Alex Reynolds of Lost With Purpose grew up traveling, and now spends months of each year living in India and Pakistan, as well as traveling to places like Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and elsewhere.
With more than 42,000 Instagram followers and a highly engaged audience, it’s hard to deny that she’s an influencer. But you won’t find many photos of Reynolds posing in a pretty dress in front of the Taj Mahal, or really many photos of her on her feed at all.
Instead, you’ll find thoughtful portrayals and researched information about places, gleaned through extensive time spent and interactions with the people who live there. Reynolds, who grew up in the United States and spent time working in The Netherlands before embarking on almost full-time travel, embodies what we mean when we say #beabettertraveler, so we sat down with her over Skype to learn more about her travels, and how you can see a place without exploiting it.
How did you start traveling?
I always wanted to travel. My mom is from the Philippines and my dad is from the U.K. Exposing their kids to the world was a priority. My dad was a professor so he traveled for conferences and sometimes we would get to go. We went to the Philippines and Japan, and another year to China and Mongolia–I fell in love with Asia. I wanted to take gap year after high school, but parents said ‘no, you’ll never want to come back.’ I studied abroad in Thailand and traveled in Southeast Asia. I met people who had been traveling for years. So, come 2016, after living super cheaply for two years , I had about $12,000 in the bank. I sold stuff, got rid of my apartment, and my now ex and I went off and started our journey in Georgia. That was about three years ago.
Why did you decide to start a blog?
In 2016, in the months leading up to traveling to Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and Pakistan, I realized while researching that I wasn’t finding any useful. There wasn’t much recent information. Websites were really dated and poorly designed, and I found that really frustrating. Around that time, I learned that people can make money travel blogging. I studied computer science, and I love photography and writing. I had done social media and marketing before, so I thought, this is something maybe I could do. I spent the last month before traveling building basic a website and as we were going started to post more and more. It was half information, half stories, and it was kind of this fingers-crossed, vague hope of something becoming successful and taking off. If not, at least it was fun and had a purpose.
On your website, you say mission 2.0 is to promote tourism to places people might be hesitant to visit by sharing stories and showing sides of these countries that the media doesn’t always show. Tell us more about that.
Yeah, so the West has a very specific perception of what a country is like. It’s difficult to fathom there are just people living life–especially somewhere like Iran. The Friendliness, warmth, and compassion I found were so at odds with the perceptions people have at home. So many people I met on the road were saying ‘please share this with your country.’ These personal narratives I could share with others really had the power to humanize these countries often shown as bastions of terrorism in the Middle East. I could talk about how beautiful a place is, but it’s really the people who make a country, and I think it’s really important to show the human side to all these countries.
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Much of your reach is on Instagram. You have more than 42,000 followers who seem highly engaged. You post long, thoughtful captions–almost like mini blog posts. What prompted you to use Instagram more and how do you see it as a helpful tool for travelers?
Instagram wasn’t meant to be a part of it. It was my favorite platform because it’s visually oriented, and it’s the best place to have dialogue with your followers. It’s a good way to ask questions and have discussions about different topics without writing a whole blog post. I put more content on Instagram than anywhere else. The blog is for stories or articles that I want to last for an extended period of time, while Instagram gives a feel for a place, a place for my thoughts, and gives me connection to locals, especially in Southeast Asia where people are very active on social media.
Your photography is beautiful. Did you take photography classes, or pick it up as you were traveling?
I mostly learned photography as I went. I got a camera for my 16th birthday and sort of progressed from there. It was a casual hobby of mine, and travel was a good way to hone those skills. I’m practicing every day. About a year and a half ago, I hit a kind of frustrated plateau when I realized I was seeing all these fantastic things but my mindset was very much at that time looking for the Instagram shot–symmetrical, straight on, a girl in a dreamy landscape type thing–not improving my photography skills, but honing my Insta skills and taking photos that would find likes and followers. This is not a good way to develop your skills. I started following more actual photographers, and started really looking at images I found captivating, and thinking, ‘what makes them great, why are they good, why are they bad, how can I recreate image?’ I became much more proactive about increasing my skills and honing my eye and pushing boundaries about what I was looking for. I started getting up at sunrise, which was one of the most important and painful takeaways.
Let’s talk ethical travel photography. You did an Instagram series recently on how social media users inherently represent non-western destinations through westernized lenses, and how to be careful of that. You mentioned getting to know a place, showing more than stereotypical imagery, etc. Can you talk more about some of these tips?
I really started thinking about this subject when I went to Iran. The first city I stopped in was Tabriz. I was walking around in a bazaar and there was a tour group of Americans there all taking photos of an old man. There were probably 10-15 people clicking cameras right in his face and no one was talking to him and the man was just starting at them like why is this happening. It was absurd. It was completely mind boggling to me that people would take a photo and walk away. In India this is particularly an issue–foreign travelers coming in and taking photos without offering an exchange, seeing people as objects, not interacting. People walk up and take photos in someone’s face without asking, then disappear. Then they get upset when Indians take their photo. It’s a massive issue.
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There’s also the problem of people coming in and taking stereotypical photos that make foreign cultures look like the “other.” They’re not representing the entire image of a place, just what people want to see. I realized I have a lot of experience with this and tips I could share.
The most important thing people can do is to engage first. Don’t just walk up and take a photo and leave. Say hello, ask what they’re doing, have some chit chat. Especially in places where people are out on the street and being more forward, get chatting a bit. Any interaction to show the person yes, I see you, I realize you’re a human, and I want to interact with you instead of just use you. Then you can ask to take a photo. Then, you can show it to them, then take more. Those follow up photos are usually the most effective–you get people smiling, because they’re more relaxed because they understand what you’re doing.
It’s a good idea to show people their photos. I’ve experienced that a lot of people don’t actually know what you’re doing at first. They don’t understand the concept, so it’s good to see the final end result so they can understand what you’re actually trying to do. A lot of people don’t know how beautiful they are, and it’s nice to see yourself as someone else sees you. Showing them the photos means you’ll have that extra rapport, because you took the time. And if they really don’t like the photo, then you know not to share it. A lot of people don’t like the betle nut stains on their teeth, for instance, and you might not think about that if you didn’t show them first.
You should seek to show what’s really going on in front of you. Forget your notions of stereotypical images people want to see when they go places. You want to share some kind of reality. It doesn’t have to be the most beautiful, but that also doesn’t mean you should share poverty porn and only misery. Just try to show reality. Don’t stage your shots either. You don’t want to show something fake. There are so many things in front of you to photograph you shouldn’t go out of your way to stage something else. I see so many people setting up their shots, finding a picturesque old person and setting up objects. Good photos should serve to represent your perspective on what you actually see in front of you.
[When it comes to asking people to take their photos, even if you don’t speak the language, Alex says don’t be intimidated! A smile and miming–pointing to the camera and making a clicking motion–can go a long way, and it becomes more natural with time.]You’ve talked before about how social media doesn’t accurately represent life and about how photos of people, specifically pretty girls in pretty places, do well. Why is this irritating to you?
It drives me nuts because it turns travel from experiential to narcissistic. People travel to places just to take photos of places. If that’s the whole point, you could just Photoshop yourself into it if you really want. It’s just like checking photos off a bucket list, and turns it into something so much more shallow and self-obsessed. It’s something I’ve been guilty of in the past, and unfortunately when trying to grow followers on your account, it works. It’s something I have had to actively decide to steer away from. I don’t want my standing to be dependent on how I’m looking in a place. It should be about the place you’re visiting.
In the end, to each his or her own. You have ability to take and share whatever you want. If it garners a positive reaction, well, there is a market for it. Over the last few months I’ve just unfollowed generic travel girl accounts. I don’t need to see it. There is plenty of Insta content from photo journalists and local photographers I would rather follow.
What do you think can be done about it, if anything?
Well one other issues is that it’s not safe. This is not journalism, but these people are being accepted as experts, even though they know literally nothing about the places they’re visiting sometimes. There’s a lack of responsibility. Also, there is money going to people who are selling themselves as opposed to selling a location or doing any sort of investigation into these places. There’s no depth to content anymore in travel media.
I wanted to create something that encourages people to be better people, to think about the impact they have on places they’re visiting. Pulling tactics from journalism is much more effective, and something people should be aspiring to.
[Often, influencers visit places as part of a press trip or with guides, where they are not involved in planning and are allowed to do things that might be unsafe for someone traveling on their own. We’ve covered this briefly here].
You travel mostly alone, to places many perceive as dangerous or that don’t have strong records on women’s rights. What is your advice for other solo women travelers?
Solo travel as a woman. A lot of people are afraid of it, and as much as I want to say they shouldn’t be, and in many cases their fears are overblown, the sad reality is it is more dangerous for women.
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Most of the time I don’t feel unsafe. I felt unsafe in Afghanistan, where you have to be more careful about who you’re taking to and where you’re going. But the vast majority of the time I don’t feel unsafe. A lot of people overthink what is and is not safe. A lot of people say they feel unsafe because people are staring. Well, that’s going to happen, but it’s not necessarily dangerous. You need to build a thick skin and accept that things will happen around you. Actually, the most unsafe I’ve felt is from other foreigners.
What’s Next?
I’m starting women’s only tours in Pakistan. The tourism scene is kind of exploding right now. A lot of girls are interested in going, but are kind of intimidated by it. I have a friend who’s the head of the country’s first women-run organization–The Mad Hatters– so I’ll be working with her to plot out itineraries. I want to make sure it’s a more in depth tour, with home stays, so you get more of a local experience. A lot of Pakistan’s tours right now are focused on the mountains, which is great, but the people are still the most memorable aspect of the country.
Ok, so you’ve traveled extensively around Pakistan and India. As India is more accessible right now to tourists, what are some of your best tips or recommendations?
I really love both of those countries. They’re quite cheap, and very easy to travel to because they’re so affordable. You can find hospitality in a lot of countries, but in those countries people are more forward about it. In both countries nothing ever goes as planned, which is something I really revel in. I like it when everything is making no sense and nothing is in order and somehow it all pulls together in the end. There’s also a tremendous amount of diversity in food and culture and languages. You could spend years exploring both.
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If you want something similar to Rajasthan with half the tourists, you should go to Gujarat. It has many beautiful palaces and forts. Ahmedabad is now UNESCO World Heritage City. It’s probably one of my favorite states from a cultural perspective. Then there’s Kerala in the south, where people are more relaxed, more patient, and the air is much cleaner. But I really like all of the northeast, and I like all of those states because they’re not stereotypically Indian. You’re not going to find elephants roaming the street, or Sikhs in turbans walking around, but you’ll find more tribal culture. People identify with tribes and have cultural practices, and each state has different groups of people. There are almost no tourists there, and it’s lushly tropical, with some mountains.
Follow Alex on Instagram at @lostwithpurpose and check out her website for more tips on travel in Pakistan, India, and elsewhere. To hear her talk more about ethical travel photography, listen to this episode of the Sacred Footsteps podcast. And stay tuned for those women’s only tours of Pakistan!
