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Ever wondered if it’s possible to see Rome in just one day? We did too — until a 14-hour layover at Fiumicino Airport gave us the perfect excuse to try. With suitcases stashed, legs stretched, and a plan set by Jenn on our phones, we set off to explore as much of the Eternal City as humanly possible before sundown. From ancient ruins to Vatican views, pizza to piazzas, we crammed centuries of history and culture into a single unforgettable day. Here’s exactly how we did it — and how you can too, even if you’re passing through. In This Post... ● Why Visit Italy? ● Arriving & Storing Luggage ● St. Mary Major Basilica ● First Stop: The Colosseum ● Trajan’s Forum ● Wandering the Monti District See More... ● Altar of the Fatherland ● The Pantheon ● Palace of Justice ● Castel Sant’Angelo ● The Vatican ● Getting Back to the Airport ● Want the Full Visual Tour? ● Where to Stay or Start a Tour ● Planning Your Rome Stopover? ● FAQ: Rome in a Day Travel Resources ● Get Travel Insurance ● Find Hotels in Rome ● Book Transport ● Interactive Map ● Closer Lives Travel Hub Why Visit Italy — Even If It’s Just for a Day? Italy isn’t just one of Europe’s most visited countries — it’s a living museum of art, architecture, and soul-stirring food. From Renaissance masterpieces to Roman ruins, every corner offers something worth pausing for. While most people dream of weeks in Italy, even a short layover can give you a taste of its timeless charm. Whether you’re drawn to the history of ancient Rome, the flavors of Italian cuisine, or the buzz of lively piazzas, Italy delivers, even in 14 hours. And if Rome is your first stop, trust us: it won’t be your last. First Things First: Arriving in Rome & Storing Luggage Travelers navigate Fiumicino Airport with a pause at a vibrant café. Landing at Fiumicino Airport (FCO) with just 14 hours to explore Rome? We did it, and so can you. We hopped aboard the Leonardo Express — a non-stop train that gets you to Termini Station in Rome in 32 minutes. Easy, efficient, and worth the €14 ticket. 👉 Book your airport transfer  via 12Go to lock in your ride and save time. ⪢ Luggage Storage in Rome You can store your luggage in a secure and convenient spot while you explore Rome. The storage facility is situated at Termini Railway Station, near the airport bus terminal, public bus terminal, and Metro lines A/B. You can access your luggage storage at any time during opening hours; multilingual staff will be present on-site. It’s secure, straightforward, and leaves your hands (and feet) free to roam. 📍 Locate it here 🔗 Book your luggage storage in Rome A train is ready for departure at Roma Termini, Italy's largest railway station. Optional First Stop: St. Mary Major Basilica (Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore) If you arrive at Termini Station and want to ease into the day, consider a quick detour to St. Mary Major — just a short walk away. Built in the 5th century, it’s one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas and a breathtaking example of early Christian architecture. From its golden ceiling to ancient mosaics and Bernini’s final resting place, this church is a feast for the eyes and the soul. 💡 Travel Tip: It’s free to enter, usually quiet in the mornings, and open every day. It’s a great spot to collect your thoughts before plunging into the chaos of Rome. 📍 Location: Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore — 7 minutes from Termini. ⪢ Want to Follow Our Route? We’ve pinned everything on a handy Wanderlog map to make your own layover smoother: 🔗 Explore Our Rome in a Day Itinerary on Wanderlog First Stop: The Colosseum — Rome's Timeless Icon A sunny day in Rome with tourists exploring the iconic Colosseum as a person rides a Vespa scooter past, perfectly capturing the blend of history and modern-day life. No visit to Rome is complete without a stop at the Colosseum — the massive amphitheater where gladiators once battled before 50,000 roaring spectators. Opened in 80 AD, it’s one of the greatest surviving symbols of Ancient Rome. Even if you don’t have time to enter, standing outside its massive stone arches is an experience in itself. But if you're quick and want the full story... ⪢ Skip the line with a fast-track guided tour Visit the Colosseum, the largest amphitheater in the Roman world, the Palatine Hill, the oldest part of the city, and the Roman Forum, the beating heart of ancient Rome, with an expert guide. 🔗 Book Colosseum Tour 💡 Travel Tip: Go early to beat the crowds and soak in the morning light for the best photos. 📍 Location: Piazza del Colosseo, 1 — about 15 minutes from Termini Station Jenn reflects on the timeless grandeur of the Colosseum, contemplating its rich historical legacy. Trajan’s Forum: Where Empire Meets Architecture Ancient remnants of Trajan's Forum in Rome showcase the architectural grandeur and historical might of the Roman Empire. On our way from the Colosseum toward Piazza Venezia, we passed the impressive remains of Trajan’s Forum, once the largest and most elaborate of all imperial forums in Ancient Rome. Completed in 112 AD under Emperor Trajan, it housed administrative offices, libraries, and a massive basilica. Today, what remains is still striking: tall marble columns, carved reliefs, and the towering Trajan’s Column, wrapped in detailed carvings narrating Roman conquests. 💡 Travel Tip: It’s free to view from the street level, and the best vantage point is along Via dei Fori Imperiali, between the Colosseum and the Vittoriano. 📍 Location: Via dei Fori Imperiali — directly adjacent to the Vittoriano and Roman Forum, about 5 minutes from the Colosseum Ancient ruins stand majestically, with a viewpoint that offers a panoramic view of the forum. ⪢ Safeguard Your Trip with SafetyWing For peace of mind abroad, we recommend travel insurance. SafetyWing's Essential plan covers travel and medical emergencies, with options for adventure sports and electronics theft. SafetyWing's Complete Plan  offers comprehensive health coverage with routine healthcare, mental health support, and maternity, anywhere in the world, including in your home country, on top of all Essential benefits. Wandering the Monti District From the Colosseum, we wandered into Monti, one of Rome’s oldest neighborhoods, but it doesn't feel touristy at all. With ivy-covered walls, artisan boutiques, and laid-back cafés, Monti offers a welcome break from the city's bustle. 📍 Location:  Centered around Via dei Serpenti — 5–10 minute walk from the Colosseum We stopped for a relaxed meal at Ristorante Pizzeria Imperiale. Authentic Roman pizza, no fuss, and friendly service — just what we needed to refuel. 📍 Location : Via del Colosseo, 31 — 3 minutes from the Colosseum ⪢ Want to Follow Our Route? We’ve pinned everything on a handy Wanderlog map to make your own layover smoother: 🔗 Explore Our Rome in a Day Itinerary on Wanderlog Trevi Fountain: Toss a Coin, Make a Wish The Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, showcasing its iconic baroque sculptures and turquoise waters, an emblem of monumental architecture and artistic splendor. No visit to Rome is complete without stopping at the Fontana di Trevi. This 18th-century Baroque masterpiece is not just a fountain — it’s a tradition. Legend says if you toss a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand, you’re guaranteed to return to Rome. Even with the crowds, it’s magical. The scale, the sound of rushing water, the marble carvings — it all hits differently in person. 💡 Travel Tip: Go early or late to avoid the crush of tourists. Pickpockets love this area, so keep your belongings close. 📍 Location: Piazza di Trevi — about 10 minutes from Monti, 8 minutes to the Altar of the Fatherland Altar of the Fatherland: A Monument to Modern Italy Majestically dominating the Roman skyline, the Vittoriano stands as a testament to architectural grandeur, proudly flying the Italian flag. A short walk brings you to the grand white marble monument towering over Piazza Venezia: the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, also called the Altar of the Fatherland (or jokingly, the “wedding cake”). It’s dedicated to the first king of unified Italy and houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The steps are steep, but the views are worth it. 💡 Pro Tip: The panoramic elevator ride to the very top costs €10 and offers sweeping views over the Roman Forum and beyond. 📍 Location: Piazza Venezia — 10 minutes from Monti ⪢ Want to Follow Our Route? We’ve pinned everything on a handy Wanderlog map to make your own layover smoother: 🔗 Explore Our Rome in a Day Itinerary on Wanderlog The Pantheon: A Marvel of Ancient Engineering Tourists gather in the vibrant plaza in front of the iconic Pantheon in Rome, capturing photos of the ancient architectural marvel under a clear blue sky. If there's one place that stopped us in our tracks, it was the Pantheon. Originally built in 27 BC and then rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian around 120 AD, the Pantheon is a former Roman temple converted into a church, and the best-preserved building from Ancient Rome. Its massive dome, with a perfect circular oculus at the center, remains the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. It’s a rare moment when architecture leaves you speechless. Inside, the light spills through the oculus, illuminating marble floors and tombs of Italian royalty and artists, including Raphael. 💡 Travel Tip: Entry is now ticketed (around €5), so it’s wise to book in advance if it’s a must-see. 📍 Location: Piazza della Rotonda — about 10 minutes on foot from the Altar of the Fatherland ⪢ Book Tickets in Advance Save time with a fast-line ticket and learn about its captivating history. Skip the line through a separate entrance, and also get the official audio guide. 🔗 Book Pantheon Fast-Track Ticket Palace of Justice (Supreme Court of Cassation): Beauty by the Tiber The grand facade of the Supreme Court of Cassation in Rome, Italy, features intricate architectural details and is adorned with statues. We made our way across the river, catching a glimpse of the ornate Palace of Justice, also known as the Palazzaccio. Built in the late 1800s, it's as photogenic as it is imposing. While you can’t go inside, it makes for a dramatic photo stop on your way toward the Vatican. 📍 Location: Piazza dei Tribunali — about 15 minutes from the Vittoriano The impressive facade of the Palace of Justice in Rome showcases its majestic neoclassical architecture. Castel Sant’Angelo: From Emperor to Fortress Ancient fortress walls of Castel Sant'Angelo stand tall under a bright blue sky, showcasing their historic architecture and imposing presence in Rome. Next up, the magnificent Castel Sant’Angelo, originally built in 139 AD as Emperor Hadrian’s mausoleum. Over the centuries, it’s been a papal refuge, a fortress, a prison, and even a film location. Even if you’re just passing by like we did, it’s an unforgettable sight beside the Tiber. 📍 Location: Lungotevere Castello, 50 — 5 minutes from the Palace of Justice ⪢ Want to go inside? Book Castel Sant’Angelo Entry Save time on your trip to Rome with this skip-the-line ticket to Castel Sant'Angelo, the Mausoleum of Hadrian. Enjoy city views from the rooftop and opt for an audio guide for a better experience. 🔗 Book your Castel Sant'Angelo tickets Visitors gather outside the historic Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, Italy, with the Italian flag waving in the background. The fortress's imposing architecture and intricate brickwork stand as a testament to its ancient Roman origins and enduring legacy. The Vatican: Tiny Country, Epic Sights St. Peter's Basilica stands majestically in Vatican City, framed by the sprawling St. Peter's Square and bustling with visitors. We reached St. Peter’s Square, the heart of Vatican City, just in time for golden hour. The square was buzzing, and though we didn’t have time to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, we were awed by its grandeur. 💡 Travel Tip: Shoulders and knees must be covered to enter any religious site. 📍 Location: Piazza San Pietro — 10–12 minutes from Castel Sant’Angelo Skip the Line & Save Time The Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel are worth reserving if you’ve got more time. Skip the line, save time, and make the most of it with a guided tour. With f ree cancellation (cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund). With GetYourGuide, you can even reserve now and pay later. Keep your travel plans flexible; Book your spot and pay nothing today. 🔗 Book Vatican Tour Tickets Getting Back to the Airport Our final leg was a quick walk to Ottaviano Metro Station, where we took Line A back to Termini Station, and then caught the Leonardo Express to the airport. 📍 Location: Viale Giulio Cesare — 7 minutes from St. Peter’s Square We arrived back at Fiumicino with time to spare, thankfully. We were exhausted, exhilarated, and amazed at how much we saw. Over 20k steps was a small price to pay, however. Rome was totally worth it. Want the Full Visual Tour? Watch our YouTube video: 14 Hours in Rome. After watching this video, you'll be able to see Rome in a day - and who knows, maybe even have some fun along the way! But be prepared to WALK a LOT! If you enjoy our video and want to follow more of our adventures, please like  and subscribe ! Your support truly is invaluable to us, and we will always strive to produce the best content we can from around the world! Where to Stay or Start a Tour ⪢ Easily Find Hotels in Rome and Beyond Even if you’re visiting for a day, booking ahead helps. And if you have more than just 14 hours and are looking for a place to stay in Rome, you'll find great rates on top hotel stays. Our map offers a user-friendly interface that allows you to zoom in and out, providing a comprehensive view of the area and enabling you to identify the most convenient hotel options based on your current location or desired destination. ⪢ Popular Rome Tours Worth Booking Ahead If you’re short on time but don’t want to miss out, booking a guided tour can make all the difference. Rome’s most iconic attractions often come with long lines and limited same-day access, but sites like GetYourGuide offer fast-track entry, small group experiences, and expert-led walks through the city's ancient and artistic treasures. From skip-the-line Colosseum tours to Vatican Museum passes, even food tours and walking routes through Trastevere, there’s something for every kind of traveler. It's one of the best ways to explore Rome and Italy’s highlights stress-free, especially if you're on a tight schedule like we were. 🔗 Book Your Rome Tour here Planning Your Own Rome Stopover? ● Stay online with seamless connection as soon as you land at the airport with Gigsky eSIM . Save 10% with our code CLOSERLIVES10. ● Stash your luggage at FCO ● Get the Leonardo Express to Termini ● Start at the Colosseum and end at the Vatican ● Wear comfy shoes – seriously ● Book transport with 12Go ● Watch our journey on YouTube ⪢ Want to Follow Our Route? We’ve pinned everything on a handy Wanderlog map to make your own layover smoother: FAQ: Rome in a Day – What to Know for a Layover from Fiumicino Is it possible to see Rome in just one day from the airport? Yes! With efficient planning, you can visit Rome’s major landmarks during a long layover (6+ hours). Trains and express shuttles make it easy to reach the city in under 40 minutes from Fiumicino (FCO). How do I get from Fiumicino Airport to Rome quickly? Your best options: ● Leonardo Express train to Termini Station (32 min, no stops) ● Regional FL1 train for access to Trastevere or the Vatican ● Airport shuttle bus (50–60 min, budget-friendly) ● Taxi or Uber (more expensive, ~45 min depending on traffic) What landmarks can I realistically see in a day? With 8–14 hours, you can fit in: ● Colosseum & Roman Forum ● Trevi Fountain & Spanish Steps ● Pantheon & Piazza Navona ● Vatican City (St. Peter’s Square + Basilica) ● Use a walking route or guided tour to maximize time. Do I need to buy tickets in advance for any attractions? Yes, especially for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums . If you plan to go inside, pre-book timed tickets or skip-the-line tours to avoid wasting hours in queues. Can I store my luggage during a layover? Yes. There’s luggage storage at Termini Station and at Fiumicino Airport Terminal 3, making it easy to explore hands-free. Will I have enough time to return and catch my flight? Always plan to be back at the airport at least 2.5–3 hours before departure, especially for international flights. Allow for train delays or traffic. Is there Wi-Fi or SIM card access in the city? Rome has some public Wi-Fi, but a travel eSIM (like GigSky ) ensures reliable data and maps access. Great for navigating and checking transport schedules. What should I wear for a full day in Rome? Comfortable walking shoes are essential. Also, if you visit churches like St. Peter’s Basilica, wear clothing that covers your shoulders and knees to respect dress codes. Is Rome safe for solo travelers on a layover? Yes, but beware of pickpockets, especially near Termini, buses, and crowded landmarks. Use crossbody bags and be alert. Can I join a guided tour from the airport? Some tours offer airport pickup, or you can join a walking or hop-on-hop-off tour from Termini Station. It's a great way to see a lot without managing logistics yourself. Book Transport Taxis, Trains, Planes, Buses & Ferries in Advance Closer Lives has partnered with 12Go, a leading online travel booking platform for Southeast Asia and Europe, to offer a seamless transport booking experience. With booking.closerlives.com , you can easily compare prices, schedules, and book tickets for trains, buses, ferries, and flights. Interactive Map Italy Check out all of the places we visited in Italy courtesy of this interactive map from Wanderlog. Tap a number for more information, including our blog posts and links to reviews. Wanderlog  is a free travel planning app where you can create itineraries, organize flights, hotels, and car reservations, view places to visit, and collaborate with friends. Closer Lives Travel Hub Destinations, Tips & Essentials Head over to our Travel Hub – it’s packed with free country guides, helpful travel blogs, videos from the road, and tips to help you travel smarter (and cheaper!). Whether you're dreaming, planning, or already out exploring, we've got resources to help you every step of the way. Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

If you are like me and have been using Instagram for a while, then you probably know all about 'cleaning house'. As in tidying up that following list, which, let's face it, can get out of hand at times. Again, like me, you may have fallen foul of Instagram's notorious 'guidelines' and been put in Insta Jail for too many actions (having to check if someone is following back is an extra tap, for example). Indeed, you may also have been me, heart in mouth and all, when IG detected a third-party app being used and stopped me from logging in entirely. Threatening to disable the account permanently and all sorts. Yep. That went south real quick. Which brings me very nicely to the purpose of this article. I know the struggle is real; many users often dread managing their followers and following lists, especially if trying to identify accounts that don’t follow back. Instagram does the bare minimum to help you with this, although they do have a nugget of a feature that will get you there in six easy steps with some help from our good old friends at ChatGPT. In This Post... ● Introduction ●   Risks of Third-Party Apps ●   Why This Method is Safe ●   The 6-Step Process ●   Tips for Long-Term See More... ●   FAQ ●   Any Other Questions? ●   More Social Media Tips Introduction to this Guide Instagram numbers/stats hold great importance for many users, particularly those looking to boost their follower count for increased engagement and online presence. I have totally been in the thick of a bulging community with healthy exposure, and I sure as heck know what follow-for-follow is, and how quickly those numbers start piling up. Many turn to third-party apps for identifying FNFB (not sure if I just made this up or not, but 'following not following back'). Two years ago, I fell foul of this, admittedly not knowing it could cause a block, but eventually it did. Let's just say 24 days with no access to the 'gram and potentially losing everything you have on there does give one pause for thought. So yes, let's not do that! This guide will show you how to identify accounts not following you back safely - and without breaching those tetchy Instagram community guidelines. It is perfectly within the rules and is super easy. You will have that list cleaned up in no time! Risks of Using Third-Party Apps With Instagram having been cracking down on third-party apps for some time now, users need to adopt secure methods to manage and monitor their follower connections effectively. This Instagram policy is designed to protect user privacy, banning unauthorized apps that gather user data. These apps pose risks, including: ● Privacy breaches, as they often require login information. ● Account suspensions or restrictions. ● Potential for having your account disabled for guideline violations. It is important to note that even with the best of efforts, Apple and Google App Stores will still be brimming with a ton of apps offering to do this type of service. No matter how genuine they look, pilfered IG logo and all, don't touch them! Why This Method is Safe and Effective The method outlined here is compliant with Instagram’s guidelines since it relies on Instagram’s native data-download feature and manual analysis with ChatGPT, ensuring no breach of terms. It does require a little bit of effort once you have the data, but effectively, you are doing the same thing as one of those apps we keep not wanting to talk about. Overview of the Process Below is a brief overview of the easy six-step process we will be covering: ● Obtain your Instagram data, focusing on the 'followers' and 'following' lists. ● Import this data into a suitable analysis format. ● Utilize ChatGPT (or another AI, heck, you could even use Meta's) to detect differences between the two lists, pinpointing individuals who do not follow you back. ● Once you have your list, you can begin unfollowing. Step 1: Exporting Your Instagram Followers Data: Accessing Instagram’s Download Tool Instagram offers a data download tool where you can request a full export of your profile, including followers and following lists: ● Navigate to Settings > Your Activity > Account Center > Download Your Information. ● Select the preferred format (JSON for simplicity or HTML). ● Wait for Instagram to prepare the file; this usually takes a couple of minutes. Refresh the page, and you will notice the status change. * Expand / Swipe for instructions Step 2: Downloading Your Data Files ● Download the file: Extract the compressed file to access the HTML files. IG does offer the option of downloading in JSON format, but it seems to always come in HTML anyway. ● Go to connections > followers_and_following * Expand / Swipe for instructions Step 3: Converting Data for Easy Comparison If your data is in HTML format: ● Open in your browser window ● Highlight all [ctrl + a] and copy ● Paste into Excel (or another similar cell-based app) Step 4: Preparing the Data for Analysis ● Organize your lists to create two columns - Following and Followers. ● Check that the usernames are in a consistent format. ● Delete any unnecessary fields for a cleaner comparison. Step 5: Using ChatGPT to Compare Followers and Following Now that your data is ready, ChatGPT can cross-reference the two lists and give you the names of users not following back. Open ChatGPT and use specific prompts to identify discrepancies. ● Sample prompt: There are two lists in the attached file: 'followers' and 'following'. Compare and list users in 'following' who are not in 'followers'. Ignore the dates in the rows. ChatGPT will output a clean list of non-followers. Double-check ChatGPT’s results by reviewing a few names to ensure accuracy. Minor discrepancies may occur if usernames have changed or if there were any loading errors. Step 6: How to Unfollow Accounts Safely Once you have your list, you can use the search function on IG to visit the profiles you want to unfollow and do so individually. There is no automated process with this, so you just have to take the time. Maybe even just give the accounts a nudge if they are still active, in many cases, they might not realise they weren't following you. Note: You will want to avoid rapid unfollowing to prevent temporary account restrictions. While Instagram has never officially put a number on action blocks, it is believed that anywhere between 200 - 300 actions in 24 hours could land you in hot water. That includes likes, shares, and saves, too. I would recommend unfollowing between 50-100 per day, and be wary of using repetitive actions to do so. It might take a while, but you would rather spend this time than go through the hell of your account being disabled. Believe me! Tips for Managing Your Followers List Long-Term Building a real fan base is super important to keep people interested in today's online world. It's not just about numbers; you've got to work on forming genuine connections. Taking the time to interact with your followers one-on-one is key. As they say, engagement is king. 'Empty follows' honestly does zero for your account, especially with an algorithm that changes the way the wind blows and is decidedly quite anti-social. These days, just following someone back, or indeed following them yourself first, is no given. In the end, genuine growth will only ever come from authentic connections. And if that does become your case, then doing the process in this article will probably be something you won't have to do again. Frequently Asked Questions Can I download my Instagram data anytime? Yes, Instagram’s download tool is available 24/7. Usually, requests are processed within a few minutes, but can take up to 48 hours to become available. Is it safe to use ChatGPT (or another AI) for this process? Yes, ChatGPT analyzes data you input and does not access your accounts or store any private information. Are there limits to unfollowing users on Instagram? Yes, Instagram has limits to prevent spam. Avoid unfollowing large numbers at once to prevent restrictions. The general rule of thumb is to limit the total number of actions to no more than 200 per day. Bear in mind this includes likes, follows, and shares. Will this method show me new followers? No, this method only identifies accounts that you follow who do not follow you back. Can I use this method on a mobile device? Yes, the data files can be downloaded and uploaded through cloud storage to mobile-friendly applications. The data formatting part might be a little tricky on smaller screens, but once you have your list, you can use split-screen view to easily unfollow. Do professional accounts have better tools for tracking followers? Yes, professional accounts on Instagram offer basic engagement metrics, which may help gauge followers’ interaction with your profile. However, IG does not have any option to track unfollows. Any Other Questions? Hopefully, this post has given you all of the tools you need to clean your follower list safely. If you do have any other additional queries on points not covered here, however, you are more than welcome to get in touch . You can also check out our FAQ page  for more Instagram-related questions. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Social Media Blog With over 50k followers across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, we've learned a lot—and we're here to share it. From platform growth hacks to online safety tips, these blogs cover real advice, honest experiences, and practical tools to help you navigate the social media world.

It's with a mix of emotions that we are stepping away from Etsy after two years. The platform offered a fantastic launchpad for our products. Still, after careful consideration and a heap of frustrations, we have decided to pursue a different path for our store, Closer Lives Emporium. In this post , we share the many reasons behind our decision and our major concerns with the platform. Things that drove a massive 32% drop in Etsy's stock price in 2023, other sellers leaving in droves and the tripling of Etsy's seller fees. Not to mention the hugely controversial Etsy reserve fiasco. What did we learn on Etsy, and what exciting things do we see coming next? Read on to find out! In This Post... ● What is Etsy? ● How is Etsy Performing? ● Why We Choose Etsy ● Journey to 300 Products ● Understanding the SEO ● The Importance of Branding See More... ● The Etsy Ads Disaster ● Etsy's Direction ● Crazy Etsy Charges ● Time vs Effort ● Competition – How Tough Is It? ● The Infamous 'Reserve' Debacle ● Poor Store Customization ● Time to Quit ● Benefits of Your Site ● The Future ● Our Lifestyle Blog First Things First, What is Etsy?   Etsy is an online marketplace that caters to those who appreciate unique and handcrafted items. It's a popular destination for people looking to support independent sellers and artists from all over the world. The platform offers a wide range of products, from jewelry and clothing to home decor and art. If you're looking for something special and bespoke, Etsy is a great place to browse. Imagine Etsy as a giant online version of a craft fair. Here, you'll find a vast selection of handmade and vintage items created by independent sellers. This means you're directly supporting creative individuals who put their heart and soul into their work. So if you're looking for a one-of-a-kind piece or a gift with a personal touch, Etsy is worth checking out. ⪢ Drop Shipping and Print-on-Demand In addition to handcrafted items, Etsy is also a platform that is an outlet for the masses of drop-shippers and print-on-demand companies who have exploded onto the scene in recent years. Drop-shipping and print-on-demand (POD) companies like Printify are fulfillment models that allow you to sell products online without holding any inventory. With drop-shipping, you partner with a supplier who stores and ships products directly to your customers after you make a sale. POD takes it a step further - you design custom products (like t-shirts or mugs) and the POD provider prints them on demand only when someone orders, handling the fulfillment for you. Both models free you up from managing stock and allow you to test out a wider range of products without upfront investment. How is Etsy Performing? In Q4 2023, Etsy reached 7.9 million active sellers, with a year-over-year growth of 3.8%.   One reason why selling on Etsy can be profitable is the growing number of buyers on the platform. According to Etsy, the number of active buyers went up by 3.4% to 97.3 million. This shows that Etsy is becoming a bigger market where sellers can make good money.   In 2023, Etsy’s consolidated Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) decreased slightly to $13.16 billion from $13.32 billion in 2022, with a 1.2% decrease. However, annual consolidated revenue notably increased, reaching $2.75 billion, marking a 7.1% YoY increase from $2.57 billion in 2022. Particularly noteworthy is the fourth quarter performance, where revenue marks a new record of $842.2 million, a 4.3% increase compared to Q4 2022, highlighting Etsy’s ongoing strength and resilience.   In February 2024, Etsy received 474.1 million visits, according to the web traffic collected by Similarweb . This number has made Etsy the 4th player in the Marketplace and Shopping category, only after Amazon, eBay, and Walmart. Source: https://www.fool.com/ Despite this 'increase', 2023 was not such a good year for the platform when you drill down into the numbers. While its revenue seems to have grown, actual sales on Etsy have stalled. On Etsy, the money from sales goes directly to the millions of sellers on the platform, not Etsy itself. Etsy makes its money by charging sellers fees for various services they use to list and sell their products. Here's the interesting part: Even though Etsy's revenue has increased from a very aggressive seller fee strategy to counter losses, the total amount of sales on the platform (called Gross Merchandise Sales or GMS) has dipped. This means sellers are making less money overall. This trend worried investors in 2023, and it's why Etsy took action. In December of that year, they announced they were laying off 11% of their staff to focus on initiatives that would help sellers grow their sales on the platform. Initiatives that we will look at throughout this post. Funnily enough, they do not seem to be helping one bit. Why We Choose Etsy for Closer Lives Emporium Fresh into our full-time travel adventure and with an eye on not depleting our savings too much, we started looking around for some serious ways to earn on the go. Etsy was by no means our only option, as we were already teaching English online when we decided to give it a try. That being said, we liked the idea of earning money without having to do much; it kind of seemed too good to be true! We were inspired by many hours of researching YouTubers, and successful entrepreneurs who were sharing their Etsy success stories. Some were demonstrating hundreds of thousands of sales on POD items. With plenty of creative ideas as content creators on social media, it looked like an opportunity for us, too. If they could do it, why couldn't we? At the time, we were establishing this website, which was born from Closer Lives Poetry on Instagram, a community page which Jenn had founded. Closer Lives was intended to be a Creator Academy initially, to expand the concept beyond the confines of IG at the time. With very little experience in website building, establishing our POD range on Closer Lives did not seem like the best idea, given the fact that it would take some time to garner domain authority, and we wanted to start earning straight away. So familiar with the brand and prowess of Etsy, it seemed like the perfect spot to build. And so, Closer Lives Emporium was born. The Journey to 300 Products We started creating our range in Merida, Mexico (of all places). We had a super cute Airbnb in the middle of a quiet urban sector of the city. It was a good spot to relax and get creative, and once we got started, our range just exploded! There are a few platforms you can try for POD services, the main one being printify.com . We set up an account with both but opted to use Printify more as it felt a little more user-friendly, and it synchronized with Etsy pretty seamlessly. For those who may not know, POD companies usually have tie-ups with big players like Etsy and Shopify, whereby the products you create are uploaded directly to the respective selling platform. Any time a product sells, the order automatically generates in the POD platform, and aside from some customer service, the process is entirely automated from the point of order to the customer receiving the goods. There are some nuances and processes you can put in place, like manually authorizing orders, sending thank you emails, and such, but even postal tracking is automated so you don't have to. All this takes a little bit of work to set up and get right, but once you have it done, you can sit back and earn money in your sleep, as they say. We kind of lost track of how many items we were creating at one point; if anything, we were just having fun with it. We quickly made it to over 100 products, and before we knew it, we hit over 300 across 17 categories. Woah!!! Understanding the SEO: Product Descriptions, alt tags, Size Charts, etc. Mistakes Spell a Time-Consuming Disaster! One of the biggest challenges was marketing the products, which goes far beyond just making it and sticking it on your Etsy storefront. There are things like flat-lays, descriptions, alt tags, getting the title right, terms and conditions, refund policies, privacy policies, size charts, fulfillment times, actual delivery times, etc. Say what now? We thought this was going to be easy! Such things are not exactly talked about when people share their glossy charts advertising thousands of sales. This was exactly where time started to become a factor. Creating a ton of designs, popping them onto a product template, and pressing 'publish' is honestly the easy part. Getting these items on the virtual shelf properly is another matter entirely. Especially if you don't know what you're doing, and make some critical mistakes along the way. Let's give you an example. Alt tags. Yes, alt tags. You may have heard of them, and in the past year or so, they have grown into the conversation so much so that you can even see them given as an option for you in your Instagram posts. An alt tag is a hidden description for an image on a webpage, helping visually impaired people understand the image. It also provides backup text if the image fails to load, but perhaps most crucially, it improves search engine ranking . And search engine ranking is a biggie. Like the biggest, actually. Funnily enough, alt tags weren't a thing on Etsy. When we started in 2021, they weren't prevalent at all. So we did not make them. Just as we did not make size chart thumbnails for our items, or fulfillment information graphics. A BIG mistake we had no clue we were making. Let us tell you that when you have 300 items, and realize you need to update them all with critical things like size chart graphics, it is hours of work . Then Etsy comes along and hits you with alt tags. Then you realize you aren't making sales, potentially because of these issues. Then the panic sets in when you realize on average, each of your items has at least 10 photos, which means potentially 3000 alt tags. Say what now? So hopefully we can paint the picture now! After all of our initial hype of getting things onto Etsy, we knew our shop was always going to struggle without some serious time being put into the background. SEO-effective product titles and descriptions were not something we did before uploading the item from Printify. They were just generic. We had to design a whole bunch of things, like our size charts and product flat-lays. Then upload those and figure out how the hell to write a good alt tag, let alone 3000 of them. Weeks and months passed before we were finally able to get things done. Let us tell you, those weeks and months are measured in actual time spent , or at least it certainly feels like it looking back. The Importance of Branding So things were starting to move, and after the rough months at the beginning, we were starting to learn a lot and were making some serious progress on getting our listings up to scratch. We could see the difference it was making, too, picking up some sales here or there, and getting excited about the prospects. Our product wall was looking better by the day, and our products themselves were looking professional and organized. One of the key elements to this was our branding, something we took great care to curate right from the off. Again, we were very inexperienced with this kind of thing and quickly found out why people pay big bucks for logo designers and high-performance graphics. Just so you know, Canva is great and all, but it is very limiting when it comes to logos. We never did end up paying big bucks, but then again, the offset against changing our logo several times, and having issues with pixelation and poor quality, perhaps we should have done so in hindsight. The crux of the branding comes in with all of the 'peripheral' stuff that the big drop-shippers do not tell you about. Those fulfillment charts and delivery info charts are very important. A brand is more than just a flashy logo; it is in the details, the way you market your products, the follow-up emails, and the terms and conditions. These things can make or break a business and are often sidelined in the short-term pursuit of mega bucks. Fortunately, with our business experience, we did particularly well in this area, but again, that dreaded time count was adding up. Yet more hours, days, and weeks to get it spot on! The Etsy Ads Disaster So, at the point in our journey where we finally felt like our store was how we wanted it, in terms of all of the above, we were still struggling to hit consistent sales. We had gotten over the 20 mark, which had felt like quite a lot of work for not really that much. With all of the effort we had put into getting the descriptions, titles, and alt tags right, we were hoping for far more return than that. With our reach pretty low and our confidence in our products pretty high, we concluded that we should invest some cash into the store. Now, sure, time is money, so the months of work it had taken to get to this point should always be considered as an investment, but we are talking cold, hard bucks in the system. We were averaging about ten visitors a day to our store, and simple logic told us that this was never going to be enough to take off. Besides, Etsy is obsessed with pushing its advertising-to-sales potential at you, so we decided to bite. And wait for the sales to roll in. This is where our frustration with the platform started to kick in. Now, you might think that paying some money for a bigger slice of the reach pie might automatically boost your profits. But with Etsy, this is a big no-no. ⪢ Etsy Ads Offers Two Ways to Promote Your Products to a Wider Audience on Etsy and Beyond: ● Onsite Ads: These work on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. You set a daily budget, and Etsy will display your ads in various locations throughout the Etsy platform, like search results or product pages. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, not when they just see it. ● Offsite Ads: This is a commission-based advertising program. Etsy automatically enrolls all sellers and displays your product listings on other platforms like Google, Pinterest, or Instagram. You only pay a commission (12-15% of the sale price) if someone clicks on your ad and then makes a purchase within 30 days. Funnily enough, it seemed like every ad-based sale we were making was coming from 'off-site ads'. So we were losing 12-15% every time. Not to mention the taxes on top (which we will get into later). Now, the average margin on your items, especially if you want to remain competitive and soak up the delivery charge, might only be 20%. Take away Etsy ad fees, taxes, and Etsy listing fees, and yes, folks, you are losing money. Sadly for us, at least 80% of our sales were barely breaking even. Before we even factored the time spent on creating the damn things. Etsy's cut was easily approaching 25-30% with offsite ads factored in, and without them, the chances of selling through onsite ads were zero. We quickly realized that Etsy was starting to demonstrate itself as a little bit of a scam. With the platform raking in billions, where on earth was the support for the sellers that make it? 25%? Mad. ⪢ Was There Even a Good Reach? In all fairness, the reach on Etsy ads did seem okay. We saw an uptick of around 100 visitors a day to our store at one point, although that cost us a cool $130 in a month before we cut it off. It just was not worth it with the offset against sales barely breaking even. A shortage of actual buyers on the platform? Or were our products just not good enough? An argument for the latter, although we had sold at least one across 30% of our range. Deep down, we just knew the exposure was not good enough. Etsy's Direction... Too Concerned with Updates and Apps With the amount of money Etsy was charging us for listings and ads, we were wondering if there was going to be some sort of major investment in the system to boost reach or something. Yes, we know that is wishful thinking, but at this point, we have put way too much work into it to simply give up. We turned the ads on and then off, then on again, desperately hoping they would spur the organic reach we craved. A few sales trickled in, we lost money, and we eventually decided to keep them off. In 2022, it felt like the money was going into constant updates and tweaks. A whole new app to replace one that was not broken, a slew of changes to product features and parameters (which meant yet another 300 changes), and then one of the most frustrating of all, an enforced delivery lead-time update, which led to another 300 changes. There were plenty of others besides, and we seemed to be spending far more time catering to the platform than sending out 'thank you for your custom' emails. Sales were few and far between, but the time demanded was off the charts. In the past two years (roughly April 2022 - April 2024), Etsy has implemented several changes to improve the platform for both sellers and buyers. There have been adjustments to fee structures, though, as ever with Etsy, the specifics are ridiculously complex. After major seller backlash campaigns in the past few years, Etsy has made efforts to improve search algorithms and introduce new features to help buyers discover unique products. This involved better filtering options or promoting (apparently) high-quality listings. There have also been updates to the off-site ads program, such as offering sellers more control over their ad placements and budgets. Honestly, it is all company bluster to keep us going and paying our fees. Sadly, hardly any of it has worked. Crazy Etsy Charges The crazy Etsy charges. The crazy Etsy statements. It is one of the worst parts of the platform. Even to this day, we still cannot make sense of the chaos. Etsy provides a monthly statement, and on it is a barrage of costs that no amount of terms and conditions can understand! For example, we sold a pair of green sneakers and a pair of brown sneakers. 2 items, that's it, that's all. On Etsy's statement - TWENTY separate charges. Yes, 20! Let's give you more of an idea: The sale of the two pairs of sneakers came to $74.08 (CAD) . Charges applied by Etsy (we have added both charges together, but they are all separately placed on your statement, for each item, just to confuse you): ● Bill for Click-Throughs: $2.65 ● VAT on Etsy Ads: $0.53 ● Listing Fee: $0.27 ● VAT Auto-Renew Sold: $0.10 ● Processing Fee: $3.21 ● VAT on Processing Fee: $1.28 ● Sales Tax Paid by Buyer: $9.70 ● Transaction Fee: $9.24 ● Regulatory Operating Fee: $0.36 ● VAT on Transaction: $1.84 TOTAL: $29.18 So, given that our profit margin on both pairs of sneakers is $36, that leaves us with $6. Raising prices is not an option as we are trying to stay competitive with others in the market... given all of the work involved in launching the product, $6 is not a lot. And the more money thrown at advertising for no returns equals a loss, sadly. ⪢ Oh, and the Listing Fees... We were aware of the listing fees before joining, however, it is another expense that can seem to sneak up on you without you realizing it. Every item comes with an initial listing fee, which renews every 4 months, and is also charged on each sale. While 27 cents might not seem a lot, when you factor in 300 products, it starts to add up and eat into the margins. Time vs Effort - Is It Worth It? Now, none of this is to say all is completely at a loss. From what we understand, for drop-shippers, Etsy is all about volume. If you can sell a thousand sneakers, that becomes a $6000 profit. But the offshoot is that you simply cannot reach volume without Etsy ads, and Etsy ads are unsustainable and unprofitable. It is all geared towards raking in money for the platform, leaving the sellers with nothing but years of hard work with little to show for it. It is not worth it in our opinion. Maybe a few years ago, in the early days of Etsy, it was, but in this day and age, it is a false economy. It all feels a little like working for a public company where you bust a gut for minimum wage while the fat cats at the top flood their paychecks with millions of dollars. And you can bet they aren't working nearly as hard. Etsy works on the same principle, and we decided we were no longer going to fall for it! Competition – How Tough Is It? The competition on Etsy can be quite tough, as we have already mentioned, but it also depends on several factors: ⪢ Saturation Certain niches on Etsy (like printed tees) are highly saturated, meaning many sellers are offering similar products. This can make it challenging for new shops to stand out, especially for popular items like clothing or travel accessories (like ours). ⪢ Search Ranking Etsy's search algorithm plays a big role in determining which shops appear first in search results. Understanding SEO principles and optimizing your listings with relevant keywords is crucial for getting your products seen, according to Etsy, but by no means guaranteed. In our experience, the big accounts gobble up about 90%, leaving the remaining 10% feeding off the scraps. Ok, we cannot back up those numbers, but it certainly felt like that in the 2 years we went at it. ⪢ Product Differentiation What makes your products unique? Do you offer a special design element, use high-quality materials, or cater to a specific niche within a broader category? Standing out from the crowd is essential for attracting customers. That is what the Etsy 'experts' tell you anyway. Thumbnails are crucial, as are titles, but that takes time and money (Canva Pro or flat-lay app subscriptions, for example). All while eating into the little-to-no profit margins you have. ⪢ Marketing & Branding Successful Etsy shops often invest in marketing their products beyond just the Etsy platform. This could involve social media promotion, influencer partnerships, or running targeted ads. Building a strong brand identity also helps you resonate with potential customers. Again, this all costs a lot of time and money and can be very draining. It is a hard slog, with absolutely no guarantees. Especially when you are fighting against millions of others. The Infamous Etsy 'Reserve' Debacle The Etsy "reserve" debacle refers to a policy change implemented in 2021 that caused significant frustration among many sellers. Here's a breakdown of what happened: ⪢ The Policy Etsy introduced a system where they could withhold a portion (usually 75%, yes 75%! ) of sellers' funds in a reserve account. This meant sellers wouldn't have immediate access to the full amount from their sales. ⪢ Reasons for the Reserve The purpose, according to Etsy, was to protect the platform and buyers from potential fraud. They would hold the reserve until specific criteria were met, such as the order being shipped with tracking or a certain timeframe passing (typically 45 days). ⪢ Sellers' Frustration Several aspects of the policy caused major problems for sellers, with the lack of transparency quite shocking. Many sellers felt Etsy wasn't clear about why their funds were being placed in reserve, making it difficult to address the issue. ⪢ Cash Flow Impact Holding a significant portion of funds could strain a seller's cash flow, especially for those who rely on Etsy income to purchase materials or cover other business expenses. ⪢ Impact on New Shops New shops (like us at the time), which are more susceptible to being flagged for reserve due to limited sales history, could find it challenging to gain momentum if their earnings are restricted. ⪢ Aftermath The policy received significant pushback from the seller community, with many voicing their concerns online and through petitions and boycotts. While Etsy has made adjustments to the policy since its initial implementation, the "reserve" debacle remains a point of contention for many sellers. This shambolic policy was not quite the final straw when it was first implemented, but coupled with the insane charges, constant changes to the platform, the awful ad program, and terrible reach, we were getting there. Poor Store Customization Another major source of frustration for us came with the lack of customization for our storefront, which, honestly, is pretty poor given the number of changes Etsy loves to implement practically anywhere else. For example, items sold always go to the number 1 spot in the feed, which means if you have a layout aesthetic, you are constantly reorganizing it. And the re-organization process sucks and is very time-consuming. The store banner is a nightmare, has poor rendering, and is a pain to size correctly. You can get additional layout options, but of course, you must pay monthly for the privilege. The product layouts cannot be customized, and it is very difficult to showcase your brand beyond the small profile picture. These are just a few frustrations, there are plenty more plastered all over the internet. Very disappointing for Etsy, given how much money it is extracting from its sellers. The Turning Point: We QUIT ETSY and Move to Closer Lives So what was the straw that broke the camel's back? Well, in all honesty, it was our website, THIS website, which did it. Up until mid-2023, our website had taken a bit of a back seat to Etsy, our travels, teaching English online, and YouTube. We had started it as a creator academy, abandoned that, and then started to blog a little. But with limited time and uncertainty as to how to monetize, it just was not a priority. After experiencing a dramatic rise and surpassing monetization on YouTube while in Jakarta in 2023, we knew that our website was an opportunity we could no longer avoid. We had blogged a little up until that point, but the design and usability were poor, and it was not bringing in any cash. We were nervous about throwing time at it, as we were concerned that it would be another Etsy situation. A whole lot of work for no payout. Well, we were very happy to be proved wrong on that front! After some serious research, again, that good old time , and some big blogs, we completely overhauled Closer Lives. It has been 6 months of major reconstruction, and we are now seeing tangible results: increased ad revenues, over ten thousand visitors a month, and even store sales. Our brand, our OWN money, and a GENUINE COMMUNITY that we could never replicate on Etsy. The decision was made. Time to go it alone! The Benefits of Building Your Site Building your website and online store offers several advantages compared to selling on platforms like Etsy; here are just a few reasons and things to consider: ⪢ Greater Control & Branding You have complete control over the design, layout, and branding of your online store. This allows you to create a unique shopping experience that reflects your brand identity and resonates with your target audience. On Etsy, your shop operates within a larger platform with a pre-determined layout and branding elements. ⪢ Lower Fees While website building and hosting come with costs, you typically avoid the transaction fees and listing fees associated with marketplaces like Etsy. In the long run, this can lead to significant savings, especially for businesses with high sales volume. ⪢ Customer Data Ownership When you run your store, you collect customer data directly, allowing you to build targeted email marketing campaigns and gain valuable insights into your customer base. On Etsy, customer data belongs to the platform, limiting your marketing options. ⪢ Flexibility & Customization With your website, you have the freedom to customize the functionality of your online store. This could involve adding features like loyalty programs, subscription boxes, or personalized product recommendations, which might not be readily available on marketplaces. ⪢ Scalability As your business grows, your website can easily scale to accommodate increased traffic and product offerings. Scaling on marketplaces might involve additional fees or limitations depending on the platform's structure. ⪢ Here's a Caveat, Though Building and maintaining your website requires more effort and technical expertise compared to using a pre-built platform like Etsy. You'll need to consider factors like web hosting, domain name registration, website design, security measures, and ongoing maintenance. However, the long-term benefits of control, cost-efficiency, and brand ownership can be significant for businesses looking to establish a strong online presence! The Future of Closer Lives Emporium: What Have We Learnt, and Where Do We Go From Here? This whole experience has been a massive learning curve for us, and as ever, hindsight will always demonstrate what could have, should not, and what could have been. If we could go back and do it all over again, would we? To be honest, as tempting as that might be, we wouldn't. We learned far too much through our own mistakes, and we appreciate those as much as we do our successes. We did sell on Etsy, we did make a little bit of cash, and we did come out of it with almost 300 products that are still very much alive and well right here on our site. The learning curve has been steep and challenging, but it has not deterred us from making a success of Closer Lives Emporium. That being said, it has also pushed us to develop our site as a whole, which in turn led to us pursuing one of our biggest passions - writing and blogging! Would that have still been a reality if we were pushing our Etsy store? I guess we will never know, but one thing is for sure: we are having the time of our lives developing this blog, and happiness genuinely is the key to success. The energy this blog continues to give us is the cornerstone of Closer Lives. That all being said, our store is very much operational here, and you are welcome to take a look! We hope this post has helped you in some way, and if you have any questions and want to pick our brains at all, feel free to get in touch! Please drop a comment or pop us an email; we are always on hand and our advice is free. Helping and making a difference: that to us is a far better use of our time! Our Lifestyle Blog Since deciding to sell our houses, let go of 90% of our possessions, pack up our remaining things, and head for the airport, we have learned a lot. We mean A LOT! This full-time travel journey is now entering its fourth year, and we are almost transitioning from travelers to alternative living. In our lifestyle blogs, we want to share our journey with you, along with everything we have learned, the ups and downs, the tips, tricks, and recommendations that can help you change your life if you are done with the 9-5.

If you are here it is sadly likely that your account has been disabled by Instagram. Or locked out, or maybe even hacked. 'Your account has been disabled for violating our terms'. Pretty much the total of it right? Unfortunately, when this happens, Instagram doesn't exactly help you out with any information. Just a quick Google search will offer you an absolute ton of pages offering to help you recover your account, along with plenty of scam messages that you will see plastered all over Reddit and Facebook forums. Let me tell you, if anyone is offering to get your account back, especially for money exchange, do not do it! In this post, I am not here to ask you for anything. I am simply just one of the large numbers of people who have had this happen to them, and I just want to offer you advice from my own experience with Meta, and helping countless others, for FREE. Read on for a highly effective new 2025 method which has worked for many people this year already, and I hope, many more. In This Post... ● Why is My Account Disabled? ● Can I Recover My account? ● Disabled Account Appeal Forms ● Meta Verified ● My Account Has Been Hacked See More... ● Protecting Your Account ● FAQ's ● Get in Touch ● Social Media Tips & Insights Why Did Instagram Disable My Account? There are many known reasons as to why this may have happened, with one of the most significant of them being if you have used an unauthorized app to connect to your account, like one of those follow/unfollow ones. Before we continue, from this point on, if that is the case, just don't hide it. In any of your communications, be upfront about it, because Meta knows . And they are far more likely to forgive and forget if you own up to it straight off the bat, rather than try to plead innocence/ignorance. Here are a few common reasons why your account may have been disabled: ● Connecting an unauthorized application to your account, such as insight apps, automated like apps, follow/unfollow apps, etc. Tap here for more about this .   ● Buying followers (these are usually bots) ● Joining follow loops / follow trains ● Participating in engagement groups ● Sending spam messages to followers and non-followers ● Following & unfollowing in large numbers ● Using Instagram shopping in unlicensed countries ● Providing your login credentials to a 3rd party application or service that is automating actions or scraping information ● Using an app or service to interact with Facebook or Instagram in unauthorized ways ● Your account was shared or compromised/hacked, and someone is taking actions on your behalf or without your knowledge ● Changing your location regularly I would highly advise reading the Terms & Conditions of Use  in Instagram's Help Centre  to try and fully understand why the block has happened. Be honest with yourself and do not be afraid to admit any breach of the rules. As you progress with the appeal, and as you will see from my experience, honesty is the best policy here. I have written an extensive article about this topic, which you can read below. In it, I include all of the dos and don'ts around how to stay within Instagram's infamous community guidelines, and how to contact Meta / Facebook through the Meta Business Centre . Worth a read before you formulate your email / plead your case. Will I Be Able to Recover My Account? For this post, I am mainly going to focus on a new approach to contact Instagram directly through the IG app. Before we get to it, I must stress that the process outlined in my original post about this topic still stands, and should be followed first, so you can generate your case number(s). It is also important that you have a Facebook account, although with this process, it does not need to be a business account, and you do not need an ad account either (although this may help in the long run). Other mitigating factors include the length of time your account has been disabled. I am hoping you are here because it has only just happened, but there may also be a chance you are here because you are at your wits' end trying to recover your account, and have been for a while. Sadly, if you are the latter, know that you only have 30 days from the point of getting your account disabled to the point of recovery. After that period has elapsed, the account will automatically go into IG's deletion process. From there on in, it is game over, I'm afraid. Instagram Disabled Account Appeal Forms So, assuming you are below the 30-day threshold (the earlier the better), are prepared to own up to any potential infringements of the community guidelines (including follow apps and engagement groups!), let's get started with the process. First things first, you may have heard about all of the Appeal Forms you will need to let Instagram know you are appealing the deactivation of your account. They look something like this: ● instagram.com/contact/60696731 ● instagram.com/contact/39616978 ● instagram.com/contact/43790879 ● instagram.com/contact/16525678 ● instagram.com/contact/16104597 ** March 2025 Update: It appears that Meta / Instagram has removed the functionality of these forms. This may be temporary, or it could be a permanent change. Should the links not work, jump straight to Facebook Live Support  or try instagram.com/hacked Should you be able to locate the forms, my advice is to complete each of these forms once only and on separate days . You will most likely read and see many people advising you to complete these multiple times a day until you get a response. I did this myself. In total, I completed each one 3 times! However, I eventually found out that this was to my detriment. After speaking directly with Meta, they clearly stated that every submission goes to the bottom of the pile! It seems strange, but it kind of makes sense. Think about it, you and I will not be the only ones to assume that the more we fill out the forms, the better chances we will have. They receive thousands on any given day, and so they treat it like a waiting list. You are in a queue, and there is no jumping the line, I'm afraid. Meta Verified, and Getting Your Instagram Account Back Meta Verified adds extra security to your account [Source: Getty Images ] Once you have completed the forms, the next stage of the process, which is brand new for 2025, is to get yourself Meta Verified . This is honestly the golden goose in recovering your account, and I have seen countless successes through this route, having advised many accounts this year about it. ⪢ How Much Does Meta Verified Cost? A Meta Verified subscription for standard creator accounts is USD 14.99 per month. There are several business plans available, too, which include additional features and offers. You can find the full range of options and purchase information here . Prices are correct at the time of writing (Feb 2025). All prices are in U.S. dollars. Convert your currency here . ⪢ I'm Now Verified. How Do I Get in Touch with Instagram? Now, this will work best if you can do it through Instagram. If you have a second account, you can do it on there, or if not, you can set up a new account. There is no minimum following on who can get verified, so that is not an issue. You can also do it through Facebook if you do not want to set up a new account. The important thing is that you use the same information as would be on the account that is disabled. That means the same email, the same name, and ideally phone number too. I cannot stress how important that is to the process. Once you have been verified, you can gain immediate access to Instagram Live Chat Support. There is also a much higher probability of getting your account back, as Instagram has now verified your identity. So, here is how to get in touch. As with most things, it is buried in an obscure place in the settings area: OR Note that you can also use this area to contact me by email, which I would advise you to do as a backup option. Be sure to have all of your reference numbers from the appeal process to hand, as you will need them. When you talk with the support team, be sure to make a genuine case as to why you believe your account should be reinstated. Tell them what it means to you, why you use it, and what went wrong. ⪢ Honesty is the Best Policy Honesty is the best policy, and most of the success I have seen has been through people simply owning up to why, and being genuine about their use on Instagram and the connections they have made through their account. Instagram is not the enemy; as with any business, they just want to protect their rules. In all of the cases I have seen this year, this process has gotten the account reactivated. In most cases, it has taken less than 24 hours . If there is any reason why it cannot be given back to you, at least here you will find out directly from Instagram itself. I Did Not Violate Guidelines; My Instagram Account Has Been Hacked Instagram has a specific team to support hacked accounts [Source: Getty Images] If you have been locked out of your account entirely, going through the process outlined here is unlikely to help. Although I would still suggest giving it a try. Again, if you are verified, it boosts your chances of proving who you are, which is the first major hurdle to overcome. The only place to go in this instance is instagram.com/hacked . Protecting Your Account There are a couple of things you can do to help keep your account secure and in good order. All of these options can be found in the settings area of your Instagram account. ⪢ Connected Apps & Websites It is recommended that you check this to ensure there are no unauthorized connections to your account or connections you do not recognize. ⪢ Two-Factor Authentication & Data Download I would certainly advise turning on Two-Factor Authentication  on Instagram. Even if you do not 'log in' that often, adding this layer of security will make it harder for hackers to gain access to your account. The Data Download  feature on Instagram is not well known, but it is an excellent option for keeping your data secure. Once requested, you will have 4 days to accept the download from your email. It comes as raw data, so do not expect it to look like your posts do on the app. All of your photos, videos, comments, likes, etc, will come to you in separate folders, which is a bit tricky to navigate and piece together. However, this is a fantastic option that helps you protect your content and potentially re-use it should you ever need or want to start a new account. ⪢ Security Check Up Instagram has been adding several features over the past couple of years, and if you are using the app, you can utilize the 'security check-up' feature in the settings section. Here you can review all of the key security aspects of your account in one place, including your phone number, associated email address, and that essential two-factor authentication. If you can recover your account, I would highly recommend reviewing these settings. Not particularly helpful if you are only reading this because your account is disabled, I know, but I wanted to include it nonetheless! Frequently Asked Questions: Recovering Your Disabled Instagram Account What does a disabled Instagram account mean? A disabled account is temporarily or permanently removed by Instagram for violating guidelines or due to suspicious activity. You won’t be able to log in and will usually see a message stating your account was disabled. Why was my Instagram account disabled? Common reasons include: ● Violating community guidelines (e.,g. nudity, hate speech, spam) ● Using unauthorized third-party apps ● Copyright infringement ● Reports from other users ● A mistaken flag by Instagram’s AI systems Can I recover my disabled account? Yes—many users do successfully recover their accounts by using the official appeal process and, if eligible, contacting Meta’s live support. Be patient and persistent. Where do I submit an appeal? If the appeal process doesn’t resolve the issue, you can try reaching out to Instagram support directly. Be sure to review their community guidelines to understand what may have caused the account to be disabled. Where do I submit an appeal? You can only appeal directly through the link on your login message, should the appeal form process not work. If your Instagram is linked to a Facebook Business account, you may be able to access Meta’s live chat support . This is currently the fastest and most effective route for many creators and influencers. How long does recovery take? Recovery can take anywhere from 24 hours to several weeks, depending on your case, your appeal message, and Instagram’s backlog. Follow up politely every few days. How do I access Meta's support live chat? If your IG account is linked to a Facebook Business account, you may qualify for live chat through Meta Business Support. This is currently one of the fastest methods for getting help. What should I write in my appeal message? Keep it clear and professional. Explain: ● Your account was disabled in error ● You follow the guidelines ● You would like the account reinstated ● Avoid emotional language or accusations. Can I recover a hacked and then disabled account? Yes, but you’ll need to first secure your email and Facebook, then appeal to Instagram. Mention the hack in your message and use “I believe my account was compromised” where relevant. What if I don’t hear back from Instagram? Try again every 48–72 hours. Use different forms if necessary. Be polite and consistent—it often takes multiple attempts before a response. How can I prevent future account issues? ● Enable two-factor authentication ● Don’t use unapproved third-party apps ● Avoid risky content or banned hashtags ● Link your account to Facebook and a verified email ● Download your data regularly Any Other Questions? Hopefully, this post has given you all of the tools you need to clean your follower list safely. If you do have any other additional queries on points not covered here, however, you are more than welcome to get in touch . You can also check out our FAQ page for more Instagram-related questions. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Social Media Blog With over 50k followers across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, we've learned a lot—and we're here to share it. From platform growth hacks to online safety tips, these blogs cover real advice, honest experiences, and practical tools to help you navigate the social media world.

'Your account has been disabled for violating our terms.' No doubt that is the reason you are here, and believe me, I can relate to how you are feeling right now. I have been where you are, and I am writing this post to share my experience and hopefully help you recover your Instagram account. I also share tips, tricks, dos, and don'ts so you can avoid this happening again in the future. In This Post... ● My Account Was Deactivated ● Why is My Account disabled? ● The First Message & What's Next ● Contacting Instagram ● Instagram Appeal Forms See More... ● Appeal Sent - the Next Steps ● What NOT to Do While You Wait ● 7 Days Later - What's Next ● Facebook Live Support ● My Ad Account Issue ● What Instagram Wanted to Know ● Account Recovery Complete! ● The Final Word Additional Resources ● Protecting Your Account ● FAQ ● Any Other Questions? ● Social Media Tips & Insights My Instagram Account Was Deactivated I have been an avid user of Instagram for over 3 years, and for those of you who know our journey  here at Closer Lives, you will see that it is on Instagram that Jenn and I met for the very first time. Instagram: @myplayonlife Instagram has had a huge impact on our lives, and indeed, our entire story, alongside our travel adventures, has been shared there. Our Instagram accounts are months, years, and even decades of copious amounts of time and energy put into content, follower growth, design, and promotion. Not to mention the amazing people and friends that, no doubt, like me, you have connected with. The moment I was 'disabled' was like a rug being pulled from under my feet, and it was a hard moment to take. Just like that, everything I had built was under threat. I had no reason, no understanding, and just a deep sense of fear that the journey may well be over. I thought it simply must have been a mistake. Tap the appeal, fill out the very basic information request, and wait 24 hours. It will be alright, I have not done anything wrong. I will get it back, I told myself. I tried to stay positive and maintain as much patience as I could muster. In the early days of my block, I managed it, but by day 3, my emotions were starting to get the better of me. I realised that simply waiting was not going to be enough. I started to research relentlessly to find out more information, reading countless articles and watching a plethora of videos about it on YouTube. After several hours of this, I knew that I had no choice but to fight for my account or risk losing it for good. This is my story, and some of the things I discovered that may just help you get your account back. Read on  to find out how to appeal, what NOT to do, how to contact Meta, and ultimately how I recovered my account. ⪢ First things first... While this may not be the easiest thing to read right now, expect to hear this from friends, family, and even Meta themselves. Don't panic!   It is indeed sound advice; even if you have violated the community guidelines, your chances of recovering your account are fairly good if this is the first time you have been blocked. You will have to wait; do not be surprised if it takes up to a month  to get things sorted. However, you may just get it back a lot sooner. The truth is, it is highly unpredictable. Why Has My Instagram Account Been Disabled? There are many reasons why your account will have been disabled. Instagram's guidelines are very clear, but have you read them? Perhaps not, and honestly, neither had I. Most of my knowledge in terms of what and what not to do had come from word of mouth and posts from other users who had fallen foul of the rules. To be clear, this post will NOT help you if your account has been suspended (as in you can still log in, but cannot like, comment, follow, etc). This post is only for no longer being able to access/log in to their account . Here are a few common reasons why your account may have been disabled: ● Connecting an unauthorized application to your account, such as insight apps, automated like apps, follow/unfollow apps, etc. Tap here for more about this . ● Buying followers (these are usually bots) ● Joining follow loops / follow trains ● Participating in engagement groups ● Sending spam messages to followers and non-followers See More... ● Following & unfollowing in large numbers ● Using Instagram shopping in unlicensed countries ● Providing your login credentials to a 3rd party application or service that is automating actions or scraping information ● Using an app or service to interact with Facebook or Instagram in unauthorized ways ● Your account was shared or compromised/hacked, and someone is taking actions on your behalf or without your knowledge ● Changing your location regularly I would highly advise reading the Terms & Conditions of Use in Instagram's Help Centre to try and fully understand why the block has happened. Be honest with yourself and do not be afraid to admit any breach of the rules. As you progress with the appeal, and as you will see from my experience, honesty is the best policy here. Hopefully, by now, you may have identified why your account has been disabled. If not, do not worry, from my experience, you may never even know the actual reason. In any case, something somewhere was triggered by the system, and we are where we are. Whatever your reasons for wanting your account back, just know that there is a chance you will be able to do just that. I have seen stories of timelines ranging from 48 hours to 30 days. The key to it all is to be patient, but by all means, persistent! Have you seen The Shawshank Redemption? Well, I highly recommend it if you haven't! A fantastic movie. Aside from that, and more to the point, prisoner Andy Dufresne writes a letter a week to the state requesting funding for the prison library. This is where your fight begins. Once a week, then eventually two, for six years. Yes SIX! There is so much more to the story that I shall not divulge in case you haven't seen it. But I mention it only through one lens: the power of consistency. The power of persistence. You need to go all out Shawshank on this! The First Instagram Account Disabled Message, and What To Do Next I must admit that in the past, I have had a couple of suspensions for too much activity, however, I have always been able to log in, even if I could not perform any actions for a day or two. This was the first time my account had ever been disabled. My heart was in my mouth the moment I saw these screens. It was in that instance that I realised just how important this account is to me; in the same token, the thought of losing it crept into my thought process for the first time, and it was frightening. Note that in most cases, any actions against your account are enacted by Instagram's system AI and algorithm. It is highly unlikely that it has been done by an actual human! When the initial block happens, even your immediate appeal is not overseen by a human. 'We will review' most likely means 'our bots will review' When asked to provide your information, you will be asked for an email address. You may read or hear that it is important that you leave the email associated with your account, although I would say that it does not matter. As long as you stick with the same email throughout the process. This is important to demonstrate that you are not a bot and are a genuine human. Over two billion people use Instagram once a month, making it the fourth most popular social app worldwide Bots and fake accounts are a thorn in the side of Instagram, and unfortunately, no matter how big (or small) your account following may be, your appeal will be dropped in amongst hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of others. It is hard to imagine just how they tackle this, although sadly, the sheer lack of any type of customer support is equally hard to fathom. Contacting Instagram It is easy to understand why Instagram would be overwhelmed should it operate a helpline or email channel. Instagram has never announced any type of customer support since it first hit the app stores in 2010. Nevertheless, here are the details you might find online: ● Instagram Headquarters: +1 650 543 4800 or +1 415 857 3369 ● Instagram for business: +1 660 745 3051 ● support@instagram.com You are welcome to try these avenues, but it is highly unlikely you will receive any kind of response. Ultimately, the only place to look for any type of issue or guidance is Instagram's help centre . It is here that you will be able to complete various forms to begin your appeal process. You will also find a link to one of the forms in the message informing you of your account block on the login screen. Instagram Appeal Forms Here are the links to all of the Appeal forms I used, all within the first 7 days of my account being disabled/deactivated: ● instagram.com/contact/60696731 ● instagram.com/contact/39616978 ● instagram.com/contact/43790879 ● instagram.com/contact/16525678 ● instagram.com/contact/16104597 2025 Update: It appears that Meta / Instagram has removed the functionality of these forms. This may be temporary, or it could be a permanent change. Should the links not work, jump straight to Facebook Live Support or try instagram.com/hacked My advice is to complete each of these forms once only and on separate days . You will most likely read and see many people advising you to complete these multiple times a day until you get a response. I did this myself. In total, I completed each one 3 times! However, I eventually found out that this was to my detriment. After speaking directly with Meta, they clearly stated that with every submission, your case goes to the bottom of the pile! It seems strange, but it kind of makes sense. Think about it, you and I will not be the only ones to assume that the more we fill out the forms, the better chances we will have. Having received millions of contact forms over the years, Instagram is saying, 'We have your request, please be patient. It will be seen. ⪢ How to Complete the Appeal Forms The forms are pretty basic and easy to complete. If you have a business account, you will be asked to provide some form of verification. The key is the 'please let us know why you're appealing the decision' section. This is your opportunity to plead your case, and I highly advise that you place plenty of time and thought into it. This is my advice for what you should include: ● Why do you believe your account was deactivated (be honest, if you know the reason, state it. If you do not know, however, that is okay). ● Acknowledge the community guidelines and your willingness to adhere to them. ● Explain what you use the account for. ● State any other people who may have access to the account. ● Briefly detail how you will be using the account going forward, should it be re-enabled. There is no real need to apologise, although if you know why your account was disabled, then perhaps it is not a bad idea. I feel it is best not to until you have more information. You Have Sent Your Appeal to Instagram - the Next Steps Now this is the interesting part. In most cases, when contacting a multi-billion-dollar mega company with an issue, you would come to expect a response that makes you feel like you are being heard, that you are important, and that they will try to resolve your issue as soon as possible. From the 15 forms I submitted, I received an email response to just 3 of them. Yes, just three. It looked like this: No logo and a pretty sketchy email address make this almost look like a spam email. Indeed, that is where I found it - in my spam folder . Needless to say, I was checking that folder every few hours in my desperate hopes of a response. So this is what you will receive, and the instructions are pretty simple. Grab a pen and paper and do this - I also added my reasons for appealing again, including our website and other information that could verify my identity. What happens after this is a complete mystery, though. There was no acknowledgement or receipt of my reply, and indeed, to this day, I have never received any further communication from Instagram itself with regards to this. I persevered with this process for around 2 weeks, filling out forms and just waiting. Waiting, waiting, and waiting. The silence was deafening, and I knew there had to be something else I could do. What NOT to Do While You Wait Every day, I found myself searching Google , Quora , Reddit , YouTube, and even Facebook Groups . With my feeling of desperation ever increasing, I found myself turning to the very murky and dark waters of the IG 'hackers' who are ultimately just scammers. Sadly, people will prey on your 'desperation' and as tempting and as 'genuine' as it may seem, it will NOT work. All of those apps, comment bots, and even YouTubers that recommend taking these steps may have been lucky enough to find some form of success, but the chances are overwhelmingly unlikely and will only lead to more problems. Whatever you do, do not engage in the following: ● Instagram Plus Plus (Instagram ++) ● Instagram Account Recovery Tool Websites ● IG Account Recovery Apps ● Anyone who posts in a group claiming to be a hacker ● Anyone who posts in a group claiming they have been scammed and are genuine ● Anyone who asks for money to recover your account As mentioned earlier, 'data scraping' is absolutely against Instagram's terms, and all of the options above do just that. Even if they can recover your account, the footprint they leave will remain, and eventually a bot will pick that up. Then back to square one you go. NEVER give out your log in information, NEVER pay money and STICK with the Instagram / Meta process. It really is the ONLY WAY! You Have Waited 7-10 Business Days and Had No Response from Instagram. Here is What to Do Next When you request to delete content or your account, the deletion process will automatically begin no more than 30 days after your request. It may take up to 90 days to delete content after the deletion process begins. "While the deletion process for such content is being undertaken, the content is no longer visible to other users, but remains subject to these Terms of Use and our Data Policy. After the content is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery systems." - Content Removal and Disabling or Terminating Your Account (Instagram Terms of Use) Naturally, after reading this, I panicked. From what I could understand, I had 30 days in total to save my account from oblivion. It had already been 14 days by this point, so I knew that if I did not find another way soon, it would be over. Once the deletion process is started, there is no way to restore or recover your data. So, after filtering through copious amounts of YouTube videos, I kept hearing about Facebook Live Support . I knew if I had any chance of saving the day, then talking to an actual human would be the best way to do it! It eventually did just that; read on for the steps you can take to access this little-known but very helpful feature. Facebook Live Support Most of my sources have suggested this feature is only accessible if you have a Facebook / Instagram Business Account . Fortunately for me, I already had one. If you do not, it is possible to create one on Facebook. You will also need an Ad Account for reasons I shall explain shortly. ⪢ Option One - Contact via Email The Meta Business Help Centre is very useful for all sorts of reasons, and I would recommend checking out this article: 🔗 facebook.com/business/help If you are unfortunate enough to be in a country where live chat is not supported, then you can follow these steps for email communication with Meta - At the bottom of the aforementioned article, you will find a small question box asking you if the article was 'helpful'. Click 'no', then follow the steps to explain why. It will then take you to a form asking for your contact information. This report will go directly to the Facebook Marketplace / Pro Team, who, unlike Instagram, will respond immediately with a professional and formal email that will look something like this - This was a real 'blue sky' moment for me as it was the very first time throughout this whole process that I felt I was in with a chance of getting somewhere. I found that the Meta Pro Team was extremely helpful, and on both occasions I dealt with them, it felt like they genuinely wanted to help. Even just the basic use of a reference number is far more in keeping with the expectations of a company of this size. All email communications were prompt and informative, and throughout a couple of days, I was able to obtain a resolution to one of my issues. My Ad account was also disabled, and fortunately, this was a quicker fix. I was impressed with the efficiency and genuine care they showed, and I trust this will be the same for you, too, should you need it! 🔗 Read more about my Ad account issue here If this option still does not result in your account being re-enabled, then read on for option two below. ⪢ Option Two - Contact via Live Messenger Support Please note that this option will only be made available to you if you have an active Facebook Ad account AND you place an actual ad. After resolving my ad account issue, I successfully placed an ad for £5. After doing so, I accessed this feature by requesting help on the Commerce Manager page by clicking the help button in the bottom left-hand corner . As I understand it, access is restricted to certain countries , and the location of this 'chat' option varies from user to user. This is what worked for me, and I am currently in the UK. Once you click this, look over to the right, and this window will appear: Click 'Contact Facebook Support' and from the following screen select 'reporting a technical issue' from the drop-down menu: Then the holy grail! A few more sections to fill out, and then the magical moment will arrive where you can talk directly to the Facebook Team. An option will appear asking you how you would like to be contacted, via email or live chat. Tap " live" and it will automatically route you to Facebook Messenger, where you will have the opportunity to speak to the Meta Pro Team. It is important to take the opportunity to plead your case in the message section. Give as much information as you can, but bear in mind you only have 1500 characters. Find out more about what Instagram wanted to know . I have read various accounts of success through this chat option. Some people have had immediate success, some have waited a few hours, some a day. For me, I had to wait a couple of days for a decision, which initially came back with me being told to wait for the Instagram Appeal process. I did just that, yet after a further 7 days of not hearing anything, I tried my hand again. Another ad later, and I was in touch with a very helpful operator, Ezequiel, through Facebook Messenger. He handed my case over to Ana, and from there things developed very rapidly! She filed an 'internal ticket' with the Instagram Team and communicated with me via email every step of the way. Two days had passed, during which we had exchanged several emails, and I answered a very important questionnaire. Then the moment came; Ana even called me personally to inform me that my account had been reactivated! I am not sure if I was just lucky, but Ezequiel and Ana were brilliant. Why I was not able to get the same level of resolution the first time round, I do not know, but as they always say, it is the result that counts the most, not necessarily how you get there! My Ad Account Issue Before I was able to access live support, I needed to run an ad, as I have mentioned, and most unfortunately, there was a problem with this, too! Luckily for me, this was a slightly easier fix, but this snag did further complicate things with regard to my Instagram account. My ad account was suspended as I accessed Instagram Shopping while we were travelling in Albania. IG Shopping is not authorized there, and it caused a system block. All I did was tweak a few products and settings in my shop, and it was game over. This coincided with my IG block, so the two could well have been related. The block was classed as 'suspected fraud', which freaked me out at first, but after explaining that I am a full-time traveller and move around often, it was lifted fairly easily after running its pre-programmed course of 2 weeks. Tip: In Facebook Commerce Manager, you will find a section on the left-hand side called 'Account Health'. I am not sure how often this is updated, but it is a good indicator of any issues, and I used this screenshot to further help my appeal. Hindsight is 20:20, right? At least now I know what not to do. Here is a list of the countries that support Instagram shopping, with my advice NOT to tinker with it if you are anywhere that is not mentioned: Find out more about Instagram's Commerce Eligibility Requirements . What Instagram wanted to know After finally having my case seen by an actual member of the Instagram Team, I was asked the following questions of which I took plenty of time and great care in answering. I had sent many lengthy statements about what I thought had happened and why I wanted my account back on all of the appeal forms. However, I suspect that the information from these questions is the most important for IG; they may help you gain a quicker resolution should you still be formulating your message for the initial appeal process. 1. Which 3rd party apps, tools, or services have you connected with your IG account? 2. Has your account been compromised/hacked in the past few months? 3. What is the primary use of the account? 4. How many people have access to the account? How many actively use it day-to-day? 5. What are the most commonly used features of Instagram that you / your team uses on this account (search, messaging, commenting, etc.)? I think this questionnaire was significant, and I would not be surprised if the algorithms are searching for breaches of these types of elements. If you are reading this just for information, then it is worth noting to avoid any infractions of your own. Account Recovery Complete! How many times do you check your email only to be rapidly tapping the delete button as most of it is junk? Well, not for this one! Print it, frame it, and don't make the same mistakes again! This was one heck of a moment. Victory was assured, and with it came a huge mix of relief and elation. Gratitude is most certainly the attitude, and it was exuding out of me after this! Protecting Your Account There are a couple of things you can do to help keep your account secure and in good order. All of these options can be found in the settings area of your Instagram account. ⪢ Connected Apps & Websites It is recommended that you check this to ensure there are no unauthorized connections to your account or connections you do not recognize. ⪢ Two-Factor Authentication & Data Download I would strongly advise turning on Two-Factor Authentication on Instagram. Even if you do not 'log in' that often, adding this layer of security will make it harder for hackers to gain access to your account. The Data Download feature on Instagram is not well-known, but it is an excellent option for keeping your data secure. Once requested, you will have 4 days to accept the download from your email. It comes as raw data, so do not expect it to look like your posts do on the app. All of your photos, videos, comments, likes, etc, will come to you in separate folders, which is a bit tricky to navigate and piece together. However, this is a fantastic option that helps you protect your content and potentially re-use it should you ever need or want to start a new account. The Final Word So, how about this for some irony? 21 days after my account was restored by the excellent Meta team, I finally received an email from Instagram, the only one I had received throughout this ordeal (aside from the three identity ones I mentioned earlier). At least this one had a bit more of an official look about it with the Instagram logo... Yes, thank you for that, Instagram! I am fully aware that my engagement is a disaster, given that for 25 days of August, I did not even exist on your platform! So there you have it, that was the tale of my Instagram oblivion and restoration. It was most certainly a lesson learned, and if you want to keep your account in good order, respect the guidelines and ensure full and strict adherence to them on your account and across all of your associated accounts, too. This has been a humbling experience and one that has only strengthened the importance Instagram has to me. Instagram has been the only social platform I use actively to date, and I am passionate about developing and sharing fantastic content. This is integral to me harnessing and growing my skills as a creator and blogger, along with developing our website here at Closer Lives! I have the most sincere gratitude that I can share this post from the position of recovery. I know many of you reading this may not yet be there, but keep believing and stay positive! Stay strong and manifest your desire, but do not shy away from working for it. Your energy will be rewarded, and if not, then no doubt the universe will have bigger and better plans for you. Best of luck, and feel free to ask away in the comments if you have any questions! Frequently Asked Questions: Recovering Your Disabled Instagram Account Why was my Instagram account disabled? Accounts can be disabled for violating Instagram’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Use—this includes spam, copyright issues, impersonation, or even accidental flags. Sometimes, it happens in error due to algorithmic detection. How do I know if my account is disabled or hacked? A disabled account usually shows a message like “Your account has been disabled” when you try to log in. A hacked account, on the other hand, may have changed credentials or activity you didn’t perform. You’ll need to approach each differently. Can I recover a disabled Instagram account? Yes—many people do. Instagram provides appeal forms and, in some cases, live chat with Meta support if your account is linked to Facebook. The process can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. However, the functionality of these forms may have been removed by Meta/Instagram as of June 2024. Is there a way to talk to a real person at Meta? If your Instagram is linked to a Facebook Business account, you may be able to access Meta’s live chat support . This is currently the fastest and most effective route for many creators and influencers. What if I don’t hear back from Instagram after submitting the form? Persistence is key. Re-submit your appeal after 48–72 hours if you don’t receive a reply. Be consistent, but don’t spam the system—this can delay your case. Can using third-party apps get me banned or disabled again? Yes—using unauthorized tools for growth, automation, or analytics can put your account at risk. Avoid giving login access to any app not verified by Instagram or Meta. How can I prevent this from happening again? ● Enable two-factor authentication ● Avoid posting content that violates guidelines ● Don’t use banned hashtags ● Regularly check your account for suspicious logins ● Link your Instagram to a Facebook page for added recovery options Does Instagram ever disable accounts by mistake? Yes—it’s rare but does happen, especially during mass purges or algorithm changes. If you believe this was the case, use the “I think this was a mistake” option in the appeal form. Is it worth creating a backup account? Many creators now maintain a backup or secondary account, especially if their main account is crucial for business or brand identity. It’s also wise to regularly download your data via Instagram settings. What should I do if my account has been hacked? Try the recovery process outlined in the blog post. Being Meta Verified will help in proving your identity. Additionally, visit instagram.com/hacked . Any Other Questions? Hopefully, this post has given you all of the tools you need to clean your follower list safely. If you do have any other additional queries on points not covered here, however, you are more than welcome to get in touch . You can also check out our FAQ page  for more Instagram-related questions. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Social Media Blog With over 50k followers across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, we've learned a lot—and we're here to share it. From platform growth hacks to online safety tips, these blogs cover real advice, honest experiences, and practical tools to help you navigate the social media world.

Hey, it is Jenn here! Recently, I’ve made some big behind-the-scenes changes on our YouTube channel, and it’s made a difference. I found myself wondering why my peers who started at around roughly the same time were so much further ahead than I was on the journey, aside from the obvious, of course, such as us not posting frequently... Think 2-month gaps here and there in-between videos and also staying based in a country for extended times, all while also teaching English , which of course can be advantageous – but that also depends on the country you choose to settle in and your content! These are my 6 TOP mistakes (there are more that we will get into in future posts) I found I was doing or NOT doing that was harming our YouTube channel, Jenn & Leon . If you have any other suggestions, pointers, or other YouTube channel tips to help others out, please drop them in the comments below so we can help one another learn and grow! In This Post... ● Start in the Capital ● Channel Description Tags ● Consistency is Key ● Post it Now ● Set the Story ● Triple Your Key Words ● Social Media Tips & Insights YouTube Travel Channel Tips The Seeds of Civilization Are in Every Culture, but it is the city that brings them to fruition. 1. Start in the Capital START IN THE CAPITAL of the country you are visiting (it’s the heartbeat and often has a larger YouTube base of watchers with a higher population). This is something we didn’t do as we aren’t big city people, well ok, we love a good coastal city but we like more remote and rural areas like the mountains, jungles, remote islands and smaller communities (which are great for living and down time but not so great for the average travel channel and both getting and sharing great content). Starting in the capital or larger cities, then moving to more rural, smaller areas, will hopefully have viewers following along on your journey as you explore their country. 2. Channel Description Tags SEO like a PRO. Be mindful of your CHANNEL description tags – the main meta tags for your channel (mine was set to MEXICO and every city in Mexico that we visited, as that is where we started and stayed for 6 months). This seriously impacted the tags of the channel, especially since our channel was new, so the YouTube algorithm isn’t sure yet where to place the videos and merely has SEO to work with. When you optimize your channel tags, you have a much better chance of your videos being shown to the correct audience. So many people have commented and asked why we don’t have more subscribers and views, because the quality of the content is good. Which I happen to take as a compliment, especially as I now know WHY ha! 3. Consistency is Key Consistent action creates consistent results. BE CONSISTENT!! This is truly the biggest factor, as with anything. Had I adhered to this, I can’t imagine where we’d be now! Sure, videos every Sunday and Wednesday are a great target, but make sure it’s realistic. Leon and I switched to traveling at a fast pace for this summer to do some research for YouTube stats and to see what an impact more frequent posting can have. Follow along on our journey to get more statistical information and business posts in the future. But try your best to stick to a realistic schedule that won’t leave you frazzled and at your wits' end by the end of the day or week! 4. Post it Now! Energetic Action Frequency. POST FREQUENTLY!! If you have the content, PUBLISH it, and PUBLISH it OFTEN ! Don’t do a ‘Jennifer’ and hold onto the videos for months due to inconsistency. As a big user of Instagram and other short-form platforms, I know YouTube operates differently. Each video is independent of one another, and as much as the time of day, most active user times data, etc, matters, YouTube is evergreen and will continue to show and push your videos with time. We have many videos that performed very slowly at the beginning, and sure enough, 8 months later, they rank better due to maturity and good SEO. So, I say get those videos out there fast and furious style, especially if you are looking to be monetized, because time matters. We lost a lot of our watch time-banked hours from older but high-performing videos (on Mexico, of course). This will help you to bank those much-needed watch time hours and hopefully gain you some more subscribers along the way as well. 5. Set the Story Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today. TELL A STORY WITH YOUR VIDEOS … like a mini movie… with hooks and humor or cliffhangers, etc… honestly, this matters so much! YouTube is no different than a movie or novel; an epic storyline with appealing main characters is the GOLDEN TICKET (YES, we’ve been watching so much American Idol lately!) on attaining longer watch time on videos and also to gain active, invested subscribers. 6. Triple Your Key Words Triple your LUCK. TRIPLE YOUR KEYWORDS! Make sure you are tripling your keywords. So I thought I HAD been doing that, but I hadn’t been properly. I just thought it meant to use the phrase or word three times in general. This is not the case. EXAMPLE keyword: MARVELOUS MEXICO should be in your title, video description, and video description tags for your videos, and if you can do this with a few keywords or phrases on the same video, EVEN BETTER ! Do you want to see the world, or become a full-time traveler? So much time, energy, and work go into a travel YouTube channel! I mean, so much time goes into travelling full-time PERIOD, but with the added pressure of social media and filming and editing, it takes things to an entirely different level. Some people set out with the INTENTION of creating a business THROUGH travel, but others, like us, just truly want to see the world and figured we might as well share since we are doing it anyway. These factors will and should be a part of your decision-making when choosing what countries to visit first and when, the pace at which you travel, and how much time you are willing to invest in your ventures. Social Media Blog With over 50k followers across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, we've learned a lot—and we're here to share it. From platform growth hacks to online safety tips, these blogs cover real advice, honest experiences, and practical tools to help you navigate the social media world.

Inspired by the transformative power of love, this piece looks at the way it rebuilds, renews, and elevates us. It's a tribute to the connection that can transcend stress, distance, and darkness, leaving us fused as one. Fusion explores the way love rebuilds us, piece by piece. It's a reflection of how, even in moments of chaos or darkness, love can be the light that carries us forward. "He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking." - Leo Tolstoy. Love always manages to find its way, even when you're feeling down. It's like a little pick-me-up that brings good vibes into your life. Whether you've met your soulmate or not, there's someone out there meant for you. Love has a funny way of showing up when you least expect it, no need to go hunting for it. That's just what I think! Fusion Tickle my senses Go on an offensive This love is relentless A treat for my synapses Constantly changing My nerves are tingling Lust intermingling This is a real thing It makes me nervous Sometimes I'm just stressed Often mindless Just the usual mess Yet your love shines through No matter what you do Be it here or across oceans You were always you You rang me Sang to me Supported me Cherished me You made me feel whole Reborn with a soul No longer a puppet A soldier to coin You rebuilt my peace Piece by piece You gave me hope Confidence galore Confiscated darkness Threw it to the floor Stomped on it Squished it Made it no more Even then I knew not What you had in store The reserves Of hope Of peace and love Warmth in your berth I can't get enough So beautiful you are From near or from far That is just you You are the star Like a rocket We launched And damn did we fly Fuelled by love My oh my We reached the sky Above and beyond Despite what is said The darkness was gone A universe sparked Atoms vibrating Sensationally charged Never abating Just two hearts Fused by the sun Two souls linked Bonded as one © Leon Gregori 2025 What does love mean to you? Have you experienced a connection so powerful it felt like fusion? Let me know in the comments! You Might Also Like... 🔗 Rise: Redefining Falling in Love Reimagine love in Rise. Explore the transformative journey of love as an ascent to new heights, breaking free from the gravity of past hurts. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

Is life a carefully woven tapestry, or do we truly have control over our path? These are the questions I explore in this poem, Woven. It delves into the intersections of destiny, manifestation, and human connection. These are the thoughts, this is the poetry! Questions Woven into the Fabric of Life Is there a predetermined path for us to follow? Do our desires and aspirations materialize as we wish? Can we make things happen? Since my youth, I have sensed something... a whisper... an unseen communication. Is this reality? Is life a complete mystery, or is there room for understanding? Are events truly 'meant to happen'... does luck play a role in our lives? Can we shape our destiny, or is it merely fate that has always been set? Within our subconscious, are we influenced by the universe? Do we truly have free will or is it all preordained? Did we all originate from a single source? Whether through science or faith... the beginning or the smallest particle... without disregarding any belief system, are we all fundamentally connected? Interwoven? Our steps follow the paths of countless others who came before us... spirits traversing through past and future generations. We are continuously broadening our perspectives... pushing the boundaries until the thread unravels. Or is it simply handed down to the next generation? Woven Going about my daily business I am but merely a bespoke witness To this carefully choreographed plan I feel forced to be a fan To this invisible tapestry That feels like fantasy Yet it is truly a reality Working with destiny It has its way with me All of my decisions Choices and such They feel like freedom Like I have control I have my goals Moments and aspirations I work towards them Celebrate when I achieve But am I really doing this Is it really me Or is it just the plan That is 'meant to be' Did I take that chance Or did the chance take me Did I go because I wanted to Or was I just pushed to see The stitches The fabric Of what I am presenting The path I am following Winding through my mind All of the things The gifts of life Like magnets to my soul On the tip of a knife Pinpoint accuracy This is not a fallacy It is the truth I have known since my youth Maybe I can manifest My deepest desires Maybe I can hope for the best Possess what I admire Maybe I can own it Call out its name For all that I know It is only the same The same as it's written In invisible ink The same as I am told To do as I think Whatever I do I follow the path The instinct The gut The senses I have It can be altered I can force a change Add little moments But it ends up the same Who I meet What I foresee Where I am at What I can see All I know When my one becomes two Is the only truth That I was always going to Are we all just interconnected? I can't help but agree with this perspective My life is a directive It should all be expected All of the things With all that it brings This stunning, sweet symphony The people who come to me Those that I go to The voices I listen to This journey I am on Where I came from All interwoven In the threads of others Stitched in the fabric Of life and the universe So I document in words Write down a verse Detail my legacy For all to remember me Before it all ends Not a moment too soon Before the thread runs out And only the box looms So when all is done When the path is all trodden The tapestry complete The start is long forgotten My name will be carved My life in a box Lid on tight Sealed with a lock My vessel will vanish End up as dust All that I lived Gone as it must Only memories will survive Thoughts and mementos To those I had touched Or loved the same So my point is This is not a game We are all on a path Forged in our names We all have questions Of why, what, and who But that is just human It is nothing new Those questions will be answered Upon leaving this life Maybe the path remains One can only hope for an afterlife But in the meantime We are all interconnected This is my thought My only perspective I will wake up tomorrow And continue this journey Find what is next See what becomes of me Meet and greet Search and explore Follow my path Follow my tour I don't need a guide For my soul leads the way Just like these words And all that I say © Leon Gregori 2025 What do you think? Is life a predetermined journey, or are we shaping our paths every step of the way? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 'Life is so short and the years pass so quickly, we live our lives like we're on a rollercoaster and before we know it many things are missed out, not done, and sometimes, too late to catch up on. You are in the prime of your life now, enjoy every moment of happiness you have, because that is the fruit of life and you are blessed' That was from my Mum, part of a message she sent to me after she finished reading my book (thanks Mum). I guess it is so apt to place it with this piece... it meant a lot to me. As writers, we are blessed with the ability to leave our souls behind on paper... but let us not forget to enrich our souls and keep feeding them every day, while we still can. Stay connected, guys! Until next time! You Might Also Like... 🔗 Fusion: When Two Souls Become One Fusion explores the way love rebuilds us, piece by piece. A reflection of how, even in moments of chaos or darkness, love can be the light. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

By definition, conscience is our moral sense of right and wrong. A space where gut feelings, instinct, empathy, and compassion combine to (hopefully) point us on the right path. In this piece, I explore my own and its subterranean other, piecing it together in the only way I know how: through my poetry. “The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within me. And even though I have to face the prospect of being a minority of one, I humbly believe I have the courage to be in such a hopeless minority.” ― Mahatma Gandhi I love this quote because it does encapsulate the internal workings of our minds. There is the part that controls our body and its functions, then there is the part that is 'us'. The 'invisible' voice, which honestly I am not even sure sounds like my actual one. The one that questions, triggers, compliments, and critiques. That voice is productive, obstructive, and all the in-betweens. Two as one and one as the same... conscience and mind constantly working to balance feelings and decisions. When I wrote this piece I wanted to expose those inner workings, the swing of the pendulum that never seems to rest. So here it goes... welcome to the inner sanctum! Conscience Want to write all about me? Pick me? Fight me? Holding me back A stabbing attack Like a frenzy No befriending Just riled and foreboding You make it an ending Go ahead Lecture me Do your thing Enlighten me See what frightens me Entices me What stops me Sparks me Instant reactions Copious satisfaction Pitchforks swinging Whilst fires rage An open page Or a closed book Neither works Or even should Learn my lesson Through making mistakes Take in information Owning my space I know best You just detest That I don’t always believe Or consider Intrigued I have ignored Been closed Bored Distracted I’ve enacted A type of detachment So my action Decision Natural submission Is to stop Listen With pristine precision Conscience tell me For I want to be listening Deciding Debating Considering Doing our thing Synchronizing With conscience my King And Queen My power Personified Progress Intensified Mistakes Rectified With love I happily oblige I shall now believe my honesty The voice that corrects me The one that shows me My values within Though it can harm me Drain and extract me Fill my lungs With an air of uncertainty My conscience is paramount And will guide for eternity As it rinses me out And pinches my heart I have learned to respect And even in death Never shall we part © Leon Gregori 2025 For me, Conscience is about the dance between instinct and reason, between critique and compassion. It’s a conversation we all have within ourselves, whether we acknowledge it or not. What does your conscience sound like? Do you find it easy to listen to, or does it often conflict with your desires? I’d love to hear your reflections in the comments below. You Might Also Like... 🔗 Rise: Redefining Falling in Love Reimagine love in Rise. Explore the transformative journey of love as an ascent to new heights, breaking free from the gravity of past hurts. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

When I met Jenn not only did I find true, epic love but I was also met with an incredible dose of inspiration, creativity, and energy. It was in full force when we met and it is just as strong now, manifesting in our art and our reality! This piece takes us back to the beginning, as we were crossing continents to see each other at every opportunity. Many nights we spent together, many nights we spent apart. I wrote this after an evening walk alone, amid a very empty feeling after Jenn had flown back to Canada . The distance was tough, but tough moments make you stronger and this was no different. " Distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. It’s for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love. It’s for those knowing a good thing when they see it, even if they don’t see it nearly enough ." - Meghan Daum Thankfully for us, the 'distance only lasted for 6 months before I packed up and left England behind for Canada. It worked out amazingly well given 3 months after my arrival the country shut down due to Covid-19. I am so glad I was there when it happened because it was a good 12 months before they reopened the borders again! The Force was with us from the moment Jenn joined my poetry live on Instagram and sent me her poetry. We felt a tether and a connection immediately. That tether stretched not just from Canada to the UK but across previous lifetimes too! More on that in another post! It was all just part of the plan falling into place. A love greater than we even knew at the time. But we knew that we were meant to be together and we knew this was the right moment, the right place, the right time. Our love has been thriving ever since... The Force remains as strong as ever! The Force Born on a continent So far away Distance no match The force came our way It rode the tides Through stormy seas Under cloudy skies It found the cliffs Of our distant shores It climbed with no harness As it made it to land The force grew stronger As it searched for our hands When it made it to us It knew what it must What it must be Between you and me The force found us Through our poetry It gave us the key To know what to see We delved into our screens With unanimous security No apprehension Or insecurity We always knew The force was there Bringing us closer With vision and flair Ocean's divide Yet love flies There is no chance Or reason why I am yours You are mine Was always coming This is our time A single rhythm A passion A schism A moment written All is forgiven Unfurling the ribbon This present is a given The gift to our hand I finally understand An effervescent plan Because it can Our moment rises The gap closes A coming together We are chosen Reach for the stars Is not the phrase The stars came to us With our patience paid Sadness gone Our pasts laid Future set We are here to stay The sun has risen A new horizon It will never set In our infinite vision Distance no match There was never a catch Only the fact We were due to attach Fusing our souls Conjoining our goals Sharing our spirit Becoming one whole A force to be reckoned with It found its home We are the force And this is our tone © Leon Gregori 2025 The Force isn’t just about love; it’s about destiny, creativity, and the inexplicable tether that brings two souls together. For Jenn and me, poetry was our introduction, but love was our ultimate bond. You Might Also Like... 🔗 Rise: Redefining Falling in Love Reimagine love in Rise. Explore the transformative journey of love as an ascent to new heights, breaking free from the gravity of past hurts. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

From my debut book, Out of the Shadows , The Game is a reflective piece from Chapter 6, Reborn. It explores the cyclical nature of modern life - eat, work, sleep, repeat - and how this relentless rhythm has shaped our humanity. Written after a long, exhausting day at work, it’s a poem born from the question many of us ask: 'Why am I doing this every day?' "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." - Confucius For me, The Game is about questioning the systems we’ve built around us. It challenges the pursuit of material success at the expense of our souls and asks whether we’re truly living - or just playing along. The Game This life Our affliction Inhale it like addiction Our distinction Our reason It sets us all apart Different seasons Lands and kingdoms Association Relations Loyalty Respect It pulls us all apart Strangers rule us Whilst money blinds us Beats us down Controlled all around Lifeless Soulless Conscience not making a sound Love defines us Our spirit and our souls Our bodies and our minds Benefit in kind But our desires stretch us Can drive us crazy People like dominoes Our hearts doing the rounds We are superstitious Suspicious Ridiculous At times It's fictitious We are fortuitous To make it through at times Honesty Reminds us Of how we show and tell And it's torturous Tumultuous Binds us under its spell And just like a bell It jars us Disciplines us right Because try as we might Our only fight Is hindsight That's right All we get is hindsight It's not right But it's how we learn Because honesty and loyalty Only gets us burned So as we turn It becomes our blindside We learn to ignore And on it goes on This world we create We're regardless We are relentless Our pursuit of happiness Remorseless So release the stress Put to the test The desire to achieve Soulfulness The dream Less the mess No need to impress Happiness The extreme But the reality Is meaningless Mostly nothingness Emptiness Loneliness It cuts deep inside So in our pursuit In this desperate race We step on others Just to save face We try to deny it With rigour and valour But truth be told We know our true colors What will we do What we will hide How desperate we are To jump from this ride Complex souls We each are Our morals and ethics So so afar We try to hide it We try to agree But we all know that We all can't see So somewhere out there Something must be Must have a plan For all and me This life Our affliction This addiction It holds us We live for each day No matter what We might say We still get up Ready to play This game And we do Each one of you It's our reason Distinction It sets us all apart So no rhyme And no reason We are who we are We humans are a legion An army Of war Drowning in our sorrows Living in the burrows Sinking And sinning But living for tomorrow © Leon Gregori 2025 Do you ever feel trapped by the cycle of modern life? What do you think it takes to break free and live with more purpose? Share your thoughts in the comments below. You Might Also Like... 🔗 Conscience, Poetry by Leon Gregori In this piece, I explore my conscience and its subterranean other, piecing it together in the only way I know how: through poetry! Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

Do we 'fall' in love or 'rise' to love? That is the question! Falling often feels negative, literally tied to bruises and pain from the impact. But with true love, like what Jenn and I are so blessed to have found, the experience is transformative. It’s about rising to new levels, together. It was a revelation moment when it seemed like a lightbulb was shining just above my head. I realized that I had been getting it wrong all along. I thought of all of the times I had encountered love, recalling sayings like 'fallen in love' and 'falling in love'. At this moment, I thought, why should love be subjected to gravity? Why would I fall when I should be going up ? So I did what I often do in these situations; I grabbed my phone and wrote a poem about it. As one does! Rise The first time our eyes met I knew you were the one Live Life love You are the epitome of fun The moment we met You had my highest regard Damn I fell for you And I fell hard Yet why do we say that ‘I fell for you’ Does ‘falling' end in blissful happiness? Soulful struts and fire and glory Electric connection Energy flying Tingles and sensation Without even trying Is 'falling’ infinite Or does gravity rule? Or do you catch me Before I truly fall? I like the idea Of you catching me For you protect and nurture Nourish and enrich I have always felt safer In the comfort of your arms But I think I shall change it This phrase has to go Maybe in the past I can say I have ‘fallen’ Many a moment I felt my calling I thought I knew The power of love Relationships came And I ‘fell’ Lessons learnt though Can't you tell? Many times I ‘fell’ hard And in hindsight, I see That the effective reality Was that I could never get up After my ‘fall’ I was always stuck It almost sounds negative Wouldn't you agree? If the 'fall' is not broken Caught or cushioned Only bruises form The foundation built On a base of pain I never want to feel that Ever again So with you, my dear My heart My joy I have not ‘fallen’ No no no I have RISEN This is the opposite The spectrum stretched The 'normal’ reversed Carved and etched Spun on a dime You are my rocket Blasted into the Universe There is NO gravity Just weightless endlessness Floating amongst stars With love as our oxygen This Galaxy of us Will never end This moment in time I rose from the ashes Soared through the sky Dove into the spark The twinkle in your eye Higher heights Limitless love The Galaxy and beyond There is no wake-up Just dreams Onboard This love express Endless flight Stunning impress Even with turbulence I am not shaken Merely stoked My heart is already taken High above My only station For I only look up I no longer look down There are no stops There is no ground © Leon Gregori 2025 For me, Rise is a celebration of love as a source of strength and elevation. It’s about breaking free from the gravitational pull of past hurts and choosing to soar with someone who lifts you. What do you think? Do you prefer the idea of 'falling' or 'rising' in love? Share your thoughts in the comments below! You Might Also Like... 🔗 Fusion: When Two Souls Become One Fusion explores the way love rebuilds us, piece by piece. A reflection of how, even in moments of chaos or darkness, love can be the light. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

Have you ever looked at the marvels of ancient civilizations and wondered, ‘How did they do it?’ From the precision of the pyramids to the cosmic alignment of ancient wells, our ancestors achieved feats that still leave us in awe. But have we, in the age of technology, lost something profound in ourselves? These questions form the core of De-evolution - a reflection on humanity’s journey, our potential, and the powers within us. All the while I marvel at the brilliance of our ancestors and all they achieved, from the Sumerians to the Egyptians and all of the other civilizations that have advanced humanity. How did they achieve the things they did? Did they have help from the outside? Or did they tap into their INSIDE and use abilities we don't even know we have? Jenn and I have talked at length many times about these so-called 'abilities'. From manifestation to energy to vibes, there are just so many ways we can change our realities without any dependence on others. We are fooled into the notion that we need our governments and society to flourish, but the truth is that as a collective, we favor the few on behalf of the many. Yet there is something that can change the game. Something innate inside of us that once tapped into, can LITERALLY change, shape, and mold our lives into whatever we desire. Now THAT is something that the 'few' have learned how to suppress in us. From the outside! The Baalbek Stone [Photo credit - middleeasteye.net ] Is it possible to carve, lift, and shift a giant rock that weighs 300 tonnes like at Baalbek (Lebanon) as part of a construction project? Thousands of years ago? Could it be possible? Maybe the question is not HOW they moved it. More like why. For example, 3000 years ago, people constructed a well at Santa Cristina that is aligned with a solar event that occurs once every 18 and a half years. The Santa Cristina Well, Sardinia, Italy When the moon is at its highest point in orbit, it does so directly above this place, shining through a 2ft hole to illuminate a perfectly cylindrical well into a glowing white magical chamber. There are so many questions attached to the reasons this place exists, but back to my point. Like damn, they were using their MINDS to do all this stuff I could barely even do in my dreams. I can just about remember my PIN, and that's only 4 digits! Me? Move a rock? Manifest my desires? Somehow figure out how to build a place that could do who knows what? Well, that's a fantasy, a movie, a pipe dream. So they say. But perhaps there was once a time when these powers were unimpeded... Life begets life. Energy becomes energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich - Sarah Bernhardt So this piece is about the connection to our past, our connection with technology today, and how we can change our realities in the future. We have the power within us, and even if modern living does not encourage that, we can still find it if we search deeply enough! I hope you enjoy the read! De-Evolution Egyptians, Mayans The great civilizations Way back when Way back then Out of nowhere (Relatively) They start building pyramids (Literally) Moving gargantuan stones and rocks Calculating Maths And clocks Precise measurements Pinpoint precision Feats of engineering Innate intuition They changed the face Of humanity They set the bar Of who we are to be Prosperity Art Society Begin Build Legacy A beacon A light Of what we could become Planet masters The best bar none With no tech, they mastered this No help They started this Or maybe Who knows Hieroglyphs We know We've studied And wondered Marveled Reveled To this day we visit Their stunning legacy And so what next for us This new humanity What is next What shall we see Well, I guess the Egyptians Were the spark They were the start We learned And built Enhanced their teachings We built new empires Brilliant and fleeting For bad or worse For good or better We learned from their laws We still write their letters But for us Now maybe The de-evolution has begun For way back when Some dude pops up and says Hey Let's build a pyramid That will take over a thousand years Untold wealth Staggering masses of humanity Tremendously incredible engineering And a future-proof structural integrity For all of humanity To reveal and see Now I wonder What is meant to be Are we now losing our abilities Enslaved to technology Is this digital world The future story For have we left behind Our powers to compute In our minds, with no assistance Have we now embraced a time Where 'virtual' has no resistance Is this our new Shared existence AI is aligned And will only get stronger And the thoughts that we once thought Get less and less With less need to compute There is less need to think An even lesser need To use pen and ink So transfer your thoughts To the online device Free your mind From those stresses and vice Let the screen takeover This mini-computer It is what we need We need it the most So with my free mind I remembered to see A time I remember Of how it used to be Before the internet, you see We had no ability To be connected In any way I remember payphones Was the only way You would remember phone numbers Like it was your last day For you had to memorize To check in or seek help 11-digit numbers Etched into mind Now tech came along And freed that mind Tech came along Oh so kind And the friendly tech Can store and replace The friendly tech Can copy and paste Now I can't even remember A four-digit code That comes on a drop-down To be entered below I copy and paste For fear of forgetting And getting it wrong So I guess in some ways We have We have devolved Numbed down Just a little Subservient to our master Not the government But the tech pastors Preaching their desires Playing their worth We evolved out of nowhere Got whacked with the intelligent stick Time to pass on the baton We have run our race Let the tech takeover And take our place © Leon Gregori 2025 I believe we have powers beyond our wildest dreams that are vulnerable to being suppressed and dumbed down. I know that is no groundbreaking notion, but that's where the poem went towards the end! Tech, fluoride, haircuts, food, and water... so many channels into us that can dampen our powers (so I am told). Yet I have come to truly believe in manifestation and positive energy, and I genuinely feel desires coming into being every day. I am no expert and I credit these discoveries entirely to Jenn! I love her even more (if that was possible) for it. Learning to understand is the translation for POTENTIAL. Potential, because every moment has potential,l should have the desire to activate it and be uncovered. The process is only hard until it isn't! To this day, I often struggle to believe I have the life I do. Waking up to new vibes every day with the love of my life is a path I imagined in the far reaches of my mind when I was younger. A place like the Wizard of Oz walking hand in hand with my true love down some sort of yellow brick road with birds fluttering and crisscrossing above our heads as the clouds part to reveal a rainbow! That was some dream, but now it IS my reality with Jenn, and what's more, our traveling and path IS the yellow brick road! The more we reduce ourselves to machines in the lower things, the more force we shall set free to use in the higher - Anna C Brackett What do you think? Have we traded too much of our humanity for modern convenience, or does technology simply amplify what’s already within us? You Might Also Like... 🔗 Conscience: A Poem on Morality and Inner Struggles Explore the inner workings of the conscience. Delve into the balance between morality, instinct, and self-awareness captured through poetry. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

In June 2020, Jenn gave me one of the most unforgettable birthday surprises of my life: an all-expenses-paid weekend at a 5-star hotel in Montreal . From incredible food to countless moments of laughter and love, it was a celebration that I will never forget. Inspired by that weekend, I wrote What She Means to Me as a tribute to her, to us, and to the love we share. It was a special surprise and I will never forget it. I can only hope my words can do justice to the love I feel, for the love we have, and the love we will have forever more! Sorry for the sap, but I can't help it! Jenn in Cyprus, where we got engaged! "The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love." - Henry Miller These words perfectly encapsulate how I feel about Jenn and our journey together! What She Means To Me Tell my brain No refrain Can’t strain Our domain This is my aim No need to explain She brings me fame Bells and whistles Sparkling and glistening Always listening My sign My symbol She even has crystals Sprinkles and sparkles Her berth is my castle Energy Synergy The things she does to me For me With me She holds me tight Treats me right Every day And long through the night The shadows are cast Far far away We are taken Now is our play Here to stay This is our way Mainstay Each way Anyway Both ways Today For many years And years beyond Will speak these words Our darkness gone Only light Shall shine here now Erase these creases No furrowed brow Our essence is phenomenal Partners complete There is no past That can compete © Leon Gregori 2025 Have you ever felt this way about someone? I certainly hope so... if not... I hope! Thank you for reading! You Might Also Like... 🔗 Rise: Redefining Falling in Love Reimagine love in Rise. Explore the transformative journey of love as an ascent to new heights, breaking free from the gravity of past hurts. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

Sadness can feel like an overwhelming force, consuming and unrelenting. But as a poet and creator, I see it as a canvas - a space to pour emotion, process pain, and create meaning. The Artist reflects my journey through those dark moments, painting feelings from the canvas of my mind. We are all artists, painting our lives upon the canvas of reality. Mix the colors your own way and apply emotion liberally. Don't be afraid to let your brushstrokes show, and above all else, make sure your art has soul - Cristen Rodgers The Artist Sitting Surmising My mind is frightening Like a belt tightening Around my neck This isn't exciting There isn't any lighting The sadness is coming I feel like running Yet the dark is cunning My legs are heavy Like bricks on my feet I guess I'm going nowhere So it is time to meet The internal motors That spark and clash Rip and smash Here is my interpretation My deepest sensation My lungs are heavy There is no challenge And no expectation I sense I know why I keep feeling this way How I look to avoid The hardest thing I've ever had to do To lose my feelings Of love for you I've longed for what we had Dreamt of good and bad My heart goes begging I lusted for the emotion Desired the commotion The feelings that inspired That dizziness Isn't painless It's the torture of my heart Like an art This love It messed with my insides Like a tray of paint Mixed up and colourful Reds, greys, and yellows Blues and greens The joyous wonder The darkening screams All those hopes Laid to waste Time to be emptied Gone is the taste The potential The drama All things karma My spirits dampen As my heart fades to black The artist has left us Our canvas unfinished The picture is open But thought has diminished Printed forever We will no longer be Our pitch cut off From reaching its ending And whilst I think of this My heart is so torn It feels like my tapestry Just stopped in its tracks And the painting is there The structure and foundation But the sky is unfinished And the house is half built Like a bankrupt fighter It leaves much to be desired Everything it hoped for Deep in the mire The mess is clear The solution is not so The artist behind the painting Where did he go And so there we are Left unfinished The applicators broken There is no more to write Or paint Or glow Or reach its potential Just no And hard memories are plentiful The only hope now Is for a brand-new canvas To manifest itself Be born from life's atlas The world is still here Despite all my fears I must top up my ink Empty my tears Refill my pots Regain my strength If I can do that I can make more sense This sadness has owned me Thrown off my game I have to release this Or forever stay the same © Leon Gregori 2025 How do you process sadness or loss? Do you turn to creativity, or do you find solace in other ways? I’d love to hear your reflections in the comments! You Might Also Like... 🔗 The Game: A Poem on Life’s Relentless Cycle This piece tackles the cyclical nature of modern life - eat, work, sleep, repeat - and how this relentless rhythm has shaped our humanity. Leon Gregori I've been writing poetry since my mid-teens and find it natural to express myself through words. My writing is spontaneous and unstructured, following a freestyle approach. My long-form content focuses on themes of heartbreak and life. Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and the best part of our journey is that we found love through it! Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to your heart too. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more!

Who else remembers the old magazines that promised you could learn how to: lose 15 pounds in 5 days, become sexier in 5 days, cook a meal to his heart, and all the old school how-tos that were aimed at superficialities (and for women to be ‘better’ for men)!? I certainly do. And who else tried and failed and felt like a failure because of it? Don’t be superficial. Don’t believe everything you read. And don’t judge a book by its cover! Search for truth, depth, and meaning in all things. Use your judgment and trust your intuition. Step into your power, but don’t abuse it. Glossy Written in February 2015 by Jennifer David She learns how to become a cook How to become a runner Promises on how to become a better lover All from skimming the cover... She falls for it She tumbles Stumbling on the shoestrings Of her sneakers That, in reality, just makes her meeker And shall I even say bleaker? Like a beacon of society that says Here I am... Look at me… I take notice I read the cover She takes all of the quizzes And wonders why Reality fizzes In comparison To the predictions She flips the pages Creating rage inside her Tormented with confusing desire For the quick fixes Creating instantly airbrushed wounds On her soul NO QUIZ NO TEST NO COMPARISON TO THE REST Will reassure her Of her Reassure her Of the beauty that radiates inside her Not created from airbrushed strokes Or trite words from know-it-all folks It’s the discovery she must find Inside her own mind And let go Of the societal precedent she knows To exude the light And fight for the plight Of discovering who she is Because no cover can truly Teach you to be a better lover Or to put others' needs before your own And if you claim you can attain It all starts with skimming the cover You need to discover The true meaning Of depth © Jennifer David 2025 Thank you for reading and your continued support! Please leave a like or comment if you enjoyed this piece, and let me know your thoughts on this subject... have you ever felt similar pressures? If so, how have you dealt with them? Closer Lives Poetry Poetry has been a lifelong passion for us, and perhaps the most beautiful part of our journey is that we found love through our words. Here, we share pieces that are close to our hearts, hoping they speak to yours. We hope you enjoy our work and look forward to adding more as inspiration flows. Grey Hair Blog Follow Jennifer David’s empowering journey of going grey and choosing authenticity over approval. A celebration of ageing boldly, living unfiltered, and embracing the silver within. Jennifer David Meet Jennifer David—writer, traveller, coach, and voice behind “A Broad Perspective.” Explore her journey through grey hair, self-expression, full-time travel, and radical authenticity.

There’s a sentence I heard for years—sometimes whispered, sometimes shouted: “But grey hair will age you.”   As if that’s the worst thing that could happen to a woman.   But let’s be real: I used to believe it, too. Before I decided to ditch the dye , that fear ran deep. I was always told I looked “so young for my age,” but was it just with dyed hair? Compliments like that can feel like currency for us women, especially in a culture that’s becoming more and more obsessed with youth.   But when I met Leon, who is 12 years younger than I, the fear got a little louder. Not that I’m new to the age difference thing, my ex-husband was 10 years younger than me as well. But as I have gotten older, I’ve been more concerned about those years becoming more noticeable . I worried about how I would look beside him. Would I seem “too old” to be with him? Would people judge me? Would HE stop seeing me the same way if I let my grey hair shine through? Would he still be attracted to me? 18 months into my natural grey hair grow-out journey with Leon in Hua Hin, Thailand, September 2024   Spoiler alert: he didn’t flinch. In fact, his support helped me find the courage to do what my soul was already calling me to do.  Embrace my authenticity. Leon and I on the Princess Regal during a transatlantic cruise in April 2025 celebrating 6 years together, 4 years travelling full time (44 countries together!) and 2 years into my natural grey hair grow-out journey all during this month! Facing the Fear: Grey Hair and the “Invisible Woman” Myth Let’s talk about what’s really going on.   The fear of grey hair isn’t just about color . It’s about our visibility. Our value, position, and our perceived identity in society.   So much of our conditioning tells us that as we age, especially as women, we fade. That we lose desirability. That our beauty has an expiration date , and it’s somewhere around the first sign of a silver hair, which is silly in itself because many women first notice a grey hair far under the age of 30 , we just don’t realize it because so many women choose to hide their greys from first sight!   But here’s what I’ve learned: Youthful energy isn’t something that you color in—it’s something you own. It’s in your fire , your freedom , your presence . NOT your pigment. 1 year into my natural silver hair grow-out journey, March 2024, in England I’m now two years into my grow-out journey, and yes—people do comment less often that I “ look so young for my age .” And yes, I AM actually two years older now than when I first started this journey—there are shifts that naturally start to happen especially around 48 to 50. But the biggest shift isn’t my appearance—it’s the societal association that grey = old, therefore I no longer look ‘young for my age’ and old = less. We can never truly look older or younger than our age because our age is what it is. It cannot be changed. Therefore, this is what I look like at 50 . Not older. Not younger, but MY 50. This is 50 ON ME. This is the narrative I’m passionate about dismantling. And friend, there’s so much work to be done.   The Liberation of Living Unfiltered! Since ditching the dye, something incredible has happened.   I feel more radiant . More confident. More authentic. More me. Not because grey hair magically fixed anything, because there was nothing to be ‘fixed’, but because choosing authenticity over approval set something free in me. I stopped trying to fit into the outdated mold of what a woman “should” look like, especially the ‘for her age’ narrative, and started showing up in my full, authentic design .   And here’s the beautiful twist: When you live authentically and unfiltered , your real energy starts shining. 2 years into my natural gray hair grow-out transition, and I couldn't feel more confident! Not despite your age, but BECAUSE of your lived experience, your presence, your power, and walking and owning that fully.   If You’re Wondering, “Will Grey Hair Make Me Less…?” To the woman asking, “Will grey hair make me less beautiful?” “Will it make me less datable?” “Will I lose something if I let go of dye?” 6 months into my grow-out, about to make my YouTube debut with THIS hair for the first time. I was still feeling very insecure about what OTHER PEOPLE might think about my grey hair.  I see you. I was you.   And my answer is this: Grey hair will not make you less. It will simply make you more. More magnetic. More rooted in self (see what I did there, ha!) More free.   This isn’t about going grey to prove a point, but it sure can be! The more women who embrace their natural grey hair, the faster and more normalized it will become for future women in society, and that’s a brilliant reason to say bye to the hair dye ! It’s about choosing your truth over fear.   So, if you’re standing in front of the mirror, wondering if it’s time— The wonder is your sign. Curiosity is your sign. This is your sign. Your beauty and evolving self don’t need permission, but sometimes it's nice to receive it. So here you go. Permission to let go of societal pressures and let it GROW! And you know, your bright sparkly silver light most certainly DOES NOT need a filter (aka hair dye).   Let THEM see YOU. Let YOU see YOU . Grey Hair Blog Follow Jennifer David’s empowering journey of going grey and choosing authenticity over approval. A celebration of ageing boldly, living unfiltered, and embracing the silver within. Jennifer David Meet Jennifer David—writer, traveller, coach, and voice behind “A Broad Perspective.” Explore her journey through grey hair, self-expression, full-time travel, and radical authenticity. Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

“The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.” – Neil Gaiman. If you’ve ever been called “a bit different,” take it as the compliment it is. A creative brain doesn’t always show up as straight A’s or a polished résumé. Sometimes, it arrives in mismatched socks, half-finished ideas, and a mind that builds galaxies in silence. Here’s the thing: real, spark-filled, wild intelligence often hides in quirks. So, if you resonate with any of these signs, you might be a creative genius in disguise. In This Post... 1. You're a Daydreamer 2. You Have a Wild Imagination 3. You're Intensely Curious 4. Comfortable with Ambiguity 5. You Love to Play and Doodle See More... 6. Highly Sensitive; Feeling Deeply 7. You're Not Afraid to Be Different 8. You Connect with Unrelated Ideas 9. Lost in Work, Hyper Focus 10. You Talk to Yourself (a Lot) 11. You Like to Stay Up Late 12. You Live In ‘Organized Chaos’ 13. You Struggle with Small Talk ● FREE Creative Brain Workbook 1. You're a Daydreamer Do you often find yourself lost in thought, even when you should be paying attention? Daydreaming isn't just a sign of boredom; it's a sign of a creative mind at work. Your brain is making connections and exploring possibilities that others might miss. You’re not “spacing out.” You’re time-traveling . You’re scripting new realities. Imagination is one of the most powerful — and overlooked — signs of intelligence. While the world tells you to stay grounded, you’re busy designing starscapes and story arcs. Embrace those mental wanderings – they might lead to your next big idea! Keep dreaming. That’s where revolutions begin. 2. You Have a Wild Imagination Creative individuals often possess a vivid imagination, able to conjure up fantastic worlds and scenarios with ease. If you find yourself constantly inventing stories, imagining alternate realities, or seeing the world through a lens of endless possibilities, congratulations! You're tapping into a powerful source of creative energy. You might dream in color, rewrite conversations in your head, or create whole narratives while washing the dishes. Your mind doesn’t just wander — it builds. It plays. It creates. That imaginative fire isn’t a distraction; it’s a creative engine that fuels your art, your voice, and your way of seeing the world a little differently than most. You're tapping into a powerful source of creative energy. 3. You're Intensely Curious A hallmark of a creative mind? Insatiable curiosity. You ’re constantly wondering why , poking at the edges of ideas, and tugging threads just to see where they lead. You don’t accept surface-level answers — you dig deeper. You ask better questions. You explore new subjects like they’re hidden worlds, and you’re the cartographer. That endless thirst for understanding? It’s not random. It’s fuel. It’s what gives your perspective its edge, your storytelling its richness, and your content its soul. You love to explore new subjects, experiment with different ideas, and never settle for simple explanations. This thirst for knowledge fuels your creative process and helps you develop unique perspectives. 4. You're Comfortable with Ambiguity While others crave certainty, you find magic in the unknown. You’re not scared of ambiguity — you breathe  it. Where there’s no clear path, you build your own. Where others see risk, you see room to create. That comfort with uncertainty? That’s your superpower. It’s what lets you break the mold, explore uncharted territory, and dream up ideas no one else sees yet.. You don’t need a map. You’re too busy drawing new worlds. You see it as an opportunity to explore new possibilities and create something truly original. Your ability to embrace ambiguity allows you to think outside the box and find innovative solutions. 5. You Love to Play, You Doodle on Every Surface For creative people, play is more than just a pastime; it's a way of life. You approach tasks with a sense of fun and experimentation. You enjoy exploring different possibilities, trying new things, and making mistakes along the way. This playful approach fosters creativity and helps you discover hidden talents. If the margins of your notebook look like a secret artist’s diary, your brain might be visualizing ideas before you even realize they exist. Doodling isn’t “spacing out.” It’s spatial intelligence firing up. It’s problem-solving with a pen. Let the ink flow — it’s brilliance in disguise. 6. You're Highly Sensitive & Feel Everything Deeply Creative individuals often possess a heightened sensitivity to their surroundings. You're acutely aware of details, emotions, and subtle nuances that others might miss. This sensitivity allows you to connect with your inner world and express your feelings through various creative outlets. Embrace your sensitivity – it's a source of strength and inspiration. Joy makes your whole chest expand. Sadness lingers like poetry. Injustice enrages you. A sunset can make you weep. That depth of emotion isn’t a flaw — it’s your intuitive intelligence speaking in surround sound. The world needs your sensitivity. It’s where your art, your connection, your message lives. 7. You're Not Afraid to Be Different You don't feel the need to conform to societal norms or expectations. You’re not here to blend in. You’ve never been drawn to the script — the one that says “fit in,” “tone it down,” “do what’s expected.” You live outside the lines, not in rebellion, but in truth . You express yourself fully, honestly, and unapologetically — even when it turns heads. Especially then. Because of your creativity? It doesn’t come from conformity. It comes from owning who you are — and letting that shine through every word, frame, and idea. You embrace your individuality and express yourself authentically, even if it means standing out from the crowd. Your willingness to be different allows you to break free from conventional thinking and create truly unique works. 8. You Connect Seemingly Unrelated Ideas, You See Patterns Everywhere Creative thinkers excel at making connections between seemingly unrelated concepts. You can see patterns and relationships that others might miss, leading to innovative insights and groundbreaking discoveries. Whether it’s in clouds, numbers, faces, or ideas, your brain links things others miss. You can connect ancient myths to TikTok trends. You recognize symbolic echoes in a stranger’s story. You’re a meaning-maker, a weaver of webs. That’s abstract reasoning, baby. That’s genius. This ability to connect the dots is a key ingredient in the recipe for creative genius. 9. You Get Lost in Your Work, You Hyper Focus and Forget to Eat When you're engaged in a creative project, time seems to melt away. You become completely absorbed in the task at hand, losing yourself in the flow of ideas and inspiration. When you're in the zone, time dissolves. Hours pass in a heartbeat while you're creating, building, dreaming. But you also might forget the basics — like water, food, or how to speak in full sentences. That tunnel vision? Classic sign of a brilliant brain that dances to its beat. This state of deep focus and concentration is a sign that you're tapping into your creative potential and unlocking your inner genius. 10. You Talk to Yourself (a Lot) Narrating your day? Rehearsing conversations that may never happen? Welcome to the Creative Brain Club. Self-talk isn’t weird — it’s your inner thinker working out life like a screenplay. Einstein did it. So did Frida Kahlo. So go ahead, chat it out. You’re just brainstorming with your favorite muse: you. 11. You Like to Stay Up Late (or an Inconsistent Sleeper) Creative minds are often fueled by moonlight and caffeine. Sleep is a lovely idea… until your brain starts building castles in the sky at 2 a.m. Whether you’re dreaming up travel routes or rewriting the universe in a voice note, that electric midnight magic is a signature of an overactive — and inspired — mind. 12. Your Environment is ‘Organized Chaos’ If your desk looks like a beautiful storm — piles of notebooks, seashells, tea mugs, wires — don’t sweat it. A creative brain often thrives in a controlled mess. You know where everything is (even if no one else does). Your space mirrors your mind: full of movement, layers, and treasures. 13. You Struggle with Small Talk but Thrive in Deep Conversations You’d rather talk about soul purpose, mushroom intelligence, or why humans cry at music than discuss the weather. Your brain craves meaning, not fluff. If surface-level chit-chat makes you restless, that’s a sign your intellect is wired for depth and discovery. Celebrate Your Creativity and Weird If you recognize yourself in these signs, congratulations! If you found yourself nodding along to this list, here’s your permission slip: You’re not too much, too strange, or too scattered — you’re just brilliantly wired for wonder .   You likely possess a creative brain with untapped potential. The world needs your wild ideas, your curiosity, your tangents, and your tangled metaphors. Embrace your quirks, nurture your imagination, and never stop exploring the boundless possibilities of your mind. So go ahead: talk to yourself, rearrange your furniture at 3 a.m., and sketch that weird dream you had last night. Because the creative brain doesn’t follow a straight line — it scribbles in stars. The world needs your unique perspective and creative genius. ⪢ DOWNLOAD your FREE Creative Brain Workbook: 13 Prompts to Spark Your Genius This workbook is designed to help you explore, deepen, and celebrate your creative mind. Use the following prompts, exercises, and practices to journal, reflect, and activate your inner genius — even if some of these qualities don’t come naturally (yet). Creativity is a practice, not a personality type. Prompt to expand! Try this to get out of your comfort zone! Grey Hair Blog Follow Jennifer David’s empowering journey of going grey and choosing authenticity over approval. This is a celebration of ageing boldly, living unfiltered, and embracing the silver within. Jennifer David Meet Jennifer David—writer, traveller, coach, and voice behind “A Broad Perspective.” Explore her journey through grey hair, self-expression, full-time travel, and radical authenticity. Our Lifestyle Blog Since deciding to sell our houses, let go of 90% of our possessions, pack up our remaining things, and head for the airport, we have learned a lot. We mean A LOT! This full-time travel journey is now entering its fourth year, and we are almost transitioning from travelers to alternative living. In our lifestyle blogs, we want to share our journey with you, along with everything we have learned, the ups and downs, the tips, tricks, and recommendations that can help you change your life if you are done with the 9-5.

For the past four years, we’ve been living life with a “no fixed address” stamp on our souls. Whether you’re answering emails from a beach in Bali , road-tripping with your WiFi hotspot, or hopping between European cafés, remote work is redefining how we live, work, and travel. From beachside workdays with sand between our toes or sitting seaside to chasing sunsets in far-flung corners of the world (think Chiang Mai , Thailand ), we think we’ve mastered the art of blending work with our biggest passion: wanderlust. But the big question is, what exactly do we call ourselves? Are we digital nomads ? Borderless adventurers ? Slowmads with a sprinkle of wanderpreneur ? Honestly, we get asked so many questions about our lifestyle and what our ‘job’ is it can at times be rather difficult to answer! It got us thinking about the topic. In this post , we’re diving into the fun and ever-growing dictionary and vocabulary of remote lifestyles. Whether you’re a laptop warrior on the move or dreaming of ditching the cubicle for good, you’re bound to find a term that fits your current style. With more and more people deciding to ditch the 9-5 grind and try alternative living lifestyles, we thought it was high time to explore this wide, wonderful world of work-anywhere wanderers! In This Post... ● OG Nomads & Cool Cousins ● Adventurous & Alternative Crew ● Global & Borderless Tribe ● Creative & Quirky Labels ● So, Which One Are You? ● FAQs More Resources ● Our Lifestyle Blog ● Closer Lives Travel Hub What Will YOU Decide? Perhaps you have already heard of ' location independent ' or ' alternative living ', which are awesome terms to describe ditching the 9 - 5 for the freedom of being wherever you want to be in the world. These terms may describe a lifestyle , but do they describe you ? We have used them plenty of times ourselves, but maybe they are too broad? Perhaps you will identify with one of the terms below... let us know in the comments below if you do! We cannot decide on one... can you? The OG Nomads (and Their Cool Cousins) These are the classics - but with a twist! Digital Nomad 🌐 The tried-and-true label for remote workers traveling full-time with a laptop and a dream. Slowmad 🐢 A nomad who takes it slow, spending weeks or months in each location. No need to rush when the WiFi’s good! 💡 Road-tripping with your WiFi hotspot? Check out GigSky or Saily  for flexible eSIM options that keep you connected anywhere. Workcationer 🌴 Blending work and play at dreamy destinations. Morning Zoom calls, sunset margaritas. Anywhere Worker 🌎 If you’ve ever worked from a hammock, a camper, or a train station bench, this one’s for you. 💡 Enhance your online privacy and security with NordVPN ! Enjoy lightning-fast speeds and access to global content while keeping your data safe from prying eyes. Flexpat ✈️ A flexible expat who hops between countries with no real home base. Think expat vibes but without the ties. The Adventurous & Alternative Crew For the wild, free-spirited, and off-the-beaten-path wanderers. Backpacker Nomad 🎒 Living out of a backpack while running your online empire (or freelance gigs). Minimalism = freedom. Vanlifer 🚐 Working from your decked-out van while chasing the next scenic sunset spot. Off-Grid Worker 🌿 Remote with no reception? No problem. These folks live and work in the wild with solar panels and satellite internet. Dirtbag Nomad 🏕️ Low-cost, high-adventure. Working from campsites, eating ramen, and chasing the next thrill. Green Nomad 🌿 Traveling and working with sustainability in mind—eco-lodges, low-impact travel, and reusable everything. The Global & Borderless Tribe For those who truly can’t be tied down by borders. Expat 🌏 Classic, but still cool. Living and working abroad, semi-permanently or for a while. Global Citizen 🌍 No borders, just vibes. You see the whole world as your home. Perpetual Traveler (PT) ✈️ Forever on the move, often country-hopping to avoid taxes or visa limits. Genius or madness? You decide. 💡 Don’t forget to protect your adventure. We recommend SafetyWing Nomad Insurance  – designed with global wanderers in mind. Nomadic Expat 🌴 A hybrid breed: half-settled expat, half-rolling stone. Long stays, but no roots. Borderless Worker 💻 Remote pros with no fixed address. Their office? The world. The Creative & Quirky Labels For the artists, entrepreneurs, and free spirits doing it their way. Wanderpreneur 🚀 Building a biz while wandering the world. CEO by day, explorer by night. Hometrotter 🚗 Exploring your own country like a tourist with a remote job in tow. Busker Nomad 🎤 Traveling musicians, artists, and performers earn their keep on the road while working online. Spiritually Rooted Nomad 🧘‍♀️ Blending travel with spiritual practices—yoga retreats, meditation sanctuaries, or plant medicine journeys. Burnout Escapee 🌿 You ditched the corporate grind to find your soul on the road. Hello, freedom. The Final Five Nomadic Titles WiFi Wanderer 📶 A true internet chaser — always checking the speed before booking the stay. If it ain’t strong, it ain’t happening. Cloud Commuter ☁️ No traffic, no stress. You live in the cloud — logging into meetings from rooftops, boats, and jungle huts. Base-Hopper 🏡 Part-time nomad, part-time nester. You rotate between 2–3 “home bases” around the world depending on visas, seasons, or vibes. Tap-Tap Traveler 💻 Your keyboard’s the ticket, and your browser’s the boss. You build websites, write code, or blog your way across borders. Zoomad 🎥 Zoom call in one timezone, sundowner in another. Your life is a patchwork of virtual meetings and real-world adventures. So, Which One Are You? Are you a slowmad, a borderless worker, or maybe a low-key dirtbag nomad? Or perhaps you’re inventing your very own label (bonus points for creativity!). Found your label, or invented your own? Drop it in the comments below and share your remote lifestyle! 💡 Don’t forget to explore our Travel Hub for Nomads & Remote Workers for essential resources, gear, insurance, connectivity, and more. FAQs Q1: What is a digital nomad? A digital nomad is someone who works remotely using technology while traveling to different locations, often living with no fixed base. Q2: What’s the difference between a digital nomad and a slowmad? While digital nomads often move frequently, slowmads prefer staying in one place longer—weeks or even months—to immerse themselves in the culture and enjoy a slower pace. Q3: What are some creative names for remote workers? Creative terms include wanderpreneur, burnout escapee, spirit-rooted nomad, busker nomad, and hometrotter, each reflecting unique remote lifestyles. Q4: Can I work remotely while traveling? Yes! With internet access, remote-friendly jobs, and tools like eSIMs and travel insurance, you can easily work while exploring the world. Q5: What tools do remote workers need on the road? Essentials include portable WiFi/eSIM (like GigSky or Saily ), international insurance (like SafetyWing ), a solid laptop, and task management tools. Our Lifestyle Blog Since deciding to sell our houses, let go of 90% of our possessions, pack up our remaining things, and head for the airport, we have learned a lot. We mean A LOT! This full-time travel journey is now entering its fourth year, and we are almost transitioning from travelers to alternative living. In our lifestyle blogs, we want to share our journey with you, along with everything we have learned, the ups and downs, the tips, tricks, and recommendations that can help you change your life if you are done with the 9-5. Closer Lives Travel Hub Destinations, Tips & Essentials Head over to our Travel Hub – it’s packed with free country guides, helpful travel blogs, videos from the road, and tips to help you travel smarter (and cheaper!). Whether you're dreaming, planning, or already out exploring, we've got resources to help you every step of the way. Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

In a world overflowing with material possessions, a growing movement is embracing the idea of gifting experiences over physical objects. More people are realizing that memories outlast any gadget, piece of jewelry, or trendy clothing item. Instead of another sweater that might be forgotten in the depths of a closet, why not give the gift of a breathtaking adventure, an exhilarating car road trip, or a tranquil getaway? Experiences tap into something far more profound than material gifts - they bring lasting joy, foster personal growth, and create stories that can be treasured for a lifetime. Whether it’s a concert ticket, a travel voucher, or a hands-on cooking class, experiential gifts have the unique power to create unforgettable moments. Photo by  Kit (formerly ConvertKit) In This Post... ● Science of Experiential Happiness ● Why Travel is the Ultimate Gift ● Rise of Experience-Based Gifting ● The Emotional Impact ⪢ Our Lifestyle Blog The Science Behind Experiential Happiness Psychological research consistently shows that experiences contribute more to long-term happiness than material possessions. A study conducted by Dr. Thomas Gilovich at Cornell University found that while people experience initial excitement when acquiring new items, that excitement diminishes over time as they grow accustomed to them. Conversely, experiences continue to bring happiness because they become a part of our identity and strengthen social connections. ●   Personal Growth : Experiences encourage self-discovery and expand one’s perspective. ●  Stronger Relationships : Shared experiences deepen emotional bonds and create meaningful connections. ●  Enduring Memories : Unlike material objects, experiences evolve into cherished stories that can be revisited and relived. This is why adventure trips, art workshops, and music festivals offer far more lasting joy than the latest tech gadget or designer accessory. Why Travel is the Ultimate Gift Among all possible experiences, travel stands out as one of the most transformative gifts. Whether it’s a surprise weekend getaway or a grand international adventure, travel introduces new cultures, broadens perspectives, and fosters personal evolution. A Car Road Trip to Remember For those who love the freedom of the open road, a car road trip  makes for an extraordinary gift. Road trips offer the perfect blend of adventure and spontaneity, where the journey itself is just as rewarding as the destination. Here’s why a well-planned road trip is a gift that keeps on giving: ●       Customizable & Flexible : Unlike pre-arranged vacations, road trips allow travelers to set their own pace, explore hidden gems, and curate an itinerary tailored to their interests. ●       Unforgettable Scenic Routes : From winding coastal highways to breathtaking mountain passes, the landscapes along the way enhance the adventure. ●       Quality Bonding Time : Road trips create opportunities for deep conversations, unexpected laughter, and spontaneous detours that lead to unforgettable memories. Imagine surprising a loved one with a weekend drive along the Pacific Coast Highway or a scenic autumn road trip through New England’s golden foliage. It’s a gift that blends excitement, relaxation, and exploration into one unforgettable experience. Cultural and Culinary Adventures For those with a passion for food and culture, immersive experiences such as cooking classes in different cities or countries can be incredibly rewarding. Picture learning the art of fresh pasta making in Italy or mastering the delicate techniques of sushi preparation in Japan. These experiences not only provide an exhilarating sense of discovery but also impart skills that last a lifetime. Similarly, cultural experiences - whether visiting ancient ruins, exploring world-renowned museums, or attending vibrant local festivals - offer an in-depth appreciation of history, tradition, and artistry that no physical item can replicate. The Rise of Experience-Based Gifting In recent years, experience-based gifting has gained momentum as people seek meaningful ways to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Instead of traditional wrapped presents, more individuals are turning to gifts that create lasting memories, such as: ●       Concert & Theater Tickets  – A night at a favorite artist’s concert or an immersive Broadway show can provide moments of pure joy and excitement. ●       Outdoor Adventures  – Thrill-seekers will appreciate activities like skydiving, scuba diving, or hot air balloon rides. ●       Subscription-Based Experiences  – From gourmet meal deliveries to adventure kits and travel memberships, these ongoing experiences extend the joy far beyond a single day. The mindset is shifting from “what can I buy?” to “what can I experience?” - an approach that enriches life rather than adding clutter. The Emotional Impact of Giving Experiences Photo by Nubia Navarro (nubikini) One of the most rewarding aspects of gifting experiences is the emotional depth they cultivate. Unlike material items, which may lose significance over time, experiences generate moments of joy, anticipation, and heartfelt gratitude. ●       Encouraging Quality Time  – Shared experiences bring loved ones together in ways that physical gifts never can. ●       Demonstrating Thoughtfulness  – A carefully selected experience reflects deep consideration and understanding of what truly matters to the recipient. ●       Reducing Clutter & Waste  – Opting for an experience instead of a physical item contributes to a minimalist lifestyle while supporting sustainability. ⪢ The Gift That Keeps Giving A simple car road trip can spark a lifelong passion for travel. A spontaneous surfing lesson may ignite an enduring love for the ocean. A single art workshop can inspire a lifetime of creativity. Experiences aren’t just fleeting moments - they often serve as gateways to new passions and interests. By choosing to give experiences over material objects, we offer our loved ones something infinitely more valuable: the thrill of adventure, the joy of discovery, and memories that will be cherished forever. ⪢ Experiences Strengthen Relationships Experiential gifts aren’t just about the adventure itself - they’re about sharing moments that strengthen relationships. Whether it’s a spontaneous car road trip with a best friend, a surprise weekend retreat with a partner, or a family getaway, these experiences create opportunities for deeper connections. Traveling together fosters teamwork, patience, and mutual appreciation, strengthening relationships in a way that material gifts never could. ⪢ The Lasting Value of Stories Over Stuff Material possessions may lose their appeal over time, but the stories crafted through experiences endure. Few people look back fondly on the day they received another gadget, but they will always remember the night they camped beneath the stars, the moment they witnessed the northern lights for the first time, or the exhilaration of navigating a road trip through a stunning mountain range. Experiential gifts become the stories that people tell for years, reinforcing the idea that life’s richness is measured in moments, not things. ⪢ Making Experiences More Accessible Some people hesitate to give experiences as gifts, assuming they must be extravagant or costly. However, remarkable experiences don’t require an extravagant budget. A well-planned car road trip, a thoughtfully arranged picnic in a scenic location, or an at-home movie night with themed snacks can be just as meaningful as a lavish vacation. The key is thoughtfulness - curating experiences that are personal, memorable, and tailored to the recipient’s interests. Our Lifestyle Blog Since deciding to sell our houses, let go of 90% of our possessions, pack up our remaining things, and head for the airport, we have learned a lot. We mean A LOT! This full-time travel journey is now entering its fourth year, and we are almost transitioning from travelers to alternative living. In our lifestyle blogs, we want to share our journey with you, along with everything we have learned, the ups and downs, the tips, tricks, and recommendations that can help you change your life if you are done with the 9-5. A guest post written by Luisa Acorsi for Closer Lives Luisa Acorsi is a passionate writer specializing in travel and lifestyle. She loves exploring new destinations, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing her experiences through engaging storytelling. With a keen eye for detail and a love for adventure, Luisa brings fresh perspectives on culture, food, and unique travel experiences. Whether it's a bustling city escape or a serene getaway, she captures the essence of every journey, inspiring readers to explore the world with curiosity and style.