Life Outside of Social Media with Ariana!

When it comes to sustainability, minimalism, capsule wardrobe, and the zero waste lifestyle you’ve probably checked out Ariana (formerly Paris To Go) on Instagram. As a former full-time blogger, Ariana has been on Instagram for over 10 years now. Most people know her as the one with a very small wardrobe who used to travel a ton and somehow looks flawless by washing her hair and face with only water. Yes, you heard me right, she doesn’t use any products on her skin besides a little bit of makeup and sunscreen. Sometime last year she changed her Instagram name, quite being a full time blogger, moved back to the states, and is now working a normal 9-5 job that she loves. She currently has 22.5K followers on Instagram who tune into her daily Insta-stories all about her hair, wardrobe, and reducing your carbon footprint. 

Last year, I spoke to Ariana to get an inside scoop on how Instagram has changed, how her life on IG has changed, and what the future holds for her in the sustainability movement. In a world where it seems like more and more people are joining the Influencer and blogging community, it’s interesting to speak to someone who decided to leave the full-time blogging world that so many millennials and Gen Z’s admire. Social media is an amazing place to find new like minded individuals, inspire more to care about our planet, and motivate change to help stop climate change. However, I believe that so many people don’t really get a chance to see all of the hard work, negativity, and stress that comes along with being a full-time blogger on social media. 

The majority of Ariana’s followers believe that they know her because she tries to be as transparent as possible with them. Since Instagram isn’t like the Truman Show, despite how people think that it should be, social media influencers don’t have to show every single second of their life on Instagram or YouTube Vlogs. It’s important to understand that the majority of Ariana’s followers only know a small portion of her life that she has curated for Instagram. Many aspects of her life that her followers may not know is that her family immigrated to the states from South Korea. She speaks fluent french and has lived in Paris on and off for the last 10 years. Aside from being a full time blogger and influencer, she has also worked for various non-profit organizations, spoken at many events about sustainability and climate change, and even taught some writing/blogging classes. 

After looking at Ariana’s Instagram, you might think that all she does is travel to beautiful places with a cute bikini in the summer and her warm expensive coat in the winter without having to worry about money, food, housing, etc. Many would be shocked to realize that Ariana currently resides in Ohio and works a 9-5 office job. She does have the privilege to live in an energy efficient apartment, but she has also lived in her fair share of run down/old apartments. Yes, she has been able to stop using hair care and skincare products (outside of sunscreen and small amounts of makeup). She also tries her best to compost her food scraps, shop at co-ops and organic grocery stores, and support businesses in her local community. Most of her wardrobe is made up of second hand designer labels that come from local thrift stores or online consignment stores like the Real Real. She also doesn’t purchase “new” items often because she doesn’t like owning a ton of clothes. Despite what it seems like on Instagram, her nights and weekends are usually spent going on hikes with friends and trying out new vegan restaurants. During to the Pandemic, it’s also important to note that she has continued to shed some light on how the coronavirus has impacted her personal life, with many of her friends and family getting severely sick from the virus. Even though she tries her best to be authentic and transparent on her Instagram, she has also found that her followers don’t really care about the “mundane” parts of her life. All they want are cute bikini shots in expensive hotels from around the world.

As we continued to discuss the ins and outs of IG- we explored how people find her lifestyle to be extreme and unachievable, which just makes them want to see more of her life on social media. Ariana has always been very upfront with her followers about how her lifestyle is one that she has curated for many years and that no one can do it overnight. She has also made many jokes about how people think all she does is sit outside beautiful hotels in a bikini. In reality, it took her around three months of washing her hair with only water till her hair started to actually look semi decent, and even longer for her hair to actually get 100% clean with water only. Same went with her skin. She has been working on perfecting her current wardrobe for the last decade, only purchasing items when she believes it is necessary to do so. The same goes with everything else in her apartment. She owns a bed, a couch, living room table, and many other things that you would see in a normal apartment. Sure it’s more minimal than the average household that is filled from floor to ceiling with stuff. But when she walks into her apartment after work she feels at home, safe, and happy in her personal space. She isn’t opposed to bringing something new into her space; she is just more selective when it comes to what is allowed in.

She also acknowledges her privilege on social media. She believes that it’s important for people to understand that she is thankful for her life experiences, her job, her sustainable apartment building, and so many other things that many don’t have access too. She also acknowledges that her life with less is a privilege. Being a single woman who lives alone has allowed her to not have to worry about a spouse or kids bringing wasteful or unnecessary items into her apartment. Despite doing her best to be transparent about the privilege, her followers continue to ask her why their life doesn’t look just like hers. They clog up her DMs full with the same messages over and over again. Why do people want their lives to be just like what they see on social media? This is something that Ariana doesn't fully understand, especially since she started her blog as a way to get inspire people to live with less; not to live just like her.

Back when Ariana first started her blog, she didn’t want to copy other sustainability influencers like Bea Johnson. Instead, she wanted to explore the aspects of sustainability that many weren’t talking about. Since the community was small at the time, she quickly gained a strong and committed following of people who were inspired by her lifestyle. After a couple of years, she started to create affiliate links to help supplement her normal income at her 9-5 job in Paris. After a couple of years making a nice income from her affiliate links, she decided to pursue it as a full-time job. This would allow her to create her on schedule, travel to other countries whenever she wanted, and do what she loved. During this time she also hosted events, presented ideas at various environmentalist/sustainability focused panels, and even taught writing/blogging classes. 

Unfortunately, this lifestyle isn’t as carefree as Instagram makes it seem. Unlike a normal 9-5 job, where you get to go home and relax at the end of the day, full-time bloggers create their own hours based on the projects that they are working on. Since more projects equals more money, most bloggers work around 12-15 hours a day for weeks on end. Some even use the weekends to take on additional projects, instead of hanging out with friends. Busy weeks for months and even years on end can result in less sleep, more stress, and less time to be able to relax. For Ariana, many of the places she traveled to and posted on Instagram were actually work trips, not vacations. This is a side of blogging that many don’t tend to discuss on Instagram because it isn’t as glamours as the beautiful shots of tasty recipes, cute products, and their latest vacations or partnership trips. After years of being a full-time blogger, she was burnt out. She decided to move back to the states and get a normal 9-5 job that allowed her to have a good salary, hang out with friends and co-workers after work, and actually enjoy her life. 

For all of the negative aspects of Instagram and becoming a full-time blogger, there are a ton of positives. According to Ariana, Instagram and other social media platforms have allowed the zero waste and sustainability lifestyle to cultivate a strong following of activists. The sustainability movement has stopped focusing solely on saving the polar bears and rainforests and into a community filled with activists who are doing their best to save our planet from natural disasters, oil drills, and climate change. The online movement has also influenced people to volunteer in their local community, look into working with more sustainable and environmental conscious companies/organizations, and find new ways to connect with more like minded people. If it wasn’t for social media, Ariana and I wouldn’t have met and become real life friends! This is extremely important when it comes to people who might not have environmentalists or sustainable activists in their local community that support them to make the planet a better place for future generations. 

I hope that many of you found this article helpful, especially for those who have dreams of being a full-time environmental influencer and blogger. Next time you are scrolling through Ariana’s social media, take a second to think about the women behind the pictures and witty Insta-stories, and understand that her life is more than what you see on social media. This especially goes for the people who have recently started asking her if she is pregnant after gaining some weight during quarantine. Just because you follow her on Instagram, doesn’t mean you know everything about her life or anyone else who is a social media influencer.