A travel blogger is someone who writes about their experiences visiting different destinations. They often include photos and videos to give readers a better sense of what the place is like. Travel bloggers usually focus on a specific niche, such as family, luxury, or budget travel. Some travel bloggers even make a living by partnering with hotels and tour companies, or by putting ads on their website.
If you’re thinking about becoming a travel blogger and need a little inspiration, you’re in the right place! We asked ten travel bloggers from around the world to share their travel lifestyles and tips with us.
Jolayne Kline of SimplyJolayne
Being a travel blogger encapsulates the best things I love to do: travel, be creative, and write.
I flew for the first time in my 20s; I was definitely a travel “newbie.” My first big mistake? Forgetting or did not even think to check the name on the luggage tag when I was at baggage claim. I found “my” bag and was happy to be on my way home, only to receive a call from the airport when I arrived home asking if I happened to grab the wrong bag. Ugghh!
And yes, after arriving home at midnight, I had to drive one hour back to the airport to exchange the lookalike bag for my identical piece of luggage.
I’ve learned plenty about travel in the 30 years since that time. Being a travel blogger means sharing my travel advice, experiences, and packing tips to help others avoid “newbie” mistakes, misadventures, and mishaps in their travels.
Day-to-day blogging involves research, marketing, and writing interspersed with planning for and taking awesome trips around the world. Blogging about travel means taking notes every day as I travel to remember cafes, cities, and museums, as well as the funny moments along the way (I began documenting our family vacations before it was even cool).
Travel Tip: Bring A Portable Charger
As a travel blogger, one of the essential tips I share is traveling with a portable charger.
Portable chargers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from the size of a tube of lipstick to the size equal to your cell phone. Portable chargers are convenient for a quick charge and are easy to tuck into your backpack as you sightsee each day. This is especially important if you are the navigator of the family.
Gregory Gaynor of Face Dragons
I’ve been traveling around Asia for over a decade. At Face Dragons, I blog about everything digital nomad.
After years in the corporate world, I was drawn to the travel blogger lifestyle primarily for the freedom to travel and work without colleagues or my boss keeping an eye on me. After five years of working in downtown Beijing, the freedom to move around and write was intoxicating.
I celebrated quitting my job by taking my family on a tour of South East Asia.
Being a travel blogger isn’t a vacation, although writing about exotic locations is far from a chore. The constant stress of staying ahead of visas, booking flights, and living out of suitcases can be challenging. However, having a base to travel from and return to can make the travel blogger lifestyle much more manageable.
Travel Tip: Don’t Book Accommodation
I love the freedom of writing from the Himalayas and looking out at Tibetan monasteries just as much as posting from beach bars in Thailand. However, If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s not to book accommodation.
This tip may seem crazy if you usually book everything for a vacation well in advance. Still, when you’ve stayed in dozens of hotels and rentals every year, you realize there is always somewhere to stay and someone offering accommodation.
From Laos, Nepal, and Cambodia to China, India, and Thailand, no matter where I go, I always find better and, more importantly, cheaper places to stay when I’m there. I’ve stayed in a courtyard villa in Lumbini and found an apartment with a pool in Phuket, both cheaper than any available hotel.
Pro tip! Say no and walk out for an immediate discount!
Scott and Julie of Miles With McConkey
Being a travel blogger is terrific. Each day provides new adventures.
At Miles with McConkey, Julie and I create both travel blog posts and travel videos. We conduct field research to provide our audience with informed guidance. You get the benefit of learning from our mistakes.
Many people comment that our videos make destinations look so fun. What you do not see is the amount of work that goes into generating that footage.
We typically shoot videos and photos on two or three devices to ensure we obtain everything we need. If something should happen to one of our devices, we want to be confident that we have footage of the trip that we can share.
Not all of our readers and viewers consume content the same way. Because of this, we are on various social media channels.
Each social media platform has its own format preferences. Some venues require vertical clips, while others want horizontal ones. It is common for us to shoot a scene twice to accommodate both formats.
Since we visit many national and state parks, we do a lot of day hiking. We often get perplexed looks from other travelers when we film a trail section multiple times.
Since we take both vertical and horizontal photographs, we tend to take longer than the average tourist at key viewpoints. Taking a little extra time to get the shot is worthwhile. Nothing is worse than getting home to find that you do not have the proper format to share your trip with your friends on social media.
Travel Tip: Taking Photos/Video for Social Media
As a traveler, we encourage you to take some pictures and videos by holding your phone both ways. You can then utilize social media however you like.
One last piece of advice is to live the moment. Do not get so caught up in getting the perfect shot that you forget to enjoy your adventure.
Steve and Lillian with Maps Over Coffee
The best part about being a travel blogger is the freedom to do something that you love. Most of our lives we have spent earning a living just so we can travel and get away. But as a travel blogger, the getaway is the work.
Travel is an exploration. And not just a geographical one. You see everything with fresh eyes when you find yourself in new places. The coffee tastes better, the air smells fresher, and the jerky drivers…. never mind, they’re still jerks.
The point is that we feel like we’ve learned something every trip we come back from. Something about the world, something about people. Something about ourselves. And as travel bloggers, we get to share that with everyone. At least everyone that reads our blog.
Travel Tip: Budget for the Memories
We have learned a lot about traveling smarter through the years. If I had one tip to pass along, it would be to budget for memories. Travel doesn’t have to be expensive, but you also don’t have to pass up on every experience just because of the cost.
The trick is to conserve and splurge. Decide on the most important thing you want to do on your trip. What story do you want to tell? Don’t buy things when you can pay for experiences.
The more we travel, the more we are convinced of the importance of coming back with a story. I think our biggest regrets are the things that we haven’t done. But our greatest treasures are the memories we have made along the way.
Monica Fish of Planner at Heart
People today are so busy, and many don’t have time or aren’t interested in doing weeks of research for vacation. I try to bring a service mindset to travel blogging to make it easier for people to get out there and explore our big, beautiful world by doing the leg work for them. So whether that’s trying out places myself and sharing the best things to do there, interviewing a group of experts, or digging deep into a topic to help people save money in new ways, my mission is to help bust through people’s barriers to travel.
Travel Tip: Save Money with Timeshare Rentals
One of the solutions I provide to my readers is helping them find vacation deals that aren’t on their radar. As a happy timeshare owner of 15 years, I share the ins and outs of this part of the travel world to save people big-time money. For example, many timeshare owners rent out their condo units inside global hotel chains when they can’t use them.
So, if you’re dreaming of staying at Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club on the iconic Kaanapali Beach and think it’s out of your budget, it may not be with timeshare rentals. Because when you book with an owner on a trusted platform and not the hotel, you side-step standard rack room rates and save 25 to 50% of the resort’s direct price.
Casandra Karpiak of Savoteur
Traveling the world as a travel writer is everything I dreamed it would be and more. I’m racking up the airline points for those rare occasions when I travel without an assignment, and I have access to events and attractions before they become tourist hotspots. It is so much easier to get immersed in the local areas I’m traveling in because of the private access and treatment I receive while researching articles. And regular travel teaches you quickly how to become a professional packer!
Travel Tip: Avoid Checking Luggage
If you’re traveling with a checked bag, the chances it will make it from one plane to the next in time for departure when your flight is delayed can make your journey stressful.
Traveling with a carry-on means being adaptable and ready for anything and taking advantage of opportunities as they arise. If your flight is delayed and you see that there’s another flight leaving sooner that has space available, you can change your plans on the fly and get where you’re going faster.
Of course, there are downsides to traveling with only a carry-on bag. You have to be mindful of your bag’s weight and size restrictions, and you can’t pack as much stuff. But if you’re willing to travel light, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
Nicholas Rosen of The World Overload
Being a travel blogger just seems to make life more exciting. It fills you with anticipation and excitement as you travel the world and have all these new experiences. Whether you write as a hobby or as your profession, it is positive.
Travel blogging allows you to interact and share your personal knowledge and experiences with many others. Your words may convince someone to take that once-in-a-lifetime trip. Others may see your writing and decide they want you to be their spokesperson in sharing content with others globally. You might not even know about the many benefits to travel blogging.
But do not think it is all just about travel and having fun. You get what you put into your travel blogging, and it takes patience and a lot of work to be even mildly successful. The articles you put out must be very consistent almost every week if you want to get steady pageviews. A lot of travel bloggers focus on SEO content, keywords, and virtual assistants to help. Find the perfect Instagram picture to keep your followers interested. The process has many steps, almost 30% writing to 70% marketing and promoting. And you need luck.
Hundreds to thousands of travel blogs have been here before you and are coming right after you. And most will have similar material. When it comes to tourist attractions in popular destinations, the information is the same, with the only difference being the writing. That is what captures people. But ultimately, this should be something that you enjoy and makes you happy, not as a responsibility or stressful part of your life.
Travel Tip: Plan Ahead
A big tip I would recommend is planning out when you are traveling. If you are focused on writing specific pieces on cities and countries, it is good to make sure you have plenty of time to experience and enjoy it while also maintaining a good timeline to cover a lot of areas. You may have a limited time not only to travel but also to write, so make the most out of it. Do not pass up on a worthwhile once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Billy Madrid of Bitcora365
For those who wish to become a travel blogger, the truth is that it is quite an experience and a journey. After exploring the world through the eyes of other travelers and their experiences, I decided to become a travel blogger.
Not knowing where or how to begin, I decided to start by discovering more within my own country, Colombia. I’ve made many great friends and have enjoyed many incredible trips since that time. After beginning my travels, I decided to start my own blog. Blogging has allowed me to share my experiences with others and inspire them to travel more!
Travel Tip: Visit Lesser-Known Destinations
My tip for those interested in traveling more is to start with lesser-known destinations. You are likely to find better prices, and you won’t have to battle crowds. However, if you are traveling to a popular vacation destination, try and time your trip for the off-season. You won’t have to wait in as many lines, and you’ll have more freedom to do the things you’re interested in.
Alex Sumuel of Wander With Alex
If you want to become a travel blogger, don’t let insecurities stop you! It doesn’t matter if you are brand new to travel, just a frequent vacationer, young or old. For far too long I promised myself that I would experience more of the world, but never jump on the opportunities. My excuse was usually, “I don’t have anyone to travel with.” Friends and family schedules just never seemed to line up and I always ended up spending my vacation time at home.
I finally decided to start traveling more just last year. I was sick and tired of being locked up at home because of the pandemic and was itching to get away. And boy, did I get AWAY. That year I visited Glacier National Park, went on a cruise to the Bahamas, took a road trip to Hilton Head, SC , and spent some time in Miami, FL and, Savannah, GA. It was invigorating!
It was then that I realized how much I enjoyed meeting new people, making memories, taking photographers, making trip itineraries, and sharing my experiences with others. Shortly after, Wander With Alex was born! Today, my website is a year old and has been visited by thousands.
One of the most rewarding aspects of travel blogging is receiving feedback from visitors about how glad they were to find my travel tips and tricks. It feels good knowing my work has helped someone else enjoy their vacation to the fullest!
Travel Tip: Travel NOW
If traveling has always been something you’ve wanted to do, then do it! You won’t regret your decision. Shake off whatever is holding you back and take the leap! Once you do, you’ll be hooked! Start by traveling to places nearby, and then go from there. Put away the excuses and start planning today!
Alexandrea Sumuel is a travel writer and the founder of Wander With Alex, where she provides vacationers and travel enthusiasts with trip ideas, travel guides, news, and itineraries. She travels to experience, eat, and explore-- and, on occasion, escape! Alex’s mission is to help people travel a little easier.