When you’re slouched over at your desk, snowed under with a mountain of work, and multitasking like there’s no tomorrow while the sun teases you through your office window, a quick peak at your social media feed is often the best medicine/form or procrastination you need to get you through the day.
However, when you scroll through Instagram to find your best friend bathing in the sun, drinking rosé on the beach at lunchtime, and showing off her enviable sun-kissed skin during a last minute ‘getaway’ to Ibiza, you’ll undoubtedly be left with a bitter taste in your mouth.
This feeling, my friends, can be only defined in two words – holiday envy.
Some say the solution to said jealousy is to go on a digital detox, switch off your social media and vow not to return until it’s cold and miserable outside. But, let’s be honest, that seems even more depressing than seeing your BFF rinse #wishyouwerehere for all its worth this summer.
However, one holiday destination that’s saving you from such holiday woes is Bergün, a picturesque town in Switzerland that’s so beautiful, it banned photography and social media as a precaution.
No, seriously, it banned it.
Tucked away in the canton of Graubünden, the rolling hills, fairy-tale architecture and cobbled streets of the quiet town look as if they could’ve been plucked straight out of a Disney film.
According to Country Living, the new ban is enforced by signs that read: ‘Photographs of our picturesque landscape, shared on social media, can make others unhappy because they themselves cannot be here.’
Er, you can say that again.
There are, of course, a few people that argue the initiative has been implemented as a cleve ploy by the Swiss tourism board to gain more interest and photographs of the town and, if so, it seems to be working.
With the hashtag #Bergün ripe with photos of snow-capped mountains, rolling fields of green, and houses that might just be made of gingerbread (we can’t promise that), there are a few rebellious tourists who have taken to social media to share their rogue snaps.
Meanwhile, the town’s mayor, Peter Nicolay, is offering a ‘friendly special permit’ that allows you to take photos within city limits, which is basically a hall pass to the social media ruling.
[ResponsiveYoutubeIframe Link=”DqD4ZuYRRMA” AspectRatio=”embed-responsive-16by9″ Autoplay=”0″]
An ostensible gesture to curing holiday envy, or a very clever PR stunt?
Who cares, the social media ‘ban’ has put Bergün on the map, and on our radar.
Now where’s my passport?
From: Elle UK
