Two years ago, London photographer and writer Rob Lutter left his job, said his goodbyes, and embarked on a 19,000-mile long cycling journey around the world.
He only brought along a tent, bike, SLR-camera and iPhone, and has pedaled his way through cold winters, desserts, and mountains.
Apart from discovering the way people from different parts of the world lived their lives—four months into his trip—he also made a convenient discovery: Instagram.
“Until that point I’d been shooting only on my Canon. I’d missed so many shots because I was too slow to grab the SLR or because the subject was gone before I could get it out,” he told Instagram in an interview, about his wait for winter to pass in Turkey.
“As I waited for spring in the hostel, with thousands of photos to go through, I realized that it was going to take a seriously long time to get these pictures out to people. Then I came across Instagram.”
Since 10 December 2011, he’s posted over 200 pictures from across the globe and garnered 3,700 followers.
His Instagram feed features beautiful posts of destinations he has sojourned, and borders he has crossed on his two wheels—which could spark desires to travel in the viewer.
Lutter has cycled over 9,000 miles, crossed 21 borders and raised over US$3,000 for non-profit global site, Water Aid.
He’s received immense support from the people on the picture-sharing social network, which also sparked an addiction within him.
“Messages of encouragement would arrive every other day and there were times when I’d cycle longer and further just to reach a town in an attempt to get some WiFi, to connect to Instagram! It became a positive obsession of mine,” he said.
Currently, Lutter is in Hong Kong and will be heading to Australia soon for the next lap of his journey.
You can follow him on Instagram or visit his Rob Lutter.
[via Instagram Blog]