Why I quit blogging… and will focus on video

That’s right, you read that right! I quit! This is the last blog post I will ever write on worldwanderista.com.

The YouTube channel will continue existing, I am even planning on working more on that. But the blog posts and social media; I am done with it… for good reasons… Let me explain…

I quit blogging… and focus on YouTube

This is a decision I have not taken in a day, a week, not even in a month… For months I have been thinking about it. Some who have seen my IG Stories in Puglia might even have sensed it a little already. To be honest, what I have been seeing and experiencing on my latest travels, really made me think about life, the world, people, social media, and its impact on travel behavior… and also what my little part is in all of this…

Social Media & Mass Tourism

It pains me to see how places are getting destroyed and losing all their charm and authenticity due to mass tourism. Places are getting overcrowded and ruined by garbage (apparently it is too hard to throw it in a bin?) and despicable behavior. Some people apparently feel the urge to climb important historic monuments. Nature is impacted by people not staying on paths. Basic decency and politeness are often far away and locals are getting really annoyed. No wonder cities like Rome have become so strict and locals sometimes tend to be unfriendly (But guess what; people are always nice to me; what you give, is what you get, I guess!).

It sickens me to see people waiting in line to get “that IG photo” and not even enjoying the place or learning about its history. They take the photo, tick it off their photo list and move on to the next place on their list without really experiencing or actually seeing the place they are visiting. Because they see it on the big IG accounts and assume that is what everyone does. (It certainly never was what I did) In all fairness, you almost can’t blame them, because it is often the only thing they get to see on social media platforms… They don’t realize or think about what happens behind the scenes…

Traveling, to a lot of people, seems to have become more about taking photos and creating TikToks than learning about new places, their culture, enjoying nature, the experience, getting to know the food, the people… Unfortunately it is the people that travel with this kind of mindset (ONLY for the picture) that often lack a certain amount of awareness of their surroundings, resulting in a lot of irritation not only to the locals but also to other travelers.

If you think I am exagerating; unfortunately I am not. I am just writing about what I personally experienced and saw. Look up the documentary I love Venice on Netflix, which is also a good example of what is currently happening.

I don’t want to be a part of it anymore

I want to protect the beautiful places

I know it all sounds very negative, but I just don’t want to be a part of it anymore. I don’t want to be part of the cause of this behavior. I want to experience and focus on the positive things of travel! I want to protect the beautiful places that I am going to visit in the future from all this bad behavior. I don’t want to share the locations anymore to the big public. I will still share some photos on my IG, for the fun of it like in “the good old days”, but I will not tag the locations anymore or stress about which hashtags to use. I will not write blog posts anymore with detailed itineraries and maps with the locations, so everyone will know exactly where to find it, so crowds can start going there as well and spoil it.

I don’t want to feel guilty anymore

I don’t want to feel guilty anymore like when I shared photos of the tulip fields in Meerdonk (I had permission of the farmer to enter the fields). A few days later one of my IG pictures was used in the news stating the fields were getting destroyed by people trespassing those fields to take photos themselves… A lot of people had seen my photos and of a few other content creators and had also rushed to Meerdonk to make photos. The difference was that they had no permission and they absolutely had no respect. They picked the flowers, stepped on them… Even let their dogs loose in them… It was awful! The worst part is that most people pick on influencers; who actually ask for permission to take photos… (OK, not all of them, I know) While it is mostly the non influencers doing all the harm… But of course the influencer is the “cause”, because he/she influenced the others to go there… Who is the real culprit here, you could ask? You can write all the disclaimers you want underneath a photo, there will always be people that don’t read or just don’t want to see it…

When I published my blog post about snow in the High Fens during the Covid-19 pandemic, it had massive reach. The following days the High Fens had a crazy amount of visitors with a bad impact on its nature. People were parking their cars where it was not allowed. They were going off path… It was horrible… I am not stating it was all because of my article, but I am sure some people were there because of it!

I don’t want the social media rush

I don’t want to be part of the rush that is social media anymore. You have to post daily, at that time, you have to go there, look like this, wear this, follow this Reel trend, use that sound,… And let’s be honest… how many truly original content do you still see these days? Luckily there still are some awesome creators, but they are rare and they often don’t get the recognition they deserve… While some of the dumbest videos get massive reach and likes… I will post on my IG, but not that active anymore like I used to be and no more geotags. The videos will be for YouTube!

I want to live in the real world

I want to enjoy more time in the real world, not in front of any screen. I am one of those people that experienced their youth before smartphones existed. Honestly? Those were the days! I know I might sound old, but partying without phones and actually dance and being present in the moment was the best! (For the Belgians; yes I am one of those who actually partied at the Zillion!)

In an age of social media I miss true connections. I want to focus more on that again in life. Just doing other things than being on that phone or a computer constantly. A blog takes a lot of time and dedication. I just don’t want to spend my evenings like that anymore, except on editing videos. (Because hey, I have a fulltime job during the day as well, which is way too important and fun to me to give up!) Being on my phone constantly while traveling to upload Stories or an IG post is not fun. Working on a blog post and editing photos for 5 -6 nights in a row no longer brings me joy. Editing videos I still love!

YouTube will be the place to be

I will only share my travels on YouTube, because video is what I am passionate about. That is why I studied TV Journalism. I will still share information (in a different way) there. My YouTube audience has always been a different, more dedicated audience. I can show more of the places and of my personality and be more creative. After all, I am a firm believer of video. People take less and less the time to actually read. All they want is lists of places to go and maps. People are getting more and more visual. So if you want to keep following me, go find me on YouTube!

WorldWanderista.com still online

The website will still be online for a while. You never know if I might change my mind (I am pretty sure I won’t) or if I come up with another idea. Until then, you will be able to find my blog posts.

My most loyal followers will always be able to reach out to me and ask me questions; via my IG, which will remain but will be different, my e-mail or YouTube. I know who you are, so you can always ask me about locations privately. But I will never share them with others or bloggers for obvious reasons; to protect them.

Thank you

Thank you for following and believing in me the past years. Thank you to those who took the time to let me know how much they appreciated my work and how much it helped them to plan their trips. To those who engaged with my content.

Thank you to those who even chatted with me in DM and I even shared personal thoughts with. Some gave so much friendship and warmth and it really touched me. So I really do hope you will keep in touch! Those who even started campaigning at their university when I was nominated for a Travel Blog Award!

Also thanks to those who sent me messages wondering if I was OK the last few months, because I did not post anything. Thanks for noticing. I did not answer your messages because I like to keep things private. But don’t worry, I will be OK eventually.

You all are the only reason why I kept creating for almost 10 years! Thank you for these wonderful years!

Time to enjoy the real world

The time has come that I will travel again for me, to enjoy the world without the pressure of any social media and more time to enjoy in the actual world, instead of in front of any type of screen! Time to become a real human again.

Like Beyoncé sings; looking for something that lives inside me; you won’t break my soul!

See you all on YouTube!

Love,

Joëlle, aka World Wanderista
Xoxo