Not Under the Influence

Maybe now is not the best or right time to be thinking about travel. Therefore, I wanted to just put some thoughts down on the idea of using so called "Influencers". Personally, I have been publishing material about commercial vehicles and travel for a decade now. While I would like to think that many of those reading the material, I am not so sure if anyone was ever "influenced" by my articles. Maybe they have been, but I am not aware of such thing happening. Maybe there are many cases where people have made informed decisions, following the consumption of not just my material, but reviewing other sources as well?

When preparing for our trip to Japan, we used two YouTube channels in particular to get to know all about the food we wanted to try. Did we try the food? Yes, we did and we considered what was said in these channels. However, we did not end up in a single restaurant these two recommended. The fresh seafood we sampled wasn't even in the same city as the people had said to go to...

I also consume a lot of things. I don't need a big apartment or a fancy address. That is not important to me. Shoes and Whiskey are things I spend on. And not once has anyone swayed my decision for something in these two categories by posting on social media or elsewhere. One of my most expensive purchases (in 2017) ever was something I had been thinking about since I was a child. Back then, there weren't even any influencers as we call them now. When I am visiting Singapore, I like to stay in one particular hotel. And I am sure not once has any influencer hightlighted the fact that said place has a speedbag in the gym.

So, now I am looking for the other 9 pictures I have to take when in Hong Kong: The Harbour Bridge, Great Wall, Great Barrier Reef...