Who really knows why Instagram decides what to show and what to bury? Some days a post takes off, other days it feels like I’m shouting into an empty room. Reels, stories, photos — they all just vanish into silence. It’s easy to get caught in the trap of trying to figure out the algorithm. You can deep dive into analytics, study the trends, and chase every “best practice.” But here’s the question I keep asking myself: at the end of the day, what has it really accomplished?
Social media sells us on the idea that the algorithm is the key to growth. That if you just post at the right time, with the right hashtags, in the right format, you’ll finally be seen. But what’s the cost? For many of us, it feels like running on a hamster wheel 🐹 — endless motion, no real progress. Post more, scroll more, engage more. Repeat.
I don’t want to confuse that with adventure, or with living. The truth is, doomscrolling isn’t living. Chasing metrics isn’t connection. And no algorithm will ever measure the worth of an early-morning walk, the stillness of a quiet trail, or the satisfaction of building out a car for the road ahead.
That’s why I’m stepping back. I’ve kept my personal IG account because it can still be an easy way to connect with people, and I value that. But with Time to Xplore, I don’t want to get stuck in a cycle of creating just to feed a system that doesn’t care.
Instead, I want to focus on what I started this journey for: reflection, adventure, and living life outside the scroll. Whether that’s hiking along the harbor at sunrise, pedaling down a forgotten back road, or wrenching on my Volvo to prepare for the next trip, that’s where the real story is. That’s the kind of content I want to share — not because it fits an algorithm, but because it fits my life.
Social media can be a tool — but it’s not the destination. And I don’t want to mistake one for the other.
Here’s to less chasing metrics, and more chasing horizons. 🌄
How do you adventure?