Last weekend, I came across a blog post about how millennials, the most talked-about demographic, are “losing the real essence of traveling.” What does that mean? What’s so different about millennial travel habits that annoy, well, other millennials?

Universal millennial travel habits?

An aggravating post discussed why the author thinks millennials (him not included) do not seem to get why one should travel: they just travel to have something to post on social media at the risk of losing money needed to pay for bills and everything else, just because they believe it will solve their problems.

First of all, the author was simply too quick to judge an entire generation, accusing them of being shallow and unimaginative, lacking profound reasons for why they travel. It’s ridiculous, considering the content of his site was mostly about the beauty of traveling — I guess he forgot he’s just another internet “guru”, as he called them, who promotes traveling.

I have to agree that it can be sad how some people believe that traveling will instantly make them interesting to their online peers. But to invalidate the experience of others who simply want to have a good time, that’s just mean and unnecessary.

Does it matter?

Is it for us really to judge who’s worthy to travel and who’s not? Like it or not, social media has just made the world larger again: it’s hard not to get bitten by the travel bug when our feeds are filled with posts about far-flung provinces and amazing cities. (#wanderlust, right?)

Last week, I was in Greenbelt and I overheard the conversation of four girls in their mid-20s. They were poring over their Instagram feeds and ogling at their friends’ summer outfits. They talked non-stop about what they wore in what province, and how they can’t wait to try their new bikinis for their next weekend getaway.

Did I ask them to “calm the hell down”? I didn’t. Should we tell them they have to have deeper reasons for traveling? Most probably not. It’s their life. We have to stop judging one another based on what we see on social media. If you have the resources, go out and travel for yourself. Traveling is beautiful, and anyone should be able to enjoy that, full stop.

I’ll end this post with a very easy three-step guide on how to deal with your fellow millennials’ travel photos:

  1. Open your favorite social media account.
  2. See any travel photos by an acquaintance?
  3. If you like what you see, hit like, leave a comment, share it if you must. If you don’t, scroll down. It’s that simple.

Do you have any tips on how millennials should and should not travel? Or why we should? Sound off in the comments section!