I am not a hater of technology by any stretch of the imagination. Technology and the Internet gives me the ability to web chat my loved ones who are thousands of miles away. It gives me the ability to have unknown information at my fingertips.
Come on, we have all experienced it. The horrible brain fart feeling of not remembering something you know (or think that you know). After thinking and thinking and thinking for… what seems like forever, you whip out your smart phone and you Google whatever it is you can’t seem to remember.
One of two things happens: you either have an Aha moment and are angry at yourself for looking it up because you absolutely knew whatever it was, OR you have no idea what you were thinking of because you were way off target. Sound familiar?
Technology also gives you the ability to image search. A person could spin a globe, close their eyes, stop the globe with their pointer finger and instantly research the lucky destination their finger stops on. They will, within seconds, have thousands of images at their disposal on said destination.
When writing those last few sentences I had a flashback from my childhood. I distinctly remember sitting in my basement doing exactly what I just described. I remember closing my eyes, spinning the globe, and announcing, “I’m going to go…” as if I had an audience anticipating what I would say after the imaginary drum roll. Of course that was followed by the big reveal and repeating the process. But perhaps it was then, in that moment, where my fascination and passion for traveling was born.
A person can look at every image in every textbook, or on whatever preferred search engine he or she chooses, but the fact of the matter is nothing can replace your very own eyeballs. They are organic. They are you. I know they say “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that. Pictures are the bare bones. Visual memory. Experience. Presence. That is where the meat is. Pictures can be worth so much more if you were present in capturing it.
I love pictures and I love my camera, Canny. I spend my fair share of time being still before I snap away. But pictures only have everlasting effects on those behind the lens. When you are in the mood to explore, bring your camera along for the trip but don’t forget to put down the machine and soak in your surroundings. There is a lot that cannot be captured, even with the most advanced technology. The pictures that you take won’t weigh much in the end without looking up from the viewfinder.
Now go out and use your eyeballs.
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