Travel Bloggers: Bloggers To Follow & How To Become One

There’s something about being a travel blogger that’s so enticing.

You get to run around the world’s alluring scenes and then relay your experiences to a fascinated audience.

Plus, if you play your cards right, you can make some good money off of it.

If you’ve got a dream about becoming a travel blogger, strap in because we’re going to cover all the intricacies of becoming one and talk about some of the top bloggers you should be following.

What Is a Travel Blogger?

A travel blogger travels to places of interest and writes about their experiences for other people to read.

Some travel bloggers work locally, covering places in a general area, while others may travel worldwide.

What Does a Travel Blogger Do?

To expand on the previous point, travel bloggers can do many things.

Some might write about historical landmarks while others write about cultural foods.

It’s such a broad subject that we couldn’t possibly list everything a travel blogger can do, but you get the idea.

Is Travel Blogging a Career?

While it’s probably not a good idea to quit your job and travel the world, travel blogging can potentially be a career.

It’s really about how big you get and how efficient you are about raking in the dough.

Some people do it for a living, while others do it as a side gig.

Some just do it for fun in their free time.

Do You Need to Travel to Start a Travel Blog?

Not technically, but it helps.

We get that not everyone has an unlimited amount of time and money to pursue a career in travel blogging which is why we recommend starting with what you can afford and going from there.

Top Travel Bloggers You Should Already Be Following

To become a travel blogger, you’ve got to think like one.

The best way to get into their minds and get a feel for how they function is to follow some of the most successful ones.

If you’re not already following them, here are a few of the top travel bloggers:

Dan Flying Solo

Stunning video production, breathtaking photography, and unique places; you’ll find all of this and more on the Dan Flying Solo website.

He’s one of the biggest travel bloggers out there, and for a good reason.

From his articles to his documentaries, Dan delivers such high-quality content that you can tell how much effort and love was put into his craft.

A Broken Backpack

A Broken Backpack is another inspirational travel blog concerned with exploring every inch of the world.

Run by “Mel,” A Broken Backpack delivers fairly similar content as Dan Flying Solo.

Where they deviate is that A Broken Backpack focuses more on getting new travelers started on their journey, while Dan Flying Solo acts more as a guide to unique places.

Lili’s Travel Plans

Lili’s Travel Plans is a fun and light-hearted travel blog with a plethora of stories to tell and several guides on various places around the globe.

There’s something so casual and informal about how she does things that makes her content so loveable and why people keep coming back.

The Blog Abroad

The Blog Abroad is a fantastic blog developed by a really passionate woman.

It’s not entirely about travel (at least not anymore), but there is still a good amount of travel-related content, and it’s a great blog to follow either way.

If anything, The Blog Abroad is a testament to what a travel blog can become and how versatile it can be.

Drew Binsky

Drew Binsky is predominantly a travel-based YouTuber, but he does run a blog as well.

It should be noted that it’s one of the most popular blogs out there, which can partially be attributed to his immense YouTube fame and prominent social media presence.

There’s a lot to be learned from Drew Binsky in the way of marketing and travel blogging, but he’s just an enjoyable person to watch in general, and we highly recommend checking him out.

How Do Travel Bloggers Make Money?

Money is important and traveling isn’t cheap.

Here are the ways a majority of travel bloggers monetize their content and make a living off of their blogs:

Sponsored Content

One of the most common ways to make money off your travel blog is by getting a sponsor.

A prospective sponsor will pay you to mention their brand or product to your viewers.

They get recognition while you make some money – they’re essentially paying for access to your audience.

Unfortunately, unless you’re going in with a pre-existing following, you’re probably not going to find a sponsor right away.

The trick is to build an audience over time which will lead you to various sponsorship opportunities.

Ads

Another excellent monetization method has ads on your site.

If your Blog is seeing good traction and gets a decent amount of traffic, you may consider this option.

Unlike sponsors, ads are easier to come by and rely solely on how many visitors you’re getting.

A popular ad service is Google Adsense, which allows you a straightforward way to monetize your website.

Affiliate Partnerships

Affiliate partnerships are partnerships where you promote a brand’s product or services on your Blog’s website.

Unlike sponsorships, affiliate partnerships are usually done through affiliate programs (although not always) and pay you based on the amount of traffic you can direct to a business.

The payment can be based on per click or per product sold after an individual takes a link from your site.

One of the biggest and most widely used affiliate programs is Amazon Associates.

How Much Do Travel Bloggers Make?

If you’re looking for a concrete answer on this one, you will not like what we have to say.

It’s such a broad spectrum of people that you can’t expect to make one amount or another going into the field.

Top earners can make over $200,000 a year, while some may make less than $10,000 yearly.

According to ZipRecruiter, the average yearly rate is roughly $86,000 yearly.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Travel Blog?

As little or as much as you want.

Truthfully, it can be done for free, but like most things in the world, the more money you put into it, the more likely you will be successful.

That’s not to say you can’t start a blog without spending a penny and take off because you certainly can.

How to Start a Travel Blog

Finally, we get to the meat-and-potatoes of this article.

We’ll walk you through the process of starting a travel blog step-by-step and tell you exactly what it takes to get your Blog up and running.

Steps to Starting a Travel Blog

Here’s how you can become a travel blogger:

Domain Name

Your first step and one of the most crucial elements of your journey is deciding on a domain name for your website.

This will most likely be the name of your blog, so think hard about it.

Your blog’s name should be catchy and easily recognizable.

Otherwise, you risk losing your audience.

Remember that once you’ve dedicated yourself to a name, you can’t change it.

Hosting Provider

Nowadays, there are tons of services that can host your website. WordPress, Weebly, and Wix are a few of the most popular.

Which one you choose depends on how you want to structure your site.

If you want complete creative control and have some coding knowledge, then WordPress is a great option.

If you want simplicity and convenience, then Weebly and Wix might be better options.

Pick a Name

As we previously said, your blog name is likely similar or identical to your domain name.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be, and you should spend a good amount of time deciding on one either way.

Make the URL Easy to Remember

When deciding on the URL of your site, you should heavily consider shortening it (if it’s long) and simplifying it to make it easier to remember.

Doing so will allow people to more easily and readily reference your website.

Find a Theme

Next, you’ll want to choose a theme and stick with it.

The theme you choose will convey the tone of your site and become an innate part of your Blog.

It really breaks down to how you want to present yourself and what atmosphere you want to create.

Create a Logo

You can create a logo yourself or hire a professional.

The symbol you choose will become a visual representation of your site and how people will recognize you at a glance.

Build Your Reputation

If you’re going in with zero followers, building an audience is going to take some time.

Frequently post and stay active on social media to eventually build up your reputation.

Write Your First Travel Posts

Once everything else is set up, all there’s left to do is write your first travel posts.

Remember to bring out your personality and unique perspective with your travels to truly stand out among the competition.

Share on Social Media

Once you’ve finished writing content for your Blog and posted it, it’s time to share your content on social media.

It’s how people are going to find and follow you.

Focus on SEO

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a combination of keywords, hashtags, heads, and titles that makes your content findable on search engines like Google.

You should keep track of trends and focus on ensuring that your content is optimized to be found.

Join Affiliate Programs

When you’re up and running, affiliate programs can help you and other travel bloggers promote each other, expanding your reach in a mutually beneficial agreement.

How to Start a Travel Blog Without Traveling

While it may be hard, it is not impossible.

The first option you have is that you can draw from previous experiences in traveling.

Alternatively, you can do heavy research on subjects you’re interested in (although you will lack a bit of personal experience).

You also have the option of starting a general blog about your life and gaining an audience that way.

Once you’ve attained a decent following, you can slowly transition into a regular travel blog (assuming you have more resources at your disposal).

How to Get Traffic to Your Travel Blog

You can have amazing, ground-breaking content, but it doesn’t mean a thing if nobody reads it.

In order to avoid falling into obscurity, here are a few measures to take to get traffic to your Blog.

Make a Content Strategy

If you’re set on becoming a full-time travel blogger, you’re going to need a plan.

That means scheduling when you post content and what type of content you post.

Doing so will allow you to be more organized and help you gain a reputation.

Focus on SEO

In order to find an audience, you have to be found.

To be found, you’ve got to increase your findability.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again; SEO is an imperative part of your success as a blogger and should be one of your main focuses when building a following.

It’s the secret sauce that allows readers to find your work.

Ranking high in Google searches is the number one way to expand on total audience.

Enhance User Experience

You also want to give people a reason to come back.

What you do to enhance a user’s experience is up to you.

It could be taking stunning photos of geographical landmarks or making well-produced videos about your travels.

There are no right or wrong answers here, just as long as your goal is to get people interested in your Blog.

Partner With Influencers

Partnering with other influencers can and will spread your reach to new audiences.

The influencers you partner with don’t have to be big-shots with millions of followers; they can be small bloggers just like you.

This way, you can grow with each other more rapidly than you would alone.

Wrapping Up

There’s no secret to becoming a successful travel blogger.

It just takes time, effort, and a whole lot of optimization.

That said, many of the most well-known travel blogs started out as regular people who had no idea travel blogging was the career they would fall into.

If that doesn’t give you hope, then we don’t know what will.

With the steps listed in this article, you have everything you need to know to make that leap and start your voyage into the wild world of travel blogging.

Remember, just be yourself and take your sweet time.

If you’re doing everything we listed, you’ll find your perfect audience eventually.