Oxford Dictionary named it “word of 2013”, but ‘selfie’ just earned another accolade.  Voted the most annoying word of 2013 along with ‘twerk’, ‘hashtag’ and ‘obamacare’, ‘selfie’ tops Lake Superior State University’s 2013 list of words to be banished from the Queen’s english for misuse, overuse and general uselessness!

People have taken pictures of themselves for almost as long as George Eastman’s company made film and cameras. Suddenly, with the advent of smartphones, snapping a ‘pic’ of one’s own image has acquired a vastly overused term that seems to pop up on almost every form of social media available to us….A self-snapped picture need not have a name all its own beyond ‘photograph.’ – Lawrence, LSSU.

The overuse of selfies by celebrities such as Justin Bieber, the Kardashians and other reality television show celebrities was an example of why this term gained notoriety in 2013.

But what about travelers?  Are we too guilty of cultural narcissism?  Or are ‘selfies’ just a really convenient way of documenting our travels?  You can be the judge!  One thing is for certain though: no matter how ridiculous we look, or how poor the photo quality, taking ‘selfies’ is a craze which is here to stay!

Here are some of the best travel selfies from 2013, submitted by travelers both young and old!

Selfies from Around the World!

 

Of course, you can always have someone else take the picture for you – just make sure it looks like you can run faster then them if they take off with your camera!!

Generally, when targeting someone to take my photo I try to avoid people traveling alone (it’s harder for two people to get away with your camera than one), and try to ask someone who already has a camera out.

Also, from experience, the fancier someone else’s camera looks, the more likely you are to get a better shot.  Try to have your camera already zoomed to an appropriate level before handing it over, because let’s be honest…strangers are generally hopeless at taking a correctly framed shot. Although these turned out ok!

Check out more traveler selfies from around the world.