Different everywhere in your head, just not in the now

You might be wondering at this point, what's so bad about wanting to experience as much as possible during a trip and having certain ideas about how everything should go? It's actually completely legitimate, right? Yes, but: If you're always thinking about what you're not doing, it usually ruins what you're doing. Life in the moment is lost. The now can never be good enough. Your mind is always on the next adventure, on the next activity that you want to squeeze in somehow - caught in this endless carousel that constantly revolves around the question “Is there something I should be doing more of right now?” The answer is no. It's good the way it is. We don't have to experience the same trip that someone on social media has already experienced. After all, you want to gain your own experiences and not blindly imitate what you have seen somewhere.

Stop FOMO – is that possible?

But what do you do when you realize that you're constantly chasing after everything on a trip and always feel like you're missing something? A simple but very effective solution: spend less time on social media. For a trip, research more offline again, buy a travel guide in the old school way or get tips from friends. We should also spend less time on social networks while traveling be it to post photos or videos or for research. It's better to ask the locals or other travelers for recommendations. You often get a much more honest opinion about certain places and activities and not a filtered and embellished social media representation.

JOMO instead of FOMO

In the best case scenario, this way of traveling results in JOMO, the opposite philosophy to FOMO. We implement JOMO, i.e. Joy of missing out, by distancing ourselves from social networks and other digital distractions, celebrating quiet moments and listening to our own needs instead of doing what social media and the like want us to do. Because honestly: In the end, nothing negative will happen if we don't do that one thing on vacation that we've read about everywhere. Life goes on. We'll probably experience other equally great things at another time. And anyway: If the now feels good right now, why even think about what might feel even better? Bigger, better, faster has nothing to do with sustainable and conscious travel anyway. Sitting on the sunny terrace, I remind myself that the good waves will come again tomorrow. Or possibly on your next surf trip. Either way, I definitely won't miss anything. Because I have just as good a time with my cool juice and my exciting book as I do on my surfboard.