Before leaving Montreal, my friend Stephanie told me, “Alex, don’t live your vacation through a camera lens”. Sage advice.

I’ve actually been keeping that principle in mind for most of the trip. Upon arriving at an interesting place, I try to absorb the scene first, then snap a few pictures, and then return to simple enjoyment. And I’ve actually done this even more deeply throughout my life in what I call, “taking a moment”.

To take a moment, I stop whatever I’m doing and focus on using all five senses to capture everything possible. It aligns myself to the now, and forces me to be present.

  • What can I see: paying attention to big things and little things, to people and the way they dress and their mannerisms, to the movement of the leaves blowing in the wind, the spectacular waterfall, whatever the moment deserves
  • What I can hear: the wind rustling through the leaves, the birds marking their territory by chirping, the loud car honking in traffic, the waves lapping against the coral sands, the villagers hammering nails into a new fence, the crunch of the snow on my winter boots
  • What I can feel: the warm wind blowing the hairs on my arm, the sun warming my bearded face, the sand squishing between my toes, the tender goodbye hug from a friend
  • What I can smell: the salt of the ocean, the wandering smoke from a campfire, the roadside flowers in bloom, the homemade cooking of an African village
  • What I can taste: the homemade cooking of an African village (it was so good, it deserves being mentioned twice), the sweetness of a fresh mango, the chill of my strawberry daiquiri

Capturing as much as possible with these senses allows me to live in the moment, and to savour it for a few seconds. It doesn’t take long, and it allows you to appreciate the little things. It removes worry, fear and doubt, makes you momentarily forget about the past or the future, and allows you to just be.

I’ve become so involved in this little ritual that when I see people doing the exact opposite, it annoys me slightly. For example, while at a tourists destination in Mauritius, a group of Chinese people swarmed in. They took turns taking pictures of themselves with different combinations of people, with smiles and peace fingers, and at different angles. After snapping several dozen pictures, they left suddenly, and never even looked around.

It’s such as shame they traveled all this way and didn’t see anything.

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.
– Eckhart Tolle