Are holidays overrated? My travel hot-take

Zoe Rae’s recent visit to Bali made me think about the expectations we have for our holidays versus the reality we are met with. Zoe Rae (a social media influencer) visited Indonesia in July 2025 and complained of it not meeting her and her husband’s expectations: “We came to Bali with high expectations as we’d seen on social media- everyone having such a lovely time, such gorgeous places to go for food and lovely beaches, lovely gyms, lovely coffee shops… If you took a picture of the coffee shop and zoomed out, you would see what the reality was. I don’t think the reality of Bali is shown much, or at all.” So, is social media creating a pretence of perfect and luxurious holidays?

As the use of social media increases, so do our expectations. We see luxurious content posted online and begin to view it as relatable and normal. An example of this would be for holidays. Popular travel influencers share their content with us daily, showing what a day of travelling looks like for them. However, this can become problematic as the downsides and reality of travelling are not always shown. The popular LA festival, Coachella, illustrates how social media influencers and celebrities can create an idyllic image of travelling and promoting their luxurious lifestyles. Love island stars such as Grace Jackson shares a series of TikToks documenting her trip to LA and how she spent her time there. On her journey there, she shows how she was dropped off at the airport and met a friend there. She then shows the things she bought whilst waiting for her flight and the outfit she was travelling in. The TikTok then shows the “gorgeous views from the flight” and them both arriving to their hotel which she describes as “giving (her) Bali vibes”. The room she shows is a beautifully decorated and furnished room.

Both of these influencers show that their version of a holiday is expected to look a certain way.

Although her commentary may seem insignificant, a travel vlog like this can skew our perceptions of what a normal travel day and holiday looks like. Her comparison of a luxurious room to “Bali vibes” adds to this issue of unreasonable expectations being built. Another one of her vlogs shows her and her friend spending a day in LA, spending time eating and shopping and browsing the city. Whilst these are relatively typical activities for a holiday, her vlogs don’t include some of the harder aspects of travel. The travel vlog does not include the price of any of the items, them travelling from one point to another or the heat and conditions of LA whilst they were visiting. Her version of a holiday may influence others to think that a stress and problem free holiday is normal.

Both of these influencers show that their version of a holiday is expected to look a certain way. This may be different to what the public experiences on their own holidays.

All these holidays looked different to what I’ve seen on social media.

My hot take that holidays can be overrated comes from experiencing a variety of travel. I’ve been lucky enough to go on holiday with my family, with friends and by myself and they each had their pros and cons. With my family, I found that it was relaxed but not always how I imagined a holiday to be, or different to what I’d seen on social media. We did active activities such as walks and exploring locals towns and historical sites. When I’ve been on holiday with friends, I found that we did more of a variety of things and the holiday resembled how I’d normally spend my time with them. Whilst we explored, we also sunbathed and went clubbing. When I went travelling by myself, it was spontaneous. I met new people and locals and tried things I’d never done before. All these holidays looked different to what I’ve seen on social media. Watching influencers travel made me forget and be naïve to the hardships of travelling. The long flights that aren’t shown in these vlogs, there’s only a snapshot of their flight, and it’s often a first class or business class flight, not showing the anxieties and stresses many face around flying. The heat and walking long distances aren’t always shown. The culture of the place visited is sometimes ignored.

The luxurious lifestyles of many content creators can influence the public in a negative way by showing them unrealistic standards and ignoring some of the humbler aspects of holidays.

In my opinion, the vlogs only show snapshots of the influencers’ holidays,and it is the aesthetic side of the holiday rather than showing a truthful and well-rounded version of the holiday whereby common travelling struggles are shared. The luxurious lifestyles of many content creators can influence the public in a negative way by showing them unrealistic standards and ignoring some of the humbler aspects of holidays.

Therefore, I think that holidays can be overrated as we have developed an unrealistic standard to measure our normal holidays against. Instead of comparing our holidays to the ones we see online, it’s important to take in all the pros and cons of travelling and try to enjoy all the aspects of travel, rather than only the glamorous parts of it.