Bending reality

Warning: some serious travel-prickness ahead, if you prefer living in Disneyland do not continue beyond this point.

As we are about to leave Colombia, it is time to think about Ecuador. Having now more experience with filtering information and anticipating what to expect from popular tourist destinations, we decided to look through places that we quickly marked before leaving Europe. One of the places that was high up on my list was Quilotoa loop. It has a supposedly beautiful lagoon that you can reach by a multiday hike through small villages. It is highly recommended by Lonely Planet, and according to countless visual proofs it should look more or less like this:

Can you already picture yourself in this landscape, #blissfully (or #pointlessly) looking into the distance instead of the camera? Can you see those countless likes on Instagram flying your way?

Well I definitely bought into this - it seemed like perfect place for our first multiday hike, with stunning views but not too empty and secluded in case something goes wrong. Luckily, I just encountered this video:

Now I understand that we all crop pictures to have this nice pictures of us and only us but this takes "faking it" to another level. It is not the first time I see it, we all know those classic pictures of people queuing to take photos. But seeing a platform and concrete pathway down to the lagoon where you thought is just pure wilderness is too much.

Sad thing is, I don't even think people create this illusion for other people to see how amazing their lives are. They do it for themselves, to be able to pretend they are the adventurers they always wanted to be, who go all those amazing places. Unfortunately for them, they do exactly what everyone else is doing, in the places that used to be special one day and now have a parking lot for hundreds of daytrippers who just come there to take a selfie and leave.

How about just embracing the world as it is? How about taking fun photos and creating real memories from things that actually happened?

P.S. The next posts are titled "How to make bloggers amazed: just add a swing" and "...whaaat?". Enjoy people!

#hatersgonnahate #travelpricks

Glad this is not the only one!

Comment below why you think people a) love those swings so much b) upload those videos c) are unaware of how ridiculous they look

Please do feel offended if you are one of them and use this opportunity to rethink your life 😂😂