Did you follow
my trip to Ireland on Instagram this week? I hope I was able to give you a quick window to Ireland (pun intended) and get your interested in planning your trip to visit there as well. From Saturday to Tuesday I participated to a press trip to South West Ireland with 18 other bloggers and members of media. We were all taking Instagram photos, we all saw the same sights and I realized one common theme early on: we all loved taking photos of the windows and doors of the iconic Irish pubs (and other houses too), and of the flowers on the window-sills. This made me think of Instagram as a window to the world – literally and figuratively.
Instagram as your window
I absolutely think the best about Instagram is the unique way people see the world through their phone camera lens. The best – there is someone out there who has the exact same passion as you do. When it comes to traveling, we all have our different things what we like to see and experience. Just within our Skimbaco team our personalities and interests are very different. Reeta likes castles and gardens (
@houseofanais), Leigh (
@hinessightblog) shoots every luxury hotel room she visits, and she also sometimes gets silly in the front of camera too. Wes (
@wes_holland) captures his posh life in NYC not forgetting to do fashion reports and occasional champagne showers. Instagram is a great window to someone’s life and their interests and you can easily find people who share your interests.
As I write in my book
Instagram as your Guide to the World – How, What and Who to Search and Follow on Instagram to Help You Travel the World (get the book for free by
subscribing to my newsletter), the best way also to find tips and ideas for your travels is to connect with people like you. Maybe a local person in the destination you are planning on going has the same interests as you, and is already now taking photos of the off the beaten path places that you will want to visit in your trip. It might take you a while to find these gem of users who share the common interests with you, but once you do, you will never travel the same way anymore – you have your own travel guide right in your Instagram stream. In my book and in the following weeks I will publish more ideas how to utilize the Instagram photos you find as part of your travel planning and how you can plan trips with friends by using Google Plus, how to create travel planning boards with Pinterest with Instagram photos, and how to create Foursquare to-do-lists with the photos and information found on Instagram.
Show how you see the world
On my trip with 18 other Instagrammers I realized that while we all were hooked on taking pictures of the windows – we all didn’t have to take the same picture. I started taking pictures from inside the houses and castle ruins looking outside through the window. Maybe it wasn’t a grand original idea, and I barely was the only one with the same idea, but it allowed me to show the beauty of Ireland how I saw it, literally through different windows. I think it is so important that you keep in your mind that YOU are special and YOU have an unique voice also when it comes to taking Instagram photos. You don’t have to look inspiration from other people’s photos, use the same filters and style of photos others are using. You can choose your own personal style, and the photography subjects that interest you. Don’t be afraid to snap pictures of the quirky things you like, or the less popular subjects or from odd angles.
Sometimes the odd angles and looking at things from a new perspective are far more interesting. Have fun with Instagram and look life around you through a new window.
Join the Instagram Travel Thursday Linky
Join us! Bloggers – add your blog post to the linky. Not a blogger? No problem. Join us at Instagram by using hashtag #igtravelthursday and share your travel photos. But sorry- no linking to Instagram images from the linky, just to blog posts. Get email sent to you when the Instagram Travel Thursday linky post is up (
subscribe it here) and
add your Instagram profile link in the Instagram Travel Thursday page and follow other travelers who have left their links there as well.
My mission is to inspire you to live life to the fullest and find your own "skimbaco," how you enjoy life where ever you are in the moment. For ideas for travel, home, food and fashion,
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Sometimes the odd angles and looking at things from a new perspective are far more interesting. Have fun with Instagram and look life around you through a new window.
