Do I Really Have to Dress Up All The Time to Have a Travel Blog?

(Note: Even if you don’t like my writing, I’ve sprinkled my pictures from my recent trips to NYC, Nashville, Vegas, and Lake Tahoe throughout – so just scroll on through if you don’t like reading. *Shrugs*)

We’ve all seen those perfect travel bloggers.

A candid picture of a girl with perfect hair, a flowy sundress, and even cute shoes (that don’t even look comfortable).

Like did you really do that entire hike in a dress?

If you did, props to you, but I don’t think I can commit to that…. in fact, I can’t even commit to wearing heels in Vegas for the whole night. (Yes, I’m that hot mess carrying her shoes standing in line for pizza at 4 A.M… So sue me, my feet don’t deserve that pain!)

To be clear, I don’t want to put anyone down.

If you want to hike Mount Everest in a ball gown, you go right ahead! I’m not here to hurt people’s feelings. I know blogging is a business for a lot of people, and maybe it’s worth going through all of that to get a great pictures.

Also, I guess some people have an entire team of photographers and assistants to help out. I usually just have a stranger taking my pics because I’m not famous, nor a model.

To be fair, I’ve definitely been basic AF at times to get a good picture, so I need to take my own advice sometimes…

“Mom, can you take a picture of me by the pool?”

“No, my arm looks fat in that one”

“Now, can you take one of me looking in the distance? Thanks.”

But is that all people care about in a blog? Is that all people care about on Instagram?

*Carrie Bradshaw Voice*

I couldn’t help but wonder,  are we using social media to impress people, or impact people?

I know, at its core, that Instagram is a visual platform. Great pictures are better to look at than blurry iPhone pics. But I don’t ever want to be just one-dimensional. I want to hear the story behind the picture.

I know hot girls can get away with just putting an emoji for a caption or something like “thinkin’ bout tacos”, but to me, that just seems like a caption generated from an automated Insta-caption robot.

 

Obviously, sometimes you don’t feel like thinking of a great caption, and every picture doesn’t have to have a novel or some sob story about you overcoming something, to resonate with an audience.

But in the past weeks, I’ve thought long and hard about what I want to use my social media for.

Everyone has a platform. Whether it’s 20 followers or 20 million, someone is reading your posts.

What effect do you want to have on them?

I read something about “emotional shadows” — AKA the feeling you leave behind after interacting with someone.

Do you leave good vibes? Judgmental ones?

When I think about the friends I truly enjoy hanging out with – they ALL make my day better and make me feel happier, even after we’re done hanging out.

 

Do I want to make people jealous of my life? Sometimes. ha. But I get tired of this crap where everyone always acts so put together while acting like it’s no big deal.

If I put on my makeup well and have on a cute outfit, IT IS A BIG DEAL to me, so that is why I post selfies. I don’t look like that all the time and I want to celebrate my achievement in actually covering the dark circles under my eyes!

If I leave any kind of “emotional shadow” — I don’t care if people think I’m weird. Or an oversharer.

I just want to be REAL. (insert 100 emoji)

And I want to make others feel good about themselves.

Because I know how it feels to feel unwelcome.

To be hurt. To feel lost. To be left out in the dark. Ok, so that’s lyrics from a Simple Plan song, but whatever. You get the point.

And if that means wearing a shirt and shorts that don’t exactly match accompanied by dusty tennis shoes on my hikes, WHATEVER! UNTIL I GET A STYLIST THAT’S THE BEST I CAN DO!!!!!

Sincerely,

Chelsa

P.S. Here are my pics from my hike at Lake Tahoe yesterday.