A glance through Nicola Easterby’s Instagram feed reveals recent jaunts throughout Europe, as well as far-flung trips including Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand.
But while you might think that the 23-year-old travel blogger from Brisbane’s life looks ideal, she has recently opened up about the not-always-glamorous reality behind her seemingly perfect Instagram snaps.
‘It is so much work, everyone works so, so hard for it,’ Ms Easterby told news.com.au.
‘A lot of people look at Instagram influencers and think, “that’s what I want to do, it looks so easy”. But people don’t realise there is obviously a lot more behind it.
‘If you just do it with the intention of wanting free stuff, you’re not going to get far because you’ll burn out,’ she said.
Nicola Easterby (pictured) is the famous travel blogger and Instagrammer behind Polkadot Passport
She recently opened up about the harsh reality of Instagram, whereby people work hard as well as having glamorous lives
‘It is so much work, everyone works so, so hard for it,’ she said – ‘A lot of people look at Instagram influencers and think, “that’s what I want to do, it looks so easy”. But people don’t realise there is obviously a lot more behind it’
The influencer warned that if you’re just in it for the ‘free stuff’, you will more than likely ‘burn out’ (pictured in Menorca in the Mediterranean Sea)
The Australian woman has been living on the road for four years since getting the travel bug – she set off to travel for just one on a gap year
Ms Easterby regularly speaks about the fact that Instagram can make a travel blogger’s life look ‘idealistic’ (pictured at Cologne Christmas Markets)
Instagram and the discrepancy between social media and life is a subject that is close to the young woman’s heart, and one which she has spoken about before on her hugely popular blog, Polkadot Passport:
‘I will be the first to admit that my Instagram feed may make my life look rather idealistic,’ Ms Easterby wrote in a recent post.
‘However, as I have mentioned many times before, these images do not tell the whole story. This year, my number one goal has been to not live to take pretty photographs, but to live for the stories behind the photographs.’
She then detailed experiences – including losing her camera in Bali and getting stuck in the Japanese countryside – which are somewhat at odds with the photos where everything seems pristine and idyllic.
‘Instagram is the ultimate tool for meticulously curating a version of our lives – the version that we want the world to see. Our IG feeds do NOT paint the whole picture of our lives, or even a tiny slither of the picture for that matter,’ she wrote on her blog
The now 23-year-old (pictured in India) has turned her spontaneous travels into a lucrative career by blogging
She said she was inspired to go travelling to ‘get outside my comfort zone and live an exciting, adventurous life’
In another post, Ms Easterby – who started travel blogging by embarking on an adventurous gap year at the age of 19 with the intention of returning to university to complete her photography degree – wrote about how ‘living the dream isn’t always dreamy’.
‘To me, the expression “living the dream” implies a constant state of happiness,’ she wrote on her blog.
‘The reality is that NONE of us can live on a continual high. That is why I feel the need to tell you that beyond the photos of me lying on a beach with a cocktail in my hand or picnicking beneath the Eiffel tower, there is a lot more to the story that isn’t being told.
‘Instagram is the ultimate tool for meticulously curating a version of our lives – the version that we want the world to see. Our IG feeds do NOT paint the whole picture of our lives, or even a tiny slither of the picture for that matter.
‘We forget that behind every photo, there is a normal human being – a human being who has just as many insecurities, and who goes through just as much pain and just as many bad days as the rest of us,’ the 23-year-old added.
After exploring Europe for a year, the photographer made a decision not to return to university to study (pictured in Israel)
She has now been to 46 countries – and is still living out of a suitcase (pictured in a hot air balloon in Goa, India)
For those want an adventurous life on the road, Ms Easterby advises: ‘Start small but dream big’ (pictured in Vietnam)
Ms Easterby said her adventures are usually planned out months in advance – or organised spontaneously at the last second
She has travelled to more than 46 countries – and still counting! (pictured with a little girl in Guatemala in Central America)
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last month – some four years into her spontaneous travels which morphed into a lucrative career – Ms Easterby gave a glimpse into her jet-setting adventures on the road.
‘After a year of studying photography at university, I wasn’t really enjoying the course and was realising that I didn’t really need to study photography in order to pursue this passion of mine,’ she told FEMAIL.
Ms Easterby has no plans to go home just yet
‘I had always been itching to go travelling, so I decided to take a gap year from university and went on my first solo adventure to Europe.
‘I had initially planned to return to university as I thought that I needed a degree – any degree – to be successful.’
But after exploring the other side of the world for the year, the photographer made a snap decision not to return to studying – and home.
‘I had seriously caught the travel bug, so I put off studying to continue to travel,’ she said.
‘This is when I started Polkadot Passport. I certainly never dreamed that it could amount to a full-time career.
‘After two years of self-funded travel, my following on my blog and Instagram started to grow and opportunities slowly started popping up.
‘At this point, I decided that I wasn’t going to go back to normal life – instead, I was going to try make a living from travelling.’
The blogger said she was inspired to go travelling to ‘get outside my comfort zone, open my mind to new things and live the most exciting, adventurous life possible’.
‘After four years of travelling, I really want to start travelling less for myself and for my own experiences. I want to travel with more of a purpose,’ she said.
‘I still don’t know exactly what that looks like, but I am on a journey of figuring it out. For now, my focus is trying to travel in a more sustainable way, for example investing more in local communities and fighting against animal-based tourism.
‘I’ve also been bringing along family and friends on my travels so I can share the experiences with people I love, rather than keeping all these amazing experiences I get to have to myself.’
She shares postcard-like snapshots to her Instagram followers (pictured: Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand)
For those who want to leave their 9-5 jobs for an adventurous life on the road, Ms Easterby advises: ‘Set a goal and work towards it’
‘Be brave. Don’t wait for someone else to come with you. Stepping out of your comfort zone to travel the world will change your life,’ she said
While when she started out, Ms Easterby admitted previously that she was ‘working multiple casual jobs and ran a wedding and event photography business in order to fund my travels’ (pictured in India)
However, now the globetrotter said she is ‘lucky enough to earn income from my blog and Instagram’
While when she started out, Ms Easterby admitted previously that she was ‘working multiple casual jobs and ran a wedding and event photography business in order to fund my travels’.
But, these days she said she is ‘lucky enough to earn income from my blog and Instagram’.
‘Most of the time when I travel, all of my expenses will be paid by the client I am working with. Funnily enough, this means I actually save a lot more money when I am travelling versus if I was at home paying rent.’
The 23-year-old woman has certainly lived to tell some tales – from catching the wrong train to getting lost in another city
The 23-year-old blogger is now planning to settle in New Zealand for a while to have a break from hitting the road
‘Travelling will always be in my blood and I can’t imagine ever stopping altogether,’ Ms Easterby said
‘Definitely I’m not ready to “settle down” in the traditional sense… I think it will be quite a few more years before I am ready for that,’ the blogger added
The young woman admitted she has no plans to stop travelling anytime soon.
‘Travelling will always be in my blood and I can’t imagine ever stopping altogether,’ she revealed.
‘However, I’ve been living out of a suitcase for the past year and I am ready to be a little more settled. For me, this means having a base in one place and coming back regularly between my travels.
‘Definitely I’m not ready to “settle down” in the traditional sense… I think it will be quite a few more years before I am ready for that.’
To follow Nicola Easterby’s adventures, please visit Polkadot Passport on her blog and Instagram.