You’re on vacation. Learning about art and history. Trying new foods and maybe a new language. Put the phone down and experience your trip!
If only it were that easy.
It’s natural to want to share your wonderful new experiences with friends and family. We love sharing pictures of the kids with our parents and family and, we hope, they love seeing how well the trip is going too.
Social media strategy: Have one. Follow it. (grownups too)
If you can make this an extension of your family’s travel principles. When and where does everyone agree it is appropriate to be on or sharing via social media. Of course, big kids might answer “whenever I feel like it,” which isn’t the answer.
If you can’t detach from their regular everyday (digital) self then are you really traveling? What’s the point of flying all the way across the world just to text friends and post photos?
Below are some elements of our strategy. Discuss with your family what works for you and what you might change.
First, we try to limit photos and work very hard to simply see the world around us. Not easy when you’re in Rome, or Paris or any number of beautiful fascinating places. A lot of research out there shows taking pictures results in remembering less than simply experiencing. Second, phones are for information and navigation (What time does it open? How do we get there?); otherwise they stay in our pocket. On silent.
If you don’t bring a separate camera like we do, it’s tricky to take phone pictures and not immediately share them. Helpfully, data plans are not always free overseas, and if they are (as they are for us), the 2G or public wifi is not always as good as at home. These “inconveniences” can help you stay true to your goal of experiencing your trip while still sharing with friends and family.
Family downtime
After a long day out and about, usually after dinner, we utilize the living space of our apartment rental to just hangout or read. Dan might be outlining the next day’s events.
It’s during this “family reflection time” that we gather around the camera and revisit all the day’s activities. We’ll choose among the probably-too-many pictures some highlights to share with a clever little message.
One handy bit of tech we appreciate is the having a WiFi function to the family camera. It quickly connects to our phone where all the social media is. A few taps and we are sharing our day with friends and family and 6-12 hours later (time difference!) the comments start coming in.
Family discussion topic: Who might be the best “point person” for social media? Who will handle the sharing of the pictures?
Big kids considerations: Our kids do not have phones. Hopefully until they’re 30. But plenty of kids do just fine having their own phones. If you have big kids with phones, it’s worthwhile to set clear boundaries before the trip. If/when they can carry their phone. Time and duration limits to using etc.
Two easy compromises:
- They have WiFi app on phone and can post any family pictures they choose on their own account (during downtime or other time you designate).
- Better yet, make them the family photographer for the day! A little responsibility is always welcome, plus it gives some personality to your vacation pictures.
Hopefully this helps your family get thinking about a good balance of experiencing a trip and sharing it with loved ones.
Talk soon,
Dan & Betsy