Travel Explorer Magazine Issue 4

LONG LIVE THE HOLIDAY MEMORY
Words & Photos: Robbie Sinclair
Remember the excitement of collecting your holiday
snaps and reliving those special memories from your
latest trip? An actual physical photograph that you could
hold or put in a frame capturing the perfect moment of
that day on the boat or that dinner on the beach.
Before the days of Instagram filters and our love affair
with the selfie stick we could view the world without the
augmented reality gloss that has become all too familiar.
As a self-diagnosed iPhone addict, I am the first to admit
to being sucked in by the amazing apps that help make
that blue ocean that little bit bluer and the bright sky
just a little bit brighter. I travel a lot, and documenting
my trip is important to me. When I get older I want
to look back at my life and relive all those wonderful
memories of climbing mountains in Myanmar or
diving in Australia, it’s safe to say that I’m an obsessive
collector of moments. But, whenever I take a photograph
I instantly publish it online and share it with the world.
That personal moment is no longer personal and I never
look at it again.
I was recently thinking that I couldn’t remember the last
time I went through all of my holiday photographs with
my loved ones and felt that nostalgic feeling of my special
trip. Before my obsession with technology took hold, my
post-holiday ritual of red wine and reminiscing was the
perfect end to a perfect trip. I would open my Snappy
Snaps envelope and become transported back to the
sights, sounds and smells of my adventures. Moments
like this bring us together, they tingle our senses and
inject a sense of romance. It’s what many of a certain age
used to refer to as “The Kodak Moment”.
Technology is a wonderful thing, I love the fact that I can
take an amazing photograph on my iPhone but having
that constant connection to the rest of the world can
sometimes ruin the moment. We have all seen those
couples at dinner, the wine is chilling and the table is
littered with candles. The perfect romantic setting, until
both faces are lit up by the blue glare of a smart phone.
When did looking at someone else’s dinner become more
interesting than eating our own?
Feeling frustrated with my addiction to Instagram I made
the (very difficult) decision to delete my social media
apps. It sounds silly I know but I’m not alone, there are
lots of us out there! So, on my latest trip around Asia I
looked at the world with my real eyes and not through a
screen. I still documented every landscape, every gallery
and every market but I made a deal with myself to not
post it online. These moments were mine and I wanted
to savour them.
I also found an app that brought back the feelings that
I thought were long gone. With “the Kodak moment” in
mind I went on a search to find something that would
meet me half way. I didn’t want to give up on technology
but I wanted to get back the nostalgic romance of
cherishing the moment and then I found the Gudak app.
The ‘Gudagdali’ is an old Korean term for ‘outdated.’
And to quote their brand identity: “In today’s digital
era where the ‘undo’ function is prevalent, we may have
lost the ‘thrill’ of choosing and cherishing moments.
The ‘aesthetics of waiting’ for printed photos may also
have been lost. We, therefore, hope to go away from the
mainstream routine of ‘taking many photos and picking
out the few good ones’ and bring back that ‘Gudak
Moment.”
In short: Gudak brings back the power of pause. Your
phone screen replicates the look (and sound) of a throw
away camera. You have 24 shots per film roll and when
you have finished, you have to wait an hour for a new
roll of film and you have a 3 day wait for your photos to
develop. A notification will appear on your phone and
you can download the film complete with date stamp
should you desire one. As with most classic technology
there is a chance things may not be so perfect and a
few of the photos have flaws. Over exposed lighting and
blurring can take place adding a more authentic beauty
to your trip. I’m a control freak so I took a lot of images
using Gudak and with my trusty iPhone and love the mix
of old and new.
Upon landing back in a snowy and bitter London I
dragged my jet lagged body home. That evening I opened
a bottle of my favourite Rioja and downloaded my
films. My partner and I lit our fire and relived all of the
wonderful memories from our travels. A few out of focus
shots and the classic finger in front of the lens images
brought a bit of laughter but all in all I came away with a
wonderful set of shots to cherish.
Once we had finished our Gudak slideshow we started on
our hi-tech iPhone shots. As a child of the early 80’s and a
lover of photography I look back at the classic techniques
with fondness but I am still keen to look forward at the
constant improvements in the digital world that we find
ourselves in. Gudak has allowed me to have one foot in
the past and one foot in the future. It evokes a sense of
spontaneity and teaches us that sometimes some things
are worth the wait.
FREE Gudak App for RB Collection clients...
In the interests of helping to create the perfect holiday
memories we are giving away Gudak to our clients with
the first holiday you book with us between 15th January
and 31st March 2018. Simply mention this article to claim,
applicable to new bookings only.
Photos from middle left: Queuing young monks in
Myanmar, colourful hanging lanterns in the ArtDesign
Museum, Singapore and bottom: the Cloud Forest dome
at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. All taken by Robbie
during his travel around Asia in 2017.
45 | RB COLLECTION | TRAVEL EXPLORER
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