This is me not blogging about New York.

There is a scene in the movie Zoolander where the Reporter Matilda quotes an Aboriginal Legend about how they believe that every time a picture is taken of you it may steal part of your soul. She subsequently asks Zoolander what he thinks about this as someone who gets his picture taken for a living, he responds in a classic Zoolander fashion and she is left confounded at his profound lack of intelligence. It is hilarious.

While in no way do I believe that photography can steal your soul, I do believe that the Abodiginals quoted by Matilda may have been on to something.

If you happen to be a child of the 80’s or earlier you will remember people going on vacation, taking their Kodak camera and 6 extra rolls of film and coming back to share them in your living room. Sitting around with family and friends whether that be through an album you threw together or if you’re old enough, clicking through a clunker of a projector. It was in fact a part of the vacation experience. You could probably call it the after party? With open faced buns. There is something about sharing your experiences with loved ones. Telling them about where you’ve been so they can laugh with you, share similar stories with you, and maybe be a little jealous of you. Today, this whole vacation rite of passage is currently done on social media. Except not at all, besides maybe the jealousy part.

Gathering is a dying concept. Actually I think connecting with people in general has been on the decline. Everything is on a computer or automated in some way, quick and easy. If you know me you know that I prefer people. I will always choose to go to the teller instead of the ATM, to catch up with someone in person instead of phone or text, and just experiences in general I find more enjoyable with others.

There are two reasons why I left my camera at home when I went to New York as well as why I am not laying out all the exciting details in a new entry of my travel blog.

First is that my philosophy on travelling is slowly changing. I’m tired of living behind a lens. Taking a million pictures of everything I encounter just to have something to look at later or to make everyone else jealous.

Yes I cheated and Instagrammed from my phone… get over it. I like it.

I am choosing more and more when I travel to live in the moment and own the experience for the here and now.

The second reason is that I want to talk to you. If you look at all my pictures and read about all my experiences on a blog, you have no reason to have an actual conversation with me about my trip. No reason for you to meet up with me and ask about that time I saw Sting, two feet in front of me. We no longer have an excuse to gather and connect because you already know everything I’m doing with a few short clicks sitting on your computer. And I don’t like that.

I think that every time you pull out your camera, or every blog you post about your trip, takes away from the vacation experience.

So this is me not blogging about New York.

See you around.