El Camino Travel isn’t your typical tour company. That’s clear the moment you load their website only to see stunning photos that will immediately pique anyone with a pulse’s wanderlust. And don't even get me started on their Instagram feed. Looking more like photos carefully curated for a magazine, these photos are the real deal. This is what a trip with El Camino actually looks like.
And why do these pictures look so good you ask? It’s because every tour they host includes a professional photographer. Before you throw your hands up in the air and give up on the future of travel, hear me out.
El Camino travelers pose for a quick capture by the photographer joining the group's tour. (Credit:... [+]
Travel today is different from what it was years ago. It’s more about posting incredible photos to prove that what you did was much cooler than what any of your other friends (real and online) have done. The age of selfie sticks, palm sized video cameras and drones is among us. But those things get in the way of experiencing a place. When tourists are too obsessed with capturing a moment, they actually miss the moment. So while a trip might look great in someone’s social feed, chances are that they missed half of that trip because their back was turned to what made that place incredible all in hopes of capturing the perfect selfie.
So back to El Camino and why including a professional photographer is actually a genius idea.
So how does it work? Well, the professional photographer joins the tour and does their thing while travelers (usually about 10-12 per tour) are left to focus on the experiences El Camino has arranged for them. From learning how to dance to the beats of AfroColombian culture in Cartagena to taking a dip in hidden hot springs on a local family farm in Granada (Nicaragua), each experience is carefully curated to give travelers in the group an authentic and immersive experience.
The following morning travelers in the group wake up to find roughly 20 photos from the previous day’s excursions ready for them to share. Everything from posed group shots to shots that travelers in the group had no idea were being taken, highlighting the unexpected moments that really make travel special. For example, while the group was exploring the local market the day before, interacting with the local vendors, opening their eyes to new experiences, the photographer was in the background stealthily capturing all those genuine travel moments that can't be reproduced.
Travelers in the group can use the photos for anything they want – from posting to their social media to sending them to their mom to tell her about the adventure they can’t believe they went on the day before, the photos belong to the group. So, by the end of the trip the travelers on the tour are left with an incredible collection of travel photos that can be cherished forever, online or offline.
While including a photographer on a trip isn’t a new concept, it’s a concept that previously only felt in the reach of the wealthy. You know, the ones heading to Africa on a $10,000 safari. El Camino’s current trips cost nowhere near that – they’re priced anywhere between $2,050 and $3,150. The price tag isn’t necessarily for the backpacker and budget traveler, but it isn’t exclusive to the well-off traveler either, it’s bridging the gap. A gap that millennial travelers are more than happy to fill, especially since 75% of millennials have stated that they want to travel abroad as much as possible, according to a study from the Boston Consulting Group.
It’s important that I note that the trips through El Camino don’t include airfare, but they do include everything else – accommodations, excursions, transportation and meals.
So while there’s nothing wrong with capturing travel moments and sharing them with your online friends, just make sure that your experience was just as authentic as the photo you’re sharing. And in the case of the photos from El Camino, what these travelers are experiencing is authentic and not a carefully contrived photo thanks to the help of a plastic extendable pole.
