Is Social Media Ruining the Travel Experience?

Travel Photography

The massive growth of Instagram, social media, and travel blogs in recent years has had a profound impact on how we travel. Not all of it positive. Has travel changed forever?

As someone who makes a living as a travel blogger and photographer, inspiring others to travel, this topic has been on my mind a lot lately.

Over the last 9 years I’ve witnessed first-hand how travel destinations have become overwhelmed by tourists and Instagram selfie-seekers, many of whom seem to be destroying the places they visit.

In fact, I’m part of the problem. And I don’t know how I feel about that.

As you’ll see below, this is a multi-faceted issue, with many different components involved. Social media isn’t the only culprit.

But how do we fix it? Is it even possible, or are we too late?

Overcrowding at Famous Destinations

Overtourism Is A Problem

Tourism helps drive local economies, and countries spend a great deal of time and money attracting travelers to their destinations for that very reason.

But there can also be too much of a good thing. The phenomenon is called “overtourism”, and it’s beginning to take a toll on local communities, and even entire countries.

Tourism helped save Iceland after its 2008 financial crisis. But now many residents have had enough. Since 2010, the number of visitors has more than quadrupled — putting a ton of strain on infrastructure and the environment.

Just 800 people visited Norway’s picturesque Trolltunga “Troll’s Tongue” viewpoint in 2010, while 80,000 people made the hike in 2016. This massive surge of tourism (and rescue missions for those unprepared for the 10 hour trek) was fueled in a large part by social media.

Recent protests in Venice and Barcelona showcase what unchecked tourism is doing to these popular European cities. Neighborhoods become too expensive for locals as investors buy up apartments to rent out to tourists.

More People Are Traveling

Over the past 10 years tourism in general has surged, driven by a rising middle class around the world. This is especially true for emerging economies like China and India.

With more disposable income to spend, millions of new travelers are hitting the road and collecting photos for their Instagram feeds.

Travel has become more affordable and accessible too, with budget airlines like WOW Air and alternative accommodation options like Airbnb.

Studies have shown that Millennials prioritize experiences over possessions, and 72% of millennials say they are planning to travel more, compared with 59% of Gen Xers and 40% of Baby Boomers.

Travel is just hot right now. While the world saw 500 million international travelers in 1995, it has swelled to a massive 1.3 billion tourists in 2017 — and is growing even faster.

For those of us who’ve been promoting the benefits of travel, hey it’s actually working! But there have been consequences…

Many of these new travelers are visiting the same handful of destinations, creating some massive issues with overcrowding. The tourist experience itself is deteriorating due to long lines and a lack of patience.

Social Media Influences People

The Power Of Social Media

If you still don’t think social media has the power to influence people, you’ve got some catching up to do. A new report by Fullscreen & Shareablee shows just how powerful it is.

“Almost half (42%) of 18-34 report trying a product recommended by an influencer, and more than one-quarter (26%) say they have actually made a purchase based on a recommendation.”

Another study by the University of Georgia highlights the “bandwagon effect” and the “snob effect” that social media has on travel.

Some people choose their destinations based on what’s currently trending, while others try to be “cool” by picking destinations that aren’t as popular. Either way, social media is influencing their decisions.

[su_note note_color=”#DCEFF5″ text_color=”#333333″ radius=”3″ class=””]I personally found this study interesting, because I try to do a combination of these two things as a strategy for my business. Highlighting a mix of popular and “undiscovered” places. LOL![/su_note]

The town of Wanaka, New Zealand saw a massive 14% increase in tourism to its region when it focused on inviting social media influencers to visit, far surpassing traditional marketing methods.

Social media is very effective at inspiring people to purchase plane tickets, book hotels, and visit the same locations as the influencers they follow.

Just Taking a Shark Selfie to Show Off…

Selfish Selfie Culture

When the crusaders reached Jerusalem, they visited the tomb of Jesus at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and proceeded to carve graffiti into the walls in order to say “I was here.”

Humans have always been a selfish bunch. That hasn’t changed. What has changed is the tools we use to feed our narcissism.

In the 12th century, it was a medieval dagger. In the 1980’s, it was polaroid cameras and those agonizing family slideshows full of bad travel snapshots.

Just check out photographer Martin Parr’s 1990’s coffee table book Small World if you need reminding what tourism was like before Facebook.

These days, we’re simply using Instagram, Facebook, and selfie-sticks to more effectively indulge in our narcissism, and to a larger audience.

Look at me! I’m so worldly & cultured, right? Like & comment if you agree!

We have to make our mark somehow, to feed those egotistical tendencies — and carving graffiti with daggers is no longer allowed.

Chichen Itza? Check!

A Checklist Mentality

Famous places are famous for a reason. They’re beautiful. Or strange. They have historic or cultural value. You’ll probably want to see them for yourself, and take a photo, just like countless others before you.

This isn’t new to Instagram. As someone who was shooting travel photos before Instagram was a thing, just look at any postcard rack and you’ll see many of the same famous locations on display.

People have been holding up the Leaning Tower Of Pisa for 30+ years.

The only difference is that our travel photos are public now. No longer hidden away in family photo albums.

Instagram has become a publicly accessible bucket-list of places you NEED to visit, fueling a FOMO (fear of missing out) attitude. We’re trying too hard to impress everyone with our list.

Taj Mahal? Chichen Itza? Great Wall Of China?

Been there, done that. Got the t-shirt (and Instagram photo) to prove it.

The Algorithm

Instagram’s algorithm pushes certain types of images to the top of your feed because they naturally get the most attention. Epic landscapes. Colorful sunsets. Famous attractions. Bikini bottoms on white sand beaches.

Even if you want to see other kinds of photography, the algorithm makes it difficult, because those images get buried at the bottom of your feed.

While you can certainly ignore the algorithm, and post whatever the hell you want, those photos most likely won’t be seen by your followers.

So people who are trying to “make it big” on Instagram and get the most likes and followers — keep posting the same damn things over and over again, because they work.

It’s a vicious cycle that leads to the repetition of un-inspiring images that you’ve already seen 100 times before.

Photography is Booming! (Source: Statista)

Everyone’s A Photographer Now

The hobby of photography has grown exponentially over the past few years with technology like digital cameras, smartphones, and online storage and sharing of images through social media.

This means there are simply far more photos of everything now.

It’s estimated that 1.2 trillion digital photos were taken in 2017.

Photography has become more accessible to more people. Everyone and their grandmother is attempting to jockey into position for a memorable shot with their iPhone, iPad, or travel camera.

Countless professionals and non-professionals are sharing free photography how-to YouTube videos online. More of us are getting excited about photography than ever before!

Which is great — as long as we’re following the rules, and not causing a nuisance for others.

Unfortunately, with so many new enthusiasts, there’s a lot of ignorance about common photography etiquette too.

For example, walking directly into other people’s shots, or taking too long to capture a photo when there’s a line of others waiting their turn.

Not Illegal, But Not The Smartest Thing I’ve Done…

Destructive Human Nature

While the rise of Instagram and social media has certainly contributed to the problems, we can’t discount the powerful effects of human nature, ignorance, and our tendency to trash the environment.

Social media has just amplified these consequences to new levels.

When a small sunflower farm in Canada was overwhelmed with visitors due to Instagram, police were called in to shut down the roads and protect the farm from further destruction.

When two women began arguing over a photo-op at Italy’s most famous fountain, it soon escalated into a violent brawl.

Members of a popular group of YouTube/Instagram stars who were jailed for breaking multiple laws in pursuit of fame tragically died while attempting more stunts.

But this has been happening before Instagram too. For years people have been climbing Mount Everest, risking death for bragging rights, all while destroying the mountain with trash and human waste.

Make Money – Make Money, Money

Travel Influencers & Money

The “Rick Steves Effect“. The “Lonely Planet Effect”. Even National Geographic. The ability to make a profit through travel writing and photography has always had both positive and negative outcomes.

Introducing millions of people to a new place and inspiring them to visit can inject a lot of money into a region. It can create new jobs for locals. It can broaden the minds of travelers who make the journey.

But it can also wreak havoc and chaos if the destination isn’t ready for the onslaught of tourism that follows.

The internet broke down barriers to entry into this world, allowing anyone to become a travel photographer, travel writer, or YouTube video host.

It’s how I got started 9 years ago creating this travel blog — chasing a dream, with no professional training.

As the world consumed more news and entertainment online, advertising dollars followed. Myself and many others have been able to make a good living sharing our travel adventures via social media.

Would you believe I’m able to charge up to $4000 for a single Instagram photo? Or $15,000 for a destination marketing campaign? Others with more reach can earn even more…

Suddenly, getting the perfect photo isn’t just a hobby, it’s a job. And more people become fixated on chasing dollar signs than having a real travel experience.

Iceland Before the Crowds

Yes, I’m Part Of The Problem

I’m fully aware of the irony of being a tourist myself, complaining about other tourists. And the further irony that I’m making a living doing it in the process.

While helping to promote these destinations to a wide audience as part of my business, they eventually get overwhelmed.

I’m not so egotistical to think that my content alone created these problems, but I certainly share some of the blame.

Example #1

Back in 2014 I traveled to Iceland for the first time, renting a campervan and driving the country’s Ring Road. I wrote an article about my experience, which has been read over a million times by other travelers.

One location I mentioned was completely altered after my visit. Due to a surge of disrespectful tourists, the Sólheimasandur airplane trail was closed down to vehicles and the plane itself was wrecked by graffiti.

Example #2

Back in 2013 I visited a special monastery in Thailand where monks would give you a traditional Sak Yant tattoo, etched by hand, in exchange for a $3 donation. Filled with locals, and a few tourists, the experience was very authentic and cool.

However after word got around and the activity became super popular, the site turned into a gimmicky tattoo factory, with regular dudes doing the work (no longer monks), and charging upwards of $120 USD.

So What’s The Solution?

Do travelers with “influence” need to be more careful about what they share online? Or will no location remain pristine and undiscovered for long, regardless of what we do?

Do governments need to do a better job managing their tourists, spending more money on enforcing laws, permit systems, sustainability, and infrastructure — rather than tourism marketing?

Or are we just undergoing an unstoppable change in how the world travels — due to a combination of population growth, a rising worldwide middle class, and our already narcissistic nature combined with social media?

I really don’t know. Maybe there isn’t a solution. But I’m hoping that together we can at least acknowledge that there’s something troubling going on, and maybe try to do our own small part to make a difference.

• Pick up some trash on your next adventure.
• Observe posted signs and local customs.
• Read up on travel photography etiquette.
• Put down your camera from time to time.
• Shame & report those who aren’t following rules.
• Learn more about the people and places you visit.
• Don’t treat travel as a competition or checklist.
• Be aware your actions may have negative consequences.

If you agree that something needs to change, please share this article. Awareness and discussion are the first steps! ★

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Do you think Instagram & social media is ruining travel? Can you share any additional examples? Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to share!

This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

Travel Blogging Tips

Want to become a successful travel blogger? Learn how to grow & improve your travel blog with the best tips I’ve learned after ten years of professional full-time blogging.

Continuing from my previous article about how to start a travel blog, it’s time to step it up a notch and share my best secrets for how to become a professional, successful travel blogger.

The word professional meaning you earn a good living from blogging.

I’ve been running a successful adventure travel blog for 10-years now. For the first year it was mainly for fun, but then I began to take it more seriously.

These days blogging is my sole source of income — and I earn six figures a year.

There’s nothing wrong with blogging as a hobby. In fact, that’s as far as most people get. But if my overflowing email inbox is any indication, many of you are dreaming of turning travel blogging into a job.

While it’s more difficult than most people think, this article is for those who are ready to attempt it anyway, regardless of the work involved.

Successful Travel Blogging In 2022

What Is A Professional Travel Blogger?

What does it mean to be a professional travel blogger? Well anyone can start a blog and become a “blogger”. The barrier to entry for blogging is small, which has both benefits and disadvantages.

For example, there are currently thousands of personal travel blogs online — so standing out from the crowd is tough.

However, my definition is those who earn a good portion (or all) of their income from travel blogging are considered professionals. This list is MUCH smaller. If I had to guess, I’d say only a couple hundred people make decent money ($2000+ per month) directly from their travel blogs.

Fortunately, I happen to be one of them after years of trial & error attempting to turn my passion for travel into a business. Which is why I’ve decided to share some of my best secrets with you today.

My suggestions here are certainly not the only roadmap to building a successful travel blog, they just happen to work for me.

Building An Audience Is Key!

While I could go into the different ways travel bloggers make money, that’s not what this particular post is about.

Everyone and their grandmother asks me how I make money from my travel blog, but the question they SHOULD be asking is how did I build an audience.

Because the hard truth is you’ll only earn income with your blog once you have a decent audience. Readers come first, money comes later.

So today we’ll cover a few different techniques for building an engaged audience on your travel blog, as well as unique tactics for getting yourself noticed by companies looking to work with bloggers.

Tips For Building A Successful Travel Blog

1: Create Useful Travel Content

Writing a diary of your travels for family & friends is easy, but other than them, no one else cares. If you want strangers to read your travel blog, you’ll need to provide something more useful.

Budget travel tips, food recommendations, details on what to do or where to stay, photography inspiration, video entertainment, beautiful flowing narrative, humor, etc.

Yes, you should always “follow your passion.” Otherwise, you won’t enjoy what you’re doing. The key is to follow your passion while also providing something of value to your readers.

What are people searching for? It’s time to do some research.

What questions related to travel are being asked in online forums, Reddit, and Quora?

If you already have readers, what are they asking in comments & emails? Give people what they’re asking for!

I received a bunch of questions about what GoPro accessories I travel with. So rather than waste time explaining it to each person individually, I wrote a huge article showcasing the best GoPro accessories for traveling.

Turns out lots of people were looking for this information. The article gets shared a lot and continues to receive steady search traffic from Google.

Why? Because it’s useful! It’s answering a frequently asked question.

Even if you’re sharing an entertaining travel story, including useful tips about how readers can enjoy a similar experience will keep them coming back for more.

2: Do Interesting Stuff!

At face value, it seems pretty basic. But when I say do interesting stuff, I mean do REALLY interesting stuff.

Sensational, fascinating, or challenging stuff. The kind of stuff that gets noticed.

Writing about your drunken full moon party experience in Thailand? Maybe a 1 on the 0-10 awesomeness scale. Kayaking in Greenland? Walking across India? Camping in Antarctica? Vacationing in Yemen? Sailing the coast of Africa?

These activities are MUCH higher on the awesome scale, the topics are unique, and as a result, they’re more likely to be shared with a larger audience.

Your whole blog doesn’t have to read like Buzzfeed, but make it a point to include some truly epic, original stories from time to time.

3: Guest Posting On Other Blogs

When you first start your travel blog, no one will know you exist. A good way to change that is to write guest posts on other popular blogs with large audiences, and siphon some of their readers over to you.

Not only will you reach a targeted audience this way, it also helps with your branding and credibility as an authority on travel.

However, before you go pitching other blogs for guest posts, first check to make sure they even allow them. It helps to have some kind of relationship with the blogger too.

Cold pitches to someone you’ve never spoken with are less likely to work.

You can see examples of my own guest posts here, here, and here. All these articles sent me traffic I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise, introducing my adventure travel blog to new readers.

There’s also SEO power in backlinks from popular sites to yours.

My advice is to be picky, and guest post on blogs that you think will provide the best return on your investment in time. Because time is limited when you’re trying to become a professional blogger!

4: Keep Active On Social Media

Staying active on social media is important if you want to earn your living from blogging. But it can be a huge time suck too. My advice is to be efficient with social media, don’t waste hours and hours there.

I generally jump on once in the morning to schedule posts for the day, then once more in the evening to respond to comments.

It also pays to research the best times to post for each social network. You can find this info in your “insights” or “analytics” areas, or use third party tools.

For example, I’ve found that posting to Facebook at 5am & 8pm EST gives me the best results, while on Instagram, 9pm – 11pm works better. What works for me may not work for you though, and it can change. Always be testing.

Remember to be social on social media too. That means actively responding to comments, and sharing other people’s content if you think your followers will enjoy it.

Here are specific tips for each network based on my experience.

Facebook

1-2 posts per day, postcard type photos with short captions work well. So does uploading 10 different images as an album. Video and Facebook Live has been doing well. Remember to tag yourself in photos you post on your fan page, and your friends will see it too, increasing engagement. Facebook doesn’t like 3rd party sharing apps, so don’t use them.

Follow Me On Facebook!

Twitter

4-5 posts or updates per day, links shared along with a few photos will get better engagement. One hashtag only, or none. Schedule new blog posts to share 3-4 times each spread throughout the month. Occasionally tag relevant companies/tourism boards where appropriate, they may re-tweet it. Buffer Pro is my scheduling & tracking app of choice.

Follow Me On Twitter!

Instagram

I’ve found cutting back to posting every other day is increasing my engagement per photo. Tag the location so others nearby can find your shots. I like using 2-3 hashtags in the caption, with another 20-25 targeted hashtags in the first comment. Longer descriptions seem to work well on Instagram — tell a story. Ask a question at the end to encourage engagement. For faster browsing & commenting on Instagram, I use Iconosquare Pro from my laptop.

Follow Me On Instagram!

Others…

There are other important social media platforms like Pinterest and YouTube. However I’m still learning how to best utilize them, and don’t feel qualified to comment just yet. Which just goes to show you that becoming a professional travel blogger is a never-ending learning process.

5: Get Yourself Some Free Press

Yup, it’s time to become your own PR agent and market yourself to the masses by securing features in major media outlets. If you think popular travel blogs have large audiences, it’s nothing compared to what major media outlets have.

You can actively pitch your story rather than wait around for someone to notice you.

This is what I do to get featured on all sorts of large websites and TV shows over the years.

Here’s my secret formula, so you can do the same!

• Spend time researching media outlets that sometimes publish travel features. Especially those featuring bloggers. Pay attention to the authors of those articles.
• Connect with the authors on Twitter or LinkedIn. Follow them. Add them to a public list. Share their articles with a mention. Ask a question. Send a compliment. But don’t be annoying.
• Put together a polished project/article/idea with mass appeal. Something that many people will find fascinating, as I discussed earlier (do interesting stuff).
• Finally, pitch them your great idea a few months later. I sometimes sweeten the deal by explaining that I’ll be sending out a press-release soon but wanted to give them the opportunity to cover it first.

Now that you’ve dedicated time developing a relationship with the writer, your chances are much higher that they’ll be interested in your pitch, landing you a feature on a major media website!

6: SEO Tips For Blogging

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is when you tweak your content to optimize it for search engines like Google. It seems to get a bad rap these days. Like it’s some kind of mysterious voodoo cheat tactic.

Here’s my take on SEO. If you write for traditional magazines, the writers who can master pitching to editors will get the best results. It’s not voodoo, it’s a relevant skill some people learn to get ahead.

Travel blogging and SEO are, and always will be linked.

Don’t be scared of what you don’t understand. Instead, spend time learning how to master it for yourself. Or hire a professional to help out.

Because like it or not, ensuring Google (and the world in general) can find your amazing travel content is a necessary part of building a successful travel blog website.

A Useful SEO Example

As an example of how I use SEO, let’s take a look at this particular article. The keyword I want to rank for is “professional travel blogger”.

You’ll find that term in a few places here, like the URL, the title, the meta description, the first paragraph, a sub-heading, and at least 5 different times within the content.

I’ve named the lead photo using that keyword, along with its “alt” tag and caption. I’ve also linked back to this post from other pages on my travel blog using the main keyword.

When you search for “professional travel blogger” (or whatever you want to rank for), Google shows related searches at the bottom of the page. Try to incorporate a few of these terms within your article as well.

The result? Google “professional travel blogger” right now & go see what shows up! :-)

Along with on-page SEO, building the authority of your travel blog is also incredibly important. That means acquiring backlinks from other sites to yours through guest posting, major media features, high-profile mentions, writing useful guides that naturally get linked to, etc.

SEO is a huge topic, but if you want to read more about it, I highly recommend studying everything you can find on the Moz.com SEO Bible. Clicking through it quickly doesn’t count, spend a few hours (days?) reading everything!

Also, check out Brian Dean’s SEO blog to stay up to date on what’s new.

7: Build An Email List

Building an email subscriber list is one of the most important things you can do for your travel blog. Possibly even more important than social media. The people who subscribe to your email list are your true fans & dedicated readers.

Why? Email is a much more personal experience. It also performs better than most social media at driving quality traffic to your site.

While someone might receive thousands of social media updates in their feed each day, they may see less than 50 emails a day.

When you send subscribers something via email, they’re more likely to see it.

How do you build your mailing list? There are 2 key ingredients. Offer something of value, and make it easy.

At the moment I offer a free travel photography ebook filled with my favorite images from around the world.

To make it easy, I use BirdSend email newsletter software. It’s affordable and effective.

Another tactic that’s been working well is offering great giveaways on the blog in exchange for readers signing up to my email newsletter through a service like Vyper.io.

8: Advertising Your Blog

I spend money advertising my travel blog on Facebook. I sometimes spend money advertising on Twitter. In fact, I’ll do both for this article you are reading right now. I also pay for advertisements on other blogs.

By doing so, I’m not attracting “fake” readers. I’m paying to reach a large yet targeted audience. A percentage of them will discover my blog for the first time and become regular readers. Or if you sell products, become customers.

Magazines do it. Book publishers do it. Photographers do it. Hell, even nonprofit organizations have an advertising/marketing budget. Of course, if you’re just starting, you may not have the money now, but keep it in mind for the future. Targeted advertising exists for a reason — it works.

Treat your blog like a business if you want to make a living with it.

9: Professional Networking

To make a name for yourself in travel blogging, networking with others in person at conferences is pretty powerful. It’s an investment in time & money, but a worthwhile one.

When you meet potential business partners, colleagues, and clients in person, you’ll be at an advantage over those who don’t have that relationship. They’ll think of you over someone they’ve never met before.

Travel conferences I’ve attended or spoken at:

• TravelCon
• Social Travel Summit
• Travel Blog Exchange
• World Domination Summit
• ITB Berlin

Online networking also has its benefits. Stay active in blogging Facebook groups and social media conversations. If you contribute in a meaningful way or ask good questions, other people in the industry will take notice.

Collaborations with other travel bloggers can expand your reach too. For example, I teamed up with Kiersten from The Blonde Abroad for projects in Iceland & Canada. This exposed my audience to her blog, and her audience to my blog, benefiting us both.

10: Hire Others To Help

Running a successful travel blog is like running your own magazine but without any staff. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, let’s pretend you’re the owner & CEO of a publishing company.

Now imagine that you must also take on the roles of photographer, writer, editor, accountant, marketing team, graphic design, public relations, web development, videographer, finance, secretary, coffee intern, etc.

Get the picture yet? People go to school for years to master each of these jobs (ok, maybe not a coffee intern) but you’re attempting to do them all!

As a professional travel blogger, you are responsible for everything — while also dealing with the stress & challenges of traveling to foreign countries. So when you start earning income, hire others to help you run your business.

A virtual assistant to help with research, pitching, public relations, social media, and tracking campaigns. An accountant. A video editor. A writing editor. A graphic designer.

Hiring others allows you to focus on the stuff you’re good at while leaving the rest to those who are probably better than you anyway. To learn more about hiring a virtual assistant, read “Virtual Freedom” by Chris Ducker.

11: Personal Branding

An important key to success as a travel blogger, or any kind of blogger for that matter, is standing out from the crowd. Branding is how you manage the way you’re presented to others.

Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, it’s better to focus on one or two areas of expertise.

What are you passionate about? What drives you?

When planning a new article/project, ask yourself, does it align with your brand? My own branding is based around adventure travel, so a majority of my articles are about this theme.

Branding has differentiated me from other travel blogs, so when someone is looking to read or work with an adventure travel blogger, they are more likely to find me.

Maintaining a consistent identity across all your online channels and marketing helps drive your brand. Your logo, photography, social media accounts, and blog content should all reflect the values & mission of your brand.

When done right, you can own your demographic. Here are some examples of travel bloggers who’ve done an excellent job with their branding:

• Everything Everywhere: UNESCO World Heritage
• Legal Nomads: Food Travel
• The Planet D: Adventure Travel for Couples
• Adventurous Kate: Solo Female Travel
• Nomadic Matt: Budget Travel
• Wandering Earl: Long-Term Travel
• YTravel Blog: Family Travel

Effective branding leads to a steady stream of readers searching for information on the topic you cover, recognition & influence, plus rewarding partnerships with companies wanting to tap into your demographic.

12: Making Money With Your Blog

Now to the good stuff. How do you actually make money with your travel blog, now that you have all this traffic and readership? The largest sources of income for my blog are: Display advertising via Mediavine, and Affiliate Marketing.

Basically, affiliate marketing programs allow you to recommend things like clothing, travel gear, photography equipment, tours, or even hotels you stay at within your blog posts. You then earn a small commission whenever someone clicks on one of these tracking links and buys something.

Some of my favorite affiliate programs to earn good money on my travel blog include: Discover Cars, Get Your Guide Tours, Amazon.com, and Booking.com. There are many more too.

The Reality Of Travel Blogging

Successful travel blogging is hard work. If you think this job is just an extended vacation, you will be very disappointed. I hope this article helped showcase just how much work is actually involved.

Most travel blogs will be lucky if they last longer than a year.

Those who are in it for the long haul, and are ready to take it seriously as a profession, have the best chance for success. Never mind that the advice listed here is just the tip of the iceberg!

That said, travel blogging is still the best job I’ve ever had. ★

Ready To Start A Travel Blog?

Make sure to read my detailed guide on how to create a travel blog & make money.

Click Here For Free Guide

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This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

Travel Blogging Tips

Travel blogging has given me the freedom to travel the world for the past 10 years. This detailed guide will show you how to start a travel blog & eventually make money with it.

Already Have A Blog?

Make sure to read my more advanced post about how to become a successful travel blogger & make money.

Click Here For Free Guide

I’ve been working as a travel blogger & photographer for the past 10-years, and earn six figures annually from professional blogging. So I regularly receive tons of email and questions asking for tips about how to start a travel blog.

I know, I get it. Seeing constant photos from my wild travel adventures on your Facebook or Instagram feeds makes it look like a dream job…

After all, I get paid to travel the world! I admit it’s a pretty sweet gig.

But travel blogging isn’t as easy as it looks from the outside. There’s a lot of work going on in the background that most people don’t see.

So today I wanted to share a useful guide on how to get started travel blogging. Or any type of blogging really. Because it’s the very first step to becoming a successful blogger!

How To Start A Travel Blog In 2022

The Travel Blogging Journey

The act of starting your very first travel blog is actually pretty easy. If you follow my guide, you can have your own blog up and running today.

However, starting your blog is just the tip of the iceberg.

Now keep in mind the following advice is for those who are prepared to take travel blogging seriously, as some of these steps require spending money.

If you just want to blog as a part-time hobby, you can always start a simple travel blog for family & friends on WordPress.com. It’s totally free!

But if you’re interested in making money with travel blogging like I do, keep reading below for the details.

💥 Essential First Step To Start A Blog 💥

In order to get you started down the right path building a brand new travel blog, you’re going to need an (affordable) domain name and hosting — we’ll be using the provider I personally recommend to make it easy.

Get a free domain name and up to 60% off a hosting plan with BlueHost.

1. Pick A Name For Your Travel Blog

My first travel blog was called YearAroundTheWorld.com. Do you see the obvious problem with that domain name? Well, I didn’t, not until later.

I was backpacking through Central America, blogging about my experiences and having a great time — when I suddenly decided I wanted to travel for longer than one year. Whoops!

Make It Short & Memorable

Your travel blog domain name should be relatively short, easy to type, easy to spell, easy to remember, and easy to share. I recommend brainstorming by writing down a bunch of words you think will best describe your blog.

Adventure? Food? Culture? South America? What do you want to write about? Who are you? What is your passion? Write everything down and start playing with different combinations of words.

Try using a thesaurus. Ask your friends for advice & suggestions.

Avoid Hyphens & Numbers

This can be difficult to do these days, but it helps to avoid using hyphens or numbers in your domain name because otherwise you’ll be forced to explain it to someone. For example:

POTENTIAL READER: “You have a travel blog? Cool! Where do I find it?”

YOU: “Oh, it’s called expert hyphen vagabond the number 100 dot com.”

As you can see, this type of domain isn’t the greatest for word-of-mouth marketing, which happens to be a good source of promotion while you’re traveling and meeting people.

Avoid Overused Words & Similar Branding

Avoid trademarked company names or words that may be overused in the industry. Sure, you can pick something like Nomadic Bob, Adventurous Wendy, or Wandering Clarence.

But domain names like that won’t stand out very much in the travel blogging niche because those ideas have already been taken by others who are more established.

You’ll have better luck in the long-run with something more original.

Try To Think Long-Term!

Think good & hard about choosing your travel blog’s domain name, because changing it, later on, isn’t easy (or fun). Be careful not to pigeonhole yourself.

If you call your blog Twenty-Something Travel like my friend Steph (sorry Steph!), what happens when you turn 30? Branding yourself is important in the travel blogging business.

I was thinking long-term when I eventually changed my blog’s name to expertvagabond.com because, let’s face it, at 3 months in I was HARDLY an expert.

Yet I was passionate about becoming a professional travel blogger and knew eventually this would be perfect. I’d just have to grow into my new name!

2. Get Hosting For Your Blog

What the heck is hosting? It’s not as confusing as it sounds. Most websites need to “rent” space on the internet. A place to store all your blog’s data, files, and photos so that people around the world can easily access it when they type in your domain name.

Hosting can actually be pretty cheap. I recommend new travel blogs get hosting with BlueHost. There are many different hosting companies out there, but BlueHost is very affordable & makes setting up a new travel blog crazy easy.

They offer quality shared hosting for a very low price (only $2.95 per month for 12 months through this link).

[Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you. But I’d still recommend them even if I wasn’t!]

Eventually, when you have hundreds of thousands of visitors per month on your blog like me, you may want to upgrade your hosting to a dedicated server. But those can be expensive (mine is over $200 a month)…

So if you are just starting out, getting a basic hosting account with BlueHost is much more affordable.

How To Set Up Your Travel Blog

STEP A: Click the green button that says “GET STARTED NOW.”

STEP B: Pick a hosting plan depending on your budget/goals.

STEP C: Check to see if your blog name (domain name) is available.

STEP D: Add extra features if you want to.

The only feature I really recommend is Domain Privacy Protection. Otherwise, anyone can look up who owns your site, giving them access to your contact info. This way they won’t be able to.

➜ Get Your Free Domain & Hosting Now

3. Install WordPress Software

To start a serious travel blog, you want a self-hosted WordPress account. This means the WordPress software resides on your hosting company’s servers, not on a free WordPress.com account. What’s the difference?

• Your website is “MyTravelBlog.com” rather than “MyTravelBlog.WordPress.com”
• You own your data and have full control
• You can sell advertising on your site
• You can install plugins & custom themes
• You can use Google Analytics tracking (important)

Yes, you want to use WordPress too. Not Blogspot, not Blogger, not anything else. WordPress is the king of blogging, and probably always will be.

Most professional websites use the WordPress blogging platform these days, even major brands like the New York Times, BBC, Time, Beyonce, etc. You’re in good company!

BlueHost Makes It Easy!

Installing WordPress with your BlueHost Account is super easy — because it’s done automatically with the click of a button.

Once installed, you’ll be able to log into the WordPress dashboard with your new username and password and start building your site. Welcome to the club! You now have a travel blog.

That wasn’t too hard, was it? But wait, there’s a little more!

4. Learn How To Use WordPress

Feeling intimidated about WordPress? Don’t worry. Because it’s the industry standard when it comes to blogging platforms, and has been for years, there are TONS of useful tutorials online that will teach you about anything you need.

Here is my favorite free WordPress training resources:

• WordPress itself has a huge library of free wordpress lessons that will help you get started.
• If you become a BlueHost customer, ask customer support about Blue Flash, their own series of free tutorials and guides.

Basically, spend a Saturday learning how to use your WordPress dashboard, how to tweak your site’s settings, how to post an article, etc. You’ll get the hang of everything with practice.

5. Download A Professional Theme

Your new WordPress blog comes with a couple of standard “themes”, or designs for your site. While this is ok for playing around in the beginning, if you want to take this seriously and eventually make money with your travel blog, you should buy a premium design.

Professional blog themes start around $50, and they’ll greatly improve the look and functionality of your site.

I’ve changed themes a few times over the years, but the current one I’m using is called Trellis. I’ve also used & enjoyed GeneratePress in the past. Both are fast, responsive blog themes.

Many professional themes provide a support forum where you can ask questions about customization, and someone will help you get the look you’re after using CSS/HTML coding. Or, you can hire a cheap web developer through Upwork to do custom design work on your site.

You may also want to have a cool logo created. I used a site called 99 Designs for mine. A professional logo really makes your brand stand out from the thousands of other travel blogs online.

6. Install Essential Plugins

You can think of WordPress plugins as third-party apps for your travel website. They give your blog additional features. Most plugins are free, some you have to pay for.

You can download new plugins in the “plugin” section of your WordPress Dashboard.

Here’s my recommended list of plugins to install with your travel blog.

• Akismet – Protects your blog from spammers leaving comments on your posts. Not perfect, but probably the best one out there.
• Yoast SEO – Very important plugin for optimizing your articles for Google search, plus integrating Google Sitemaps and Analytics.
• Easy Social Share Buttons – Nice social media sharing buttons for your articles.
• WP Rocket – Caching plugin that speeds up your travel blog
• Imagify – Automaticaly optimizes your media library images for fast loading

There are others of course, but these will get you started.

7. Craft Your Online Persona

Create An About Page

One of the first things you should do on your blog is to create an about page. This is one of the most highly trafficked pages on any travel blog, because it tells people who you are, your background, and explains why they should follow you.

Keep it fun and personable. Let your readers know who you really are!

Embrace Social Media

If you want to build a successful and profitable travel blog, posting regularly to social media is important.

Learning how to master social media is a huge topic, one that I cover more here: Secrets Of Professional Travel Blogging

To begin, sign up for all the most popular platforms, and keep your social media username the same on all of them if possible. Otherwise, people can get confused.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Pinterest

A note on social media. Sometimes people ask me if they should start their travel blogs on Facebook or Instagram instead of having an actual website.

No, I don’t recommend relying on Facebook or Instagram. You don’t have any control over those platforms, and they could easily disappear in the future.

Use social media to promote and support your blog. Don’t build your business on a platform you have no control over, it’s just too risky.

8. Writing Your First Blog Posts

Now it’s time to begin creating content for your travel blog. When you first start out, I recommend publishing new articles at least 1-2 times per week. But remember, quality is more important than quantity!

Take your time to craft excellent, useful blog posts that have impact. You want your articles to inspire wanderlust, but they should include plenty of actionable tips too.

In the beginning, maybe tell people why you are starting a travel blog. Or share what you’re packing for an upcoming trip.

Share your favorite (or not so favorite) parts of a country. Give tips for fun things to do, share your crazy travel stories, show-off your beautiful images in photo essays, create a short video tour, or give food recommendations.

Whatever the topic is, writing a blog post will help you understand how to publish images, headers, and all the other formatting that comes with publishing on WordPress.

Try writing about different topics to find your voice, and see what kinds of posts actually resonate with readers.

For example, road trip guides do really well on my site. But I didn’t discover that until later. You need to experiment!

Need some ideas? Here are some of my most popular blog posts.

What If You’re Not Traveling Now?

Are you still planning your travels? Well, you can write about that too. Share different ways you are saving money for travel or maybe a bucket list of activities you want to try.

However my favorite strategy is to write about what you know.

As an example, let’s say you live in Richmond, Virginia. Maybe you don’t think it’s an interesting city to write about, yet there are thousands of people looking for travel tips about Richmond every day.

Share what you know with them! Help these people have a great trip, and they will become regular readers.

TripAdvisor recommends 225 things to do in Richmond. That’s easily a year’s worth of blog posts right there!

Network With Other Bloggers

Remember to read other travel blogs for inspiration and ideas, and leave thoughtful comments on their articles. Link to other people’s blog posts from your site when appropriate.

Become an active member of the travel blogging community.

9. Start Making Money With Your Blog!

At first, your only readers will be family and friends. But that’s ok! We all started like that. To begin making money with your travel blog, you need to have a larger audience than just family and friends.

The more traffic your travel blog receives, the more money you can make with it. It takes time to build an audience and grow traffic. Don’t focus on making money right away, focus on building your audience.

However, you can start earning income early with Affiliate Programs.

Basically, affiliate programs let you recommend things like clothing, travel gear, photography equipment, tours, or even hotels you stay at within your blog posts. You then earn a small commission whenever someone clicks on one of these tracking links and buys something.

Some of my favorite affiliate programs to earn good money on my travel blog include Discover Cars, Get Your Guide Tours, Amazon.com, and Booking.com. There are many more too.

Another option is showing display ads with Google Adsense, which lets other companies post banner advertisements on your travel blog.

How Much Money Can You Make From A Travel Blog?

Honestly, the sky (and your imagination) is the limit. In the beginning, you won’t be earning too much money though, and it really depends on how much time you put into it.

Your income and success grow only when your audience grows. So that should be your first priority moving forward!

Attracting new readers to your blog with great travel content.

To give you an example, you might be able to make a few hundred dollars (or a few thousand) per month after a year of blogging. It really depends on all kinds of unknowable factors.

While it took me about four years to start earning over $100,000 a year from blogging, others I know were able to achieve this milestone even earlier!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Really Make Money Blogging?

Yes. To become a successful travel blogger though, you need to provide value to others. Blogging about your day is not the same as writing a helpful destination travel guide. In addition to the fun articles, produce stuff people are actually searching for!

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Travel Blog

The up-front costs for starting a travel blog are pretty cheap. If you sign up for hosting with BlueHost, it’s only $2.95 a month (for the 36 month package).

Plus, you might want to download a profession theme for about $50. Not needed, but it does help you stand out.

On top of those expenses, you may want a nice logo designed too. Using a site like 99 Designs, you can have one made for another $50. So all-in, you’re looking at spending about $150 upfront.

Is Travel Blogging Too Saturated?

While it may seem like everyone and their grandmother has a blog these days, most people don’t take it very seriously. Only the most dedicated make a living with it. So it’s really up to you how much effort you put in.

Do You Need A Laptop & Camera?

Yes, you’ll need both. They don’t have to be top-of-the-line, but you’ll want a computer for writing and sharing blog posts, and a camera for capturing images from your adventures. Here are my favorite travel cameras.

Should I Enroll In A Travel Blogging Course?

Buying an online course isn’t a requirement to building a travel blog. But like anything in life, if you want to get good at something, investing time & money to be trained certainly helps. Once you’ve set up your first blog, if you want some more direction, I highly recommend the Superstar Blogging Course.

Happy Travel Blogging!

Setting up a travel blog is easy, but please be aware that building an audience is much tougher. You shouldn’t expect to see any large reader numbers for at least a year, maybe longer.

That’s one full year of blogging on a regular basis, and putting in at least 10-hours a week (most professional bloggers work 30+ hours a week).

Yes, it’s a dream job, but travel blogging is still a job that requires hard work. Creating a successful travel blog won’t happen overnight either.

But no risk, no reward! Good luck out there, and happy travel blogging. ★

Already Have A Blog?

Make sure to read my more advanced post about how to become a successful travel blogger & make money.

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This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

Paid To Travel

After 10-years traveling the world, my most common question is: “how do you make money traveling?” or “how do you get paid to travel?” So here’s my detailed answer.

Working as a professional travel blogger and photographer has been a dream come true after many years of hard work.

But I completely understand your curiosity. How am I getting paid to travel around the world so much?

It always seems like I’m on a perpetual vacation, going on wild adventures to places like Costa Rica, Morocco, Antarctica, Iceland, and Afghanistan — but there’s a lot more to it behind the scenes. Somehow I need to make a living!

How exactly do I make money? How do I fund my travels? Do I have sponsors? Who is paying me to travel the world?

I know it doesn’t seem possible, but it is. And I’m about to show you how.

Getting Paid To Travel In 2023

Want To Get Paid To Travel?

What started as a hobby is now my full-time job. Interested in starting a blog to make money while traveling?

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How Do I Fund My Adventures?

There are many different ways to get paid to travel the world. For me, I make money from this travel blog you’re reading now, which I started ten years ago.

However, I’ll share other travel-friendly jobs at the end of this article too.

My own income sources can change from year to year, and some are more complicated than others. Attempting to explain how I get paid to travel in casual conversation usually takes a while.

Often times I’ll just throw out “travel writer” or “photographer” to avoid a lengthy discussion. Basically a full-time digital nomad.

But because this is the big question everyone wants an answer to, I’ll finally try to clarify the details for you today.

You’ll learn exactly how I’ve funded my travels for the past 10 years — and how I’m able to use my blog to get paid for traveling around the world.

Paid To Travel The World

It was 2009 when I first began planning to quit my job and travel. I was inspired by two friends. Both were traveling very cheaply, on a backpacker’s budget, living on less than it takes to live in the United States.

I was completely enthralled with their photos and stories from exotic destinations around the world. They had me reading inspiring books and quotes about travel, and I was hooked!

At the time, I didn’t realize you could travel long-term for less than $1000 a month! Budget travel was an entirely new concept for me.

My buddy Ferenc was backpacking through Southeast Asia, making money advertising with Google Adsense on his photography website.

My friend Katie was working on private yachts as a chef, island hopping around the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

I thought if they could make money traveling like this, so could I!

Saving Money To Travel

My family isn’t wealthy (by American standards), and I’ve never had a trust fund. According to US statistics I was lower-middle class, a single dude living in South Florida working 2 jobs earning about $30k per year.

How could I possibly save money to travel the world for a year living on that?

The answer is I downsized my lifestyle to live on even less.

I’d just finished paying off my car, so I decided to sell it. I canceled my car insurance, gym membership, and Netflix subscription. I purchased a used commuter bicycle, a rain poncho, and a bus pass to get around.

I sold off almost everything of any value that I owned. Goodbye DJ turntables, goodbye stereo, goodbye sports equipment.

I stopped going out to bars, restaurants, and nightclubs too. I cooked a lot of pasta & rice at home. Made my own cheap sandwiches for lunch.

I rented a small room for $400 in a small 2 bedroom house I shared with 2 other people in the suburbs.

These simple (but boring) actions allowed me to save about $7000 over the course of a year. It required discipline, and it wasn’t exactly “fun”.

Making Money While Traveling

While I spent a year saving money for (what would initially be) a 12-month journey through Central America, I was also dedicating my free time to developing a side-hustle to make extra money that would help pay the bills as I traveled.

I worked countless coffee-fueled nights and weekends doing hundreds of hours of research to learn about and build a small online business writing and selling digital guides (aka ebooks). My social life kind of fell apart because I wasn’t going out much… only working on my side business.

But chasing my travel dreams was more important to me at the time.

When I finally left for Guatemala in November of 2010, in addition to my savings, I was also earning $1000-$2000 a month selling three different how-to guides on various topics related to the nightlife industry.

After a few years, my ebook side-income business slowed down, as much of my success was from advertising with Google Adwords, a platform that shows ads in your search results. Google made changes that hurt my business a lot.

Luckily by then I’d begun to diversify my income streams, and was earning money from my travel blog. And have continued to ever since.

Current Blog Income Sources

1. Influencer Marketing

Companies pay me to travel by advertising on this blog and my social media accounts. It takes many forms, like sponsored blog posts, Instagram features, brand ambassadorship programs, or newsletter mentions.

I’ve built up a large loyal audience of people who are interested in travel, and these companies want access to that audience.

Examples include deals with respected companies like American Express, Momondo, Citizen Watches, or Backcountry.

I always include a disclaimer if I’m partnering with a brand and only work with companies that I admire and trust.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Whenever I share my favorite travel gear, photography equipment, books, or online courses with you, I include special affiliate tracking links to those products.

This means if you decide to click through and buy something, I’ll receive a small commission. The price remains the same whether you use my special link or not.

Examples include Discover Cars, Get Your Guide Tours, Amazon, Backcountry, Booking, Airbnb, Adorama Photo, and many more.

There are also dedicated affiliate networks like Share A Sale and Commission Junction who represent all kinds of different products.

To see my affiliate links in action, check out my Travel Gear Guide.

While individual commissions might be pretty small, this site receives 500,000+ pageviews per month. Many people are clicking on those links and buying things, which allows me to get paid to travel.

3. Freelance Travel Photography

I earn money licensing my travel photography for use in commercial marketing campaigns, or for editorial use by media outlets. Tour companies, national tourism boards, outdoor brands, magazines, book publishers and others buy my images from time to time.

I’ve even sold travel photography to National Geographic!

Selling travel photography prints is not a huge income source for me. Most photography income comes from working with brands/destinations/media outlets who find me online.

Another source of income is when I go after people using my images without permission, and force them to buy a license. Copyright theft is rampant online, and as the owner of these images, I’m legally entitled to compensation. I’m able to do this through a service called Ryde One.

Best Online Photography Courses

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4. Destination Marketing

Occasionally a country’s tourism board will invite me to visit and write about my experiences traveling through their country.

In the past these were unpaid; but flights, accommodation, and activities were covered like a traditional media press trip.

Well, now I’m getting paid to travel on these destination marketing projects. Usually, they reach out to me, but sometimes I’ll pitch a project to them too.

A campaign usually produces a mix of blog posts, social media content, photography, and video footage.

5. Display Advertising

Google has an advertising platform called Adsense. By placing some special code on your blog, they display relevant ads within the content of your site.

You earn income each time a reader clicks on one of these ads. They can also integrate into your YouTube videos, which is how vloggers make money.

If your blog receives enough traffic, premium advertising networks like Mediavine pay more than Adsense. Rates vary between $2 – $40 per 1000 views depending on your topic.

6. Paid Public Speaking

As a blogger, you can also get paid to travel by speaking at conferences and events around the world related to your topic. So in my case, I’ve spoken about travel photography and led some photography workshops.

Teaching others with a practical and inspirational speech is a skill that many companies will pay for. If you can build up your online brand, companies will start to seek you out for these kinds of speaking jobs.

Other Ways To Earn Money Traveling

There are other ways to make money from a travel blog which I currently don’t take advantage of. Here are some additional examples.

Freelance Travel Writing

I used to write travel articles for other websites. They needed content, and I had stories and experiences to share. TravelChannel.com was once one of my clients.

It can be a decent source of income for some people, for me it was sporadic. These days I’m able to earn more working on my own site rather than writing for others, so I generally don’t chase this type of income anymore.

Link Building

In the past, I also engaged in something called text-link advertising. Companies would pay just for a backlink to their website in my older posts, or provide a full pre-written “guest post” full of links for me to publish.

Why? Because it helps those companies increase their search engine results, sending more people to their website and growing their business.

The practice is frowned upon though, because it’s against Google’s guidelines.

If you’re caught by Google, it can backfire, so I don’t recommend it. Yet many bloggers still make money this way — so I thought I’d mention it.

Leading Tours Or Workshops

Some travel bloggers and photographers run their own group tours or photography workshops to exotic destinations around the world.

Some focus on budget travel, others focus on food, writing retreats, or improving photography techniques. Basically, you’re showing strangers around an area you know well, and hopefully teaching them something in the process.

Organizing a tour is a lot of work, but it can pay well too. I’ve run one adventure travel & photography tour to Russia, and while it was fun, I’m not sure I’ll do many of these in the future. I’m not a natural tour-guide! LOL.

Selling Ebooks Or Courses

Selling digital products is another way some travel bloggers earn income traveling. Either travel guides about a particular destination, or books about how to travel on a budget, how to make money from a travel blog, improving your photography, becoming a better travel writer, etc.

I find it kind of funny that I was able to fund my first year of traveling in part by selling ebooks, yet don’t sell any now. That may change in the future, as I have a lot of tips to share after doing this for so long!

How Much Do I Make Overall?

I know, I know. You want details. How much do I get paid to travel?

Asking someone exactly how much money they make is a very personal question, and it’s not something I’m entirely comfortable posting, but I’ll give you an idea.

This travel blog earns a healthy 6-figures of income each year.

I’m not a millionaire, but I’m not living in a cardboard box either.

While I started with humble roots, and still prefer to travel the world on a budget, I’m also able to save money these days. My wife & I recently bought a house in Utah. And we can splurge on expensive experiences from time to time.

Of course, there are also many expenses with running my business. Website hosting, photography equipment, travel expenses, etc.

No one paid me to travel to Greenland or Antarctica for example, but independent travel like this is also part of running my travel blog.

And the reality is that even now, I actually have no idea how much I’ll make each month because it can fluctuate from month to month. It’s one downside to working for yourself. In exchange for freedom, you often lose some security.

But I’ll choose freedom over security any day!

There have been a few occasions over the past ten years, earlier in my travel blogging journey, when my bank account was drained to its last $300…

Embracing uncertainty and risk on a quest to do what you love can be scary sometimes. Really scary!

Hey, I know what it’s like to live in a cave if it ever came down to that. :-)

I love what I do, and continue to learn new skills and work towards making this travel lifestyle sustainable, or at least until I no longer enjoy it.

I strongly believe that anything is possible with hard work, patience, and dedication.

You also can’t be afraid to take some risks or fail along the way.

Resources To Get Paid For Travel

I’m not going to sugar-coat this and tell you that making money while traveling has been easy. Quite the opposite actually. I work a lot more now than I did when I first started.

This income didn’t just appear overnight either, it’s taken me ten long years to get to this point.

I know these big numbers can be shocking for people who don’t understand how to blog for a living. Yes, blogging can be more than a hobby. It can be a viable business if you treat it like one.

Like all businesses though, it takes time to grow.

For the first 2 years, there’s no way I could’ve survived on my travel blog income alone.

However, if you’re determined to get paid to travel, here are some more resources I highly recommend:

• How To Start A Travel Blog: My step-by-step guide to starting your first travel blog. Or any blog for that matter (food, hiking, fashion, etc.)
• The Best Travel Jobs: Blogging not for you? Luckily there are many different ways to earn income while traveling.
• Ways To Make Extra Money: Not ready to quit your day job? Here are some ideas to earn extra money on the side.
• Vagabonding: This book by Rolf Potts convinced me to save money and travel the world as a budget backpacker.
• The 4-Hour Workweek: This book by Tim Ferriss is full of useful tips for building a location independent business.

I hope my article answered your questions about how I can afford to travel so much (it’s because I’m also getting paid to travel!).

It’s been a long and wild journey so far, and I’m thankful every day for the incredible life I’m living. ★

Want To Get Paid To Travel?

What started as a hobby is now my full-time job. Interested in starting a blog to make money while traveling?

Click Here For Free Guide

This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.