We may already be two weeks into 2024, but I am still nursing a hangover from something that happened on New Year's Eve.
It's not the result of having too much champagne though. Nope, I stayed home this year, only tipping back a mocktail as the clock approached midnight.
Something that went down that night in Paris has been ringing in my head ever since: the viral video of revelers "watching" the countdown to midnight and subsequent fireworks.
Have you seen it?
The gist is that the video shows thousands of people crammed into the Champs Elysees while a countdown to midnight illuminates the Arc de Triomphe.
So far, pretty normal. So what's the big deal you ask?
Well, as the countdown hits zero and fireworks explode overhead, seemingly everyone—and I mean darn near every last human being in the shot—is holding up a smartphone to record the proceedings.
The phones are so ubiquitous that I was suspicious that the video was AI-generated, but my searches online have turned up nothing to suggest the video is fake.
At midnight in Paris on December 31, you would expect to see people embracing & kissing at midnight. There's none of that in this video. You would expect to see people dancing or maybe acting a bit foolish because they've, you know, partied a bit during the lead-up to midnight. None of that in this video.
Everyone is standing still like robots with their phone in their hand, filming away.
Almost immediately, the video and image showed up on my social media feed accompanied with captions along the lines of:
"Our modern society in a nutshell!", "Camera eats first!", "Black Mirror's new season is here!" and other attempts at witty takes.
The overarching point was that the people in that crowd were not enjoying the moment because they were filming the event so intently, for what is assumed to be a post on social media.
What struck me the most was just how boring it all seemed.
For crying out loud, you are lucky enough to celebrate New Year's Eve in Paris! Somebody throw a high-five or give a bear hug!
Somebody jump up and down and act happy to be there!
To the bigger point about living in the moment though, as we begin a new year of travel, I think it is something that we all need reminding of. It's so easy to get caught up filming and updating on a trip that we can forget to look around and smell the travel tulips.
Personally, I don't think these people were necessarily ruining their entire experience by recording two minutes of coverage from midnight to 12:02. And once the fireworks ended, I'm sure that most of the phones went back into their pockets.
But the imagery is still jarring and symbolic of something that has gone off the rails in the world of travel experiences.
Let's get our shots, put the phone away soon after and then do our best to soak up our experiences with our own eyes and remember everything.
Personally, I'm pretty good about not getting distracted by the phone in public while traveling, but I've definitely been known to slip down a rabbit hole on the hotel room WiFi.
This video has inspired me to try to be a little better going forward, and I encourage you to do your best to be a little more present in the moment too.
Here's to a great year of travels ahead and lots of living in the moment.
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