20 replies to this topic

[Lighthawk]

We're living in an era of rapid change, driven (pun intended) by reliable 4wd vehicles, smart phones with GPS & apps, and social media.  I can't tell you how many times I've cringed reading a post about hot springs, petroglyphs, floral displays or iconic landscape photo locations.  "Where is this, exactly?"  

 

Our local swimming river has garnered over 48k posts on Instagram, and the crowds have taken over.

It seems the pandemic shutdowns exacerbated the abuse of the wheeled accessible backcountry with many more users.  We're fortunate we have our truck camper and can be several steps ahead of the crowd!

 

It's a good time to keep quiet on special places for as long as we can.  I like TR's that keep you guessing, while sharing the flavor of the report.  It's a fine line; well known locations are treated differently, of course.  

 

However, I enjoy sleuthing special locations from TR's, bloggers, research papers, historic maps, etc.

It's a rich world out there to explore, if you enjoy this sort of research.  Visiting and recording these fragile locations comes with a duty of responsible disclosure.

Edited by Lighthawk, 16 March 2021 - 04:51 AM.

[dennis 221]

Well being from iowa where we have zip for overlanding,we really enjoy trip reports.. no I do not support gps postings, but love general locations posts..

[eyemgh]

Alabama Hills is a classic example of an Instagram ruined location.

 

I agree with everyone else that non-geolocated pics are the way to go if you want to report. I appreciate the way the above mentioned posters do it and like seeing their reports.

 

We're preaching to the choir though. Instagram Influencers are accomplishing two things, telling you where they are, but just as importantly...where you're not. FOMO is a big part of the success of online influencers. I don't think anyone here cares much about that or expects a big audience of people who do. 

[AWG_Pics]

We're preaching to the choir though. Instagram Influencers are accomplishing two things, telling you where they are, but just as importantly...where you're not. FOMO is a big part of the success of online influencers. I don't think anyone here cares much about that or expects a big audience of people who do. 

 

FOMO -- yeah. I suffer from WTMO - Want To Miss Out! 

[DavidGraves]

What is FOMO ?

 

DG

[JaSAn]

Fear Of Missing Out

Google is your friend.

[DavidGraves]

What's Google ?

[eyemgh]

What's Google ?

 

I looked it up on AltaVista. It thought I was looking for Googol, a 1 followed by 100 zeros. 

[firemen7]

For the past several years I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the trip reports and would miss them tremendously. I have traveled to a few of the locations and visited parts of the regions that have been posted, some by stumbling into the areas and others by carefully researching maps, google earth or other resources.
 

That being said, there are several places that I wouldn’t travel to, however, I’ve enjoyed the stories and pictures the travelers/explorers have shared with us. If you choose to share the locations or not share the locations that’s up to the individual, however, this land does belong to all of us and the beauty was created for all.

 

Educating, being a role model and stewardship is what we can do to assist with the new masses. Remember how excited you were when you discovered the great outdoors.

[bajaphile]

Seems like Wander the West itself wouldn't blow up any spots on its own, but the idea of not disclosing location info is just a good rule of thumb. The internet in general, at least in my opinion, ruined a lot of areas locally, as well as in Mexico. GPS software is one thing, but when a person goes and creates a video blog/vlog on a location, it gives the viewer a whole new context.

What bothers me is, many postings the author will state "Wow, the area is so untouched and beautiful, we had it to ourselves for the entire stay, it was a great experience". There are many areas I would consider sacred, in which I've been lucky enough to experience for decades without ever seeing another human for weeks on end. You now have guys coming in now for the first time, with video equipment ready to make a few bucks by making YouTube videos on it. Ruining it for everyone, especially those who spent so much time and energy finding it by themselves, and then not spreading the word. I have no problem with people going to these places, I just have problems with those needing to document it on large platforms.

 

I've always loved this intro from the Surfers Journal on an old secret spot:

 

In the early 1970s, the only surfers on the planet who knew the name “Petacalco” were those who had been there. In that pre-Google Earth and social media epoch, The Code was adhered to. It was based on a simple verity: if a locale had been transformational for you, and you had put the hard yards in to get there and to learn it, to know it, why in god’s name would you broadcast the news, thus ruining the future experience not only for yourself, but for future adventurers?

Edited by bajaphile, 04 April 2021 - 04:53 PM.