Photography-free travel

Totally fine not to take photos. I couldn't do that though. I don't take photos to show other people, I take them for me to remember things I saw. I don't take a lot of photos of tourist sites that are in books, I take a lot of photos you won't find on a postcard or in a book. I like my own best because it captures that exact moment in time that I saw it with my own eyes. My photos are my most cherished possession and I've always told family and friends that if my house was burning (I have no pets), to grab my photos first!

Mike, my attitude is closer to yours than your mother's, and I have brought back a few photo books myself. These days, my trips are longer and tend to include some out-of-the-way places, so I find myself taking some cell-phone photos. It's not a big part of travel for me, but I can certainly understand the pleasure serious photographers get from getting up early and trying to catch a great sunrise photo, etc.

It used to be very important to me, not so much now. I take photos that I want to use in the courses I teach, and I use my iPad to take photos from the trip to email back to friends; those are sometimes of landmarks, sometimes of personal moments, like an elaborate foam design on a cappuccino.

Sometimes photos help me to mark a destination if I am traveling fast (not usually the case).

Perfectly fine not to take photos.

My friends like to see my trips and where I've gone. True story, my dental hygienist loves to see where I've been when I go for cleanings. For them it's a vicarious fun. But having said that I take pictures for myself. When I look back on my shots it brings back fond memories and brings me back in time. The problem I have with the picture books is that the photos are processed so much that my experience is different (The sunset isn't perfect when I'm at the Eiffel Tower., etc).

You should skip it if you feel like you get nothing out of it. And don't tell people where you are going so they don't expect you to buy or take pictures. But take them if your family or friends loved ones say " take a lot of pictures".
My friends and I love all kinds old original architecture and just amazing natural scenery
that we've never seen before or don't see all the time so we have fun getting together over drinks and talking
history and looking at that stuff.

Hi Mike, feel free to skip the photos if you want to, it's your vacation. My thoughts are more in line with Susan - I love the pictures I take and can't imagine going on vacation without a camera. My family and friends don't care that much about my trips, they're polite but that's about it. The photos are mostly just for me and I pour over them until the next trip rolls around!

I have an Uncle who has travelled the world, he has never owned a camera. Yet he remembers every trip. I like to take pictures. about 2-3 weeks after returning, I start on my photobook and relive my trip all over again. I reread my journal and spend weeks sorting through the pics, adding embellishments, and trying to come up with clever quips. We usually travel with other couples (all family) who also take no pictures. But, when my book is complete, we get together and go over it page by page, reliving the trip yet again. If you haven't figured it out yet, I like to squeeze as much enjoyment from each trip as I can.

It's your trip, do whatever you want.

I don't take a lot of photos. When I do, I use my phone.

What I will do is buy postcards of the sights and write about the day on the back. These are sent but a souvenir of my trip. When I pick up the postcard at a future date, I can turn it over and reminisce. Of course, I keep forgetting to buy postcards.

Mike and friends, different strokes for different folks, I say. I've travelled a great amount over the years. I used to lug a good-sized camera, lenses, many rolls of film, and all that, and ended up with many boxes of slides I rarely looked at, let alone shared through slide shows. Now I just carry a decent quality, very small, point and shoot, and a couple memory cards, with my iPhone 5s as a back-up, in case of no battery juice. Now all the photos end up in my computer, I can edit them a little, and easily look through them. While I have little use for them, they remind me of every day of my various trips, including many people I have encountered in my travels. A very positive and rewarding experience. Also, I find that with getting good shots on my mind, when traveling I am always thinking "now what part of this scene is really unique, interesting, memorable or beautiful." That enhances my trip, I think. I also buy postcards and sometimes books with photos, which are always fun to look through, even years later.

Mike,

If you'd rather not take any pictures, that's certainly your choice as it's your holiday. One thought though - if your 2006 vintage camera isn't providing satisfactory results, buy a newer model that does take good pictures in a variety of lighting conditions.

For me photography is an important part of my travels. It's a way to document the places I've been so that I can remember those special moments for many years. The photos are also an record of some of the unusual places I've visited, including the special people I've met. Photos allow me to show my perspective of the sights, which may be different than what other photographers have published. Photography is part of my enjoyment of travel so I plan to continue packing my DSLR and other cameras along on every trip.

Hi Mike,
I am a photo fanatic. I LOVE looking back through the pictures and remembering the fun/interesting/new/crazy experiences and grand adventure I have been on. However, I don't take photos just to take them. I take them of things I think are beautiful, unique, delicious etc. While pictures are an amazing way to remember a great trip, an equally fantastic way is to keep a little journal. You can type it on your phone, jot it down in a small book etc I like to do it at the end of the day. You'll be amazed at how fun it is to reread it later! And how much you forgot about what you did/saw! If you have a cell phone snap a few pictures and write a bit in your notebook each day, you will be happy you did, at least I was.
An equally fun and exciting way to keep record of your trip (and is less demanding of your time) is to do what Frank II said above. Grab a postcard from each country or city you go to and write all your favorite things from that place and then send it to yourself. Sending it to yourself is half the fun because you won't receive it (most likely) until much later so you can re-live it then. They are pretty to put on the wall and have a picture (that you didn't have to take!)
Happy travels!

Totally up to you. There is no reason you should take photos if you don't feel the need. If you have a smartphone it will have a camera that is probably better than your old point and shoot in case you want a more personal photo here and there.

Photography is a hobby to some people, like me. A photo free trip would, for me, diminish the fun. I truly enjoy looking around places and finding a great angle or light to make a photo you really can't just buy in a book. It's a personal document of how I see the trip. And the best ones end up on my walls or the walls of my friends. Not everyone cares to do this and if all you want is a nicely taken shot that shows what the leaning tower looks like then there is nothing wrong with leaving it to the pros and buying a postcard or photo book.

I take lots of photos because I sell travel photos online.

But the other great thing I do, since I don't want to have big photo albums sitting around - I do up a photobook online...and I can also do the story of each day. They aren't very thick. I did one up for my mom when she came with us to Italy - and she absolutely loved it - she tells me she still likes to look thru it 3 years later and she was able to show it to her friends. I do one up now for each trip with my own photos and memories.

But if you aren't going to look at the photos, or share online, or print/do a photobook, then don't worry about taking photos.

I, too, am one who loves to take photographs. I enjoy the artistry of photographs as many earlier posters have indicated. When I'm just taking snapshots for recollection I'll put my camera on automatic. The camera also helps me see an area with a more discerning eye. I do try to keep my equipment to a minimum; i.e., one lens, mini-tripod, extra battery and memory cards. I believe I'm in the present/place longer. What I try not to do is be in someone else's way and I would never ask someone to move away for my shot...except perhaps my husband. Where I don't take photographs is in museums and many churches. The Mona Lisa or whatever is unlikely to be an artistic shot, unless I had the room to myself, and I'm just as happy googling a photograph or looking in a book if I want to see it (former art major). Hold Harmless: I try for artistic shots, but more often than not I fail, but still I persist! Wray

I enjoy taking photos on my trips but don't let the pics overwhelm. If you don't take a camera you'll probably wish you did because of the unexpected experiences you didn't plan for and want to document.

Why should you worry? It's your trip, your life, and you should do as you please. That being said, we're in the group that does take pictures. We have moved from a bulky camera, to a point and click, to now using only our Samsung 5 and 7 phones. We're with Barbara and a few others. We travel quite a bit and like to make our own photo books of our trips as it helps us to relive each day. We also make dvds of our trips and add music so we can watch it on our TV. Looking at our pictures not only helps us to remember what we saw and did, the food we ate, the people we met, but we can feel what we felt when we were actually there. But, as stated previously, the choice is yours and only yours.

I don't take a lot of photos of tourist sites that are in books, I take a lot of photos you won't find on a postcard or in a book.

I like to roam off the beaten path places after the tourist sites. After returning from a group tour, I showed my photos to the group in a re-union party. They wondered if I was on the same tour.

My photos are my most cherished possession and I've always told family and friends that if my house was burning (I have no pets), to grab my photos first!

I used to feel that way about my film negatives and prints from a traditional darkroom. But not any more. My digital files are backed up in Cloud, and I can produce an exact duplicate of a digital print with a few mouse clicks.

Mike:

I am becoming a non - picture taker. When I took my first trip in 2008 I did a formal scrap book. Too much work. I find after each trip I take less pictures and the ones I take I take with my iPod. As a matter of fact they at all still there. :-). They at memory joggers. I have even stoped my journal.

You might want to take an iPod or a small inexpensive digital camera. I find the picture of my fellow travelers are the ones i would miss if I did not have them.

Long ago I would take hundreds of photos on a trip. I've done the scrapbook thing and am now sorting through and tossing most after scanning them into my computer!

These days - very few - some trips ...zero! Our last trip I just used my phone, I uploaded them as I blogged our trip for friends & family to follow along our journey.

Take what makes you happy.

the other great thing for me about being a picture taker - I'll get up and go out early if possible while the city is still waking up so I can enjoy the sights and take photos with fewer people. I also tend to linger a little longer looking for a good angle or some neat detail that I would otherwise miss - which of course you can do without a camera as well!

I used to take way too many photos. My first trip to Europe I lugged a gallon size zip top bag filed with 35mm film canisters in it -- and I used every one. But I found I was taking so many photos, and taking the time to catch the "perfect" shot, that I didn't get to enjoy the surroundings. I have downshifted on the photo situation every year since.

I do still take photos. I use my cell phone (which takes tremendously better pictures than my 10 year old point and shoot digital). Sure, the travel books have more than enough perfect pictures of what you see on your trip and you can use those to remind yourself of what you saw, but there are still the snapshots including images of you and those on the trip with you in out of the way stops that are impossible to be covered by the travel books that add life to the memory. If you choose to take no pictures at all you lose out on that.

I go through and look at my trip photos from time to time. The fact that they contain images of my travel companions and the actual activities we engaged in make me smile. Looking at "The Highlights of Italy" book doesn't.

You need to take plenty of photos, including selfies, to establish an alibi. You never know what kind of shenanigans is happening back home while you're away.

I take a lot of photos with my pocket cannon. It is easy, automatic, and quick to get shots. Like others, we go to out of the way places, take photos of food, ourselves, and shots for memory sake. We feel like we remember less as we get older, so the details are great to have.

I download our photos onto the computer, they run for our screen saver, and we sit and drink coffee every morning as our photos randomly come up. It is very enjoyable! We get to relive our trips, talk about our trips, talk about where we will go next, etc. Some mornings we choose an album to watch, other days just the random screen saver. So much fun!

Not my way of traveling in Europe without photography. Photography is the key element in traveling in Europe. I use a simple digital, serves its purpose. I shoot lots of pictures as reminders of the trip and also the pictures serve as a running diary, The pictures are of buildings, architecture, churches, statues, memorial plaques, monuments, street signs, billboard advertisements, train stations (inside and outside), scenery, trains themselves, landmarks, war cemeteries, all sorts of signs, (directions, warnings, instructional), restaurants, and anything that sets a pattern of association in motion. I don't do selfies.

I love to take photos and make photo books when I get home, but if you don't, don't do it. The only flaw I see with your plan is that buying books of photos means you will have to carry them around with you, which will make your luggage heavier. Depends on how big the books are and how many you buy.

Of course it's up to you whether or not you take pictures during your trip. However, it would be a good idea to bring a small camera just in case you change your mind. If you do take pictures after all, it will once again be up to you what you do with them.

Your trip, so do whatever you are comfortable doing (or not doing). I see a lot of tourists who spend so much time looking at everything through their cameras, they don't take time to just use their eyes and absorb what they came all that way to see.

I don't carry a digital camera any more, but I do take photos or short video clips with my cell or iPad Mini. But the photos are for me as I don't ever rope friends or family into sitting through looking at my vacation photos. When people do ask to see some, I show them maybe 2 or 3 photos and that's it. Most people may ask to be nice, but don't really care to sit through a 2 hour slide show. I don't tend to take big sweeping photos of the sights - I might focus on a single detail in architecture or a painting. I might take photos of graffiti art on a wall, a flower in a park, or someone's cat or dog just laying out in the sun. Some of them come out really great and with those, I might get a copy printed and then framed to hang with other photos of my travels.

Ceidleh - I will totally come and look at your travel photos for 2 hrs ;)

I went to London, England, in 2016. I took 75 pictures with the digital point and shoot camera from 2006. I put them on my computer after I returned home, picked 12 and posted them on my facebook page. Unfortunately, the facebook shrinks all my pictures so they don't fill up the whole screen. My mother and one aunt are the only people who ask to see all the pictures I have taken. I kept a journal while I was away; I think my journal entries jog my memory much better than the pictures. I probably will take a few pictures in Italy; my anecdotes and and description of my trip will probably be more interesting than the pictures.

You are right the stories are always more interesting; but those photo are the sinker in the hook and line you dig?
But All right Mike L welcome to the photo taking travel club; we knew we could sway you;

I do not own a camera and the one time I tried to take a photo on the mobile phone I acquired for emergency use on holiday, I couldn't get it to work.
I used to keep a daily journal, but no-one else but me was interested in reading pages of longhand, so I stopped bothering. Now I look lots and sometimes remember, somtimes not, but it no longer bothers me. The experience itself was what mattered and making the most of it by intense attention.

I do hate it when people takign photographs ask me to move away from what I'm looking at so they can get a better picture.

Part of my holiday is taking pictures. I go on photo workshops for fun in interesting places so I can learn to take better pictures. My pictures are on my walls and I enjoy them. So, I don't go photo free. I don't take as many photos as I used, but I like to think I take better ones. :) I take pix here in NYC also. There so many different things to photograph that I don't have to repeat what others have done before me. So, it's personal and I won't condemn you for not taking pictures if you want condemn me for taking them.

Pam

As others have said, it's your trip so it's up to you.

I take 500-700 pictures over a two week trip and I recognize that's excessive. Many are retakes of the same shot though. I don't spend all day taking pictures at equal intervals.

Sometimes you do have to put the camera down and be in the place where you are. Maybe we need a mindful travel movement, if there is not one already. That said, memory is a very imperfect record and having photos is a great aid to perpetuate your memories.

This sounds like my husbands dream trip. He would love for me to leave my camera at home. I do take less pictures now than I used to but still take hundreds of pictures on our trips. I am into scrapbooking and it is always fun to relive my trips going thru the pictures. If you are fine without your camera then don't take it.

I find that being a photographer makes me even more considerate of the subject than if I were merely a viewer. I am looking for a new way to look at something or a way to capture the essence in just one frame.

The people who think they are missing the experience of "being there", I believe, are merely shutter snappers, taking pictures to show they are/were there instead of investigating and get THE shot. Yes, that takes an investment of a little more time, but it's time during which I am learning more about the place or the object.

I also look for out of the way places to go to make pictures that are beautiful from my point of view.

One of my goals in photography is the inspire other people to get our and see the world on their own feet with their own eyes.
Maybe the pictures I make, that people DO ask me to see, will provide that push for others to get and see. And learn about the world around them.
I don't think this crowd needs that encouragement, but a lot of others do.

By the way, VS, I usually come home from 2 weeks abroad with around 2000 exposures (again, many of those are duplicated while trying different techniques). I don't think that's TOO excessive.

My daughter thinks I spend too much time looking through a viewfinder. I try to minimize that while I'm traveling with her.

cgichard, I understand. I often move for people who want a better angle, but nobody moves for me so I can have a better view.;-(

500-700 is not excessive, but 2000 is!

For memories, deeper interaction with the location, and gifts I can't imagine not taking pictures. I can recall sensations forgotten when I see pictures I took.

The people who think they are missing the experience of "being there", I believe, are merely shutter snappers, taking pictures to show they are/were there instead of investigating and get THE shot.

Not quite... I paid for that plane ticket to get to Europe and really see it through my own eyes and to learn more about the places I am visiting as I clearly read about that place I am standing in which peaked my interest enough to bring me to that very spot. So naturally I want to absorb what's in front of me and know more.

What is really irritating is having someone who isn't a professional photographer (but fancies themselves to be one) jockeying into multiple positions to get "the" shot and effectively blocking other people from just enjoying looking at it. If your name isn't Ansel Adams and you aren't getting paid for this photograph, snap your picture already and either take some time to enjoy what you are seeing without looking at it through a viewfinder, or else move on.

This is definitely one of those polarising questions. Taking photos (and lots of them) is a huge part of my travel experience, and what you describe would be like sacrilege to me, plus I would feel like a fraud. Now, with digital photography, the editing and distilling of photos once home from a trip is hugely important. The resulting record is a wonderful memory for me, even if no one else is interested. But if you don't have a good eye, and are unhappy with your photos, then maybe some classes or online tips could invigorate a little passion.

ps. 2000 is definitely not excessive.

Wow, not all photographers are rude. I think that there is some stereotyping going on here and that's not a good way to treat people.

I think I might have failed to properly convey what I was trying to say.
I merely meant that having a camera with you should in no way prevent you from being in the moment, whether in a piazza, a church, a museum or any other place you might visit.

I truly believe having the camera -- and the desire to get the photo that best captures what YOU see and feel about a scene or object -- provides you with a better chance to be in the here and now and really capture the experience by exploring -- with your camera in your hand or with it in your bag. But it's up to you to make effort.

Many times, I look around before I even take out my camera.

And whether I have my camera out or not, I try to avoid being in anybody's way. That means other people with cameras and other people who are just trying to see and enjoy the experience.

I look out for others because none of this is mine. If I get in their way, I apologize because I have no claim on a better view or angle before anybody else.

I am also the guy who offers to take the photos (with your camera or phone) that will include you and your traveling companion(s) so that everybody is included.

It was not my intention to offend anybody here. If I did I apologize.

ribaholic60, I don't see that anything you said was rude. I agree 100%.

What annoys me are the iPads and phones raised high in the air so no one else can see Mona Lisa etc. or when whoever starts posing in front of the picture, etc. with their selfie stick, etc. so they can show people they were there...so it's not about the now but rather the later. When I'm looking for an artistic shot, I'm usually away from crowds of people...just walking and looking. Crowds generally ruin the shot. If I just want a snapshot for my own recollection, it's quick and no one has to move. And 2000 is not excessive, but many are at dawn or sunset, again, without the crowds. So are you all confusing selfies and group photos with amateur photographers?

I agree no one really wants to see yet another picture of you standing next to the leaning tower or some other famous monument....BUT what about that time you were in Cinque Terre posing for a picture in front of a rock by the ocean and that huge wave came over the rock and drenched you? Yup happened to my husband and I was able to snap about 7 pictures of the whole thing, hilarious!! We had a multi-national group of people on the beach and we all looked at each other and laughed, after we made sure he was ok. Then more pictures of him thought the day in a cheesy shirt we had to buy at one of the tourist stores for him because his was drenched...and the day went on. Or the Fabulous HUGE doors all over Europe and the teeny tiny cars and window displays like no other you have seen and the guy who sell roasted chestnuts on the streets in Rome and then a picture of the cone they are served in. There are just so many un-expected experiences to be had and remembered in pictures...OHH and we also take the ones in front of monuments, looking at one now on my desk at work, of me and hubby in front of the Eiffel Tower to remind me why I am at work.

I'm not one for having myself in a photo, and my mom really hates having her picture taken, but when she came to Italy with me and my husband in 2014, I made sure to grab some shots of her when she wasn't paying attention (and some when she was)...and a lovely Irish gal took a photo of all three of us in Ravello - I love looking at those pics because they bring back many happy memories.

I'm not even a fan of taking pics of my food, but there are times when we've had a great meal - and I kicked myself for not taking a pic. The best was in London and got some fish - the darn thing was as long as my forearm! I do remember it, of course, but I think it would be even funnier to be able to show people how big that darn piece of fish was!

We love to look at our pictures long after our trips are over, and I take snaps not just of buildings, scenery and art but food and people as well. The zoom on my Canon also doubles as binoculars when we want to examine something - like details on a ceiling - more closely.

We've put together slide shows of favorites for our TV; turns that big black rectangle into a changing piece of wall art!

Not much I can add to this excellent discussion. My wife and son say I take too many pictures (probably around 2,000 on our first, 12-day trip to Europe), and I admit I likely spend too much time looking through the viewfinder or at the screen.

But, as I write this, I'm looking at the 16x24 canvas print of the Eiffel Tower at night, and the collage frame of photos from our time in London and Paris. Not to mention the very best photo ever taken of the three of us, on the streets of Paris with our fabulous tour guide Rebecca, in an 8x10 frame with our RS tour patch. On the coffee table is the Shutterfly book of photos from that trip. On my Facebook timeline are the photos I posted which many of my friends complimented me on. And there are the photographs of beautiful impressionist art from the Orangerie and Orsay museums that remind me of the morning when I was unexpectedly, emotionally moved by standing in front of the Monets and Renoirs and all the rest.

My memories live in those photos and I wouldn't trade them for anything.