Functional and Fading in Talat Noi
I’ve noticed something I didn’t expect: I’ve lost the desire to travel the way I used to.
Not because I’m older, or tired, or suddenly allergic to airports—but because the world feels…pre-seen.
Social media did this slow, invisible thing to travel. It didn’t ruin it outright. It saturated it. Every place arrives before you do. Every “hidden gem” has already been geotagged, filmed in 4K, packaged into a 12-second reel with the same music, the same angles, the same “you HAVE to see this” urgency.
And after a while, your brain starts asking a blunt question:
If I’ve already seen ten thousand images of this place, why do I need to see it in person?
Black and White Conversation, Nonthaburi, Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Matthew Noble
The old hunger was about discovery. Now discovery feels like scrolling. Like consuming. Like watching other people have experiences at high speed—until the idea of having your own starts to feel redundant. Or performative. Like you’re not traveling for the place anymore, you’re traveling to prove you were there.
I miss the era when travel was mostly private. When the best moments weren’t designed for an audience. When a place could still surprise you because you hadn’t already memorized it through other people’s lenses.
Maybe this is just a phase. Maybe it’s burnout. Maybe it’s grief for a version of the world that felt wider.
10jan2026
