What’s travel about?
On my last post I listed the “Must See” highlights in Kyoto. Kyoto has a lot to see as far as temples and gardens and we appreciated the architecture and natural beauty that we saw during our month there. I’ll be honest though – we both had meltdowns. They fell on different days, in different places, but they were both meltdowns.
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For Lissette it was at Kinkaku-ji temple (the Golden Pavilion). It’s beautiful. But we entered and found ourselves in the middle of a crowd. Everyone gathered at the same spots, taking photos, some holding their cameras up high to take photos over the heads of others, others monopolizing the barriers for the usual selfies. If you finally got into a good position to take a photo, you could feel the pressure from others to take your photo and move on. In short, the whole scene was frenetic and stressed. I have the advantage of being tall and seeing over most people’s heads, but Lissette felt herself surrounded by a forest of people, all clicking away, some with their cameras right above her head or next to her face. So instead of trying to take photos of the temple she made a game of it and decided to take photos of the people crowding her space for a photo.
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And this guy, who blocked the path for everyone while trying to get the perfect photo in the new exercise move sweeping Japan: The Photo Squat.
Lissette made a game of it but the energy at the temple, where taking the perfect photo was primordial and imperative, really got to her. And raised other questions about travel. But I’ll get to that.
My meltdown came later during our month-long stay. For weeks I had been dealing pretty well with the crowds of people at Kyoto’s temples and gardens (I usually don’t deal very well with crowds).
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I was doing well until the day we decided to visit the Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji temple.
Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji is famous for one thing: the red Maple trees surrounding the temple. It was packed.
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And then I saw the cost to get into the grounds of the temple.
1,000 Yen, ie. $12 Canadian per person, to get into the grounds so that I can take photos of Maple trees with hordes of people??
That’s where I lost it. I think my exact words were “Screw that. That’s ridiculous”.
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We walked away. And it was while walking that we talked about a few things that had been nagging at us in Kyoto.
“Why are we doing this? Why are we paying all this money to get into these temples just to take the same photos as a million other people? Is this what travel is about, just taking photos like a bunch of monkeys? There’s nothing original about it. Why would I pay $12 just to take photos of maple trees around a temple when there are lots of maple trees everywhere?? Just because everyone else does it? It just doesn’t make sense. This isn’t what travel is about”.
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We’re to blame as much as anyone else. We enjoy taking photos. But where’s the line between finding the pleasure of ‘discovering’ a place and capturing it and just feeling like a photo-clicking monkey who’s visiting the same spots as everyone else?
I’m not sure if I know the answer to my own question. Maybe the answer depends on how someone defines travel and what inspires you. Which raises another question: is travel just about getting that perfect photo to post on Instagram?
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But talking about it was good. We decided that we would, from now on, be a lot pickier about the tourist sites we see. So, over the remaining 10 days of our stay in Kyoto we skipped a few of the popular temples. Instead we visited a few of the lesser known temples. We wandered the grounds of Chishaku-in temple (also known for its gardens) for free. And didn’t have to contend with any crowds. We also walked along the Kamo River which was lined with colorful trees and enjoyed the nature along the river. Again free with no crowds. More importantly, we felt that we were enjoying ourselves again and getting to know the real Kyoto. That, for us, is what travel is about.
Do you ever feel like a ripped-off Photo-Clicking Monkey?
How do you balance wanting to see a place without falling into the trap of being a Photo-Clicking Monkey?
Related: Why I’ve had it with Instagrammers (and some travel bloggers)
Related: Why you should travel solo, even if in a relationship
Related: We’re not on Holiday! Differences between vacationing and travelling explained
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These photos do a great job of capturing the reality of travel these days! I absolutely hate when people hold their camera above my head to take photos, pushing and elbowing me while they’re doing it. Happened to me at the Golden Pavilion and on a train in Switzerland recently. During my trip to Ireland, I realized that I wasn’t enjoying visiting the most popular sites and preferred going places that were off the typical tourist trail. For our upcoming road trip to the US, I’ve even decided to skip Antelope Canyon in favour of a lesser known, but similar canyon, just because I’ve read so much about people not enjoying the experience at Antelope solely because of crowds and being rushed through by the guides.
Isn’t that 1st photo crazy? There you are in nature and people are jostling and holding their cameras up to get a photo over other people’s heads. This is what travel has become?
I know Kyoto’s temples are impressive and all that – but we were actually happy and relieved when we left Japan and went to Belgrade. Sure it’s gritty in places – but it was authentic and there weren’t a hundred tourists lining up to take the same photo. The Kyoto experience kind of turned us off “travel” for a while there and just made us question everything…I glad to see I’m not the only one.
I had to look up Antelope canyon because I never heard of it. Looks gorgeous. But of course they never show any other people in those photos…Look forward to reading about your trip, would love to go to the region (haven’t even seen the Grand Canyon yet)
Thanks for the comment Rhonda.
I love Japan and was in Kyoto twice in my life, once in December 1975 and later in 2014. It was crowded at the popular sites but I was unlucky as I was in Kyoto the second time during a three-day Japanese holiday. I don’t get to travel much and I do tend to head to the typical tourist places, which are crowded. However, one day I found myself wandering all alone down quiet streets in Gion, the Geisha district of Kyoto. I was surprised that I was almost alone. I wandered through back alleys and ended up passing a small hole-in-the-wall where I had okonomiyaki, a sort of veggie omlette/pancake sort of thing. The temples are gorgeous and the crowds are insane but sometimes just taking a little detour can bring a person to unexpectedly magic places, away from the crazy crowds. In Japan I ended up in several places where there was hardly a foreigner to be found and only I had a camera clicking: in an old ryokan in Matsumoto in the Japanese Alps, at a large shrine at the foot of Mt Fuji, at a Buddhist temple several miles outside of Nara, and many other places. However, there were some chaotic sites like Arashiyama, where the crowds were so insane that cars couldn’t drive in the streets or over the bridge. That was a real disappointment. But still, I would like to go back “one day.”
Sounds like you really like Japan Edith! My overwhelming memory of our 7 weeks there are people who always went out of their way to be welcoming and helpful. I can’t say anything bad about the Japanese. (well, except that everyone is an amateur photographer!).
Ah, this issue has me completely split down the middle. Photography has been such a natural extension of my experience of the world for a decade or more. In my head it’s a way of encouraging myself to be reflective about what I’m seeing (what do I want to highlight? How can I best present what I’m seeing? Is there a better photo here?). But if I’m honest with myself, it often has the opposite effect. I see a view, I take photos. I move a bit, I take more photos…always moving onto the next thing in search of a better shot. I don’t ever take a photo without properly appreciating the thing itself, as I’ve seen many people do where they see everything through a viewfinder, but there’s no doubt I’m guilty of being a photo-clicking monkey on a regular basis!
I had a really similar experience to Lissette’s at the Golden Pavilion. I love her response of taking photos of the culprits. Mine was a mental commitment to start taking companion photos to the “postcard” shot showing exactly what the throngs around me looked like when I took the other photo. I’m planning a photo post dedicated to them in the future!
Ha! Great Lorna. I think a photo post of people taking photos would be interesting.
We love taking photos as well. But nothing turns me off more than being in a throng of people doing exactly the same thing. That’s when you start questioning what you’re doing. That’s how I felt in Japan.
GREAT post. I don’t know that I have the answer to your question, but I can completely related to the panic induced by crowds and having the sudden realization of WHAT in the WORLD am I doing here?!?! Beam me up, Scotty, this is getting ridiculous.
I think things like this are why I’m coming across more and more people who are deleting social media from their phones. No more Instagram? No more temptation to take a zillion photos of one place for self-gratification in the form of numerous “likes.” No more Facebook? Well, that means more time being IN the real world and less time getting sucked into cyberspace.
I admit that I have not yet taken the plunge myself, but even banning myself from FB/Instagram during business hours has decreased my consumption by a lot.
As always, great thoughts, great post.
Thanks so much Katrina. I hope you are well – I just shot over to your blog and I’m happy to see you are writing again. You always keep it real.
You don’t see us doing selfies and I’ll just have the occasional photo of myself on the blog (“you have to, you’re the face of the blog” says Lissette). I just don’t get these people who HAVE to be in front of every damn photo. I’ve seen people walk up to a monument, turn around for a selfie, snap it, and then walk away…without ever having really looked at the monument. WTF? I just don’t get it. And everybody does it, but especially Asians (I hope that doesn’t sound racist but it’s the truth). Then there are those chicks that think they are the center of the universe. I think you know what I think about that.
Thanks for the comment, you managed to get my blood boiling 🙂
I’ve seen that too – those who take the selfie in front of something and then walk away. Makes me crazy! At least take a few minutes to appreciate what you’re seeing and have paid mega bucks to travel to see and then take the gosh darn selfie! I saw that so many times in Prague that it very definitely affected how I thought of Prague. Now when I think of Prague I try very hard to forget that part of it and remember the beauty of the city. I once watched a young woman (yes, Asian, sorry) spend 30 minutes taking various selfies of herself in different poses. This was here, where I live, in Vancouver, BC. Oh my. Okay, now my blood is boiling too! On another note, absolutely love your posts, keep them coming!!!
Thank you very much Denise for the kind words. Always nice to know there’s people reading!
You know what burns me? These teams of young women going around and posing everywhere, the two taking turns taking photos of each other for Instagram. Or the beautifully dressed women on the top of mountains. Are we supposed to believe they hiked up there in high heels? C’mon. How pathetic is it that they go up there with a change of clothing for Instagram photos.
And I saw a young Asian woman doing exactly the same in Bamberg, Germany. Walked right up to the bridge looking towards the Old Town Hall while preparing her phone, turned around and spent 10 minutes taking selfies, then walked away from where she came from. Not once did she actually look at the building. Beyond belief. I just don’t understand it…
Photo taking is part of why we travel. For my husband photo taking is a creative outlet. For me it’s step one to making a painting. But we still get annoyed by other photographers. My bottom line is that the primary purpose of travel should be to see and experience. If it’s to document that you’ve been somewhere prestigious, or to check off a bucket list item, you’re doing it wrong. It’s the photographers who are doing it wrong who bother me.
The ones who bother me the most are selfie and family photo takers. It takes twice as much space along a railing to take a photo of yourself as it does to just take a picture of what you have come to see. And the result after annoying everyone around you, is a bad photo neither doing well by the selfie taker or by the scenery. But people taking group photos in crowded places are worse. They may be less egotistical, but they take up more space and jam more traffic. I know you and Lizzet do not visit many art galleries but people taking self-esteem with iconic art are very the worst. They can make actually looking at the paintings all but impossible. I’d love to see signs prohibiting selfies and portraits. Take the group photo or selfie in front on the entrance sign and let the rest of us actually see the sight.
But I’m also irritated with places whose motivation for prohibiting photos is purely financial. Charging money to enter a religious site and then prohibiting photos because it is religious is hypocrical to say the least. But I do understand prohibiting flash to protect artwork and reduce annoyance.
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Thanks for the photographer’s perspective Jenny. Now that you got the rant rolling:
1) People who’ve asked me to move because I’m in the shot they’re trying to take of their partner. Nothing makes my blood boil quicker. Wait until I’ve moved on or shoot around me – but don’t dare ask me to move so that you can take a photo of your wife.
2) People standing there 5 minutes blocking everyone to take a photo with a goddamn cellphone. It’s not like they’re photographers for National Geographic, they’re blocking everyone while taking photos with their goddamn cellphones. Or Tablets. That burns me.
I’m in total agreement with your last paragraph, it’s why it bothers me so much paying $7 to get into a temple and not being able to take a photo. Sorry, but for $14 between two of us I get annoyed when you get some guy following me around like I’m a criminal about to pull off a photo heist…
Actually Lissette and I do go to a whole bunch of galleries but, unless I’m blown away by one, I don’t usually write about it on the blog. But I get exactly what you are saying – many years ago we drove from Montreal to Ottawa (2 hrs) just to see a Van Gogh exhibit. Well, couldn’t see anything with all the people and their damn selfies. Ugg, and we hated the Uffizi in Florence, so many people and the rooms and passages were so tight…just made me hate people even more.
Hi,
Hope you are still enjoying Split. Your posts always touch a nerve, a real one.
So true about being squeezed into a crowd, can you imagine I am 5,1″. I went to Siena, Italy to watch the Palio and couldn’t even see the horse’s head…speak about crowd frustration…..
You see, there is an advantage traveling alone, I can’t take a good photo of myself (not selfie…hate them). And don’t they have great maple trees in Canada too? sorry my ignorance Frank! and yes, the reason for me to travel, is to know that I left the small tight box of my life and feel the world around me. This is a good enough reason. Humbly, SY
Great comment Sara, love that 2nd to last line. Yes, there has to be a deeper reason to travel than just take photos of stuff, right Sara?
Sorry to hear about Siena. You know what? We hate crowds. Avoid them like the plague. Never go to concerts, special events, or anywhere else people congregate.
Very much enjoying Split and it’s especially quiet right now. I really hope you enjoy your time here (May, right?)
Always nice to hear from you Sara.
PS Yes, great Maples in Canada which is maybe why I wouldn’t pay $12 to walk into a garden of them…but lots of Maples in Japan as well.
Japan in spring and autumn (and especially Kyoto) is extreme in terms of picture taking tourists. Did you see the map at the entrance of Kinkaku-ji highlighting the best photo spots? All Japanese travel magazines have the best photo spots marked as well on their maps. But I guess this is a fact of tourism in general – travel, or the abiltiy to travel has become a status symbol and more and more people worldwide want to and can afford to travel. And they want to take pictures! For the Sanshusangendo – a pity that you skipped it! One of the best temples in Kyoto, I think, not at least because they do have this `”Don`t take picture – don`t talk policy!. But it is good, that you found other places you enjoyed. Personally I never understood this urge to take pictures with myself in front of xy – Isa and I, we both prefer pictures of monuments, gardens, streets ……
Thanks Natascha.
The Japanese love their photos and the good thing is that they’re never shy if you ask to take a photo of them.
Yes, I noticed the maps with the best photo spots. Honestly, I think that takes the fun out of photography – I think it’s always best to discover them on your own, that’s the challenge. So any monkey (literally) can now get a great photo by standing in the spot marked by an X.
Sanshusangendo. It’s like the Toji Temple where Lissette was brought to tears by some of the beautiful buddhas but couldn’t take a photo. I honestly have a pet peeve about it because they don’t let you take a photo, yet they have stalls everywhere selling their own photos. Never mind all the ugly signs everywhere telling you not to take a photo. I just think that if you’re going to pay $7 to get into a temple you should be able to take something away from that. Not everyone will agree with me but that’s what I think.
And I totally agree with you about taking selfies of ourselves. We very rarely do. I asked an Indian guy about that once (because they loved their selfies as well) and he basically said the same thing you did – not everyone has a chance to travel and they want to be able to show their friends and family that they’ve been to these places. Which I guess makes sense. I just don’t understand the need to put one’s face in every single photo…