5 ways to make meaningful travel memories *without* your phone
In defense of offline travel (and how to do it).
After reviewing the predicted travel ins and outs for 2024, it’s clear: Travelers are increasingly searching for opportunities to engage with the authentic customs of the cultures they’re traveling to visit, rather than seeking out the Instagram- or TikTok-worthy experiences of yore.
Per SkyScanner’s Travel Trends 2024 report, “What’s cooler than snapping an Insta photo at an iconic destination? Not posting about it—or, at least, not right away. In an age of always-on and constant hype, Gen Z is craving old-school analog adventures that ditch the digital device in favor of how it used to be done.”
So if you are one of the many travelers out there who are, as Skyscanner put it, "starting to focus on the depth and quality of experiences, relishing the moment itself rather than the capturing of it,” here are five tried-and-true ways that you can make and preserve meaningful travel memories without social media.
In defense of offline travel
After years of sharing self-indulgent #travelinspo posts, I’m admittedly new to the practice of traveling offline. So I’ll lean on the expertise of Dr. Lauren Siegel (MSc, PhD, FHEA, and Senior Lecturer in Tourism at the University of Greenwich in London) here to explain how social media has, in her words, “transformed experiences into objects of collectible consumption among younger generations.”
From her recent CNN Travel article, Instagram Is Making You A Worse Tourist:
When people travel to a beautiful place, the temptation to post photos and videos to social media is high. But, as I have argued, this creates a cycle that contributes to more self-indulgent travel.
First, tourists see their friends post photos from a place (revealed through geotags). They then want to visit the same places and take the same sorts of photos of themselves there. Eventually they post them on the same social networks where they saw the initial photos.
Being able to travel to and post about visiting the same places as one’s social group or online connections can be a form of social status. But it means that, in some cases, travelers will put more energy into creating content than they will to exploration, discovery or being respectful to local customs.
To travel respectfully, Dr. Siegel ultimately recommends that you:
Put down your phone…
Research shows that when travelling, people can become alienated from their surroundings if they are more focused on their devices than the destination.
Often the most memorable travel experiences will be when you have a meaningful connection with someone, or learn something new that you’ve never experienced before. That becomes harder if you’re constantly looking at your phone.
…or use your influence for good.
In popular “Instagram v reality” posts, influencers are revealing the huge crowds and queues behind the most Instagrammable locations.
Showing the less-than-glamorous conditions behind those iconic shots could influence your own social media connections to rethink their personal travel motivations – are they just going somewhere to get the perfect selfie? Having more evidence of these conditions circulating online could lead to a larger societal shift away from social media-induced tourism.
If you have the urge to post, try to promote smaller businesses and make sure you are demonstrating proper (and legal) etiquette on your vacation.
If the idea of traveling and not posting about it seems ludicrous (if perhaps, like me, you have spent years in the worlds of media and marketing, refining the art of the enviable Instagram or TikToks to die for as a part of your professional skill set), please know that the implication here isn’t that you should never share anything online about your travels again.
Instead, think of this as an invitation to take a step back and evaluate the role that getting photos/videos for your social media feed(s) plays in your travels.
As travel writer Danny Wallace wrote in a Condé Nast Traveller article titled How Instagram Is Erasing Our Happiest Holiday Memories:
I think we’re in danger of only documenting the things we think we’d like to remember. The things that paint our trip the way we think the trip should have gone. The things you’d Instagram. But it means we risk turning those memories into a stylised highlights package or a magazine spread, when what makes it real and important are the small and everyday memories that slip between the cracks. Often, the things that make your trip memorable are those very things we forget, maybe because we mistakenly choose to. Those seemingly pointless, perhaps even, on paper, dull details that—when taken and put together—make up a wonderful whole.
So, it might be worth asking yourself: Are you more focused on capturing the highlights of your trip to post about later than experiencing the whole messy, beautiful reality of your travels in real time?
No judgment, dude—I’ve been there. But I think the magic happens when you can adjust your perspective from “I’ll only relax and enjoy this experience after I’ve managed to capture it just right so I can post it online” to “Wow, I’m really enjoying this, let me take a quick and very likely imperfect photo or video so that I can remember this experience fondly after this trip ends.” Maybe you’ll post it later, maybe you won’t, but that’s not the goal. The goal is being present for what you’re experiencing as you’re experiencing it, then capturing that memory in a way that feels authentic and meaningful for you to look back on in the future.
How to travel offline if you’ve never done it before
My advice, as someone who has had a really hard time sticking to this? Meet yourself where you are and choose whichever of the following options seems doable for you:
Leave your phone behind in the safe at your accommodations.
If you are uncomfortable going out without your phone, put it in airplane mode so you’re not tempted to be online while you’re exploring.
If you need to be connected to the internet (for ApplePay, navigation, etc.), disable your social media apps anytime you leave your accommodations so you’re not tempted to scroll or share while you’re out and about.
Try not to panic at the idea of traveling offline—there are still plenty of ways to remember what you ate, drank, saw, and did during your travels, I promise.
5 ways to make meaningful travel memories that don’t involve your phone
1. Take pictures and videos—just not with your phone
You won’t be the only one. Skyscanner found that 31% of American 18-to-24-year-olds now bring a camcorder with them on vacation; 31% take a digital camera; and 31% bring a camera with actual film in it. These options allow you the opportunity to capture real-time footage from your travels without getting sucked into your smartphone in the process.
2. Keep a travel journal
It doesn’t have to be anything “aesthetic” or time-consuming. But a travel journal makes keeping all sorts of mementos from your travels abroad all in one convenient-to-carry, not-too-bulky, easy-to-pack place pretty effortless.
Bring along a few envelopes or paperclips and you can easily save keepsakes in the journal to remind you of the experiences you had on your trip, too—think:
Boarding passes
Luggage tags
Ticket stubs
Receipts
Stickers
Tea tags
Drink labels
Candy wrappers
Currency
Maps
I know it’s called a travel journal, but you don’t even have to write much (or anything!) in it if that seems too daunting. But if you want to, you could jot down a few things…
Before you go:
What made you choose this destination?
What do you think it’s going to be like?
What are you hoping to eat/drink/see/do while you’re there?
What are you looking forward to most?
While you’re there:
What did you bring with you? Did you forget anything?
How was your departure? Any notable moments or hiccups?
What were your first thoughts when you arrived at your destination?
Where are you staying? What are the accommodations like?
Try to describe your destination using your senses. How does it sound? Smell?
Where have you eaten? What was the atmosphere like there? What have you enjoyed (or not) in terms of food and drink so far?
What does it look like? What are some sights you’ve seen?
How is this place like where you live? How is it different?
How are the locals different from you? How are they similar? What do you feel makes you “stand out” compared to them?
Who are you traveling with? What is it like traveling here with them?
What are some experiences you’ve had that you don’t want to forget?
After you get home:
Did this trip teach you anything? Did it change you in any way?
What will you miss most now that you’re home?
What would you want to do again if you went back to this destination?
3. Send yourself daily postcards
If a full-on travel journal seems like more work than you want to do on vacation, this is a bit of a simpler alternative.
Find a post office or shop where you can buy postcards featuring the destination you’re in and buy one for each day of your trip. Each evening during your stay, set aside a few minutes to jot down what you want to remember about what you saw, did, ate, drank, or felt that day.
You don’t even have to use full sentences if that feels too much like “homework”—you can scribble down the names of some restaurants or attractions you visited, meals or drinks you enjoyed, quotes from your travel companions, or whatever else you don’t want to forget from your time there.
When you’re finished, either stamp it and send it to your home address or put it somewhere safe to bring back home with you at the end of your trip.
4. Start a souvenir collection
We’re not talking about souvenirs that you’ll bring back for other people, but souvenirs you’ll bring back for yourself.
Instead of bringing home just any old thing from your travels (which can be a daunting endeavor, if you’re not sure what to be on the lookout for), consider narrowing down your choices by starting a collection of a particular type of souvenir that you’ll be able to find in all kinds of different destinations.
Some options—and ideas for how you can store or display them upon your return:
Matchbooks: In a glass vase, a trinket tray, or a frame (this is my souvenir of choice!)
Postcards: In albums or frames, hanging from rods or mobiles, right on the wall or surrounding a doorframe
Spoons: In shadowboxes
Currency: As magnets
Stamps: In a frame or in glass jars containing tealight candles
Menus: As a gallery wall
Keychains: Hung on rods
Shells or rocks: In shadowboxes
Many of these can fit into the sleeves of scrapbooks, too—along with keepsakes like coasters, stickers, cocktail napkins, and more.
5. Make a playlist for your trip
Bring along a Bluetooth speaker you can play when you’re at your accommodations or hanging out somewhere where it would be okay to play music (at an appropriate volume—be considerate of others!) and use it to play a playlist specific to this trip.
That could mean a playlist you make ahead of time to set the vibe, a playlist you find that features genres/artists/songs from the destination you’re traveling to, a playlist you make in real-time of songs that you hear throughout the trip… Or all of the above, if you’re feeling ambitious! Studies have found that audio cues like this can help us better recall experiences, so you’ll be able to transport yourself back into the memories from your trip long after you’ve returned home.
Ready to travel offline?
The next time you plan to travel with someone, see if they’d be willing to try going phone-free with you during the experience—it might just be your most meaningful trip together yet.