Facebook vacation photos, yay or nay?

Create a separate FB page for your vacation photos and then if people want to see them, they can. You can either invite your family that are interested or post a link to that page on your regular page. You can also make it private so that not everyone knows you are on vacation.
I do that for my Camino walks. Not everyone wants to see them, but lots of my friends do. It is quite easy to post a few photos every day rather than a 100 after 2 weeks. People enjoy looking at just a few per day. When friends post 50 new photos I seldom look at them.

I post a few selected photos after a trip. 'They' say that posting travel on FB when your house is left empty is asking for trouble. That, however, isn't my reason to wait. I have a small group of Friends...less than you Allan...and few want to see daily updates. I do, however, use Instagram daily to let my kids know I am alive. Just like FB, you can restrict access to a few who are invited to share them. When used with restrictions, Instagram is a free, and pretty, way to do a trip report for those invited. I left my 'influencer' days behind with my kids left home.

I edit my photos after any trip and then upload them onto Google Photos (usually at least a week after I get back home). I only share the links with interested family and friends, and leave it to them whether they want to view them or not. I don't have time on vacation to edit and post photos. My days are very long and, by the time I get back to the hotel, it's pretty late (I usually eat dinner after 9pm for a few hours, and then walk afterwards). I don't get enough sleep on vacation "as is", so dealing with photos and email is not on the menu. The bigger picture is I cut my use of electronics almost completely (with the exception of a camera) while on vacation....my vacation is literally a vacation from normal life, including being glued to a laptop and being in constant contact with others. No one I know feels or wants to follow me on vacation, so I don't need to "post as I go", thankfully.

If I have time at the end of the day to post some of the day's highlights, I usually do. I have family at home that enjoys seeing what we're up to, and it serves as a reminder to me when they pop up in my memories the next year. I figure if any of my friends don't want to see the pictures, they can just scroll by, as I do with their posts that don't necessarily interest me.

Regarding the safety issue, my Facebook privacy settings are pretty tight, so it's only my friends and family who see my posts, and I'm not too worried about any of them taking advantage of my absence to rob me :)

Allan, I do the same as you. It started on my first long trip to Europe back in 2012. Every day I posted a photo with a short description of where it was to keep my family informed of where I was each day. I got a great response from many of my 'friends' so I kept doing it after I returned and have been doing it ever since. Nobody has ever indicated to me that they thought I was doing it in a bragging way. They all seem to appreciate travelling vicariously along with me. If they're not interested they just don't give a 'like' or 'comment' - I don't keep track of who does or doesn't, I don't really care. It's now become a way for my daughter to know all is well with me without calling me every day. If I don't post a photo she (and sometimes some others) will contact me to find out why, so it's kind of like a reverse 'wellness check'. I also post photos from my trips on a travel facebook group, and I post photos from my travels around the US on several different state's travel/nature groups. If photography is fun for you and you enjoy sharing your photos then I say "yay" on posting them on your facebook page.

I love looking at friends vacation photos, even if it is 25+ in one post. I prefer daily or every other day cause I feel like I am traveling with them. For example, we have friends who go to Carnival in Venice every year to photograph people and have even started dressing up themselves. I love her posts. Besides the beautiful costumes, I feel like I am there with them, especially when I recognize a corner or street. But Allen, I feel you and I are the same in that we like to hear about other people’s vacations and see their pictures when they return. Especially if it is someplace I want to go or have been. The same for reading trip reports here on the forum, I find them interesting and informative and sometimes down right funny.

Allan, I wonder, are your photos largely of sights, locations, scenic vistas, and places? Or is there a sizeable amount of selfies? Maybe some photos convey a different vibe than others.

If posting travel photos is what you enjoy, then do it. Others don’t have to look.

I enjoy looking at vacation pictures my friends post, especially when there are a few every day. I look forward to their daily postings and I am sorry when their trip is over that the pictures will be too. When I am on a trip I also post 4-6 pictures at the end of each day with a summary of what I did. They tend to get the most likes of anything I post, so I am thinking everyone doesn’t just like them to be polite. If people don’t want to see them, they can scroll on by like I do for countless political posts and other things. As far as bragging, is it bragging when people post pictures of their kids and the kids’ accomplishments? Their social activities? Their holiday decorations? I don’t think of those posts that way, so why should travel posts be any different? That’s my thought on it at least.

My wife does Facebook, but as a man I don't. She stopped posting vacation pictures a couple of years back. I'm not sure why but maybe she thought it was showing off a bit? It's true nobody else really cares at all.

Yes, I got trapped at a friend's house in the 90s with the old slide show. Ugh.

After a trip I post a subset of my photos on FB and place a larger number on my personal website for those friends who do a lot of traveling and want to see more. On either site, nobody has to look at them if they don’t want to. With regard to travel, there are those who say they’ll go, and go, and those who say they’d like to travel but never do. Then there are those who say they would travel but don’t have the money. I contend that if someone really wants to travel they can scrap up the money to do so, even if it takes a while to do so. For example, skip going out for dinner at times, buying lunch at work every day, buying that $5 cup of coffee (possibly multiple per day), smoking fewer cigarettes, or drinking less beer. My guess is that for many people an overseas trip every few years at most, is really a splurge.

I’d much rather see travel photos than all the inspirational sayings, religious passages, memes, and the “bet this can’t get 100 likes in X days” stuff that gets posted.

When I'm on vacation, I select my favorite photos of the day to post on Instagram (and cross-post to Facebook). If I have some extra time at the end of the day, I then photo-dump on FB. Most of my friends also love to travel and have commented that they love seeing my travel photos. Of course, I have a few who have expressed that they'd rather not see my travel photos, but as the majority of my friends do express interest, I just post away. I personally love seeing my friends' vacation photos and agree that I don't really get the same vibe browsing through FB or Instagram travel group photos.

I don't do FB, but wife does. I've asked her not to post pics while traveling, for security reasons, but she does anyway. I think FB is much less annoying way to show pics than having people sit through a "timeshare-style" presentation. FB is voluntary. I think "hate" is a strong word, but there are people who do think its bragging, and many who think foreign travel is a frivolous waste of money. others just aren't interested in foreign stuff. If they're friends, they've already made up their minds about you.

We do usually pick one photo of a trip out to use as a Christmas card - maybe that's bragging too.

I wouldn’t post any daily photos on any site whilst I was away as it’s far too easy these days for people to work out who you are and where you live. Posting each day advertises the fact that you are away and your house is unoccupied.

Jennifer, exactly! People like my wife say that none of their friends are thieves, but FB goes on and on, and friends have friends.

Allan,

A few thoughts.....

I don't "do" Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or any of the usual social networking sites, so use another solution to share holiday photos during my trips. I usually post a Daily Blog while travelling which includes a small number of photos to better illustrate the content of the Blog.

I didn't have a huge audience but there were a few relatives and close friends who really enjoyed having a look at what part of Europe I was in, and what I was doing each day. One of my very close (and now late) friends shared it with some of his relatives and they seemed to enjoy it also.

It was a bit of work to update each day, but not too onerous. I always take a few minutes in the evening when I'm back in the hotel room for the night and diarize each day's activities in a Word document. I then use excerpts from that to post in the Blog.

I'm not overly familiar with how Facebook works but if I did use it, I'd probably set up a separate section for holiday photos. That would keep it separate from the usual content and more focused on the trip for those that are interested.

Hi Allan,

I never communicate on FB that we are going to be traveling or that we are currently on a trip if both my husband and I are on the trip. But, in 2018, I took a 3-week solo itinerary to Italy to celebrate my retirement- fantastic time! A few close friends knew I was going. I decided to post a few photos from my first location - Stresa, on FB to visually show my friends why I wanted to return there. At the next location, I posted a few again with some short interesting tidbits I knew they would specifically like. I talked to my husband each evening on FaceTime, and he told me after that weekend that friends were telling him how much they loved the photos and short interesting highlights or humor comments and DON’T stop! I had told him I just planned to share those first two places, but from their requests, it morphed into a feeling that my friends were somewhat traveling with me! If I saw something of particular interest to a friend at home, I would add her in the comments.

When I’ve finished my solo trips, so many people reply in the comments for the final posting, “We had so much fun traveling “with” you!”

A couple of suggestions:
Limit the selfies on FB travel photos; they already know what you look like! ; )

Less is more; no more than about 7 photos to keep it interesting. At the end of the day, if I had one minute to share, which photos are the most interesting? And keep it fun! A photo with humor goes over well with my FB friends.

Make it personal but relatable. I brought my mom’s small binoculars on my France trip in 2019. My rare selfie I shared on FB was me holding those binoculars with the Chartres Cathedral in the background. I shared how much Mom would have loved to see Europe but never did. This item of hers was very meaningful to be there with me; several other friends’ mothers have passed away, too, so they could easily relate.

Try to benefit the FB audience. I showed a photo of my open suitcase to share how packing very light is possible. I shared an obscure “wow moment” in a museum with a snippet of history, or a few photos from a cooking class, etc.

My husband & I realize that we’re able to take more trips than some of our friends, so we purposely do not share photos from Hawaii trips, etc. so that it doesn’t become a FB bragging, i.e. “those people get to travel so often”.

I only post a few pictures from places that are relatively unusual-like the Balkans-and only after we've returned home. My FB friends pretty much all post a few photos of their trips, so I don't feel that I'm bragging.

I love looking at my friends' vacation photos, and I love it when my vacation photos pop up as "memories" of the before time.

Only my FB friends can see my posts, so I'm not too worried about my home security.

Allan, I wonder, are your photos largely of sights, locations, scenic
vistas, and places? Or is there a sizeable amount of selfies? Maybe
some photos convey a different vibe than others.

For the record nobody has ever told me that they don't like my photos or that I'm bragging. Quite honestly, if something that they could easily scroll by makes them angry then they have bigger issues.

Cyn, our Facebook travel photo entries has become a cookie cutter submission. As I mentioned in the original post, I was emailing my Mom photos every day. Usually just scenic photos of where we were. One day she emailed back and asked me if we were really there because I was never in the photo. So from that day on I'd take a selfie of my wife and I and include that as the first photo in the email with the tile "Good Morning from....". When she graduated to Facebook, we posted the same way; a selfie of the two us us, a Good morning from..., then 4 or 5 additional photos and then a very quick summary of what the photos are of.

I enjoy the 'likes' and comments we get back because while I'm excited about a certain thing we've seen, often I get a surprise of what interests others. It's a way to get to know new things about our friends. It's the same reason I post on this forum-to get the different opinions on the same topic. No right or wrong, just different.

People enjoy looking at just a few per day. When friends post 50 new photos I seldom look at them.

Jo described it exactly as I feel.

I also like what you just said, Allan:

I enjoy the 'likes' and comments we get back because while I'm excited about a certain thing we've seen, often I get a surprise of what interests others. It's a way to get to know new things about our friends.

I think, who cares? Those who want to look will look. That being said, I am thinking of switching over to my one photo a day to be on my Instagram so people can choose whether to look at them or not, rather than have FB's algorithms decide. I know my family wants them and my close friends enjoy them.

I enjoy seeing other people's photos on a 'as is happening' basis. I travel vicariously when I can't travel in person.

I don‘t post while I am on the trip. I usually do daily photos after I get back, 1-4 per day. I then enjoy them as they show up on my feed in the years to come.

Allan, It’s great that you’ve got a variety of photos. Someone who knows you, and family members, can certainly appreciate a shot with you and/or your wife in it! That also makes an ideal introduction to each day’s new pictures. Although with some people I notice, clearly fellow tourists, who appear to be taking one shot after another, carefully posing with their body and head contorted into various positions, as if on some kind of modeling assignment, seem to be all about their self portraits. For them, your Mom might say to them, “I know it’s you, but how do I know you went or say anyplace?”

I have to remind myself that if that’s how they want to spend their vacation, fine, and I have places to go and things to see and do, so I’ll leave it to them and their selfies.

Ok, I’ll bite and maybe be sorry later. :) I am with Wray - who cares? Basically if my FB friends think I am bragging, I really don’t need to be friends with them. I have no grandchildren, nor prospects of any, and no way would I think my friends posting their photos of their grandchildren are bragging. I DO, however, have friends who tell me how “brave” they think I am for traveling solo — and if I can encourage someone to travel, alone or with someone, that is a win in my opinion. Sometimes I don’t post till later if no one will be home. But I have a daughter who also lives here and 2 neighbors watching the house so that is rarely an issue. I just had a look and I have 491 friends but I know every one of them for real. I grew up with them, go/have gone to church with them, am related to them, have worked with them as young singers. So I am not terribly worried about the security, either - just cautious in general. It makes me remember the time my parents’ TVs were stolen from the house while they were at church. Yes, the culprit knew they would be at church and for how long because they always were. So you can’t exactly escape from that entirely.

As for selfies? My opinion is in process of changing. While I don’t think much of people interrupting others for their selfies or hogging views, I am in the process of digitizing 40 years worth of old photo albums for my 4 girls (and some for my younger brothers). And the photos they and I am enjoying the most are the ones with people in them. I might have a photo of a gorgeous waterfall that they won’t look twice at and I may not remember where it was, but put me in front of it in the next picture and they think it is the best thing ever. Those might not be important photos for friends right now; but for later generations, those selfies may become priceless memories. And yes, my 92 year old mother loves seeing me in the picture, too. 😂

If your friends are international travelers they probably like to click through the photos; if not, well, you can figure it out. Nobody will tell you you're bragging, but intuitively you might be able to connect the dots.

Post a pic of your Mercedes S-Class. Not that much different. The polite reaction: "We're really proud of you and your success."

The Average Joe and Jane Blow aren't spending a week in Paris. Myrtle Beach, maybe.

It would have been brave to travel to Europe in 1943 or 1781. Not exactly 2005 in Afghanistan, although they did have a nice coffee booth in Kabul.

I post on Fb sparingly, perhaps the highlights of the day and try to include things that will amuse people...of course the photos from the past years are now haunting me when they pop up in the memory feature 🙄

I post a few vacation photos each day to Facebook and then a lot more on Instagram, I have a lot fewer followers on Instagram. FB gets the highlights, the best 5 or so of the day.

I think it’s complete rubbish and an urban legend that people will rob you if they know you’re on vacation. So, I could care less about that aspect.

I have an account on the photo sharing site Flickr. My practice during and after my last 3 major trips was: I put 30 pictures from my trip on my Flicker page. I did not post anything on any site while away from home. My mother and one Aunt, who are both phobic of travel and both have never taken an airplane flight and refuse to fly, both really like seeing me show them my pictures and narrating what is in each one and retelling my trip, as if they wish to vicariously experience my trip as a way to compensate for part of their brains wishing they could travel too. But I show and tell them in person. As for my Facebook account, I post few or no pictures, because the Facebook shrinks them or won't save them full sized. I do post a summary of my trip and directions to howto view my pictures on Flickr. A few family members other than my one aunt and my mom, have a vague interest in my travel. Most of my 78 family members and acquaintances in my Facebook friend list, won't care. I don't pay attention to whether others care about what I post to facebook. As long as you don't post personal insults or something grossly directly offensive to specific people, you should be fine, you don't need to pay attention to whether others care about your trip or about anything you post. As for "bragging", you are entitled to brag if the topic is true and if communicating it is not meant to communicate that you think you are intellectually or morally better than others for not taking your trip or not having or doing whatever you are boasting about; everything you say about yourself can be interpretation at bragging. Who cares? At least you are not one of the people polluting the Facebook with insults, memes, and garbage related to bashing presidents and politicians.

Just my opinion: It seems to me that if someone is actually your friend, they would be happy for you. If someone thinks you are bragging or somehow is insulted, then so be it.

I agree with Travelmom and honestly, people's travel photos are among the least offensive things being posted on FB.

I am in the process of digitizing 40 years worth of old photo albums
for my 4 girls (and some for my younger brothers). And the photos they
and I am enjoying the most are the ones with people in them. I might
have a photo of a gorgeous waterfall that they won’t look twice at and
I may not remember where it was, but put me in front of it in the next
picture and they think it is the best thing ever. Those might not be
important photos for friends right now; but for later generations,
those selfies may become priceless memories.

What a good point. I never thought of it that way, but you're right. I have so few photos of me and my wife as kids so it's a real treat when we come across something. Now that I think of it, when we look at vacation photos from 20 years ago when my kids were still young and cute, we do focus on the kids first and the location 2nd. It used to be the other way around.

I post photos on FB, but don't put the faces of my travel companions in them unless they say it's ok.
A few years ago I started writing a sort of "Observations" trip report every few days while I was away.
Not about all the sites I've been to, but about the funny things I observe every day in a foreign country, such as peculiar people, odd food, strange happenings.
People loved it, and I won a contest on another forum with one of the Reports.
We can't travel now of course, so no more trip writings.
However, a couple of weeks ago, I had a total knee replacement, and wrote about it as if it was a trip.
People liked it.

Lol, Mike. I didn’t say I thought it was brave to travel. I said I have less-traveled friends who do. All I can do to correct that mis-perception is to keep traveling and let them see, if they choose to.

Travelmom, I was not as articulate as I had hoped to be.

My Hot Wife, Mary, reminded me that we DID have a good time at the aforementioned slideshow.

We were all drinking, laughing, and just being silly. If I'm in the right mood I would actually enjoy someone else's sideshow. Admittedly, envy might set in!

Diane: "Rubbish." That is a seldom used but appropriate word that needs to make a comeback. It's not profane but makes a powerful point if used with discretion.

And I agree with the rest of you post.

Nay. Post very few pictures to Facebook, because Facebook automatically shrinks all pictures down to a certain file size.

Select a few pictures and post them on a photo sharing site, after your trip. Facebook is fine for a summary of your trip. Post it only after you return home.

Jennifer i totally agree, i never post while i am away as it broadcasts to the whole world your house is empty. Also understand that some insurance companies wont pay out if you have made it so obvious you are away. I might post a small select album of 10 - 15 images when i get home. Never look at the huge albums people post on a daily basis as I also find them very boring.

caro are you from Guernsey? I'm thinking about retiring to one of the channel islands.

A Google search offers plenty of advice about not posting vacation photos while on vacation to protect your home , but no evidence or statistics that it's actually a problem. I went through plenty of police and insurance websites that are full of opinions only. Most comments are that burglaries are crimes of opportunity by unprofessional crooks who look for empty houses, so make sure lights are on, neighbour's know you're away, etc.

Jennifer i totally agree, i never post while i am away as it broadcasts to the whole world your house is empty.

Not necessarily true. I might be away on vacation, that doesn't mean that other family members aren't still at home, or that a pet-sitter or house-sitter may not be there.

I think you're more likely to have your house burgled while away at church, school, a wedding, or a funeral. Burglars who plan usually watch the papers for events like this, or they may case a likely victim to watch for patterns. Those who break in when the opportunity presents itself are not likely to watch facebook for possible vacationers.

I agree with whoever said upthread that it's more an urban legend than anything that has reliable statistics to prove it's common.

I also don't worry a lot myself because I'm an apartment dweller and don't have a lot of enticing objects that would lure a would-be thief. Maybe I'd worry more if I had a house that looked like it might be a good target.

If some one with bad intentions is with in youf local area and sees your holiday photos, it wont take long to check if there is a house sitter or not, though i dont know any one who uses a house sitter or pet sitter. Maybe that is more popular the other side of the pond?
Urban legend or not, surely its just silly to risk it and any way the last thing i want to do on holiday is waste time on social media. My phone is off! I want to relax🤗

I post on my own blog that is available to whoever cares enough to ask to be included. That usually only includes my family and close friends who already know I’m traveling. I don’t really have an opinion on why someone else posts, it’s totally their decision and what they are most comfortable with doing. I don’t worry about thieves. If that’s going to happen, it could conceivably happen while I am at the grocery store, I suppose.

If you have the highest privacy level set for your FB page (which everyone should) only your FB “friends” can see what you post on your FB page (ie your photos). If you “friend” anyone and everyone on your FB page, and one of those “friends” is a burglar and they know where you live, then yes, do not post holiday photos. No one can find out your address from FB if you have the highest privacy level set. I am very selective about who I “friend” on FB so I post holiday photos and my friends do the same - and we all love seeing each other’s photos.
Your FB page can be as private or as public as you want it to be, it is up to you.

Thanks Susan. That's what I always thought, but not being a tech expert, I wasn't sure enough to tell others.

You were right Wray!

Not to beat the horse any further, but the problem is people your FB friends might un-intentionally share the information with in conversation, not your FB friends themselves.

Well, let’s hope your FB friend doesn’t give your address to a burglar.

I don’t believe the “danger” argument of posting. First off the thief needs to see the post, then figure out where you leave, then be close enough to bother going there, then you could have friends or family staying at your place to take care of it. So a lot of work with little gains. Easier for the thief to just drive around until he seas something interesting.
Also other indicators may give you away such as not putting out junk cans or stopping the mail or something sitting out on the parch to long etc.

As for posting I just include one or two showing where we are. Usually with my father in them. But not always. This keeps my family in the loop on where we are, they tend to do the same in their trips

I guess this post is now in the same territory as the other opinionated topics;

• Moneybelt, yes or no?
• Passport with you or in your hotel room?
• Travel Insurance necessary?
• Traveller or Tourist?
• Cruises evil or not?
• Tours or on your own?
• Dress like a local or yourself?

I guess this post is now in the same territory as the other opinionated topics

I guess that's what happens when you ask people for their 'thoughts' or 'opinions'. :)

I am confused. If the OP didn’t want opinions then what was he expecting us to go onto out Facebook and social medial accounts and take a survey? From the initial post it was obvious this thread was going yo go into personal opinions. I am not a mind reader I can’t tell you what my friends and relatives think . And if I did it would be a bit irrelevant as I have a LOT of friends and family that do a LOT of traveling so sometimes out posts look like a travel blog.
It was equally obvious this topic would take a tour through things like is is morally right to post travel it is bragging to do so or showing off, it is safe to do so and the other usual questions that come up on similar topics....

I've known our neighbors for decades, but yes, they could report our absence to a burglar!

Whatever I do our neighbors will quickly figure out we're gone. I can have the lights switching on and off like a disco but that doesn't full anybody.

If you're not home and there isn't someone staying at your home, it will soon become obvious nobody is there.

I am confused. If the OP didn’t want opinions then what was he
expecting us to go onto out Facebook and social medial accounts and
take a survey?

I didn't realize I was coming across as complaining about opinions. My intention was to state the obvious, that now we have another topic to put on the list of topics that will never lead to a consensus.

I love seeing friends/family vacation photos on Facebook. About 20 years ago a friend went to Tunisia and she showed me a few photos from her trip (long before Facebook etc). I truly wanted to see all of them, but she was trying to not bore me. At least with Facebook you can scroll on past if you are not interested, but if you are then you can travel vicariously.

I keep my accounts very private and small, but still am usually cautious about posting while we are away. I do not hesitate when our kids come and house/dog sit for us as someone is obviously here.