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I admit to taking a selfie now and then, usually when we go somewhere wonderful… but mainly because I have a husband who never takes pictures. Ever. It’s a harmless if slightly narcissistic endeavor, and my mother is dead… so if not me, who?
Then there’s the Instagram crowd. The influencers. The vapid youth of today who get paid ridiculous sums for photos that go viral. They’ll go to any lengths to get a breathtaking selfie and call me cold hearted, but I rarely feel bad when I read they fall into the Grand Canyon or off a speeding train.
Which is probably why I cringed when I read this article.
.
.
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I have been to Le Gorges du Verdon and it was fabulous. Mainly because there was no one else there.
.
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The husband, a friend and I drove through the French Alps for a solid 10 hours and saw only one other person. A sheep herder with his flock. It was beyond marvelous.
.
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That’s me sitting on the wall filing my nails waiting for the husband to climb back up from below.
.
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The gorge was wild and wonderful. Unspoiled nature ruled.
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As did the goats.
We visited in the early 90’s. The fact that’s it now jam packed with insipid, shallow Instagram tourists breaks my heart. And I bet the goats don’t like it either.
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River's world..... 
Sad. Sad. Sad. Seems to be that way for a lot of places.
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I was reared in a primitive part of New Mexico. Then Hollywood glitterats gentrified it as a nice summer home. The people I grew up with had to move because the property values soared … I drove up a paved road to where my grandparents house was. It used to be a dirt track that was impassable after a rain. The magic was gone …
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What they say is true, you can’t go home again. Every time I visit the island I grew up on I feel less connected. It used to be lobstermen and their families. Now it’s full of tourists who buy the waterfront land, build a giant summer home they use for two weeks and jack up the taxes so the islanders have to move to the woods. So sad.
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The goats are learning to ‘butt’ them off the land!
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I wish they would.
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Disheartening is what this is. I am sad for our world.
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The term influencer is a misnomer. The only people they’re influencing are like minded narcissists.
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Yep
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I am on Team Goat and we need to take back that canyon as quickly as possible.
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Goats get my vote every time.
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So many places are no longer worth visiting due to the surplus of tourists who are jammed into every nook, cranny, and gorge!
Love the shots of you and your guy . . . and the goat.
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Somewhere… I have a photo of the husband hiking with the goats. Classic.
😉
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It gets my goat when selfie-takers rule
And screen out the views of Mother Nature
With lots of shots of a selfie-taking fool
(if you’ll pardon my nomenclature).
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Imagine how the goats feel.
🐐
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We can get nice shots of nature, but then we miss out on actually being in nature. Saying that, invite a friend from out of town for a visit, take them on a tour of your area’s sights, then get them to take photos of you and hubby as a couple. The above photos are great memories.
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They are. And were back in the day when you have limited shots with film. We had one picture taken at the famous Monte Carlo harbor. My eyes are closed and the husbands mouth is open.. a total dud.
🥺
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It’s sad and infuriating to see serene nature being inundated by, as you said, the vapid youth who don’t care about what beauty really is. And as cold as it may seem, I’m not sad either when they fall to their death or get hit by an 18 wheeler……🤨.
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I say it’s nature’s way of thinning the herd.
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Agreed
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There are places I have been without a camera or a phone and yet I remember them best. Israel: a kibbutz in Jerusalem and the fabulous rains in London. The mind’s eye remembers best but yet pictures do tell the most. As for today, leave the phone at home and travel light.
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I love my phone and camera, and honestly wish I’d had digital back then for endless personal photos… but the narcissism of today’s youth knows no bounds.
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Selfies!!
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Sickening. I hate Instagram.
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I’m not on that platform. Tik Tok either.
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People are ruining nature and I hate that. Even Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge now requires you to buy tickets for timed entry. I remember days when I was literally the only one there.
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I’m selfish. When I explore nature I don’t want to dodge cameras.
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What has the world become? Shallow?
I love that you had such a lovely visit to these areas before they overflowed with humans. That photo of you two leaning against the railing gave me the heebie-jeebies. I don’t care for heights!
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That’s exactly what we are, shallow. *she says as she shares daily on social media*
I fully realize my hypocrisy. 😉
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