I didn’t post on Instagram for 6 months. Here’s what happened…

I avoided getting Instagram for this blog like a backpacker avoids bedbugs.

I knew I would get sucked down into a rabbit hole of ‘doing it for the ‘gram” and I didn’t want it to negatively change my travels. I have a perfectly long bucket list that I have created without the help of Instagram.

I don’t want to derail those incredible experiences for something ‘trendy’ that, by the time I get there, will be completely ruined by tourism. Some of my bucket list items have been in mind for decades, and I’d much rather find the unique places myself that still have that Special Something.

Now, before I come off as being totally judge-y and dismissive of the whole platform, no, not at all. I use it to sometimes get inspired, or be ‘wowed’ by some of the incredible allocations in the world. But not so much as a tool to plan my own experiences.

One day, as I was somewhat obsessively refreshing my feed and wondering how my latest posts were doing, I found myself thinking ‘actually, Instagram doesn’t really send that many people to my blog. It’s a pretty picture and it might garner some attention eventually…but until I’ve got a good schedule and history of posts, or more than just another pretty beach photo…it doesn’t really do much.

So I stopped posting full out. Not a single post since January of this year. I kept an eye on it, and of course, notifications popped up here and there, but I made myself a plan that I wouldn’t engage with comments; or comment on anything else.

At the end of my six months, I found myself down all of just 15 followers. I had regular activity on my past posts, despite not posting anything new, or replying or engaging in comments or other posts. Nothing.

So why am I going back to Instagram?

I plan to start up activity on my page again in the next few days, as my trip starts really going, and new blog posts start coming with some semblance of regularity.

I have discovered that Instagram is useful for improving my photography. I want to be able to take visually interesting pictures, but mostly I find myself in the ‘snap it before it’s gone’ mindset, and I snap a shot to make sure I remember that particular moment in time.

The result is that I’m left with photos that aren’t in focus, that lack focus in the shot itself, and really don’t remind me of much other than how terrible I am and how much better I’d like to be.

I plan to slow down my picture taking this trip (no, definitely not fewer photos…ahahah. I will still come home with many many thousands), but take more time, even just a minute, to try and take more accurate, more memorable photos.

Eiffel Tower and the nearby carousel, Paris. One of my first forays into thinking about my photography and posting the results onto this new platform ‘instagram’

The Instagram Perspective

I also like that Instagram can give some unique perspectives of travel shots we all know. See above. We don’t need another full-on photo of the Eiffel Tower. You can’t see the entire tower here, but nearly everyone will know exactly what that structure base is and where they can find it.

Finally, I know that Instagram is invaluable for meeting up with like-minded individuals. Not even meeting up in person, but a place to share common goals, experiences and interests. I plan to capitalize on this a little more in the next year. Who knows where it will lead!

Trip-planner? Pretty pictures? No insta-judgment 😉

Whether you’re in it for the pretty pictures, travel inspiration or using it to plan your next trip, come say hello on my page ;). I promise to say hello back!