You know what they say: When in Rome… hire someone to pretend to be your boyfriend for three hours on Instagram.

It doesn’t really roll off the tongue in the same way as the original saying, does it? More on that in a second.

It looks like nowadays if you don’t post your entire holiday on Instagram, then it’s questionable whether you went on holiday at all. The trend is so commonplace that some hotels will hire out ‘Instagram-sitters’ to take care of your holiday snaps for you.

For those who can’t afford those hotels, there are endless lists of the most Instagrammable places in the world to choose from, so that you don’t waste your time travelling somewhere that isn’t ‘Insta-worthy’.

Which brings us back to the idea of hiring someone to be your boyfriend on Instagram. Here’s Business Insider:

…the phenomenon of the “Instagram boyfriend” is very real – but what do you do if you’re single? Or travelling with your parents? Or simply have a boyfriend who consistently chops your feet off in pictures when clearly your amazing sandals were the whole point of the shot?

It’s a very real struggle for many.

Go to Rome, however, and you need struggle no more, for it is now possible to hire an Instagram boyfriend for the day.

Is it a struggle, though? Is it really?

Yep. Apparently, the struggle is so real that a tour company in Italy has launched a package that provides travellers with a professional photographer that will follow you around Rome for the day, taking perfect Instagram snaps.

You can request an Instagram boyfriend as an extra.

The basic tour costs €735 (R11,400), and the Instagram boyfriend extra is an additional €350 (R5,400), which means the whole thing will set you back €1,085 (R16,800).

You’ll have your Insta boyfriend (who could be male or female) for just three hours, which means you’ll have to get cracking on the shoot.

Davide Bolognesi, Marketing Manager at Roma Experience, said that more and more people are experiencing their holidays through their cameras.

“It is important for us to keep up with the continually developing desires of our travellers, and as high-quality holiday snaps become an ever more important factor for travellers we want to ensure we can provide that.”

Meanwhile, the select few of us who still travel to actually experience things in real-time have to navigate hundreds of idiots with their selfie-sticks and fake boyfriends blocking the walkways and views.

Be better, people. I know you have it in you.

[source:businessinsider]