Documenting every step for social media is something peculiar to some generations whilst others look on, confused as to why anyone should care. Sadly it's becoming a 'virtual currency' and young kids get anxiety over the amount of 'likes' they get on their posts and delete them if they're unsuccessful - the need to put themselves on display in the name of engagement and connection, but really often a veneer for our performative image and vanity
Often you see this need to satisfy the ego creeping in when it comes to "aren't I great" content: themes like 'look how far I went', 'how fast I did it', and 'how great I looked' during the process. In some respects this is why content which recognises it's audience and provides value to them is far more useful - mention your mistakes (everyone makes them), don't treat them as a method to puff up your ego (which comes across as insecure) but instead try to laugh at yourself a little.
Yes, it's amazing how many blogs there are about how many miles, how fast, how light, etc. However, if you are searching for information about what flora and fauna you can expect to encounter, there is surprisingly little to find about that.
When I walked the Bibbulmun Track in Australia last year, this was an interesting contrast with American trails like the PCT and AZT. On the American trails there was so much more focus on how fast etc, whereas in Australia most talk was about which rare orchids and other wildflowers people had encountered, and how many snakes, emus, kangaroos, echidnas etc. That was really refreshing. Apart from perhaps a cultural difference, the main difference was demographics. On the Bibbulmun I met mainly older folks, usually in their 50's and 60's whereas on the PCT the big peak is 20-35's.
Btw: the Bibbulmun Track Foundation asked me afterwards to write a few lines about my walk, with emphasis on the birds:
https://www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au/news/tales-from-the-track/walking-and-birding-the-bibbulmun-track/I've been doing a massive sort out lately and noticed just how little I've looked through most of those albums, in particular digital albums which end up as a black hole of hundreds of photos from various years. Not quite sure how best to remedy this - a digital photo frame works for many people, have it somewhere prominent so you can see it of course, but it doesn't quite solve the problem with the sheer amount of photos you need to cull through.
I completely recognise this! I almost never look at the thousands of photos on my hard drive, but I read and re-read my own travel reports very often and get transported back to these wonderful times. So writing reports work really well for keeping and reliving memories! With the added advantage that you can also share it with friends/ family and others that might be interested.
