The Way I Travel Was Changed By Facebook Images

The Way I Travel Was Changed By Facebook Images

Before I close my laptop let me intimate you about what Facebook can do to my touring.

Some evening in 2015, I sign in to Facebook to return to some friends messages. The first thing that impress my eyes was this amazing picture of an Australian friend basking in Vietnam’s sun with the landscape of Ha Long Bay. It never occur to me that Vietnam was that wonderful and beautiful and as soon as she updated me enough information about her holiday, I  booked over a month’s long holiday to Thailand, Laos,

Cambodia, and Vietnam via my tour company. I figured, why I should go all the way to see one country when it’s so affordable to see a combination of four?

Prior to seeing this images, I was planning for a 2016 spring holiday, and some of the options I could think of were in UK. Appreciative is not a strong enough word to explain how I feel about seeing those pictures. With almost 12 countries under my belt, mostly in Europe and Americas, I was getting a bit disappointed about the concept of travelling and experiencing more than my comfort zone. None of the countries I had touched pushed me out of the little box I seemed so relaxed lounging in, and that was all my fault. That one image showed me there was extra to what I defined as travelling.

Few months later down the line from liking a Facebook image, I found myself in down town Bangkok roaming the streets trying to find a hotel to stay because for once, I wanted to go with the flow during my tour. Well, atleast for a week before I process with the travel company taking care of me. So after flying for like a 48hrs long flight from Lagos, I found myself in a country where English was not their second language and trying not to get cheated into paying too much for a hotel room. I ended up paying $10 more than I should, but I was thrilled! I was in Thailand!

From that one image, I found myself in Bangkok to Chiang Mai partying on an overnight train, watching the sun rises over Angor Wat, sailing on the Mekong Delta from one town to the other, while sipping on snake whiskey concoction draping a python on my shoulders, cooking, eating and drinking with the locals, diving into the waters in the Gulf of Thailand. Bargaining my way through many night markets for low-cost trinkets, crawling through the long tunnels in Vietnam, feeding the monks, riding an elephant through the jungle of Laos, partying like a rockstar, hiking through several caves, visiting way several temples and standing in admiration of their beauties, while making friends that will last a lifetime.

That one image opened enlighten me to seeing countries far from my comfort zone as the next destinations to discover. Without that one image spurring me on, spending a few weeks traveling the beauty and culture of China would have never crossed my mind. Spending over months travelling from Australia’s Gold Coast to facing the Outback’s and its Northern territory would have stayed in the fissure of my deepest travel fantasies.

Extraordinarily enough, the adventures that one image spurred me to jumping on, has led me to looking at Africa in a very wonderful and different light. With the way some news media have formed the way the world views Africa, the thought of experiencing tour through Africa frightened me more so than entering a flight almost 2days away from in Lagos.

We are in an age where anybody can access personal tourism stories through various channels like facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and the like; getting more accurate pictures of the adventures one can possibly experience in countries considered as non-tourist friendly has changed the view people now travel.

Few months ago, I created a footage on my YouTube channel, showing my road trip to Abia state, and that gathered the most views, and comments on my channel. Why? Many Nigerian are inquisitive about travel within the country Nigeria. Nigeria isn’t a deeply explored travel territory, nor also many countries in Africa. Digital media is seriously changing the story of tourism and making it more reachable for anybody. So many countries that I would have never thought in my life of travelling to have been added to my bucket list after seeing Instagram images that made me pause and stare in wonder. Most of these are places not showcased by the popular media outlets but by mostly locals raising the veil on the beauties of their home.

So, in 2017 the thought of long flights and road trips within Nigeria and some undeveloped parts of Africa scared me. Now, the thought of experiencing tourism through Nigeria and some countries in Africa excites me.