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ONE of the biggest joys of traveling is capturing priceless moments and having something to show as part of your travel bragging rights.
However, some trends (as seen on social media) are a hazardous approach to documenting a holiday and can endanger a traveler’s life.
Millennials enjoy doing things for the ‘gram, whether it’s painstakingly arranging a brunch spread for a #flatlay (top view) shot or spending half an hour filtering and editing a picture before uploading it.
Each image is well thought of, and every video is recorded then cut and snipped to the perfect length. The feed is a masterpiece that is carefully curated to impress.
And if that’s not attention-grabbing enough, some go to extreme lengths to garner more reactions.
Here are some travel trends that have emerged over the recent years and why they should be banned.
Planking
There are two types of planking.
The first one is an isometric core strength exercise that involves maintaining a position similar to a pushup for the longest possible time. It’s often used in fitness.
The other is a “lying down game” – an activity consisting of lying face down with the palms of both hands touching the side of the body while toes must touch the ground, mimicking a wooden plank.
They would then have themselves photographed and share the pictures through social media. It became a global phenomenon.
While it was all harmless fun and games at first, “players” started competing to find the most unusual and original location in which to play. Planking in dangerous places has resulted in many injuries and at least one death.
For example, in 2011, a man plunged to his death from a seventh-floor balcony in Brisbane, Australia. He was attempting to plank on the balcony railing while a friend photographed him.
Parkour
Developed in France by one Raymond Belle and his stunt coordinate son David during the late 1980s, parkour is a training discipline that uses movements from military obstacle course training.
The activity involves people attempting to get from one point to another in a complex environment without assistive gear in the fastest and most efficient way.
This includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, and crawling, among others, to navigate an environment and its features in a new way.
Parkour around the world has been heavily promoted by brands like Red Bull. However, untrained participants can end up seriously injured while attempting parkour if they’re not aware of what’s in their surroundings.
In 2017, a 17-year-old boy plummeted to his death from the fourth-story linkway of Orchard Central shopping mall in Singapore.
An ardent skateboarder and parkour participant, he had vaulted over the railing on what seemed like a solid ledge but was actually a decorative plasterboard casing not meant to bear loads.
Balconing
The latest global craze is as dangerous as the aforementioned parkour activity, if not more.
Described as the act of jumping into a swimming pool from a balcony or falling from heights while climbing from one balcony to another, balconing recently became popular among foreign tourists during holidays.
Videos of people jumping into pools from hotel balconies are a dime a dozen on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook.
However, the danger of balconing is real as they sometimes smash onto the ground with tragic consequences.
In 2010 alone in Spain, six deaths and 11 injuries in falls from balconies were reported, according to the Spanish press. Most of the casualties were young British and German tourists with traces of alcohol in their blood.
This year alone, a trauma center at the Son Espases hospital in Palma de Majorca, Spain, has treated at least six cases of “balconing.” Three of them died while the rest were very seriously injured, some paralyzed.
“It’s really shocking to see a young person who has absolutely no problems, who was in the prime of life, who had thousands of projects ahead, a life to live, to suddenly die or be left totally incapable to do anything for themselves for the rest of their life,” Son Espases surgeon Juan Jose Segura was quoted as saying.
While everyone appreciates light-hearted fun on their travels, putting yourself and others at risk and breaking the law is not cool and definitely not impressive.
Don’t let any of your holiday views be the last one that you see. Your life is worth more than just a handful of likes and that brief moment of virtual fame.
The post Why these travel trends should be banned appeared first on Travel Wire Asia.
Source: travelwireasia.com