Ditch the Hashtags: Discovering West Virginia Beyond Instagram’s Hype
environment, ecotourism Sean Carlton environment, ecotourism Sean Carlton

Ditch the Hashtags: Discovering West Virginia Beyond Instagram’s Hype

If you think West Virginia is just another stop on your quest for the perfect Instagram feed, you’re missing the point—and contributing to the problem. When a place gets slapped with the “Instagrammable” label, it’s like a warning sign for anyone who values real adventure: here come the crowds, the trash, and the erosion of what made it special in the first place. Top 10 lists and photo ops aren’t tourism—they’re just lazy marketing, reducing this wild and wonderful state to a mere backdrop. If your travel plans are driven by hashtags instead of heartbeats, maybe it’s time to rethink what you’re really searching for.

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Overtourism, the Bucket List, and Why Your Dream Trip Might Be Ruining the World.
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Overtourism, the Bucket List, and Why Your Dream Trip Might Be Ruining the World.

Let’s get real: if you’re blindly following a bucket list, you’ve surrendered your originality to the clickbait gods. Those top ten lists? They’re churned out by lazy hacks who couldn’t care less about the places they’re ruining. For them, it’s easy money—crank out some tired listicle, slap on a few stock photos, and rake in the clicks. Meanwhile, you and a million others swarm the same spots, turning sacred sites into theme parks and natural wonders into tourist traps. These list-makers aren’t just lazy—they’re actively destroying the world, one overcrowded destination at a time. So, if you’re still following their lead, congratulations: you’re not a traveler, you’re a cog in the machine, helping to trample the very places you claim to love.

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