technology will continue to influence where we go and how we discover new places. The choice that remains is how we experience them once we arrive.

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Editor’s note

This article was originally published in July 2026. Information reflects what was accurate at the time of writing. Conditions, access, and amenities may change over time, so please verify current details before planning your trip.

To maintain transparency and editorial independence, this website contains no ads, no sponsored content, and no affiliate links—just firsthand RV travel experiences and practical information for fellow travelers.

Don’t Let Social Media Steal Your Vacation

Are we experiencing our travels—or performing them for social media? Discover how slowing down helps RV travelers create richer memories, deeper connections, and more meaningful journeys.

It’s becoming harder to tell where the experience of travel ends and the documentation of it begins. In many popular destinations, the first instinct is no longer to simply look—it’s to frame, capture, and share. A waterfall is no longer just a waterfall. A desert overlook is no longer just a view. They’ve become backdrops for a moment that may not fully exist until it is posted.

This shift is subtle. Few travelers would say they are no longer interested in the place itself. Yet watch closely at any scenic stop and you’ll see it happening: people arriving, lifting phones, adjusting angles, retaking shots, and only then—sometimes—pausing long enough to actually take in where they are. The experience is still there but it has been interrupted, segmented into moments of documentation.

Social media didn’t invent travel photography. People have always taken pictures to remember where they’ve been. The difference now is pace and priority. The photograph used to follow the experience. Increasingly, it leads it. And when that happens often enough, something quiet but important begins to change in how we move through the world.

What gets lost is not just attention but presence. The small, unplanned details—the sound of wind through trees, the shift in light across stone, the feeling of simply standing still in a place you’ve never been before—start to fade into the background. Not because they are gone but because they are no longer the center of focus.

When you think back on this moment, will you remember Santa Fe—or the photo you took there? © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

When the camera becomes the compass

We used to take photos of where we had been. Now we go where the photos tell us to go.

For RV travelers, this shift can be especially easy to slip into. The flexibility of the road—the ability to stop anywhere, linger longer, or change direction entirely—should make it easier to travel at our own pace. Yet even here, the pull of “must-see” locations and widely shared scenic stops can quietly reshape a trip.

A destination that looked quiet and spacious online may arrive in reality already crowded, not just with people, but with expectation. We’ve all seen it: the overlook where everyone stands in the same spot, the trailhead where the experience is less about walking the landscape and more about waiting for a clear moment to capture it.

None of this is inherently wrong. There is nothing wrong with taking a photograph or even wanting to share where we’ve been. The shift happens when the photo becomes the reason for stopping in the first place. When we begin measuring a place not by what we experienced there but by how it will look to others afterward.

RV travel offers a quiet advantage here. Time is less compressed. You can arrive early, stay late, come back again tomorrow. You can miss the crowd windows entirely if you choose to. But that advantage only matters if we use it—if we resist the habit of turning every stop into a performance moment.

Did you experience Lancaster County (Pennsylvania)… or just photograph it? © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

What we stop noticing when we start performing travel

Presence doesn’t disappear—it gets crowded out

The most subtle cost of social media tourism is not overcrowding or inconvenience. It is attention. Not the kind of attention that takes a photograph but the kind that absorbs a place without needing to capture it.

When travel becomes performance, the mind splits its focus. Part of us is still standing in the landscape while another part is already outside it—thinking about framing, lighting, captions, and reactions. The moment is no longer complete in itself; it is being prepared for a second life online.

And in that division, we miss things that never make it into a post.

The quiet details tend to go first. The way morning light transforms a canyon wall. The sound of wind moving through an empty valley. The unexpected stillness that settles over a place after the last tour group leaves. These are not dramatic moments but they are often the ones that stay with us longest—if we allow ourselves to notice them.

There is also a more personal loss. Travel, at its best, has a way of slowing us down internally. It interrupts routine thinking and opens space for curiosity. But when the goal shifts toward capturing rather than experiencing that inner slowing is replaced by a kind of quiet urgency. Not hurry in movement, but hurry in attention.

The irony is that we often end up with more images and fewer memories—thousands of photographs that document where we stood but less clarity about what it actually felt like to be there.

Years from now, will you remember *Badlands National Park* or the picture you captured there? © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Reclaiming the journey

Travel with intention. Experience with attention

Social media has changed the way many of us approach travel but it does not have to define the way we experience it. Reclaiming the journey is not about rejecting photography or disconnecting from technology. It is about restoring balance—allowing the experience itself to come first and letting the images follow naturally.

Arrive before your camera does

Pause for a few minutes before taking your first photograph. Let your eyes wander. Listen to the sounds around you. Notice the breeze, the scent of pine or sage after a rain, the warmth of the sun or the coolness of morning air. When you finally lift your camera, you’ll be photographing a place you’ve already begun to know rather than one you’ve merely seen.

Photograph what moves you

The iconic viewpoint will still be there but don’t overlook the smaller moments. A weathered barn beside a country road, a hummingbird visiting desert flowers outside your campsite, or the smile of a local shopkeeper may tell the story of your journey far better than another familiar postcard scene. Your photographs become more meaningful when they reflect what captured your attention rather than everyone else’s.

Leave room for spontaneity

Some of the finest travel memories aren’t planned. They happen because you took a side road, lingered over coffee with another traveler, or decided to spend one more night in a place that felt welcoming. An itinerary should guide your travels, not imprison them.

Share the story after you’ve lived it

There’s nothing wrong with sharing your adventures with family and friends. But consider waiting until you’ve experienced the place before thinking about how you’ll present it. When the journey comes first and the post comes second, you’re more likely to tell a story than simply upload a photograph.

Choose presence over perfection

Not every sunset is spectacular. Not every hike leads to an unforgettable vista. Sometimes travel is windy, dusty, rainy, or unexpectedly quiet. Accepting those imperfect moments often leads to the most authentic memories because they reflect the place as it truly was—not as we hoped it would appear on social media.

Did you experience Colonial Williamsburg or just photograph it? © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Mindfulness on the road

The simplest way to reclaim a place is to actually be in it.

Mindfulness sounds like a large concept but in travel it begins with something simple: noticing where your attention is going. Am I truly present in this place or am I already thinking about how I will share it later?

For RV travelers, this awareness can be especially powerful because the journey already allows for flexibility. We are not locked into fixed schedules or rigid itineraries. We can pause, wait, return when the light is better or stay longer when a place invites us to linger.

But freedom alone does not guarantee attention. Presence is still a choice.

Mindful travel does not require abandoning photography or stepping away from technology. It simply asks us to reverse the order. First, we experience the place. Then, if we choose, we document it. First, we look. Then, we lift the camera.

The difference is subtle but meaningful. One approach is driven by curiosity; the other by expectation. One expands the moment; the other can quietly compress it.

Small adjustments can restore that connection: standing still a little longer before reaching for the phone, walking beyond the obvious viewpoint, or returning after the crowds have left. These are simple choices, but they help restore something easy to lose in modern travel—the feeling of truly being there.

And often, what returns is not just better awareness but a different kind of memory—one that does not rely entirely on images to stay alive.

Some places are meant to be photographed. The best ones are meant to be experienced. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Looking beyond the lens

Every journey offers a choice: to capture the moment or to truly live it

Social media is not going away nor should it. It inspires us to discover remarkable places, helps us share our journeys with others, and connects us with experiences we might never have found on our own. The challenge is not social media itself. The challenge is allowing it to quietly change why we travel.

There is nothing wrong with taking photographs. They become treasured reminders of journeys well lived. But photographs should preserve an experience, not replace it. The places that remain with us are rarely remembered because we captured the perfect image. We remember them because of how they made us feel, what they taught us, or the unexpected moments we never could have planned.

The goal of travel isn’t to collect photographs of places. It’s to collect experiences that continue to shape us long after we’ve returned home.

Perhaps the greatest gift we can give ourselves is permission to slow down—to look before we photograph, to listen before we share, and to remain open to the unexpected. The most meaningful moments of a journey are often the ones that never appear on social media.

If social media encourages us to move faster, see more, and share constantly, what kind of travel invites us to do the opposite?

That question leads naturally to the next part of this series: Slow Travel in an Age of Social Media.

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Editor’s note

Is Social Media Ruining the National Park Experience?

From feeding wild animals to perilous selfies, tourists risk their lives and the preservation of America’s national parks for fleeting social media fame

It may seem cute and fun for tourists to feed the wildlife at a national park until you realize this isn’t a Disney movie but is, in fact, reality. One woman who decided to feed a grown bull—not in a national park but on a Mexican beach last month—learned the hard way that if you mess with a bull, you may get the horns, literally. The video was posted online, per CBS News.

One Instagram account with nearly half a million followers posted videos of tourists risking their lives to get the picture no one else has to get a temporary sense of fame on social media. The account, TouronsOfYellowstone shares submissions mainly in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park but posted one photo of a tourist in Utah who had to be saved by search and rescue after jumping to a hoodoo rock overlooking the canyon thousands of feet below.

The phrase touron, the combination of tourist and moron describes those who don’t think before they act when it comes to interacting with wildlife in America’s national parks.

Bison in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

In 2022, influencer Katie Sigmund faced criminal charges after hitting golf balls into Grand Canyon National Park. “I was thinking in my head … ‘I can make golf content. Like, it’s such a pretty view. Let me just golf into the Grand Canyon,’” Sigmund said in an interview.

“Dumbest idea,” she added.

After posting the video of golf balls and part of her golf club breaking off and being thrown below Mather Point at the South Rim of the canyon some of Sigmund’s followers reported her to the park. She was handed three federal violation notices and a $285 fine.

Carmen Holbrook has visited many popular scenic spots through the years and says she has seen a few people in national parks get too close to danger for comfort.

“I haven’t seen people hitting golf balls but I have seen people get way too close to the waterfall and they just don’t understand the power and beauty of nature,” Holbrook told the Deseret News. “It becomes so risky.”

Elk in Jasper National Park, Alberta *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

The National Park Service mortality dashboard from 2014 to 2019 shows that the top three causes of unintentional deaths are motor vehicle crashes, drowning, and falls. Fifty percent of all deaths inside parks are reportedly unintentional and also occur when the individual is participating in physical activity.

While at Yellowstone National Park, Holbrook said she saw multiple instances of people tempting their fates. In one instance, she witnessed a tourist walk off the guided path even though the signs warned of a thin crust that resembled solid ground.

“I felt like I was going to have a heart attack watching him walk on the crust,” she said. “It’s annoying when people do dangerous things. They think it’s only affecting them when everyone else around them is like, ‘You’re destroying the park and you’re stressing us out. You are doing something so disrespectful.’”

Another occurrence happened when she and other tourists were driving along a river in the park when someone spotted a grizzly bear on the opposite side of the bank.

“Everyone was getting out of their cars and standing across the river which was a small river, probably only like 30-50 feet away from this grizzly bear,” Holbrook emphasized. “It was just so sad, because you do hear all these grizzly bear attacks. There was a runner last year in Yellowstone who was attacked.”

“Why can you not just look from your car? Why do you have to get out and get close and risk your life when you could just still enjoy it the same way, just in the safety of your car?”

Here is some more helpful information on bear safety: You Come Across a Bear. Your Next Move Is Very Important. Do You Know What To Do?

Rocky Mountain Goat in Jasper National Park, Alberta *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Social media for those who behave

The power of social media is that it influences—some for good and others for bad. That said, there have been some positive outcomes for America’s breathtaking landscapes in the digital world.

Research by Georgia Tech’s School of Economics looked at different social media outlets tied to national parks in the last decade and found that “parks with high exposure see increases in visitation that are 16 percent to 22 percent larger than parks with less exposure that see little change.”

“Visitation to national parks in the United States has increased by more than 25 percent since 2010 rising from roughly 70 to 90 million annual visitors,” the study added. “Anecdotes suggest that this increase was driven by the advent of social media in the early-to-mid 2010s, generating a new form of exposure for parks and has led to concerns about overcrowding and degradation of environmental quality.”

One account that provides both comedic relief and interesting information regarding the national parks and the wildlife within is the National Park Service’s social media itself.

“We often get referred to as the dad joke,” Matt Turner, the social media specialist for the National Park Service told The Weather Channel. “I’m like, well … you know, I think that fits with the National Park Service personality, maybe of outdoors and going camping and spending time with family.”

“We often kind of say, like safety with a smile,” he added. “As a government agency, we don’t want to say ‘no’ all the time or ‘stop doing that.’”

Bison in Custer State Park *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Here are a few great articles to help you stay safe in national parks:

Worth Pondering…

I love the term touron. It’s a delicious portmanteau.

—Aspen Daily News

Why You Shouldn’t Share Your Location on Vacation

Be careful what (and how) you post to social media while away from home

While it’s tempting to post pictures on social media of your cool campsite either in a campground or in the middle of nowhere it lets people know (possibly criminals too) your current location and more importantly that your home is vacant.

The advent of social media has put everyone in a rat race of sharing—from sharing their pictures, important milestones, and even location on social media and the internet. People have become very fond of this practice to update their friends and followers about their daily activities. While doing so they turn their location on to check-in to different places with their friends. That is where the risk factor comes into play.

It’s easy to share information with your online contacts. Platforms like social media make it simple for you to broadcast to your family and friends (and even to strangers, depending on your privacy settings) what you’re up to and where you are.

Roosevelt State Park, Mississippi *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Apps like Facebook and Instagram allow you to tag your photos with the place they were taken and Facebook allows you to tag your statuses with your location. Meanwhile, Snapchat allows you to share your current location as you stream live alerting your followers (and the public, depending on your privacy settings) to your whereabouts.

You’ve probably heard this before. “If you don’t post about it, you haven’t done it” and in addition to activities (like attending music festivals) it also refers to your travels. If you’re on Instagram, you might feel compelled to post pictures or stories to let your followers know where you are.

It makes sense—it’s a social media platform and that’s one of its uses. However, it might become risky for your own personal safety if you don’t take some important privacy issues into account.

I’m talking about sharing your location. In short, you shouldn’t do it unless you take some precautions. Sharing your real-time location can jeopardize your safety as it means broadcasting your whereabouts to many people—and some of them might not have good intentions.

This isn’t something new. Celebrities have long been affected by this same issue including Kim Kardashian who in 2016 was the victim of a robbery in Paris. She shared the location details of the hotel she was staying in and the robbers didn’t think twice about orchestrating the attack.

Social media exposure can impact you even if you aren’t a celebrity. When you let the internet know you’re on vacation somewhere you also let everyone know you’re not at home.

Sand Hollow State Park, Utah *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Information about your absence can be exploited in various ways from impersonating you to accessing your personal accounts or even attempting to scam friends and family who might be unaware of your travel plans. To protect yourself it is best to avoid posting your holiday plans and specific travel dates on social media. If you want to share your experiences wait until you return home.

The same goes for your location. You can still get the most out of your social media experience without sharing where you are while you’re there. If sharing where you are is important to you consider waiting to tag the location until you leave. By delaying your posts, you can still share your experiences without compromising your safety.

Your location is only one of the many sensitive data you might be sharing online so while it is important to try your best to protect those location-specific details, it is also essential to holistically protect yourself when online. The golden rule to succeed is straightforward: Share the least amount of information possible.

New Green Acres RV Park, Waterboro, South Carolina *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

What you choose to share on social media is always your decision but what others choose to do with your information may not always be in your control. Consider taking the following personal safety precautions with these social media safety tips:

Know how to report, block, and filter content: Social media privacy and safety tools update constantly. The best place to learn about how to enact features is on each social media platform.
For example, Facebook has few options for filtering sensitive content. They operate by a system of individual users reporting posts or by messaging the poster and asking them to remove harmful posts.
Personalize your privacy settings: Adjust your privacy settings on the site to your comfort level and select options that limit who can view your information. Think about non-traditional social media as well such as your public transactions on Venmo or music activity on Spotify.
Pause before you post: Before you post, ask yourself if you are comfortable sharing this information with everyone who might see it. Content that contains personal information or your whereabouts could pose a safety risk. Even content that is deleted can sometimes be accessed by the website or through screenshots of the original post and could be used maliciously.
Use a private internet connection: Avoid public Wi-Fi connections like those offered at coffee shops when using a website that asks for a password. Limit your social media usage to personal or private Wi-Fi networks while using cellular data on your phone or under the protection of a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Seabreeze RV Park, Portland, Texas *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advise you to do so as well. “Limit the amount of personal information you post—do not post information that would make you vulnerable such as your address or information about your schedule or routine. If your connections post information about you, make sure the combined information is not more than you would be comfortable with strangers knowing. Also be considerate when posting information, including photos, about your connections.”

Sharing your location on social media has many perils—not only for you but for your friends and family as well. Today’s trends of social media tagging have made it all the more easy for hackers to steal valuable information. So, it is always best to keep yourself on the safe side. Try avoiding sharing your location on social media platforms.

Worth Pondering…

I am a nonparticipant of social media. I’m not much attracted to anything that involves the willing forfeiture of privacy and the foregrounding of insignificance.

—Billy Collins

Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon

Woman dies from fall at Grand Canyon, the fourth park death in less than a month

A 70-year-old woman died after a 200-foot drop last week at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim—the third person to fall to their death in the national park, and the fourth body recovered in the area in less than a month, AZ Central reported.

Rangers at Grand Canyon National Park received reports at around 1 p.m. of a person in need of aid near Pipe Creek Vista, officials said. The woman fell before rescue efforts could begin. A technical rescue team was deployed via helicopter to locate the woman’s body, and a group of about 15 people later assisted in recovering the body, officials said in a statement.

Grand Canyon National Park © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

On March 28, a 50-year-old tourist from Hong Kong died after falling hundreds of feet while taking photos at Eagle Point in Grand Canyon West. Less than one week later, a 67-year-old man fell over the canyon edge. His body was recovered about 400 feet below the rim. A fourth body, identified as a possible international tourist, was also recovered in March in a wooded area south of Grand Canyon Village.

How Not to Die at the Grand Canyon

About a dozen people die each year in the park, and while that’s a small number compared to overall visitors, there are ways to make sure you don’t become one of those fatalities.

Watch your step. It may sounds like a cliché, but it’s a salient bit of advice in the wake of a third death in 10 days in (and near) Grand Canyon National Park, whose centennial celebration is expected to lure five million visitors to its rims this year. National Parks are often so well manicured and lighted and signed that selfie-snapping tourists tend to forget they’re in a dangerous expanse of a park that lies between 7,000 and 8,000 feet of elevation, where rattlesnakes roam, where temperatures easily creep past 100 degrees, and where there are a dozen ways to die.

How to survive the Grand Canyon, therefore: Don’t underestimate it. This may be a National Park, but it’s also a wild place.

What goes down must come up. What those who stumble down from various points into the canyon itself can too easily forget is that the route down is twice as easy a trek as the way back out when it’s likely to be hotter, windier, and steep. People need to know their limits. It’s easier in than it is out with the return typically taking twice as long. It never hurts to train for a few weeks before your trip. Not a lot of people live in an area that’s nearly 7,000 feet in elevation.

Get wet. With water, that is. Many of the 685 deaths catalogued adroitly in the oft-updated book Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon by Thomas Myers and Michael Ghiglieri are from dehydration and heat stroke, which can be prevented by hauling enough of that precious stuff of life to keep you hydrated for the long haul: A minimum of a liter per hour. And be sure to add some salty snacks, to keep the electrolytes flowing.

Get dressed. But leave the Instagram-cute outfits back at the Airbnb and be sensible about your wardrobe choices especially if you plan on hiking into the canyon. Flip-flops? Nope. Sturdy boots or trail runners. Tank tops and crop tops? No! Layers, bandannas, even a couple not-so-cool trekking poles. Consider that depending on the time of day and time of year you start your hike, the way back may be windy and frigid.

Watch the weather. The Grand Canyon can see monsoons from July to September, often accompanied by thunder and lightning strikes. Be on the lookout for bad weather and be ready to call it a day.

Take the path more traveled. While the designated trails are well-maintained (and often paved) in the park, visitors craning for a better view (or selfie) often sneak a few feet off the trail, where they may not realize until it’s too late that what presents as stable ground is actually paper-thin, thanks to millennia of the very same erosion that carved that canyon wall in the first place.

Pay attention to your surroundings. Among the more modern dangers in the Grand Canyon or anywhere is distraction from people who are on their dang phones walking and texting, not looking where they’re going.

Increasingly, people endanger themselves in that never-ending quest for the epic selfie which is doubly dangerous on an unstable trail because it typically means you’re neither looking at the ground nor how close you might be to the edge of a cliff. Selfie taking is scary, in part because your focus is typically on the camera. Put the phones away and enjoy yourself.

None of this advice is to suggest the Grand Canyon has turned into a deathtrap locale best avoided altogether in favor of the sanctity of a Florida theme park. About a dozen people die each year in the park but the odds of that tragic end are roughly 1 in 400,000, which is less than those of being attacked by a dog, killed in an airplane crash, or stung by a bee, according to the National Safety Council.

Worth Pondering…

Take care of yourself. You’ll find it hard to get a replacement.

You Need a Vacation from Social Media: Unplug and Reconnect with Wilderness

Now that we all have smart phones, smart TVs, and even smart refrigerators, these digital “conveniences” have become intrusions into our lives

There are a hundred reasons why you shouldn’t embark on your right now—but there are even more reasons why you should.

Yellow-crowned night heron at Corkscrew Sanctuary near Naples, Florida © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

You need a vacation—there’s no disputing that. What is in dispute is whether you’ll actually take one. According to a 2017 study by Glassdoor, the average American worker uses barely half of their annual paid vacation time. Worse, even those who do take a vacation generally fail to use it for rest and relaxation. What are they doing instead, you ask?

Well, what do you do when you leave town for a few days?

Cumberland Ialand National Seashore in Georgia © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Think through the steps of your last vacation. You made the reservation, endured the arduous flight, you arrived at the hotel, put down your luggage—and then what? You immediately checked your smart phone, of course. That’s what you do, even when you know you shouldn’t. The last thing anyone needs to do during a vacation is to watch their queue of emails multiply in real time.

Congaree National National Park in South Carolina © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

It’s true the phone itself isn’t that big of deal. It’s not the main culprit. There’s only so much time you can spend checking your email or the weather.

Lancaster County in Pennsylvania © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

It’s social media that’s the true soul destroyer. On social media platforms there’s always something else to click on, another rabbit hole to tumble down. There’s always something trending, some scandal emerging, a person’s life being ruined with a rumor or a dumb joke—the parade is always passing and urging you to join it.

Enchanted Rock Natural Area in the Texas Hill Country © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even LinkedIn, social media is undoubtedly an outlet that engages most online users. However, according to mental health consultants, social media has become an anxiety-provoking factor. In addition to attracting more anxious users, the University of Chicago found that it’s also “more addictive” than tobacco.

Glade Creek Grist Mill in Babcock State Park in West Virginia © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Overall, about 30 percent of those who use social media spend more than 15 hours per week online. This can greatly reduce your ability to enjoy real life. If you are spending several hours a day on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you are not going to have enough time for things that really matter. You may have social media anxiety disorder and it can also affect your health, both physically and mentally.

Dike Road near Woodland in southwestern Washington © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

And, habit is a hard thing to break. Not just the habit of being constantly online, but the habit of being incessantly busy, of somehow loving the stress of being so freaking important, of doing just one more thing before you finally let yourself relax.

It shouldn’t be this hard to take a vacation. And back in the day, it wasn’t. Taking a vacation meant really getting away from it all. You fled the city and the cares of workday life for a restful week of camping at the lake or national or state park and rediscovered the joys of roughing it.

Believe it or not, these rustic getaways are still possible. In this modern age of constant connectivity, they’re more necessary than they’ve ever been. That’s why we’ve pulled together a shortlist of five sites located within some of the country’s most beautiful, largely overlooked natural settings.

Corkscrew Sanctuary near Naples, Florida © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

A visit to Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a journey into the heart of the Florida’s Everglades ecosystem. Visitors will find a gentle, pristine wilderness that dates back about 600 years. A 2.25-mile boardwalk meanders through pine flatwood, wet prairie, around a marsh and finally into a large old growth Bald Cypress forest.

Free ranging horses at Cumberland Ialand National Seashore in Georgia © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Cumberland Island National Seashore includes one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands in the world. This Georgia Park is home to a herd of feral, free-ranging horses. Most visitors come to Cumberland for the natural glories, serenity, and fascinating history.

If you really want to experience nature, Congaree National Park in South Carolina is a perfect place to go. Home to one of the tallest deciduous forest canopies on earth, it offers great bird watching and wilderness tours. For those feeling more adventurous there is also kayaking, hiking, canoeing, fishing, and even camping. There are tons of trees to delight in, and you’ll feel super connected to the planet.

Valley of the Gods in southern Utah © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

A little known valley filled with sandstone formations and starry night skies is located in the southeastern corner of Utah out of the way of the main national park loop. To drive through the Valley of the Gods you will take a 17-mile, unpaved loop. Similar to Monument Valley, but only a quarter of the size, it remains quiet and peaceful.

Go back to a bygone age and take a horse and buggy ride in Amish Country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The area offers tours, museums, children’s activities such as doll-making, and, of course, buggy rides. It’s an excellent opportunity to disconnect from technology and see how a resilient, devout group of people get by just fine without everyone’s favorite ladies, Alexa and Siri.

Worth Pondering…

Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.

—John Muir

King of the Road: America the Road Trip Capital of the World

Get your kicks on Route 66

You can travel by plane, by bus, or by train, but you’ll never experience the satisfaction you’ll have with an RV road trip. There’s something about the long and winding road—and the RV lifestyle—that’s partly hypnotic and wholly satisfying.

In a commission survey for Hertz in the UK which polled 2,000 British adults, the top road trip in the world is a drive along Route 66 with 56 percent of respondents naming the US as “the road trip capital of the world”.

The Mother Road! Route 66. Main Street of America! Will Rogers Highway. The quintessential American Road Trip!

“The influence of social media has had a huge impact on destinations of choice, bringing increased awareness of less well-known areas, as well as ensuring that gems such as the Route 66 are still as popular as ever,” Temerity Vinson, senior director of international marketing said in a news release.

Historic Route 66 in Kingman, Arizona © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

The Mother Road stretches from Illinois to California through eight states. Once among the main routes for cross-country travelers, the largely two-lane road was decertified as a U.S. highway in 1985 in favor of modern interstates.

The mention of Route 66 to most baby boomers conjures up images of George Maharis and Martin Milner cruising along in their early Corvette roadster in the television series of the same name.

While reminiscing you have the popular rhythm and blues standard (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 echoing through your mind. Composed in 1946 by songwriter Bobby Troup, this hit song was followed by the Route 66 TV drama in the early ’60s.

One of the original highways in the U.S. highway system, Route 66 stretches from Chicago to Santa Monica, totaling in 2,448 miles of ribboning highway. A major route for western migration in the 1930s, the route is chock-full of history, nostalgia, and sites you’ll see nowhere else.

Stop at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas or see a living ghost town with gunslingers and burros (Oatman, Arizona). Spend the night in a tipi at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona. And be sure to visit the near-by Petrified Forest National Park.

Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Additionally, Route 66 was followed in the Hertz survey of British adults by the roads around Grand Canyon and the Pacific Coast Highway, giving the U.S. three spots on the top 10 list.

Celebrating its centennial this year, Grand Canyon National Park has become one of the country’s most beloved sites. More than 6 million people visited the park in 2017.

The sheer size of the Grand Canyon is difficult to comprehend through photos or words. Much of the canyon is over a mile deep, 15 miles wide, and 277 miles long, carved through geologic formations that are over 1.7 billion years old.

Grand Canyon © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

The most popular viewpoints, such as the South Rim, are visited by over 90 percent of the park visitors. Roughly 30 miles of the canyon along the South Rim is accessible by the road. The North Rim, about a 220-mile drive from the South Rim, gives access to the Kaibab Plateau and Bright Angel Point.

The Centennial celebration events will include a historical symposium, a living history week, and an effort to showcase some of the lesser-known sites through social media and other events throughout the year. Focused ranger-lead talks on the geology, cultural history, and natural resources will be available as well.

The best way to celebrate the Grand Canyon on its 100th birthday is to see it yourself and take in the natural wonders spanning 13,000 years of human life, and eons of time before that.

Furthermore, the survey identified the ingredients of an epic road trip as wide-open roads, driving past famous attractions, and spotting wildlife along the way. Discovering views and enjoying the scenery is the main purpose for adults over 38-years-old while millennials want to enjoy a new experience.

The Grand Canyon © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

According to the survey, over two-thirds of millennials use Instagram to plan their trips, and 36 percent say they’d have a hard time remembering it if they didn’t post photos to the platform.

Worth Pondering…

I hear the highway calling. It’s time for a road trip.