Hi there Travel Tarters – today I’ve got a visual treat for you – it’s an interview with Lauren Bath, Australia’s first professional Instagrammer!
Well, there’s more to it than that, but she’s gone after her dream and is now a professional traveller, doing all sorts of great photo experiences around the world and sharing it with all of her gazillions of Instagram followers!
Lauren was a great sport and kindly decided to participate in this silly interview!
Check out the Lauren Bath website, and follower her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
Here we go! I’ve also included a tonne of her photos in the interview for those who only read the internet for the pictures! ;P
The Lauren Bath Professional Instagram Photos Silly Interview!
The Travel Tart: Hi Lauren, thanks for the time to chat! I know you’ve got well over 400,000 followers out there on Instagram, but for the people out there who might stumble across this interview after an overdose of cat videos and other stuff on the internet that will take away time you’ll never get back, tell us a bit about yourself!
Lauren Bath: Well, I’m a former chef turned photographer turned social media influencer thanks to Instagram. I was lucky that I was an early adopter of the platform which helped a lot. In early 2013, I saw the potential of having 200,000+ followers so I quit my job to become Australia’s first professional Instagrammer. I put together my own Instagram campaigns, as well as hosting social media and social photography workshops.
The Travel Tart: I think it’s awesome how you’ve made a career out of your passion, and by mucking around with a social media platform. What’s your advice for others who want to follow in your footsteps?
Lauren Bath: The advice that I always give everyone is to love what you’re doing first, grow an audience organically and think of monetizing later. A lot of people don’t realize how important a part passion plays in success. On a more helpful note the key to success on any social media platform is to share great content regularly, engage with your community and be as consistent as you can with your online habits.
The Travel Tart: Just wondering, was there a big moment that changed everything, or was it more of an incremental change?
Lauren Bath: Both actually! I was slowly realizing that Instagram would play an important part in my life and a shitty service at work tipped me over the edge and made me realize I didn’t want to be a chef forever.
The Travel Tart: I find that when I go travelling, there are usually no photos with me in them because I’m the one always taking them! I think that a tripod is a photographers selfie stick! Who do you let take photos of you, if at all?
Lauren Bath: Like most photographers I’m not a big fan of having my photo taken period! However when I travel with other photographers it’s very common for us to take pictures of each other so that’s where a lot of the shots of me come from.
The Travel Tart: You were a chef for over a decade. I know a lot of people send pics of their food out to Instagram. I reckon Instagram could end world starvation if they donated one cent from each food shot to a massive food drop! Some people might only order meals that look good on Instagram! Do you think it’s possible for people to eat without posting pics of their food to Instagram?
Lauren Bath: Haha, this is a good one! I don’t know why so many people love to share their food on Instagram but they really do and I’ve recently decided if you can’t beat them, join them! In all seriousness though I have made a conscious decision to share more photos of food from my travels as sometimes cuisine can play a big part in peoples holiday planning and decisions.
The Travel Tart: You spent a bit of time in Cairns in Far North Queensland, which is my home town. There are obviously truckloads of great photo opportunities there because of the natural environment, such as the rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. But do you think Cane Toad World is ever going to appear on your Instagram Feed? ;P
Lauren Bath: Haha. To be honest, no. This IS a fun interview. At the end of the day I have a job to do and that job mainly revolves around taking photogenic images. Although I occasionally stray from that path when a scene really takes my eye I don’t think cane toads will be appearing on my feed anytime soon.
The Travel Tart: Has anyone ever said to you ‘I’m so desperate for drugs that I want to smoke the hashtag off your Instagram post…’?
Lauren Bath: That was officially the first time!
The Travel Tart: And probably the last too! ;P Okay, going back to your chef origins. I really like eating all of the weird food out there in the world. In fact, I recently appeared one of those tabloid magazines about it. I’ve willingly let things like cow’s nose with satay sauce, guinea pig and caterpillars into my stomach. Obviously, travel presents these great opportunities, but a) what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten and b) the weirdest dish you’ve cooked yourself?
Lauren Bath: You’re not going to like my answer… I’m a vegetarian! As much as I love my food and love to cook (meat included) I just don’t have the stomach for weird food. I’ve travelled with people that have eaten all manner of strange foods, my best friend suspects he ate dog on a recent drunken night out in Singapore!
The Travel Tart: To get to the places you photograph, travelling by plane is a necessity. I’ve been on some really dodgy flights where I thought I was better off walking for a few months. I know people are 720 times more likely to die in the car on the way to the airport than on the plane itself, but what was your worst ever flight?
Lauren Bath: You only want one example? Hah! I have more than enough to fill this whole interview. To be honest I do tend to travel mainly with reputable airlines but even those have their moments. Worst series of events ever went like this –
- Depart Calgary for LAX. One hour into flight plane turns around due to pressurization issues and we’re asked to clear customs and spend a night in Canada.
- Next day start over. Repeated delays see’s us get into LA late so a mad dash through the airport ensues. Make the flight, barely!
- 2 ½ hours into Brisbane flight the captain announces we will be going back to LA to offload a sick passenger.
- After 21 hours we land in Brisbane.
- Miss connecting flight to Melbourne.
- Reschedule flight, get to Melbourne and drive to the Grampians for next job.
The Travel Tart: You’ll probably get there very soon, but what are your top 3 bucket list places? And I mean places that won’t make you spew into the bucket?
Lauren Bath: Norway, Patagonia and Vietnam. I’m working on all three! 😉
The Travel Tart: And finally, I end most interviews with this question: where was the place where you caught the travel bug?
Lauren Bath: Bangkok Thailand. I still love it over there.
The Travel Tart: Thanks for your time Lauren, and happy Instagramming!
Lauren Bath: Thanks for a giggle!
You are funny. Great interview. She is one cool lady. i met her at a conference in SA where she was the complete highlight. I learned so much from her.
Hi Tania, thanks for the feedback! She was a great sport to say yes to this silly interview! Haven’t met her in person but I’m sure I will!