Living in the Moment

Sometimes I just want to yell at people taking pictures – ‘LIVE IN THE FRICKING MOMENT PEOPLE!’

The other day, I went to a beautiful part of Oxford University – a room called the Divinity Room. My friend and I were just listening to the audio guide, soaking in the history and majestic nature of the room when a group of about 20 tourists come in, all with their selfie sticks and phone cameras at the ready. A few seconds in, they were posing in front of pews, taking dodgy quality pictures of each other and the room around them. It seemed like this was the only reason they’d even bothered coming.

I’ve been travelling a fair bit recently, and this seems to be a trend in any tourist place I’ve been to. The main goal seems to be the pictures. And I make ‘pictures’ plural intentionally – because taking a picture positioned the exact same way 100X is all the rage. Now, I understand the desire to capture a moment, but when there are professional photographers at a wedding, is your little camera phone going to really get a better shot? (I’ve also been to a lot of weddings recently…).

This all got a bit too ranty a bit too fast. I am not against taking photos at all, in fact I love taking pictures. But first and foremost, I’m there for the experience, and if the whole experience is looking through a screen, making sure I’ve got a picture of it then it’s not worth it.

I would love to know your opinion and whether I’m being a bit too harsh on tourists just wanting to remember their holiday in as much detail as possible.

Until next time lovely people,

slothyqueen

Best Travel Apps

When you’re travelling you want it to be as stress-free and enjoyable as possible so here are the apps you NEED to make that happen.

1. Google Maps – This seems pretty obvious I know. But this was easily one of my most used apps when travelling – it takes away the need to fumble with paper maps (though having one is thoroughly recommended). It’s not perfect, and often glitchy but will usually get you there in the end. What we found especially useful was the that it could take into account public transport with times so you don’t need 100 different timetables.
2. Splitwise – If you’ve ever been on holiday with friends you know the mess of people owing other people money. This app will be your saviour. Every time someone pays for something pop it into the app in whatever currency you happen to be in and it will add it to a running total.
   

   
3. Happy Cow – If you’re vegan or vegetarian I’m sure you’ve already got this godsend of an app. It’s a lifesaver when you’re in a completely unknown place which you think is going to be totally vegan un-friendly and up pops an amazing vegan restaurant.
4. Google translate – Who knew this had a scan function which translates writing for you?! It’s so useful in restaurants when you actually want to have a clue about what’s coming on your plate.