6 hacks/tips/ideas that will enable you to keep up with the Insta Life and be at your best self – without falling into a sponsor’s aka sponyo’s trap.
Some time last year, a friend forwarded to me this YouTube video clip by SwitchTv. The clip showcases the undue pressure Kenya’s young adults go through to keep up with the insta life including dating older men in exchange for KES 2,000 (US $20).
My initial “apprehension and WTH!” reaction to their (perhaps very naive) choices was quickly washed over by “its okay, you can start over and it’s NEVER TOO LATE TO FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS – the right way”, for two main reasons:
- as a mother, my heart broke because this could well have been my daughter; and
- I am a travel blogger, so I am partly to blame for this phenomenon.
So where does travel blogging fit in all this?
And you rightly ask.
Well, let me try to paint the picture, a very tenable one, one that is probably playing out itself now as I type this out.
Imagine that I have been traveling internationally over the past couple years and over time kept getting asked the same questions over and over. So in an effort to have a centralized place that I can refer people to or a place to share my stories, I decided to travel blogging.
Over time, Google notices the growing interest in stuff that I share and starts sending search traffic my way. Soon, my YouTube Channel, Insta account and other social handles start ranking highly in search and somehow more people land on the site, making my social handles attractive to travel brands and businesses looking to market themselves.
I get a comped trip to City X sponsored by Visit City X Tourism Board, and as part of the partnership agreement, write all about it on my blog, share dreamy posts on my Instagram account, and even post one or two YouTube videos in the hope that a few more Kenyans will be inspired to visit City X, and City X in turn, will benefit from the ensuing tourism.
Exposed to my socials, Youth X starts craving this highly curated lifestyle and travel experience. Mark you at this point in time Youth X is broke and cannot afford, and therefore resorts to armchair traveling to fix her cravings.
With time though, the cravings become too much to handle and neither Youth X’s wallet, drooling nor wishes is sufficient to fix the craving. Youth X wants more.
And before I even complete typing this post, BAM! Youth X is on a sponsor’s lap.
Perhaps I’m being too impertinent in thinking that a travel blog, or vlog or Instagram post can trigger such an unfortunate chain reaction.
May be, may be not.
All my travel planning ALWAYS begins with a Google search, location hashtag search on Istagram, and YouTube review search of the place or activity.
So I may not be too far from the truth.
On that presumption, however far fetched maybe, this post is dedicated to all the Young and Broke Kenyans whom social media and its myriad of dreamy images and visuals has sparked the desire of #KeepingUpWithTheInstaLife:
I share with you 6 hacks/tips/ideas that will enable you to keep up with the Insta Life and be at your best self (without falling into the sponsor aka sponyo trap).
So without much further ado:
What's Covered in This Article
I’m a 40-year-old woman with a body that is not shy to tell the world what it has gone through in those 40 revolutions around the sun.
Talk stretch marks, sagging breasts, falling hairlines, a not-so-flat-as-I’d-love tummy, name it!
I have been in the workforce on and off for the last 19 years and I make a decent-but-not-millionaire level of income.
I live in an old 1950s very-cute-to-me apartment in a beautiful Nairobi neighborhood – by choice.
I also travel a lot – mostly solo – and document my experiences.
I am very contented my body and with this lifestyle and I lead it on purpose!
But when I opt to drool over the YouTube Channel or Instagram feeds of a 25-year-old girl with firm breasts and a tummy as flat as my laptop screen; I don’t need a rocket science level class to understand why I’m suddenly less enthused about my bikini body which I was so in love with just 6 sentences ago.
And such negative triggers can affect even the strongest of us and shouldn’t be taken for granted.
The best part?
You can actually control what feeds come through your social media channels.
On Instagram for instance, simply go to your ‘Discovery page’, click the three grey dots in the upper right corner and then click ‘see fewer posts like this.’ Easy peasy! And you will be one step towards achieving your dream life – in the right way.
My point, focus on those humans whose lifestyle, means, etc, have a passing resemblance to yours. Posts that steer you towards feeling great and doing good. Stop wasting your time coveting those who are living lives that are currently not in your league.
The moment a social media handle you’re following makes you feel bad about yourself to the extent to driving you into behaviors that are harmful to you (whether you perceive it or not) physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually; the hell quit following that account. Hata kama ni yangu!
And this does not mean don’t follow social handles better than yourself for inspiration.
All I am saying is do not confuse intimidation for inspiration. If it makes you feel bad, that’s intimidation. If it makes you want to be better, in a legitimate way, that’s inspiration. There’s a very thin line. Know the difference.
So dear broke Kenyan youth, if you are struggling to get KES 2,000 bob to afford an Instagram drool – worthy feed, and are probably also unhappily single, then maybe YouTube Channels and Instagram accounts filled with travel influencers who work with six-figure budgets and are on complimentary baecations that look like they got scripted out of a romance movie, are not appropriate for you right now.
A better option is to…
Take advantage of travel for free contests and competitions
The next best thing after the Insta/travel dream lifestyle is having someone else fund it or pay for it – legitimately.
I remember in my younger college days I was on the constant look out for travel – related opportunities supported by my campus since that took away the burden of convincing my parents to grant me permission for travel.
On this blog right here, I even curate and update on a weekly basis, a list of travel – related jobs, internships, studentships, scholarships, contests and competitions open to Kenyan nationals and other contestants worldwide.
Keep checking back so you don’t get locked out due to missed deadlines.
Click here to read about my experiences on a fully paid for trip to Norway and tips on how you too can land legitimately free travel and sponsored trips.
And although back then, internet and WiFi wasn’t as ubiquitous, I somehow still managed to make do with the circumstances.
Today, there are not only more opportunities, but it is also easier finding them.
Or…
Another way to have your Insta dream lifestyle legitimately paid for is by taking up travel – related jobs, internships, studentships or scholarships.
And guess what, your next travel free opportunity is just one Google search away.
As at the writing of this post for instance, the Embassy of France in Kenya in collaboration with the French ministry of national education is looking for 50 Kenyan students who can demonstrate a competence in French, and who are seeking to increase their linguistic and cultural proficiency to work in France as English teaching assistants in French primary or secondary schools for seven months.
This opportunity alone gives you a whooping 7 months of pictures of you with Eiffel 🗼Tower in the background, and a monthly stipend of around KES 100,000🤑 to shop Insta-worthy clothes!
Or better still…
Stay Local
Who said you must catch a flight to get Instagram drool-worthy pictures?
No one.
So, this BS that travel is so expensive and thus you need to offer your amazing self to a sponyo to afford Insta-worthy posts😏 must go out the window by the time I complete typing out this sentence…nkt😒
Kenya is such a beautiful and for some little money you can find yourself in affordable Instagrammable locations that are largely untouched.
Would you believe I took these pictures in Turkana?
Me neither…
See, I told ya!
Leverage your relaz
Aki ya mama the most I’m spending for my vacation to Mombasani is KES 1,400 bob for the return SGR train ticket. The rest, I leave for my mum’s sister’s brother’s cousin’s nephew to sort out.
It’s a given, we Kenyans like to take advantage of our relatives, myself included😉.
Thanks Andrew and Daisy. Ninge afford ije maisha ya ulaya bila nyiye🤫?
On a serious note though, its more fun and empowering taking selfies by day along Mombasa’s Mama Ngina drive with fried cassava chips in hand, and squeezing yourself by night on a mat in your aunt’s kitchen; than between a sponyo’s sweaty and hairy thighs🤭
Get a job
I know this is probably the last thing you want to here especially bearing in mind you’re already kinda used to the freebies from Mr Someone.
I’ve got news for you honey…
If you are young and broke but want to keep with the Instagram lifestyle – the right way – and in a sustainable manner….
Well, your dream lifestyle is just one job away😀.
Something that still surprises me to date is that Kenya and Africa in general is one of the very few places on earth where you find adults (read parents) still financially responsible for fellow able adults (read their children).
I understand the level of youth unemployment challenges in Kenya but heck, with humongous amounts of internet bundles going for the price of a smokie pasua, there’s no excuse why you shouldn’t look in your hood or online for opportunities.
My son is only 11 but has been working for this blog as the Chief Videographer and Photographer. Call it child labor if you want but I don’t give a damn! Nigger has to earn his rent😆.
He also runs his YouTube gaming channel and hopes to start making money out of it as soon as he hits Google’s prerequisite threshold.
PS. If you’re touched by his story and want to save him from the yoke of his mum’s child labor please subscribe to his channel through this link here.
Personally, I was fortunate to have parents who could comfortably afford to pay for my tuition in a private university. However, I still took up student labor from the first semester I set foot on campus until I left and still managed to graduate with top grades and a fat bank account – there was no M-Pesa those days.
You can guess how old I am😉.
If you’re currently drooling over some YouTube Travel Vlogger’s recent birthday baecation trip to sijui where, just stop, save yourself the heartache, and instead use that time to check out this post here whereby I outline 101 ways young people in Kenya can make money legitimately while still in college or campus without sacrificing their health, their bodies, the spirituality, their integrity, or their grades.
Your Turn
I am 100% certain that if you read this far, you’ve found at least two or three legitimate ways to raise at least KES 2,000 that don’t involve an older man’s hairy groin😒to fund your next Insta worthy post.
If I inspired you, please free to stalk me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube for more inspiration!
How had Instagram and social media in general affected your life choices What accounts do you follow? Share with us links to your favorite accounts and channels in the comments below so we can follow them too and feel good about ourselves!
