Inspiring Instagrammers To Follow

In the day and age of social media, it seems as if there is an Instagram account for just about everything. With more than 700 million active monthly users, it can be hard to filter through and find accounts making a positive global impact. And while we love following our family and friends, we also enjoy following like-minded organizations and change makers all over the world.

We’ve put together a list of some of our favorite conscious travel-focused Instagram accounts – specifically those inspiring global community, kindness, and kinship. Check them out and, if you feel so inclined, hit follow! 


1. Conscious & Chic | @consciousnchic

Want to dive head first into ethical, stylish, and conscious living? Time to hit follow on this account. Managed by Kathleen, also known as Kat, Conscious & Chic is a community focused account highlighting all things sustainable living. Whether you are a fashionista, world nomad, foodie, skin care fanatic, or all of the above, this account has something for you and we are thrilled to include it in our lineup! 

What Inspires Us | Stories are still somewhat new on Instagram, but we love that Kat takes full advantage of Insta Stories and Instagram Live to engage with her followers and share about sustainable products, brands, and tips. Her feed also features images from like-minded accounts, as well as inspirational quotes for a truly inclusive and inspiring community experience.

Words From Kat | “My community inspires me. Ethical living is near and dear to my heart but my goal when I created Conscious & Chic went beyond simply showcasing how I was living. I wanted to build a platform where members of my tribe could find the tools they needed but also shine by sharing their content. Today, Conscious & Chic is an international community of people who get it! They’re fun, inspiring and understand that their dollar has power. They are constantly engaging and sharing products, outfits, food flatlays and travel pictures through the #ConsciousNChic hashtag which has become a growing source of sustainable inspiration!”


2. Jill Matthews | @jillematthews

When we stumbled across Jill Matthews Instagram account, we knew we had to include her in our list. You may know Jill from Sutton + Grove, a wonderfully informative his & her sustainable lifestyle blog, but Jill’s personal profile is in a league of its own. Honest. Inviting. Unconventional. Breathtaking – all these words come to mind when scrolling through her feed. She encourages followers to not only get out and see the world, but to respect it, learn from it, and honor it through conscious living. 

What Inspires Us | We love Jill’s unique, moody photos and beautiful take on the world – specifically the way her account inspires followers to stay curious, ask questions, and view every environment through a conscious lens. 

Words From Jill | “Our actions tell the truest narrative of our life. How we live out each day, choice by choice, speaks to who we are and what we believe in. I want to tell a story of openness, respect, uniqueness, and connectivity with not only the people around me but the beautiful world that we live in and share together.”


3. Luke Matthews | @lukematthws

The other half of Sutton + Grove, Luke Matthews is also a lifestyle blogger with a fair fashion and sustainable travel Instagram account. Similar to his partner Jill, Luke inspires conscious living through intriguing, moody photography. What makes Luke’s account different from Jill’s is the heavier focus on men’s fair fashion and sustainable brands.

What Inspires Us | The inspirational quotes, sweet photos of Luke with Jill, and focus on sustainable fashion in cities all over the world has us hitting follow. 

Words From Luke | “I think the greatest gift you can give someone is freedom. Treating others in such a way that they feel the freedom to truly act, look and believe as they see fit without judgment. I love to travel and connect with people on this level and hope to be known as someone that makes others feel free.”


4. Shivya Nath | @shivya

Shivya Nath describes herself as a vegan, nomadic, solo-drifter, and her Instagram feed agrees. After quitting her job at 23 to travel indefinitely, she has ventured all over the world in search of offbeat, local experiences. Her story and photos have been featured by BBC, National Geographic Traveller (UK), TEDx, Responsible Travel, and more. Full of wisdom and authentic travel stories, Shivya’s feed feels more like sitting on the living room floor of your best friend’s apartment as she shares her adventures than scrolling through a social media profile. That’s why we’ve hit follow. 

What Inspires Us | Shivya has experience in the world and we appreciate her authentic, candid approach to slow travel and global kinship. She’s more about home-stays and hitch-hiking than itineraries and tourist attractions. She reminds followers what travel is truly about, even in a tech-savvy, social media era.

Words From Shivya | “[When I travel] I like to go slow, get under the skin of a place, talk to locals and experiment with the local cuisine (I turned vegan in 2015); I’m happy to skip most tourist attractions in a big city. I mostly travel solo or with a friend; group travel with a fixed itinerary is just not for me. I believe that our travel choices have an impact on the places we visit. On my part, I prefer public transport, avoid buying mineral water bottles, and try to look for local experiences.”


5. Global Dream Collective | @globaldreamcollective

A new account to the Instagram world, Global Dream Collective is already making an impact with enchanting, pastel-hued photos and inspiring captions. Managed by Peace Corps alumni Elisabetta Colabianchi, followers can find a feed capturing life from San Francisco to Mozambique, where Elisabetta founded Kurandza, a nonprofit social enterprise educating and empowering women.

What Inspires Us | Global Dream Collective is all about cultivating a community of women changemakers and inspiring conscious living – both at home and abroad. We love the female-focused community vibe on the feed, as well as the insider-look to life at Kurandza. 

Words From Elisabetta | “Collect moments, not things. Traveling always makes me feel most alive. It’s also helped me create more of a slow living and freedom-based lifestyle. 

When you’re constantly traveling, you rely on much less material possessions, and instead have faith that everything will work out and that your new friends and neighbors that you meet on the journey will help you when you need it. Traveling cultivates trust, and it also requires flexibility, curiosity, and understanding.”


6. Perry Jay Grone | @perrygrone

Warning: one scroll through Perry Jay Grone’s feed may have you dusting off your passport and spontaneously purchasing a plane ticket. Originally hailing from Oregon, Perry is a visual storyteller using video and photography to capture human experiences. Whether working with nonprofits, traveling for leisure, or living life in his current hometown of Los Angeles, Perry’s feed invites followers to join him as he shares stories from all over the world. 

What Inspires Us | We find ourselves glued to Perry’s feed as we consume his micro-blog captions and short videos from all over the globe. Perry doesn’t just travel—he inspires global kinship and reminds followers about the importance of intentional living, travel, and community.

Words From Perry | “Regret is infinitely worse than failure. What story do you want to tell yourself when your life is over? That you tried and failed, or that you regret not trying at all?”


7. Brianne Miers | @brimiers

Boston-based travel blogger and writer, Brianne Miers inspires wanderlust, solo-adventure travel, and responsible tourism through her blog and curated Instagram feed. From Colombia to Poland to Nepal to Malaysia, Brianne’s photos capture her ventures to more than 50 countries, as well as encourage sustainable travel and global community. 

What Inspires Us | Brianne isn’t only a world traveler; she also founded her own business, Kind Communications. She is honest and open with followers about how she funds her adventures and the work required to travel the world. We also just love women who start their own businesses and solo-travel! 

Words From Brianne | “Since a young age, I’ve been passionate about protecting the environment and learning as much as possible about other cultures, so the principles of sustainable travel closely align with my personal values. I always try to “eat, shop and stay” local whenever possible, because I want my tourist dollars to be directly invested into the community. And I think my travel experiences are much richer and more memorable as a result of getting to know people and supporting their businesses.”


8. Esther Havens | @estherhavens

Working with organizations such as TOMS Shoes, charity: water, Warby Parker, and Malaria No More, Esther Havens is a humanitarian photographer with an impressive and stunning Instagram feed; she has recently her photography featured at a TED Vancouver. Having traveled to more than 60 nations to promote sustainable development and humanitarian work, Esther invites followers to join her in advocating for education, clean water, and sustainable incomes for everyone in the world.

What Inspires Us | Esther not only inspires change through her work as a photographer but through micro-blogging captions. With every picture, she shares a story that dignifies the subject and compels followers to expand their worldview. She desires to connect with others and foster relationships across cultures, industries, and perspectives—and we’re all about that.

Words From Esther | “It is such an honor to get to hear another person’s story…..and an even greater honor to get to share that story with the world. Thank you to all of you who have open ears to hear another, and who care about the journey of a person you have never met.”


9. BC Serna | @bc_serna

Followers of BC Serna are in for a wild ride as he can frequently be found taking sporadic and unplanned trips all over the world. A videographer, photographer, and visual storyteller, BC’s photos and Insta Stories are as compelling as his heart for global kinship and humanitarian work.

What Inspires Us | We love that BC’s account isn’t just for scrolling; he invites all his followers to join him on his journey to spread love and kindness around the world. Through We Journey trips, followers can travel to various locations with BC to help build homes alongside families living in unfit and unsafe conditions.

Words From BC | “The only thing that will actually separate you from everyone else in this world is how crazy you love people. Not your clothes, nor your religion or beliefs, or your skin color, not your job title or how much money you have. How radically you love others is what sets you apart from the rest and that’s what truly makes you unique and different; that’s the journey we are all on.”


10. Ellie Cleary | @soultravelblog

Originally from London, Ellie Cleary is a veteran traveler who began her ventures as a volunteer English teacher in South East Asia. Since then, Ellie has become a full-time nomad dedicating her time to writing about sustainable travel on her website, Soul Travel Blog. The goal of her site, she explains, is to facilitate discussion on what sustainable and mindful travel are; how we can (all) do it; what some of our key choices are when it comes to travel, and what the benefit of those can be—to both ourselves and the destinations that we visit.

What Inspires Us | Ellie doesn’t travel for holiday, she lives on the road. We love how her Instagram photos fuel wanderlust, while her heartfelt captions invite followers into a more serious conversation about conscious travel. Ellie also has a space on her blog that explains the practical and specific choices she makes to travel more sustainably. 

Words From Ellie | “I believe that Sustainable Travel is about creating a win-win equation. A scenario where we can grow through our experience as travellers, but also where we can see others benefiting from our travel to those countries too. At its best, travel breeds understanding, knowledge, empathy, new friendships, and even peace.”


Header photo credit: Elisabetta Colabianchi, @globaldreamcollective