Your ‘microadventures’ are killing nature

We don't need an online label for going outdoors

One small caveat before I get started.

I love to travel. I spend most of my free time plotting local trips for my days off. I constantly need to be in the countryside or up a mountain or by a lake to feel content – anywhere that’s different from my four walls.

Even more so, I love the moment of quiet after a trip or a day out. When you’re lying on your bed looking through your photos, selecting which ones will make it onto socials. For me it’s a form of creativity – digital scrapbooking! So as I’m writing this I’m aware I am the world’s biggest hypocrite!

But…I’ve noticed something on social media.

My current algorithm is an all-you-can-eat buffet of travel, a checklist of European countries or 20 perfect ‘microadventures’ in the UK. More potential trips on your phone in one minute, than you can experience in a lifetime.

Every time I log onto the app, I’m overwhelmed by all the destinations it's telling me to visit. Before it’s too late! Since when did nature and travel come with such urgency?

The whole world is laid bare so that nowhere feels hidden or unexplored anymore - not to mention untarnished by human touch. Then when you eventually step into nature, it is blemished by hoards of people waving their phones at a field of bluebells or the trig point of Snowdon.

We’re gorging on travel, an appetite social media is only increasing, and we’re throwing it all back up into our natural world so that we can continue to consume.

Thanks to Instagram, when I’m out on a remote hike - which you would hope guarantees you some peace and quiet – I’m instead confronted with a group of people blasting music from their speakers….near the summit of a mountain!

I find an empty lager can on a ridge miles away from the nearest shop, and wonder who is looking at this beautiful landscape and thinks it is acceptable to drop litter!

Social media is turning nature and landmarks into a commodity. An object for us to consume, to put on our stories as we move onto the next physical wonder. No wonder people are treating nature like their own homes. We’ve been told by social media that it's ours to do with as we please instead of a living landscape.

Now, the reason I’m letting this frustrate me is because I’m falling into this social media trap - although not the loud music and littering part!

I'm startled to find myself witnessing the splendour of a waterfall through the lens of my phone. I feel like I’m doing my surroundings a disservice by treating it like a product to showcase on my own social media profile. And I notice other people doing it too.

My concern with viral social media posts from travel influencers or companies, is that we’re now stepping out into the wild with the expectation that nature is there to serve us.

Ever been on a walk and thought; ‘Huh? That’s disappointing. That wasn’t quite what it looked like online?’ I’m ashamed to say I have.

But it’s nature! It’s not meant to be anything other than it is! We can now even rate our surroundings on a hike, which is just absurd - yes All Trails I’m looking at you!

We’re still enjoying a dopamine hit from being out in nature, but it’s caused by a new sensation. Are we feeling more enjoyment from the thought of people perceiving our ‘microadventures’ online, rather than the actual act of being outdoors?

Maybe it’s both? Maybe they are so deeply entangled that it's just how we experience all facets of life in the digital age. Through the perception of others.

It must sound like I’m gatekeeping. Isn’t it great that people are discovering the outdoors and engaging with the real world instead of being stuck indoors on their phones?

But if the impetus to engage with the real world derives from what you consume online and is then eventually fed back into a social media app, are we really placing ourselves back in reality?

Or are our trips in nature just an extension of our digital selves, our real and online lives an inescapable duality that makes up the modern individual?

So, this is a challenge to myself. To make decisions about where to travel independently from social media. When I’m out on a hike or on holiday I vow to use my camera sparsely, to ignore the panic to take the perfect picture for Instagram.

I’m in Oregon next week where I will be confronted by mountains and lakes, and a whole landscape that is alien to me. But, will I be able to ignore the itch of my phone in my pocket then?

My suspicion is I probably won’t be able to resist.

Something needs to fundamentally shift in our relationship with nature, travel and social media. Or we are at risk of destroying our natural landscapes in the name of consumerist satisfaction.