I’d been feeling disinterested to post photos of my trip in Kyoto. It’s strange. Usually, I love to post in realtime, or at least during the trip. But not so this trip. Increasingly, for all my recent trips too.

It feels like, being completely available and present to the beautiful experiences before me, felt more important. And infinitely more interesting than crafting a beautiful photo about it.

At roughly the same time, I started writing 200 words a day, and it became the place where I captured my experiences, reflections and feelings during my travels. And it felt way more apt and on-point doing so. Because even if a picture speaks a thousand words, it still doesn’t quite capture what I’d been through in a snapshot. Words are still by far, our best mouthpiece to our deepest experiences in a direct and accessible way (that is, until brain-computer interfaces become possible). Words have the ability to express our full human tapestry of thoughts, emotions, feeling. The poetry of our human potential.

For traveling where you focus on deeper, transformative experiences, posting beautiful Instagram photos just doesn’t quite cut it anymore. 

If we imagine a possible future where travel seems to be heading towards, of people moving from just mere consumption (sightseeing iconic attractions, food, activities) to seeking deeper experiences, is writing then the new Instagram?