How Going Screen-Free Changed the Way I Travel

I used to be that person.
The one stopping mid-hike to retake a photo just in case. The one reviewing every image immediately after I took it. Zooming in, editing on the spot, losing time in the process.

Then I started using a Paper Shoot camera. No screen. No preview. No do-overs. And it completely changed how I travel.

Without a screen to obsess over, I stopped performing for the photo and started participating in the moment. I wasn’t thinking about likes, angles, or whether my hair looked weird. I was just… there. Watching the waves instead of checking the lighting. Eating the gelato while it melted down my hand instead of staging it against a pastel wall. Dancing at a street fair instead of recording it.

Capturing Without Interrupting
Paper Shoot became my favorite travel companion because it didn’t demand attention. It slipped into my bag like a passport. I’d reach for it like muscle memory—snap, pocket, done. No interruptions. Just a quiet little shutter sound and the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, I’d captured something beautiful.

There’s an elegance in not knowing how the photo turned out until later. Like a souvenir you forgot you bought. And somehow, those photos are always more vivid than the ones I used to stage.

Remembering More (Even With Fewer Photos)
When I traveled with my phone, I took hundreds of photos—and remembered almost none of them. But when I traveled with Paper Shoot, every photo had a story. A reason. A weight. Fewer photos, yes, but each one tied to something real.

The camera didn’t get in the way, it became part of the memory.

Screen-Free Travel = Presence + Play
Travel is about presence. About letting your guard down in a new city. About curiosity, surprise, spontaneity. And a screen—even a tiny one—can pull you out of that.
Paper Shoot gave me permission to be less curated, less self-conscious, more in it. It brought back the joy of discovery.

It made travel feel like travel again.

Final Thought
You don’t have to disconnect entirely to be present. But starting small—like shooting without a screen—can make a surprisingly big difference.

With Paper Shoot, you capture the scene without stepping out of it. And that, to me, is the best souvenir of all.