Chances are you’ve stumbled across at least one friend’s exotic getaway while you mindlessly scroll through Facebook or Instagram. Boom! That travel envy hits you hard! When we see our friends’ adventures on the beach or cruise ship, we instantly feel jealous and lust for our own escape from reality. We long for our feet to touch the sand while our eyes gaze into the crystal clear water. We wonder how on Earth they can afford all of these fancy vacations while we work so hard at work or school.
Before the birth of social media, people just took vacations without posting those Insta-worthy shots or “checking in” at every store via Facebook. Believe it or not, people once cared about the actual experiences of their vacation. However, we now feel like we must share every special moment on social media so that we can collect likes and comments.
Therefore, instead of hurting your friends who can’t afford constant getaways, consider doing these things the next time you travel:
1. Send postcards to your loved ones while you’re away.
Instead of spamming everyone’s social media feeds, spend a few minutes collecting and mailing postcards to your friends and family back home. Postcards provide an amazing way to share scenes and stories from your vacation without making everyone sick with travel envy. They’re a great way to share the good times and let people know how much you care about them, too. After all, everyone loves getting mail.
2. Make a memory book when you return.
While it’s fun to instantly share your vacation online, what happens after you return home? You typically forget about the majority of those pictures. Instead of filling up Instagram, consider loading those images into Shutterfly and creating a memory book filled with every moment of your trip! This allows you to share these perfect pictures with everyone while also enjoying them for years to come.
3. Sit down with friends for a coffee date and share vacation details.
When you spam social media during every moment of your vacation, you show off and brag about yourself. Even if that was not your original intent, you fuel the travel envy fire and risk pushing friends away. Instead of sharing everything online, post a few pictures, then connect with close friends or family members in person when you get back. Share your photos and tell them all about your adventures face to face. This allows everyone to experience your vacation in a more intimate way when you get back and may open up space for other conversations (like how you saved up).
We obviously can’t prevent travel envy, but we can help minimize the problem if we use these creative methods to share our getaway with the people we care about most. Besides, you worked hard for that vacation, so enjoy it instead of letting Facebook or Instagram comments and feeling the need to post consume your time.
Featured image from Melisa Popanicic via Unsplash.
