I read post after post about how disconnecting from social media, from our phones, from email and everything else while we travel is the only way to really see the world.  And I’m here to say today, I disagree with that assessment of travel.

First off, not everyone is in a position that that’s possible.  I don’t disconnect completely when I travel for a number of reasons that range from family scenarios to job responsibilities and others.  For me, I cannot travel AND disconnect, so I choose not to.  Second, I think this is such a personal thing and I get really tired of bloggers and influencers telling everyone that there is only one way to travel, one way to see the world.  Each person will see the world completely differently and we should all allow each other to do so.

I choose to travel and share my travels through Instagram and this blog here on Land of Marvels.  I choose to see a place and share it without disconnecting and still get a tremendous amount out of my travels.  Usually the argument is that you can’t really experience a place until you put your phone down, until you completely disconnect for work.  For me, I don’t want to do that.  I don’t enjoy doing that.  And I get just as much (or more) out of travel through the lease of my iPhone than other people get by disconnecting.

Travel is about the experience yes, but everyone’s experience is going to be different.  By sharing our travels, by writing about them and photographing them some of us, myself included, actually take in a place deeper.  For me, photos remind me a moment that might otherwise be forgotten years down the road, they remind me of a feeling, an emotion in that place.  So the next time you’re traveling, don’t feel like you have to follow all the rules of people telling you that you should disconnect while traveling.  Do what feels right to you, what sets your soul alight and what makes you happy.