travel bloggers are annoying reddit

21 Most Annoying Things About Travel Bloggers

I’m a travel blogger. Between AI, big layoffs at travel publications, and the ever-changing social media landscape, it’s a really uncertain time out there for us. 

I’m also self-aware enough that I know there are things people find really annoying about travel bloggers, and that will hold true no matter what happens next. This online space is steeped in clichés and can be fairly ridiculous.

Let’s dig into the most annoying things about travel bloggers as compiled from an examination of online platforms and maybe even my own actions.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, including links through the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases .  At no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I won’t recommend something I have not used/would not use myself, and any income earned supports the upkeep of this site.

Why do people hate travel bloggers?

People hate travel bloggers because many bloggers make themselves an easy mark. They can be a lot . 

Now, here’s the thing. I love my travel blogger buddies . I’ve made all kinds of online connections with smart, funny, like-minded folks. I like ‘em enough that there are quite a few I’d hang out with in person. As an introvert, that’s a big deal.

I have found incredible folks out there doing the best they can, learning, supporting others, and being hilarious. This isn’t for them…or maybe it’s for all of us? 

Here’s a sampling of what I found on Reddit threads re: Why are travel bloggers annoying?

“I don’t give a shit about what some generic, uninteresting 26-year-old thinks about life. I really don’t.”

“I just need to rank high and don’t give a crap about anything else.”

“They’re people that only show the good stuff and want to create an image and seem like everything is always perfect.”

“They’re tourists pretending to be experts.” 

“They’re trying to sell me a course on how I can start a blog and travel the world, too.”

“A laptop on the beach? Good luck with work in direct sun.”

That last one hits hard.

Whether you love ’em or hate ’em,

1. They live in a bubble.

The people I enjoy interacting with the most online are fellow travelers. Many of them are fellow travel bloggers. That can be a dangerous spot to be in because you can find yourself in a bubble with a lack of real perspective.

It’s why we all get into conversations about the latest garbage thing some tourist did abroad. It’s why we get into a frenzy about the latest garbage thing some other travel blogger did that really wasn’t that bad but let’s all talk about it anyway. 

We hang out with other bloggers online. We hang out with other bloggers or “travel people” at conferences or meetups set up by other travel bloggers. When we need advice on our blogs or our travel plans or life goals we reach out to these safe people who think like us.

I’m currently nomadic , much to the chagrin of my mother , so I feel like I’m in a super bubble sometimes. I try to keep in touch with friends in the “real world” on a regular basis for some perspective on what the heck is actually going on out there beyond myself. 

The real world can be scary. It’s cozy in the bubble. With the bubble comes privilege, though, and I know I have to remind myself of that on a regular basis.

2. They’re judgemental as hell.

Travel bloggers love insisting that you do things one way over another because that’s how they like to do it. The thing is, they judge other travel bloggers, too.

Heaven forbid you want to make a business out of your blog. You’ll get all kinds of purists coming out of the woodwork to talk about how they wish we could go back to the good old days of travel writing when we could publish evocative content and get paid for it.

You mean like, in travel magazines? All of that still exists out there. You just have to know where to look and how to pitch to those outlets. 

If that’s what you want your blog to be, though, you have to be comfortable with it being for your eyes only or for the eyes of your superfans. 

Honestly, I love a good travel story, but when I’m planning a trip somewhere, I don’t need to hear about every single feeling you had about every single nip of gelato on your Italian vacation . I’m sure you had a lot of it. We all do. I’m sure it was delicious because it just is.

I want to know where I can find it, friend. TELL ME WHERE TO FIND THE GELATO . 

3. They get super defensive.

We all have that one friend that you have to tiptoe around because they’ll absolutely lose their shit if you criticize any of their actions/decision-making/etc. Maybe it’s a family member. It could be completely innocuous. It could be coming from a place of concern, even love. 

It doesn’t matter. 

Wait. Why are we spending time with this person?

Many travel bloggers exist in this space. You try to be helpful and tell them they really shouldn’t be doing this thing because it’s in poor taste, violates affiliate rules, is downright offensive…and they mock you, or snap at you, or block you.

I try not to be a know-it-all. I really do. I’m not out here emailing people about all of their grammar errors. But sometimes we do silly things or even harmful things, and feedback can help us grow or correct those things.

Also, you’re blogging about the best things to do in Lisbon, not curing cancer. 

4. They’re self-important.

On that note, travel bloggers really need to chill sometimes. I get that you’re really into the thing you’re doing, but not everyone cares about that as much as you do. 

That stings to read back even for my own views of my “work.”

Beyond helping people plan a fun trip, we are not out here doing the gods’ work.

Note: I don’t know what you believe, nor do I care. It’s a little “g” on purpose to allow for freedom of whatever.

Before starting my own blog, I was seeking deep meaning in my chosen professions. I was a journalist for a while, covering state legislatures and talking to grieving humans and, sometimes, writing about kids reading children’s books to dogs in the library.

That was a slow news week.

After getting tired of making pennies for the hours I’d put in weekly, I decided to really hit the jackpot with a gig in education . 

I lasted eight years as a special educator. I worked with difficult, at times abusive kids, grieving humans, and, sometimes, ran school newspapers.

Everything is connected, people.

I burned out completely. It was too much. I was giving too much of my time, myself, my resources , and my sanity. It was a worthy cause, for sure, but it was all I had.

As a travel blogger by night (freelance work is my “day job”), I have to remind myself that this isn’t like that other stuff. Nobody will grieve when I don’t publish for a week or disappear from social media for a while. 

There are 10, 20, 30 bloggers right behind me, all trying to do similar things . Travel blogging is supposed to be fun. On a higher level, it’s supposed to inform or entertain or engage. All of that is great. You’re still not curing cancer, though, so can we stop with the platitudes?

5. They’re in an identity crisis.

We all feel some confusion over what we’d like to be and what we’ve become. Maybe you’ve gone too far down the robot slide and want to return back to the light. Perhaps you don’t want to write like a personal diary anymore and make a business out of your blog.

No one cares if you have to do an about-face for the better. I’m rooting for you. We’re all rooting for you.

I’m constantly wondering whether I should just scrap the whole thing and start over. I have hundreds of posts at this point and still look at some of them like, “Who allowed you to exist in this space?”

Some of it is probably your (and my) imposter syndrome. Some of it might be a sign that some perspective-taking is necessary. Your blog isn’t your identity, or at least it doesn’t have to be. It’s a sunny day outside. Go touch some grass.

I don’t mean that in an offensive way, by the way. I mean it literally…like, it’s fun to go out and touch grass and have yourself that park picnic travel bloggers are always talking about.

6. They’re not transparent.

If you hated a place, say so. If you’re embarrassed that you loved a place, say that, too. I love that for you. You should be able to own the fact that you’re a Disney adult without shame. I’ve made it very clear that I’m not into cruises , but I’m not out there making cruisers’ lives miserable.

Is that what they’re called? I feel like that word has a few different meanings these days.

Anyway, own whatever it is that you’re afraid to own. 

7. Solid info isn’t as important as SEO.

If I’m writing about day trips from a city, I’m not going to give you information about what you can do in that city. Going to the local history museum in that city isn’t a day trip. It’s just… being a tourist in that city.

On the other hand, if I’m writing about day trips from a city , I won’t tell you about a place that’s like half a day’s drive from that city. It’s not a day trip when you need multiple days to make it happen.

Why do bloggers do this? SEO.

They have a list of keywords they feel like they need to use in a post and they’re going to use them even if it means you have a crap experience as a result. 

I try to leave comments on some of these blogs but a lot of them have comments turned off. I wonder why?

There are ways to please the Google gods and share solid information about places you’ve visited. I promise. 

8. Solid info isn’t as important as churning out the content.

It takes me a really long time to put content together. Some of that is my perfectionist streak. Some of it is my journalism background. I like things just so, and I like them accurate. That’s a good thing when it comes to sharing information, right?

If you’ve been paying any attention to what’s going on in the world of AI lately, you’ll know that things are getting weird online. Tools like ChatGPT hallucinate information and bloggers are out there publishing it anyway because it means they’re feeding the Google machine.

Supposedly, Google is going to start penalizing AI that leads to misinformation online but will support AI if it’s appropriate. That means nothing to me.

If you’re using AI to speed up your internal processes, I’m not going to hate on that. Kudos for teaching the robots to do things that you don’t feel like doing.

Can AI handle all of my follow-up emails, by the way? That’s the worst.

If you’re using AI to replace you completely, that’s weird. The responsible thing would be to let your readers know that in some way. You should also have a solid editing process in place to make sure that you’re not publishing nonsense that the robots made up. 

I have seen so much of this lately, and it’s forced me to return to some of the big travel sites for a good chunk of my travel information. At least they have editors if they’re also on the AI train.

I want to use blogs to plan my travel. People want to trust what they’re reading. For the love of Pete, fact-check your word before you hit publish. 

9. It’s all too good to be true.

If you got food poisoning somewhere, I want to know so I don’t also find myself a sweaty mess on the bathroom floor. You don’t need to paint a rosy picture of every destination to connect with people. In fact, the opposite is true. 

You don’t even need to paint a rosy picture of every place to rank if that’s your priority.

One of my highest-performing posts month after month is my post on Tombstone, Arizona . I say some things in that post that I guess are too political for some. I express some discomfort I felt about certain things I saw.

What’s happened as a result?

Outside of the boatloads of traffic, I get boatloads of angry comments. Some folks call me a stupid bitch. Others tell me to go back to California . (I’m from Chicago, but that’s probably worse in some way.)

Did it sting? Of course. I’d be a liar if I said I was just pleased with the traffic. Despite this wild rant I’m on right now, I don’t set out to collect negative feedback. 

Will it change the way I do things in the future? No. If I’m uncomfortable somewhere, I’ll say so. If I think a certain group of people will feel uncomfortable somewhere, I’ll say that, too. 

10. Is anything real?

I’ve already gabbed on about AI, but you can catch travel bloggers in quite a few pickles if you care to see whether they do things like buy social media followers, too. 

It’s a reason why I could give a hoot about that “huge” Instagram influencer with all of the followers but garbage engagement. I don’t care about them, and neither should you. 

You should be especially mindful if you want to replicate what they’re doing, take advice from that person, or even pay for advice from that person.

That’s silly. If they bought followers at some point to pad their numbers, it’s whatever. Good for them. There’s no use getting jealous about it, though. Social media isn’t real. 

11. They’re supportive in theory.

There are a lot of nice, cool bloggers out there that I feel a legitimate connection to. I’m sure they know who they are. 

The blogging community as a whole can be a beast to navigate, though. 

It sucks to approach every new follower on social media with skepticism. What do they want? Will they just unfollow me as soon as I follow back? Will they message with whatever they’re selling now that we’ve connected?

Are they trying to get me involved in the cult of travel agents to get a referral bonus? It’s a lot.

12. They lie.

This comes back to the bit on transparency but takes it a step further. Travel bloggers who use their platforms to sell you stuff with the idea that you too can be just as successful as them if you buy this one thing are the worst.

No, I’m not saying we should all share our financials. I applaud bloggers who do that sort of thing in a transparent way. That’s really brave and it takes a lot of work.

But if you’re going to start selling SEO courses or ebooks about how to become a successful blogger, there needs to be something there to back up your claims beyond how much money you made from the stuff you sell.

That money you made is often on the backs of suckers who buy those courses. A closer look might reveal that you’re really not making much off your blog at all. 

It’s your courses. 

That’s not as impressive a claim when you’re asking for my credit card’s expiration date. 

13. They’re entitled.

We all love free stuff. Any travel blogger who says they don’t love the potential perks associated with blogging is a liar. 

Oh, you’d rather stay pure and wax poetic about the sunset you saw on the Mediterranean Sea? I’m sure it was beautiful, but you know freebies sweeten that experience.

That all said, you shouldn’t assume you should be getting free stuff wherever you land because you blog for fun or even for a living. First of all, free stuff doesn’t pay the bills. It’s also super presumptuous.

Folks, we have lived through a pandemic.

We’ve watched our favorite small businesses shut down and the travel industry itself was completely upended. 

Be reasonable.

14. They’re all about the (promotional) Benjamins.

There are some blogs out there that are only in it for the moolah. It’s not even that much money, but it’s enough of a driving force that their content has become a constant barrage of promotional affiliate content.

I use affiliate links. I promote tours and hotels and hiking gear and dog poop bags. I should hope it’s not in your face, but feel free to come at me if you feel duped.

Self-promotion is a biggie, too. Some of us are worried more about our personal brand than promoting the destination. We’re worried about letting people take a look underneath the hood to see your real personality.

I promise that being real sells, too. 

15. They fancy themselves better than the average tourist.

If you haven’t participated in a conversation about the differences between traveler vs. tourist, you truly haven’t lived.

Oh, you want to take a photo of yourself in front of the most popular attraction at that destination? Better move it along because such and such from some .com is waiting to do that very thing and they do this for the greater good.

Come off it.

You are not better than any other traveler. 

Well, maybe you’re better than those jackwagons taking glamour shots on the tracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau , but the vast majority of travelers are just doing the best they can. They’re just trying to have a nice time, or an educational time, or a delicious time , or a relaxing time.

Quit judging them for traveling differently than your ideal. They may not want to live out of hostels for months at a time. I know I don’t, by the way. It sounds smelly.

16. They lack a thesaurus.

Epic. Ultimate. Come on, guys. I know we want to rank on the Google machine but there have to be better ways to do so. Google likes hearing it’s “the best” anyway, so you may as well just stick with that.

If you’re giving me an ultimate anything, it better deliver on that promise. 

Have I done this myself? Absolutely. Am I trying to break myself out of this urge to get all hyperbolic about this, that, and the other thing? That’s also true. 

17. They fancy themselves more authentic than you.

This goes back to the right and wrong way to travel. If you’re not able to spend a couple of weeks , even a full month somewhere, you’re not a real traveler. 

If you’re not able to sit around in a coffee shop during your trip for the bulk of an afternoon, you haven’t experienced anything of value. 

Note: I’ve witnessed these same bloggers hawk the shit out of their social media profiles and YouTube channels to locals just trying to make them a sandwich. 

Is that authentic? 

Put the business cards away and pay the man what you owe him and step aside so that I may also have a sandwich.

I refuse to judge people for visiting a place that isn’t off the beaten path. What’s that even mean, by the way?

If you want to spend your one week of vacation at an all-inclusive resort, have at it. You (probably) worked hard for that cheddar, and you deserve to treat yourself as you see fit. If you sold photos of your feet for that resort trip, I’m not even judging you for that. 

Get that foot money, honey.

Your travel is no more or less authentic than the smelly guy who’s been backpacking for six months and snores his way through cheap hostels. I keep coming back to this image because it’s disturbing, frankly. Where’s the joy in it? Here I go, judging smelly guys. I’m not perfect, either.

Your travel is authentic because you’re out there exploring the world. It’s authentic for that smelly guy because he’s living his best life. Travel is already authentic because you chose to spend your time and resources on travel. That’s a huge deal. Celebrate it.

18. They’re arbiters of taste and what’s overrated.

If your only hot take is about how people should skip Paris, it’s become a cold take. First of all, get some new material.

Second, you don’t know if there’s that traveler who has been saving up for that Paris trip for months that is now second-guessing themselves because of your opinions.

Was that your intention?

If so, why? Who hurt you?

Let people like what they like.

Fun fact: Calling destinations overrated is overrated.

Share your opinions to your heart’s content, but don’t rain on someone’s parade because they don’t agree with you.  That’s unless it’s about oysters, in which case they are the boogers of the sea and you can’t tell me any different.

19. They lack perspective.

You can have an identity beyond travel blogging. There are things going on beyond your camera lens that are more important. Recognize the privilege involved in what you’re doing. 

People hate us not because they ain’t us, but because quite a bit of what’s published out there is tone-deaf. You don’t need to work through your guilt about how lucky you are in everything you put out there, but if you completely ignore that privilege, that’s lame.

That goes for folks who work to travel vs. work to live. Good for you. I don’t have any kids, so tend to spend my money on experiences, food, and treats for my dog.

Acknowledge the fact that you can make the decision to prioritize travel over anything else. 

You are very lucky and in the minority.

20. They can be misleading.

Outside of hallucinated AI information, bloggers who bop from one spot to the next just for the pic or to say they did can miss out on important context about those destinations.

It can be difficult to learn about the cultural norms of every single place when you’re on the road all the time, but that’s part of what you signed up for when you decided to do this thing. 

You can learn simple things like appropriate greetings, how to behave in sacred spaces, and how to behave with your partner in some parts of the world before you go to a new place. This is especially true if you’re going to advertise your exploits on social media.

Information is power, and disinformation can be even more powerful.

If you’re traveling to the United States, by the way, we tip our servers. It’s a whole thing, but it is what it is.

21. They lack a sense of humor about their lot in life.

If you’re a blogger feeling called out, that sounds like a you problem. I’m kidding a little bit, but if there’s any profession (or hobby) that requires a lighter touch, it’s travel blogging.

Why are so many of them so serious all the time?

Travel can be messy and hilarious. Whether you hate the idea of being an “influencer” or not, we’re in that same bucket with the ladies with the butts and the flowy dresses. 

Fun fact: Frankly, I don’t care if I come across this kind of thing while traveling, as long as they’re being respectful to that place. 

At least they’re obvious about their identity.

They want to pretend like they hiked to the top of that mountain in that dress rather than tell you the real story about changing into that frock in the tick-infested woods nearby. Whatever. You do you, sister. 

Obviously, I’m bright enough that I can tell when content is overly staged or unrealistic. It’d be great if these things came with a disclaimer. Will I go protest about it in the streets? No. We have bigger fish to fry.

It’s OK to be a little annoying…sometimes.

I feel like I attacked myself in some ways with this one, but I think that just means I’m self-aware. It’s OK to laugh at yourself and make fun of the broader travel bloggerverse. It’s been getting a little too serious out there to the detriment of the content. If you don’t inject yourself into your work, the robots have won, right?

Ready to Be Less Annoying Somewhere?

Your Flight:  I use a variety of tools to find cheap airfare, but if you’re looking to book during a particular period of time, you should start your search on  Skyscanner . It’s a great way to watch flights for a while, too, and save some cash that way.

Adventurous folks may love subscribing to  Going , formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights. You’ll get all kinds of deals in your inbox throughout the year. Yes, it can become dangerous.

Your Accommodations:  For hotels, start with  Booking.com . Compare that with what you see on Hotels.com . Find apartment-style accommodations on  Vrbo .

Seeking even more wallet-friendly accommodations? Try  Hostelworld . Their picks are heavily vetted and reviewed to offer you a safe experience for budget travel.

Etc.:  For general travel goodies, visit my  Favorite Things  page. For more information on planning your travel and travel tips, visit my  Travel Tools  page.

Love this glimpse into that travel blogger life? Pin me!

Looking for more content like this?  Check out these posts:

• Hiker Types You May See Out on the Trail
• Unique Gifts for Big Travelers in Your Life
• Fall Is Simply the Best Season. Here’s Why!
• Treat Yourself to Some Lazy Travel Days
• Best Quotes About Travel With Friends

Want to see more?

Subscribe to my biweekly newsletter for hot travel tips I come across, weird stories you won’t see elsewhere and perhaps lifelong friendship.

Too much, or just enough?

Agnes Groonwald

2 thoughts on “21 Most Annoying Things About Travel Bloggers”

Me? Judgmental? Insanity!

Definitely a lot of this is true, which is why we get such a bad rep. Fairly recently I posted my disdain at the words “no travel bloggers” in travel article requests, and a few people responded slipping out their biases – like travel bloggers are bought, they’re not average people, they just want to advertise their site, etc etc. Made my heart sink a bit.

Probably my least favorite thing about a lot of bloggers is acting like travel is so accessible to everyone, like there aren’t people out there who don’t know where their next meal is going to come from – let alone a “cheap” flight of $200.

Of course people lying and using AI to do their work is also up there. It’s a real shame because when there’s a lot of garbage posts, it tends to hide the genuinely great and helpful blogs that there are.

I started my blog several years ago for fun and am still enjoying it. My blog isn’t big by any means but it’s a great creative release to talk about my travels. I might be #9 but even though I talk about the bad part of my travels, there’s not a lot. I like a lot of places I visit! But what’s really made me stick with it is the great people I’ve met in travel blogging – mostly via Twitter. It’s great to have genuine people to relate to. (I’m definitely a #1 too !)

Anyway, thanks for sharing! Have a great day, Agnes. I’m off to read your post on Tombstone…

Thanks for the comment, Lilly! Twitter has definitely been such a fun place for us to gather, share intel, even laugh at ourselves. The bits about privilege definitely irk me. No, everyone can’t just go off and take a vacay. No, it’s not a question of priorities. 🥴

Comments are closed.

• Work With Us
• Blogging Bootcamp

• Van Conversion Academy
• Campervan Shop
• Campervan Rentals
• Plan a Trip
• Itineraries
• Destinations
• Responsible Travel
• Family Travel
• Budget Travel
• Scuba Diving
• Travel Credit Cards
• Digital Nomad
• Teach English Abroad
• Blogging Resources
• Income Reports
• Travel Shop
• Meet Katie & Ben
• About Two Wandering Soles
• Personal Stuff
• Portfolio & Press

16 Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Travel Blogger: No Bullshit Rundown

Home » Blog » Blogging » 16 Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Travel Blogger: No Bullshit Rundown

So you want to be a travel blogger? You’re not the only one. Our inbox is currently flooded with people reaching out asking for tips on how to start a travel blog.

It sounds dreamy, right? Traveling the world, sharing your experiences, and getting paid to do it.

Travel Blogging is truly my dream job, and I truly love doing what I do. Most mornings, I wake up and pinch myself that this is my life.

BUT there are so many things I wish I would have know when we first started out. There are so many misconceptions out there about blogging, and I bet there’s a lot you don’t know about this industry.

Being a Travel Blogger doesn’t mean all your days are spent lounging in the sun on a pineapple floaty, like the image above would have you believe… Disappointing, I know.

Today we’re pulling back the curtain.

We’re wiping away the glamorous facade of free hotel stays and unlimited freedom, and we’re giving you an inside look at what it’s really like being a travel blogger. The ugly parts nobody talks about. The daily struggles only us bloggers know. And the beautiful parts too, because there are many.

A Word of Warning: Before you read this, I want to tell you that some of this might not be what you want to hear (especially if you’re thinking of starting a travel blog). It might sting a little and get your spirits down, but I promise that if you are serious about blogging and want to be successful at it, you need to hear this before you buy your domain and start designing a logo.

Alright, are you ready for this is a raw and real, no bullshit rundown of what it’s actually like being a travel blogger?! 

I sure wish someone had sat me down, gave me a mug of tea and calmly told me what I’m about to tell you…

1. Being a full-time blogger is hard f*%$ing work. 

There are still quite a few people out there that think blogging is a “cute hobby” where people write down their feelings online instead of in a physical diary. While that might have been widely true in the days of Xanga (remember that?!), today is a whole different story.

We have had so many conversations with people over the years — strangers, friends, and even family members — where it’s clear they just don’t understand the amount of work we pour into our blog.

Blogging is a business, and successful bloggers work hard – often more than 40 hours a week (doing much more than just writing an online journal).

Which brings me to my next point…

2. If you want to be a successful blogger, you must treat it like a business.

Essentially, there are 2 types of blogs:

Hobby Blog: Blogs that don’t earn much money (or any at all!). The purpose of this type of blog is that it brings the author joy, and it is fun!

Blogging Business: Blogs that earn the owner a living. This might be their full income, or it might be a supplemental income in addition to their full-time job. But it is a significant amount of money. (Hint: Check out our income report to see how much money travel bloggers can make.)

If it is your goal to have the latter, you need to treat your blog as a business: You need to set deadlines. You need to operate professionally. You need to dedicate time (lots of time!) to your blog. You need to have a plan. You need to learn from people who have been blogging for a while. You need to invest in your business, with time or money (or better yet: both).

It’s easy to skim through this and nod along, but it’s an entirely different thing to put it all into action. At your core, you have to be incredibly self-disciplined and committed to making your blog succeed. Because if you’re not, you might as well just stick with hobby blogging.

Let me just take a moment to say, there’s nothing wrong with aspiring to be a hobby blogger. We live in an age where it seems everyone is trying to turn their hobby into a side hustle: Selling knit hats on Etsy or (gasp!) getting paid to write about travel. But it’s totally fine if you just want to blog for fun .

3. Blogging isn’t just about good writing and pretty photos.

A lot of people email us saying, “People always say I’m a great writer and that I should start a blog.” But here’s something most people don’t consider: Just because you love to write doesn’t mean you’ll love blogging.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all you had to do was write a killer article and add photos and BOOM: People would come to your site, like mosquitoes to exposed ankles.

That would be a dream come true for me because I went to university for journalism, graphic design, and photography. Basically a “Blogging Degree”, right?

Simply typing articles and pressing “publish” is going to bring in zero dollars. ZERO. So it’s important you understand what else is involved with blogging. Keep reading, because we’re about to spill…

4. There are aspects of blogging that aren’t fun.

Coding, optimizing SEO, keyword research, building backlinks, affiliate marketing strategizing, comparing analytics, creating captivating email funnels…

These are just a few of the things I don’t love about blogging. There’s a hell of a lot more, but I don’t want to bore you (too much).

Did you know about all these bits of the business? If so, great; you’re coming into this with a lot more knowledge than we did.

But if some of these terms are making you scratch your head, there’s likely still a lot you’ll need to learn. And in order to be successful, you’re going to have to be okay rolling up your sleeves and doing the boring stuff.

5. The image of a laptop by the beach (or a pool) is a lie.

I’m gonna let you in on a secret… This photo was STAGED *gasp*! There’s no way I’d actually work on my laptop this close to water!

If your idea of being a travel blogger involves a lot of hammocks and mojitos, I am about to shatter your illusion…

There are days like that. But sometimes it seems like they are rare.

The image of working on your laptop from the beach is a beautiful one. And the whole “digital nomad” movement seems to be based off the idea that having a remote job means your days aren’t spent in an office, but rather at a pool with a daiquiri in hand. It’s easy to sell that image, but it’s not exactly true.

Blogging, just like most remote jobs, give you lots of freedom, but it also requires hard work. More often than not in a cafe or co-working space rather than on the beach. Trust me, sand and laptops don’t mix well. And neither does sun glare.

As a travel blogger, you will have a mix of excitement-filled days where you wander around new cities and go on epic adventures; but there are normal days too, where you spend the majority of your time behind a laptop.

6. Blogging is NOT a way to get rich fast.

In fact, when you’re first starting out, you’re going to need to work for free. Yes, for FREE.

You’ll also need to invest your own money for your domain and hosting. And that’s just the minimum. Some people choose to hire designers or take courses to accelerate their growth.

Even if you monetize quickly, there will be times in the beginning where you’ll spend hours upon hours working, and see a big fat zero in your bank account.

Here’s my advice: DO NOT start a blog (travel or otherwise) if you are simply looking for an “easy way to earn money while traveling”. There are plenty of easier, quicker ways to earn a living while still giving you the flexibility to be remote.

Take a look at these remote jobs that will give you the flexibility to work wherever you want, but have a quicker path to a decent income.

7. You’ll likely need to have a second job for a while.

Unless you have a nice chunk of change saved up (or have a partner with a great income), you’ll likely be working another job while you start your blog.

We now generate our full income from this travel blog, but it didn’t come easily (or quickly!). Throughout most of this journey, we’ve held other jobs — we taught English in Korea and worked at a ski resort in Washington state. And we’ve held a few different location-independent jobs that helped us earn money while traipsing around the world: Ben taught English online through VIPKID . I did freelance graphic design, copywriting, email marketing, and even managed social media accounts.

It wasn’t until just recently — 5 years in — that we let go of our parachutes (aka other jobs) and decided to free fall with this blog as our only source of income. Maybe that’s a bad analogy…

I’m not saying it will take you as long as it took us to make a decent living. We made a ton of mistakes along the way, and could have had a much faster path to success. But sometimes it takes even longer than 5 years… And some bloggers never quit their other jobs because they just don’t want to lose the steady (and reliable) income. Either way, there’s a good chance you’ll have to spend some time balancing blogging with other work.

8. The market is SUPER saturated, but…

I hate to break it to you, but the travel blogging market is super saturated, and getting more and more saturated by the day.

But wipe that sweat off your brow, because here’s the good news: Just because the market is a crowded one, doesn’t mean it’s a death sentence to a new blog.

It was pretty saturated when we started, too. You can carve your way into the high rankings in Google, but it takes time, patience, and (lots of) hard work.

And being that there are so many travel blogs out there, it makes it all that more important to create quality content and have a personality that stands out from the pack.

BE MEMORABLE.

Be yourself. Get vulnerable. Hone in your voice. Don’t be afraid to be controversial. Or goofy. Share the ups AND the downs. Stand up for what you believe. Share your stories.

Make your audience feel like they know the real you .

9. Blogging and Instagramming are 2 different jobs.

You know the whole “a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square” saying that was pounded into you during elementary geometry?

Well, it’s kind of the same thing with Blogs and Instagram: Bloggers usually have an Instagram account, and Instagrammers typically have a blog. But they are 2 different jobs:

Bloggers focus on writing content and monetizing through a website (affiliate marketing, advertising, etc.) and growing traffic. Posting on Instagram builds brand awareness and community. Income is derived from website traffic.

Instagram Influencers focus on creating content for a social media platform (like Instagram) and growing this following. And their monetization strategy often focuses on sponsored content on this platform. A blog is their secondary focus and serves as more or less a landing page and a way to collect audience emails or sell a product, like Lightroom presets. Income is derived from social media following.

Bloggers and Social Media Influencers are often lumped into the same category. But if you want to be successful in the industry, it’s important to understand the differences.

Determine which medium you want to monetize. There can (and should!) be overlap. But these are two completely separate jobs with different purposes. Prioritizing one will give you focus andwill help aid in your success.

10. Blogging is an industry that’s constantly changing. And you’ve gotta keep up.

What it took to be a successful blogger 10 years ago was vastly different than today. Even when we started back in 2014, blogging was a whole different world. We ranked for articles that Google would never notice today.

Blogging in 2019 is going to look different from 2020. And you better believe that 5 years from now, things will be much different still. This is an industry where you can’t just put in the time learning now, then coast by and expect to earn a completely passive income.

In order to keep up, you need to stay up to date with trends, algorithms and technology. As a blogger, you will need to commit yourself to constant learning.

11. Blogging while traveling is hard to balance.

Real Talk: Traveling and Blogging at the same time is downright exhausting.

Travel blogging requires a delicate balance that we have very, very slowly learned how to manage. It definitely didn’t come naturally. And we’re still far from perfect.

Any time we talk with other travel bloggers, we all eventually start talking about how difficult it is to travel AND blog at the same time.

Planning things to do, booking hotels and transportation, going out and doing stuff, meeting other travelers…. Add to that writing articles, optimizing SEO, posting on social media, replying to emails, pitching to companies, sticking to partnership deadlines, creating newsletters and email funnels. Whew! My heart is racing just typing that sentence.

We’ve done long-term trips while trying to produce content, and it ultimately leads us to become stressed and worn out. We actually have found that we produce our best work and grow our blog the quickest when we’re not traveling at all.

12. You don’t have to ALWAYS be traveling.

People often ask us how we will continue to be travel bloggers if we someday “settle down” and buy a house. Ben and I usually give each other a smirk, and just say, oh we’ll figure it out . But the truth is having a real home base is going to make this job SO much easier.

Whenever we are settled in one spot we absolutely crush our goals and are far better bloggers than when we’re actually traveling . (This is why we’ve been basing ourselves in Chiang Mai and Bali during the last year and a half.)

And trust me, there’s no way we’ll run out of content. I have somewhere around 75 articles saved as drafts right now that mayyyybe I’ll have time to get to when we’re “settled down”.

Oh, and can we also talk about the fact that even when we do have a home, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to just STOP traveling. I mean, traveling is a passion of ours — one that we intend to continue pursuing even if we do have a picket fence someday. And it’s also our job, so like, we have to keep doing it, ya know…

Learn this lesson from us: You DO NOT need to travel full time to be a travel blogger. And actually, long-term travel can make growing your blog hard.

13. Free Travel isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

I know what you’re thinking: Did she really just use the words “free” and “travel” in the same sentence and say it’s not all that great?

Bear with me for a minute…

A lot of new bloggers (ourselves included!) get all starry-eyed at the prospect of free travel.

Getting a complimentary hotel stay or whale-watching trip or backpack sounds awesome — and most of the time it is — but it is also a lot of work. With a rise in the number of influencers, companies often expect quite a bit of value in exchange for a free experience or product.

In the past, we’ve spent countless hours editing photos, creating videos, and typing up thoughtful articles for no monetary compensation . And you know what we’ve realized? It’s just not worth it (in most cases). I don’t know about you, but our student loans can’t be paid in Mariott credit or in packing cubes.

When you’re just starting out as a blogger, it can be a great way to build your portfolio and gain exposure. We’ve been able to have a lot of wonderful experiences this way, and you can too. But if you want this to be your full-time job, free travel shouldn’t be the core reason you start a travel blog.

14. Blogging is a job you’ll constantly have to explain (and sometimes defend).

Blogging is still a very new profession – one the general public knows very little about it. So if you intend to make blogging your full-time job, be prepared to explain. And defend.

I recently went down the foxhole of a forum on one of the blogging Facebook groups we’re part of. In one particular thread, someone asked this:

There were 54 comments replying to this question. And roughly 90% of the bloggers who replied explained they don’t refer to themselves as “bloggers” at all.

Instead, people used terms like “ website owner”, “content creator”, “digital publisher”, “travel writer” … the list goes on. This illustrates how many people in the industry have had their fair share of Doubting Debbies, and feel like people take them more seriously when they call themselves something other than a “blogger”.

While we still proudly call ourselves Bloggers (in most situations), it can be downright exhausting explaining what we do. And we often feel like we have to defend it as being a “real job”.

Most of the time people are simply curious how, in fact, you’re able to make money online. But sometimes it feels as if they expect you to divulge exactly how you earn your money in a concise 1-minute explanation over drinks, whereas asking the same questions to an accountant or an engineer would be seen as straight up rude.

So if you plan to become a full-time blogger, get ready to answer all sorts of Facebook messages from people you haven’t spoken with since high school asking, “How do you afford to travel so much when you don’t have a job?” .

Get ready to defend your job when that guy at a networking event uses air quotes when he says, “Ah, you’re a “travel blogger”… but what do you really do?”

And get ready to tell your neighbor’s cousin that, yes, you do have a job.

15. There will be moments where you want to quit.

Trust me when I say there will come points where you wonder if you should just stop. Throw in the towel. Hold up the white flag. Or whatever they say.

Over the years, we have had so many of these moments. There have been tears and fights. Self-doubt and frustration. We’ve been close ( really close) to quitting more times than I’d like to admit.

But each time when we step back, we realize that blogging has become a part of us. It is something we love. It is our passion, and that’s why it affects us so much.

There will be ups and downs. Good days and bad days. So it is essential that you actually love what you’re blogging about. If you don’t, those voices that tell you, “quitting would be so much easier” will eventually get the best of you.

But if your blog truly is your passion, you can tell those voices to “back the eff off”, put your head down and get back to work.

Now that you’ve stuck with me through the scary stuff, here’s the good news:

16. Blogging can be Ahhhmazing.

It can be a way to create the life of your dreams. Blogging can bring freedom. It can lead to opportunities you never imagined.

If you stick with it, blogging can make you money . Good money. Money that isn’t capped when you reach a certain point.

Blogging can teach you more skills than you learned in university. It can open doors and it can connect you with others you might never meet in real life.

It can be the opportunity to share your voice. Your story. Blogging can be your platform to start a business. To make a difference in this world.

Blogging can CHANGE YOUR LIFE. It certainly has changed ours.

So the big question is this: Is blogging the right fit for YOU? 

It depends. 

Ask yourself these questions (and be honest):

Am I okay with working for free (in the beginning)?

Am I on board with more than just the writing part? Will I want to put the time into learning SEO strategies, constantly networking on social media, and maybe even coding?

Is blogging something I can see myself being passionate about?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, then I’d tell you to proceed with caution. Maybe blogging as a hobby is going to be the best angle for you. See if it’s something you enjoy andcan commit to before diving in. 

But if you honestly and wholeheartedly answered “yes” to all of the questions above, then I would tell you to absolutely GO FOR IT.  And go all in.

The fun part

Now it’s my time to take away your mug of tea, replace it with a glass of wine and make a toast… 

Congratulations for sticking with me through all the scary stuff. Because just like any job that’s worthwhile, it is hard work and it’s not always pretty. You’re going to have to roll up your sleeves and do some things that are boring and things that you really hate doing (like coding, ughhhh). But if it’s something you’re passionate about, it will 100% be worth it.

One of my favorite things in life is connecting with people and sharing our journeys. I would love to hear more about you and your blogging goals and see how we can work with each other. 

So if I haven’t scared you away and you still want to be a travel blogger after getting this deep in the article, keep reading…

Your next steps

Lucky you! We have an article that will walk you through the exact steps you need to take to create a blog that is successful . This is a much more in depth and valuable article than most of the “how to start a blog articles” you’ll find on the Internet. Promise.

And we’re not stopping there.

We poured years worth of blogging experience and knowledge into our completely revamped Blogging Bootcamp and we certainly think it’s worth your while. In fact, we’re so confident about that, that we’re willing to give you a little sneak peak to decide for yourself…

You can get the first 3 lessons of our Blogging Bootcamp TOTALLY FREE. No strings attached. 

In these first 3 lessons we’ll touch on how to pinpoint your perfect audience, how to set blogging goals that’ll set you up for success, and how to create a customized monetization strategy that works for your blog . 

We value your time, so trust me when I say this course will be well worthwhile. Plus, it’s totally free to sign up for the first 3 lessons, so go ahead and click the image below to sign up.

Interested in learning more about blogging?

Be sure to check out our Blogging Resources Page for the chance to enter our FREE mini-course on starting a blog, plus all sorts of other great info about blogging! Here are some of our favorite articles about blogging below… 

Get Paid to Travel: How to Start a Money-Making Travel Blog Today

How to Create a Blog Name That Doesn’t Suck!

How We Made $74,367 in 3 Months: Q4 2019 Income Report

How to Start a Successful Travel Blog: Step-by-Step Guide (+ Free Course)

Hope you enjoyed this article. Here are some pins, I think you know what to do next…

We want to hear from you!

If you still have questions on starting a travel blog, please comment below. We read them all and will try our best to back to you!

Comments (12) on “ 16 Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Travel Blogger: No Bullshit Rundown ”

Thank you so much for the article. It is very informative and much appreciated. I am a new travel photographer and am trying to just get things going, while I work my full-time job. Thanks again and wish you the best in all your future endeavors.

Many thanks for this useful information! Katie & Ben

Thanks for the info! The article was really interesting!

Guys this is such a fantastic article about the real real of blogging!

Excellent post – so many great tips and very helpful

this is a great article – i have enjoyed following you so far. I like the honest approach you have, look forward to learning more!

As a person considering travel blogging and just starting your bootcamp, this gave me so much insight! Thank you for those mindful questions at the end. I can safely say I said yes to all of them, so I’m here for the long run!

Haha. I totally agree with this. I have felt all these things and more. I have also never used a laptop by the pool and never will. And I am also forever trying to convince people blogging is a REAL where you make REAL money. Lol

Thank you so much for sharing great post very detailed explanation about competitor Keyword and learned somethings new.

Thank you so much for sharing your helpful information. It’s very unique post

Katie and Ben! I been enjoying the Bootcamp and thank you for all the hours that you have invested in this information and material. God bless you … I keep nodding the whole article understanding each word even the tears and fights! Keep the good work … greetings from Costa Rica!

This was an awesome insight guys! Thanks so much for the no BS info, 3 whole-hearted yes’ from me! Can’t wait for the next article, and can’t wait to get started. I was wondering, would you wait until you had perfected/posted a certain number of blog posts before going live with a blog? Or just publish and go live on the completion of the first article?

Looking forward to the bootcamp too guys! Much love x

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

These Travel Influencers Pivoted During The Pandemic

“I watched my career shift from being the busiest I had ever been to obviously have everything come screeching to a halt.”

BuzzFeed News Reporter

Catarina Mello was in Finland when she first realized that COVID-19 may have a huge impact on her life.

Mello, a 30-year-old whose home base is San Francisco, was used to her life taking unexpected twists and turns. In 2017, she had been dutifully checking off boxes of success, working in marketing at Google, but she found herself feeling restless. After taking a trip to Indonesia, she started her Instagram account, @ professionaltraveler , determined to reignite some passion in her life.

From the first Instagram post of her Indonesia trip, she told BuzzFeed News, she felt determined to try to turn her page into a profitable business. She drew on her experiences in marketing and tech, starting with posting carefully edited and perfectly posed photos from trips she took to Greece and Bora Bora. She worked the algorithm and began pitching herself to brands for partnerships. Two and a half years later, when the income from her account surpassed her Google paycheck, she quit that job to travel the world. She now runs a team of five, who produce online courses on growing a brand on social media, as well as help run her account.

When Mello first heard about the virus, she figured it couldn’t be as bad as some were warning. As things escalated in mid-March 2020 , Mello went back and forth, wanting to finish her obligations for the hotel brands she was working with for the Finland trip, but increasingly worried she may get stuck there. Finally, she decided to leave in the nick of time.

“We managed to get out of Finland and connect in Germany right before it all closed and all flights got canceled,” she told BuzzFeed News.

It turns out, even digital nomads can be brought swiftly back to reality by a global pandemic. In 2020, travel bloggers, like all of us, were grounded, confined to their homes, and unsure how to keep their businesses running. Their partnerships were canceled, and they had to scramble and innovate to keep their head above water. Many spent long nights wondering how they would survive. When they did tentatively resume their trips, some dealt with travel-shaming from their followers (and others dealt with hate for even acknowledging the pandemic) on top of their own fears about safety.

Instagram posts made by Catarina Mello in 2020. During the pandemic, she found new ways to "future-proof" her business by making more short videos and teaching online classes.

Whitney Haldeman, a 34-year-old who runs the Instagram account @Blonde_Atlas , was on a sailing trip in the Caribbean in March last year when COVID-19 cases began increasing around the world. She had begun what she called her “adult study abroad” in 2015, after being laid off from her job in advertising. Over the years, she built her passion for travel into a business, visiting more than 175 cities in 40 countries, sharing with her more than 60,000 followers on Instagram, and launching a business that plans bespoke group travel tours.

Haldeman said she tends to be an optimistic person, so when she heard about COVID-19, she chose to hope for the best.

“I was terrified thinking about the implications it could have, not just on my business, but also my relationships and life overall,” she said.

After the sailing trip, Haldeman parted ways with her boyfriend, who lived in London , and headed back to the US. They had planned to be apart for three weeks, but wouldn’t see each other for months.

Once her new reality slowly began to sink in, it was daunting.

“I watched my career shift from being the busiest I had ever been, to obviously have everything come screeching to a halt,” she said. She estimated that “at least ~95% of all my traditional income methods paused completely.”

Influencers expressed the terror that they felt in the early days of the pandemic — not just because of, well, everything, but also because their careers basically vanished.

Carmen Sognonvi and her husband, Serge, started their luxury family travel brand, Top Flight Family , in 2016. By 2018, it had become her full-time job.

In the blink of an eye, her family’s life changed. The couple and their two daughters went from jet-setting across the globe to not leaving their Brooklyn brownstone for anything except groceries for months. Before the pandemic, paid travel campaigns accounted for about half the revenue from their business, but in 2020 it only accounted for about 7%, she said, adding they were able to increase revenue from consumer brand deals to make up the gap.

2020 was supposed to be Mello’s most ambitious travel year yet. After COVID-19 hit, she had to cancel or postpone dozens of brand trips and ad campaigns. The future looked daunting.

“Suddenly, I went from having a packed year to absolutely no plans,” she said. She estimated she lost about $30,000 directly from canceled campaigns and press trips.

Jessica Serna, 26, has been posting about her travels on the account @ MyCurlyAdventures for about four years, focusing on finding exciting places to explore in Texas, where she lives. Like Mello, 2020 was supposed to be her most active travel year yet, but suddenly, she and her husband were scrambling to keep their business afloat. In the first three to four months of the pandemic, she estimated that her influencer income decreased by about 20%.

“Little by little all of our trips disappeared. Website traffic also disappeared practically overnight,” she told BuzzFeed News.

Serna and the others didn’t have the option of sitting and waiting for the world to open up. They had to pivot and get creative. While this was challenging at the time, the influencers say it ultimately left them stronger than before.

Jessica Serna says she saw her income decrease by 20% during the start of the pandemic.

Mello believes that while lockdown obviously caused many challenges for the influencer industry, it also accelerated the trends like “the demand for online courses, the need for more authentic and real content on social media, the social obligation to use one's influence to speak up about social and political issues, the transition of retail to e-commerce, the transition to short-form video content, and more.”

Stuck at home, Mello was “forced to think of ways to future-proof my business,” she said, and think outside the box. She did so by working on new ventures, like online courses to help people grow their businesses on social media and creating more short-form video content.

Haldeman also tried out new things, and “committed to learning as much as I could and improving my skill set to be better at my job,” she said. She threw herself into studying, finishing a course with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and a certification program in international tourism and events management.

“I just tried to create as many positives as I could,” she said.

{ "id": 127331442 } “No matter what approach they took, there was always someone in their comments section criticizing them for it.”

As the lockdown continued though, Mello realized she had an advantage.

“Brands quickly realized that they needed to leverage creators to reach their target demographic more than ever now that no one was going to stores or looking at billboards around the city,” she said. “I went from having all my contracts canceled, to getting a lot of new ones all at once a few months later.” With the new brand deals plus sales of her online courses, Mello said 2020 actually ended up being her most profitable year yet, which she called a “blessing in disguise.”

Pretty soon, a new question emerged: When should they get back on the road? Each influencer said she struggled with the idea of getting back out there. They were not only worried about safety, but about appearing out of touch, even if they followed all local safety ordinances and acknowledged they were willing to accept a level of risk others may not be.

“It's been interesting to see the broad range of reactions travel creators have had to this epidemic,” Sognonvi observed. “Some chose not to travel at all. Others chose to do road trips only, no flights. Some did domestic travel only, no international trips. But what I noticed is that no matter what approach they took, there was always someone in their comments section criticizing them for it.”

Sognonvi and her family slowly began to venture out last July, first with a staycation in Manhattan , then a trip to Colonial Williamsburg . In her posts from the fall, she emphasized how she believed that it is important to show how people could travel, giving her followers tips on things like picking a hotel with proper safety protocols and flying safely.

“It's time to normalize conversations about how to travel in a safe and responsible way,⁠ instead of just pretending that nobody is traveling,” she wrote in September. “That's about as effective as pretending that teenagers aren't having sex, instead of educating them on how to do it safely.”

Still though, her posts got heavily criticized by both people saying she wasn’t being cautious enough about the virus and those slamming her for acknowledging it at all. After Sognonvi posted a video on TikTok about how she believes families could safely travel to the Maldives, people accused her of “trying to bring COVID there,” with another calling it “not safe to post.” Then, she said, people started getting arguments in the comments about COVID’s survival rate. “It was crazy to see how polarizing the topic of travel was,” she said.

At first, Serna had struggled to figure out how to keep her business going, finding that at-home content she was making didn’t perform as well. However, over the summer she and her husband began making local trips, primarily outdoors, people began to respond.

“We found that because many people had their anniversaries, honeymoons, etc., canceled that they were looking locally and our page and website ended up seeing a huge surge,” she said. “Because our page primarily focuses on local travel, it ended up being an important resource for our community, and by the end of 2020 it was one of our busiest years yet.” By 2021, she said, they had tripled what they were making before the pandemic.

TikTok posts from Carmen Sognonvi. She said she was surprised by how polarizing the response was to posts about her travel plans during the pandemic.

Not all of the influencers jumped back into traveling, though. Haldeman ended up moving to London during the pandemic to be with her boyfriend (her visa just happened to come through during that time) and barely traveled at all, besides a few car trips in between the UK’s lockdowns. To keep herself afloat, she developed online courses to teach others how to navigate immigration issues while traveling, how to be a digital nomad, and more. She also secured brand deals with wine companies after finishing her WSET certification.

“My mission has always been to help people be better travelers and really steer people away from irresponsible or insensitive travel of any kind, so I really tried my best to continue to advocate for that,” she said. “Instead, I tried to focus on being optimistic about the future and planning for trips down the road.”

She recently took her first big flight since COVID-19, to Greece earlier this month, writing on Instagram : “This one is for all my travel industry friends who spent the last year on the bench. Here’s to getting back in the game and back to work.”

Looming over any plans, though, was backlash. Travel bloggers are already the focus of much ire for their seemingly perfect and stress-free lives, and Mello braced herself for criticism when she made the decision to begin traveling again after about six months grounded. (She said she took precautions like getting tested frequently, planned mostly outdoor excursions, and only stayed in hotels with strict protocols.)

To her surprise though, her followers were mostly supportive of her decision to venture out.

“I received thousands of DMs of people saying they really needed that fresh travel content to get them through lockdown and isolation,” she said. “It gave them something to look forward to and gave them hope that maybe the world would get back to normal sooner rather than later.”

Serna said that she did not experience a ton of criticism either and that she believes being open about what precautions she was taking helped.

“We tried to stay very transparent with our community and because so many people could find trips that fit in their comfort level, we generally received positive feedback with very little pushback,” she said.

{ "id": 127331472 } “It's time to normalize conversations about how to travel in a safe and responsible way,⁠ instead of just pretending that nobody is traveling.”

While Sognonvi said she did receive criticism, it was from both extremes.

“Because our content always had such a strong emphasis on COVID-19 safety, we actually caught just as much flack from COVID deniers as we did from travel shamers,” she noted.

Now that vaccines are making traveling safer, it seems people are feeling ready to board a plane again. According to statistics from a study called the Coronavirus Travel Sentiment Index Report, half of American travelers “ indicated they are excited about travel in the near term.” The CDC’s current guidelines recommend that travelers wait until they are fully vaccinated before embarking on any trips and continue to wear a face mask on public transportation.

Mello believes that travel influencers can be a huge part of showing consumers they can travel responsibly and help revive the industry so many people depend on.

“I genuinely believed that it was possible to travel safely by getting tested and following mask and social distancing guidelines,” she said. “And I wanted to share that message with my audience. Too many communities around the world also depend on tourism, and the thought of them struggling to put food on the table was really difficult for me.”

Sognonvi agreed, saying that while travel influencers have always given their followers a window into a jet-setting life, now they can make a big difference by helping people feel more comfortable with travel.

“I think people appreciate being able to preview what the experience is like by seeing us go through the process first,” she said.

For Haldeman, the pandemic has only strengthened her resolve to share her love of travel with more people, and make it more accessible for all.

“I didn't hear anyone tell me they learned how much they actually appreciate clothes or material things,” she said. “Instead, for most of us, it's being out in the world together and connecting with each other in it. I don't think any of us will ever take that for granted again.” ●

This story is part of the BuzzFeed News Travel Week series .

Topics in this article

• Influencers

Travel annoyances abound in the air and on the ground. Here's how to fix a few of them

What do you hate about travel? And is there any way to fix the problem, besides staying home? 

For Brett Manders, the answer to "what drives you crazy?" is simple. "The carousel cozy-uppers," he says. You know, the folks who crowd around the baggage carousel after a flight lands. 

"I'm 100% certain that your bags will not come out any quicker the closer you are to the baggage carousel," says Manders, an international airline pilot who wrote the book "Behind the Flight Deck Door."

The solution – at least to this problem – is simple, too. Some airports draw a line around the carousel and tell everyone to stand back until their luggage arrives. 

As the busy holiday travel season begins, let's talk about our travel annoyances and how to fix them. There are no reliable surveys that examine the entire travel experience, from planning to arrival. But you already know what grates against your nerves, right?

Hate to plan? Here's the fix

Travelers love to hate vacation planning, for example. Rey Alton, a travel advisor with Travel Leaders in Houston, says your anger is justified.

When air travelers go all DIY, they often purchase tickets they don't understand. "I see this issue arise more and more," he says. "Basic economy fares don't allow you to choose a seat, and to upgrade to a confirmed seat assignment can be pricey."

I think the fix for this problem is pretty straightforward: Make these stripped-down "basic" fares illegal. I mean, who doesn't fly with a bag or need a seat assignment? Whose plans never change? Not mine! 

Meantime, people like Alton – professional vacation planners – are the solution. A travel pro will keep you far, far away from these absurd airline tickets.

Travelers hate lines, too

How about long lines? Do those annoy you? Sure they do. I spoke with dozens of frequent travelers who loathe lines more than anything. "One of my least favorite things about traveling is waiting in line for TSA checks," says John Linden, a furniture designer from Los Angeles. "I understand that it's for our safety. Ultimately, that's a good thing. But no one wants to stand in line for 45 minutes."

Airports with the worst TSA lines:   These are the days and times you'll want to avoid

The solution: Hire more agents and add them at the busiest times. But the government moves even slower than those TSA lines, so good luck with that one.

In the meantime, passengers like Linden are applying for known traveler programs like TSA PreCheck , Global Entry  and CLEAR . That should move things along.

Interested in TSA PreCheck?  It might soon be cheaper and easier to sign up

Renewing or applying for airport fast pass Global Entry?  Brace for lengthy delays

Travelers can't stand travel industry deception

Travelers want the unvarnished truth. Consider what happened to Lauren Wolfe, an attorney in Washington, when she tried to book a hotel in Florida a few years ago. She discovered that after she selected the hotel online, it added a mandatory $25 per night charge. "I said to myself, 'This has got to be illegal,'" she told me. 

The hotels say it is legal. " Resort fees ," which cover extras like the use of a gym and "free" Wi-Fi, are common in the hotel business. Wolfe started a site called Killresortfees.com and made it her mission to destroy the fees. And that's the long-term solution to these unwanted extras. There ought to be a law.

Congress takes on 'hidden fees' at hotels and resorts:   Here's what it could mean for travelers

Keep an eye out:   These are the most ridiculous travel fees to look out for

The new norm in Las Vegas resort fees?   $50 a night at top hotels

No wonder we arrive exhausted when we're on vacation

Is it any wonder that travelers arrive at their destination exhausted? It's the indignities we suffer in transit. That's what you hate about travel. 

The travel industry thinks suffering is a normal part of the travel experience. So it doesn't hesitate to sell you an airline ticket with stupid restrictions or a hotel room with an outrageous fee. It doesn't care if you have to wait in a long line. Or if you can't figure out how to plan your trip online without losing your shirt.

None of this should happen. The travel industry ought to set the standard for customer service. But until they do, at least we know we're in this together.

How to handle the hate

Take a deep breath.   That's the advice of Christine Scott-Hudson, a licensed psychotherapist. "Your deep, long breaths stimulate your vagus nerve," she says. That, in turn, promotes feelings of general well-being and safety. 

Take inventory of your situation.  Put your problem into perspective. Your trip will eventually end. You'll be home, far away from the stress of holiday travel. Might as well take another deep breath while you're at it. That's right. Breathe in. Breathe out. There you go.

Take action.  If you experienced something that made you hate to travel, try to eliminate it from your trip. Whether you're starting a site to protest resort fees, or just avoiding an airline or hotel in the future – do something.

I’m probably the Worst Travel Blogger…

I should care, but…..

I don’t.

I could give a plethora of excuses like I usually seem to as a cold opening to every other post I write, but excuses are like assholes…

So here we go:

I don’t post often… Anymore

Once upon a time, I set myself to a ridiculous challenge, where I said I’d post each day for one month. Surprisingly I made it past the mark and posted 40-some days straight.

In the great words of Sweet Brown, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

Well, maybe some people, probably successful people. But not me. Nope.

That was stressful.

I should write more, but I don’t. And I won’t.

I don’t write controversial posts

Sure there’s controversial shit I have opinions on, but I don’t really ever feel like writing about them. Plus many of them are, well, stupid… And complete attention stunts.

One travel blogger recently made a post that stirred the shit pile came off as racist, which I can see precisely why. I can sympathize with her side at a minuscule level. But really I think she’s now trying to hide behind the guise of her upbringing as a scapegoat for the poor subject choice. And it’s attracted the utmost buffoonery from about every angle.

Another recent one was about how some nationalities pretend to be another nationality while traveling and why that pissed her in particular off. What ? I’ve not done it, I’ve not heard of it, don’t know anyone personally that’s done it.

Is this a real problem that needed addressed? Probably not.

I get confused for being a different nationality quite a bit, I generally point them in the right direction. When asked where I’m from I always say Alaska. Not because I’m avoiding being associated with generalized American stereotypes, but because when I have responded with American, I’m immediately asked from what state. So let’s cut to the chase, why don’t we?

Does it piss me off that she wrote this? Not really, but netizens will stop at nothing to tell you that they now don’t like you and hate the post. I can’t help myself, I love reading the comments section on just about anything. I find other people’s rage hilarious.

Or the lovely one last year that came off as super conceded about how it’s so hard being pretty and traveling solo. Call a wahhhhhmbulance. It’s a rough life and no one cares.

We all have god damn eyeballs and can see you’re pretty. You just wanted the ego boost, admit it.

I think she didn’t like that people of the Internet will stop at nothing to call it like it is. Yes, an Instagram feed littered with selfies does come off as narcissistic to the general populace. So don’t get mad when they tell you that.

Maybe you’re not a narcissist, I don’t know you. And I didn’t intend to come here and judge you, but the Internet did and will. People have no problem saying what they think, especially behind an avatar online.

I truly don’t think that her actual drive behind the post was to say OMG I’m so pretty! Poor me! and wanted that to be the takeaway, I think she was addressing the weird looks and treatment you receive as a solo female traveler in general, ugly, pretty, or in between. Just picked a controversial title for the post and voila! The virulence is infectious.

Oh….. and anything political. People get real butthurt over politics. Politicians all suck. Very few are in it for the greater good. And I really do think our two nominees here in the US for each major party are awful human beings.

I think my write in vote for November will be ‘Flush The Toilet 2016′ . We need an overhaul in this country, and bad. So there I got all political for you.

I’ve traveled. A lot. So, things could be A LOT worse here in the US. I’ve seen much worse in many other countries, straight oppression. I’m not saying things in the US are the best, or better than anywhere else. I think the takeaway here is that we could have it a lot worse here in this country.

Social Media Sucks

I hate it! So I generally don’t do it. The one thing I am decent at is Instagram . Probably because I apply myself a little (but I seriously don’t know what I’m doing). I just hit 50K followers.

I had my photo of the Rainbow Mountain go nuts on there over the course of the last week. One account featured it and it has over 50K likes, and the features keep rolling in… Tay, it’s safe to say the back of your head is now famous, you’re welcome.

Facebook blows

I don’t have time to figure out how to get around the algorithm and make sure my posts are seen. They’ve proven paying for post boosts is a sham. So I pretty much don’t use it.

I just share my Instagram photos and blog posts on there, sometimes other writers’ posts as well. But that’s it.

Oh, and I completely shut off the messaging function. Real people never messaged me. Just other bloggers wanting to invite me to a circle jerk, a few creeps in far-flung lands, and others begging me to like their page.

My Twitter is essentially on autopilot. I have some app the auto-posts old posts. I do occasionally bitch at American Airlines for being terrible on there. And to read what Pakalu Papito wrote because his posts make me laugh.

And I shut off my stupid thing that auto DM’d people thanking them for following me and directing them to my other pages if they were interested. But people kept responding with an auto message of their shit. Nope.

Plus isn’t Twitter on its last leg?

Pinterest? I tried. I think I could do well there if I put the time into it. We know I got the images for it. I just don’t feel like doing it. It pains me to lay text over a beautiful picture.

I actually shut off all Pinterest notifications. When there are red dots with a white number on an app on my phone it makes me absolutely insane and I will stop at nothing to make it go away. I’m sure this is a sign of some sort of mental disorder.

I had Snapchat back in the day, like pre-2014. Then I deleted it when even though I had it set for only friends to Snapchat me, I was being sent porn videos from strangers. If I want to watch adult videos, I’ll do so of my own accord. So, bye Felicia.

Now Snapchat is just annoying to me. And sorry, but I’m not going to find a way to convince people that every second of my life is packed with excitement. It isn’t. I do boring stuff a lot. Like, write blog posts on my phone, read books and go poop. No one wants to see that.

Google+, Stumbleupon, Reddit, Periscope, Linkedin. Just go away.

And Linkedin, why are you even a social media?

Oh, and PS: I don’t give two fucks about my Klout score or being in the top 100 bloggers.

I don’t pitch to companies, hotels, tour boards, etc. very often

It makes me feel like a bum begging on the side of the road.

Then when you do pitch, most of the time they don’t respond. Anymore if I’m planning on going somewhere and doing a certain activity I’ll email them telling them I’m interested in it and that basically I’m gonna do it no matter what… But also I have a webpage and stupid social media accounts and will promote you in return for a sponsored activity.

It’s actually worked. Not every single time, but it does work. I think it may be because it doesn’t appear so much that I’m acting out of desperation. Which also leads me to:

I don’t pitch big websites, except for maybe once

I submitted my ‘ 6 People to Hate on Airplanes ‘ to Thought Catalog, and voila it was published on their website. Did it bring me the droves of followers and traffic reminiscent of Los Angeles at 7 AM? Nope.

I had read so many times about how you must be a published writer and how it would do all these magical things for you. I am suspicious of pretty much everything, but I gave it a go. Plus all these travel bloggers in groups I had joined on Facebook were constantly bragging about how they were published in Huffington Post, Elite Daily, Thought Catalog, Matador Network, and more, so naturally I thought that I should hop on that bandwagon.

I think it’s mostly a waste of time, then the other thing I started to notice is that well-known travel writers aren’t constantly bragging about being published somewhere… hmmm.

The most traffic I actually ever received was long before that very same post was published on Thought Catalog. The Boarding Room’s Ed Pizzarello shared a link to it on his blog talking about how he thought the whole thing was hysterical (something along with those words… I can’t remember), and that’s what truly drove heaps of traffic over.

I don’t write top 10, and 20 reasons to visit _________ posts

I know I’m contradicting myself by preceding this section with me speaking of how ‘6 People To Hate On Airplanes’ was published and shared.

They’re lame clickbait. I tried it in the beginning and then I felt like a shill. Then one time I tried a popular blogger’s course they were offering. They only write posts with a number in the title like a top 10 because it attracts more readers.

Also, don’t write very much beyond each bold number slot. People don’t want to read what you have to say.

I dropped out.

Guess I’ll never make it in this “industry*”.

I’d also like to add: I FUCKING HATE OPEN LETTERS! So please for the love of God stop writing them! This is an open invitation to shut the fuck up and stop writing them. K thanks.

I know no one listens.

*is this really an industry? Very few people with blogs have any background in writing or journalism… which leads me to:

I’m actually not a writer

I nearly failed every English course I took in high school and college.

I am a very visual person. So let’s stop pretending I’m something I’m not. I write as I speak. People who know me personally have said they love reading my writing because they can hear my voice in it, or maybe they’re just trying to be nice. I don’t know if my voice reads across to the rest of you.

I’m not very descriptive either. I’m blunt and to the point. Writing on here has been a challenge in itself for me because of that. I try to write more descriptive posts. I use a thesaurus a lot. I can’t say this is pretty 100 times in a 300-word post.

*I never used a thesaurus until last year.

I don’t read other travel blogs

And I sure as fuck don’t comment on them.

Ok, so the beginning of this section is a lie. I do read a few. I have a handful of people I love. It’s very small. Every now and then I’ll get a wild hair and read someone else’s. But even the people I love, I don’t religiously read. I’ll binge-read them when I feel like reading it. I rarely comment. I bought into that whole ‘read other travel blogs and comment a zillion comments a day. That lasted about 3 days , 3 minutes. Sorry I have a life.

I suck at posting articles when traveling

The people that constantly write posts while on the road seem sketch to me. Like are you actually having fun? At all? Or the people Snapchatting it as it happens… Live in the moment for a change!

Yeah, I can understand those of you that have turned this into a burgeoning career, because, well this is now your work, your job, and in a sense your employer. Which is more like a baby, because if you don’t constantly dote over it, love it, and change it, it’ll die, or shit everywhere .

I don’t know about the rest of you, (the vast majority) I still use my hard-earned money to travel. I’m sure as hell going to enjoy myself during it. When I’m hiking in the Andes with giant toothache I can’t be bothered to take the time to write a post as soon as I get back to my room. Or Snapchat a visit to the dentist in Cuzco resulting in a tooth extraction.

I haven’t written an e-book

Who is gonna pay to read shit that you can find online for free?

I could write a personal memoir and try to sell it. But I’m not that important.

I could tell you how to be a successful blogger. But I’m not a successful blogger. So who would pay money for that? That’s like paying a perpetually unemployed person for their career advice.

I’m an efficient individual and all of the above seems like a colossal waste of time. And time is one of those things I can’t make back.

Maybe I’ll revisit the e-book idea when I have something useful to provide the world of travel.

I don’t sell bullshit

I’m not gonna tell you things are amazing when they weren’t.

I’m also not going to tell you to quit your job and travel, or that travel is always a great time. It isn’t. While it’s a privilege to travel, it’s not always fun.

And also, not everyone likes traveling. Newsflash people: that’s perfectly okay.

We all have different priorities in life. I never picked up the bassoon or began smoking crack. And that doesn’t make me a horrible, close-minded person, does it? No.

Does not traveling make you close-minded? No. We’re just wired differently.

Just as easily as I’ll book a one-way ticket to a country most can’t pronounce someone else may be opening their door to 4 foster kids. So stop posting that stupid picture with the caption ‘The world is a book and people who don’t travel read only one page.’ Get off your high horse, travel doesn’t make you or me superior.

I don’t take enough photos

Don’t let a completely full 1 TB hard drive and a nearly full 250 GB hard drive with ONLY photos on them fool you. Yes, I take lots of pictures. Hundreds of thousands of pictures.

We all know photography is one of my main drives… Remember earlier when I said I am a very visual person? Yes. I just tend not to take photos of things that are of no interest to me or I don’t find visually appealing.

I’ve heard for a travel blog you pretty much have to take a photo of literally anything and everything along the way. I don’t.

Plus, there are just times where I want to look at things with my own two eyeballs. You can’t stumble through life constantly looking through a viewfinder, there’s just so much you miss and don’t take in. And also shutting one eye and squinting the other to look through said viewfinder is starting to give me a weird wrinkle dead between my eyebrows… Think I need botox, BAD.

Sometimes no photo will do a location justice, sure I’ll take a picture of it but sometimes I just gotta put the camera down.

I think SEO is annoying, and the people who write for it are the worst

I should really care, but I don’t.

In conclusion…

These are just a few of the reasons that I suck. Ok, bye.

Need Travel Insurance?

Start shopping plans over at battleface , my go-to travel insurance choice, or over at World Nomads .

Related posts:

Bear Maulings, Taliban’s Most Wanted & More Wild Events from 2023

February 2023 Update

11 Days With The Travel Blogger From Hell: A Long Short Story

January 2021 Blog Recap

Good Riddance, 2020

November 2020 Blog Recap

October 2020 Blog Recap

Looking Back On My COVID Summer Break

What A Time To Be Alive…Ramblings & Musings From Early 2020

June Update

I’m Back After 3 Months, So Here’s What Happened & Don’t Feel Obligated To Read This…

Au Revoir Alaska

Here’s To A Better 2019… What Happened In 2018

Two Tornados, A Road Trip, & Italian Citizenship

Adventures In Italian Public Transport & WTF Is With Creepy Men?

Marco Poloing Around: The Long Way to Italy, Via Afghanistan

Salaam Aleykum From Kyrgyzstan!

Backroads & Baksheesh, The Most Silk Road Evening Ever, A Bucketlist Hike & Massive Peaks

May Recap + Last Chance to Sign Up for the Silk Road Borderlands Tour

April Showers or Golden Shower? You decide

From the Tropics Back to the Arctic-ish

It’s been a long time…

And That’s a Wrap 2017!

It’s The End of November, So You Know What That Means…

Ya Sas from Cyprus!

Mingalabao From Myanmar!

Asalaamaleykum from Tajikistan!

July 2017 Roundup

The end is near… of the month!

February 2017

January 2017

If You’re Reading This August Is Over & I’m In Tajikistan!

8 thoughts on “i’m probably the worst travel blogger”.

This post just made me respect you even more. You remind me so much of my friend who just says whatever is on the top of her mine without sugarcoating it or censoring her language!

Thanks Ray! I feel like if I took out my colorful language and started being all positive n shit it would be sooooo boring!

I really enjoyed your post. Thanks and happy travels!

Thank Natascha!

Haha, omg, I think I just fell in love with you, haha 😉 Ok, not for real, I´m not gay, but mentally – if you know what I mean. I actually started blogging a few months ago and I´m struggling sooo much and when I read your caption “I’m probably the Worst Travel Blogger…”, I just thought you read my mind. And now I don´t know if I should laugh about that or cry 😉 I don´t know where that sh** will take me, but I just love travelling (not always, but most times) and photography (and for that Instagram). Still I can´t force myself to write those “20 things to do in…” etc. articles, even if they would bring me lots of traffic, but I don´t know if I have anything to offer who doesn´t exist already 100 times – just to go with the flow. So I just write about my experiences and don´t care if anyone reads it, haha 😉 Thanks for that awesome post – you made my day!!! And I´m more than happy not to read any mainstream stuff on your FB page and just enjoy your freaking awesome Instagram feed! Go girl!

Haha, thnanks Ella! Stay real and write what you want! It’s your blog and your experiences that are the most important.

Post often or not, do as you will and enjoy, that is the most important thing. As for me, I like your writing style so when/if you do write more, I’ll read it. Plus still thanks for the good tips on backpacks, the scrubba, etc!

Oh thanks Carl! I think I’ll have some more material coming this fall, and I’m sure it’ll be thoroughly entertaining given where I’m headed!

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

WHY I HATE INSTAGRAM TRAVEL BLOGGERS

Are all these “TrAvEl BlOgGeRs” lying to us? Um yes. When I am scrolling through Instagram and I see these PERFECT photos. They take photos in places that I’ve been to, and I notice that uhhhh that’s not quiiiittteee what it looks like. Why are there pink skies, sparkles and photoshopped stars? Did you hike to this destination in a dress and heels? And you photoshopped everyone out of it? I see these photos and it 100% draws me to this destination. YES I want to see all these colorful buildings in Mexico, even though the color was saturated using Lightroom. YES I want a photo in a flowy dress looking out over the city of Mykonos even thought thats not what you pack when traveling. YES I want a photo of me living my best life to post to Instagram because I want my followers to be jealous. But, it’s all fake. FAKE ASS HOES.

On the contrary, these bloggers get paid to promote a city, hotel or restaurant. So why wouldn’t they post an aesthetically pleasing photo of the best angles with as much eye catching detail as possible? I would. And if someone would pay me to do that, you bet my hypocritical ass would do it lol. #getmoneygetpaid. I’m also a graphic designer so I understand photoshopping the birds flying over head or photoshopping people out of the background. I GET IT. IT LOOKS GOOD. So why does it bother me so much?

Let me tell you my story…

When I went to Park Guell in Barcelona, I expected the park to look just like it did in EVERY SINGLE PHOTO on the internet. Look, I googled it.

And what do you see? The most vibrate, GORG colors. Then I went expecting what I see above and I was so disappointed. Every color was desaturated, faded, muddy. I bet once upon a time it did look like the google search photos above, but it deff doesn’t now.

This is what it looks like:

Now compare the SAME photo, angle and all to what you see on the internet.

See what I mean?

Now it didn’t ruin the experience for me, I was disappointed but I still thoroughly enjoyed the park. Heck, I’ve been there twice. So now I look through a skeptical lens when I scroll through Insta. It actually inspired me to start this blog because we aren’t all staying at 5 star hotels in bikinis not worrying about thigh chaffing. I try to be as boujee as possible, but realistic. Realistic Bouj . Thats my new slogan. You heard it here first, folks.

I decided to show you all the things that annoy me that Instagram bloggers do. And to bring awareness to the fact that a lot of these photos are extremely staged and your travel experience might look completely different than the photo you just scrolled by with the caption #blessed.

(I’m not trying to blast anyone or be mean so I’ve blocked out faces.)

Again with the dress. There is a 98% chance if you were traveling to this castle, you will not be able to hike to this destination in this dress. IDK how she got there. Snow mobiled up the mountain. Stop. Quick change. Photoshoot. But ya know, do it for the gram.

I have a few reasons I don’t like this. One: I think she is photoshopped into this photo. She might not be but where the heck is her shadow?? Also, it looks fake. From her photo, the sun seems to be coming in from the top right which means she would have a shadow on the left. But the light on her body is coming from the front… where the sun isn’t. Which means her body has been photoshopped onto this beachy background or it is SO over edited it doesn’t make realistic sense. The color of the water is also changed. But people do that all the time so their photo matches their ~*~*~Flow~*~*~

Why I don’t like: The hot air balloons are photoshopped in!!!

I circled the balloons above that are identical. Copy paste copy paste. The solid color balloons are the same too but it’s easier to see with the striped ones. I bet there were like 4 in the sky and just cloned them cause thats what I would have done haha.

Seems like we have another case of good ol’ copy paste. Look at how many birds look identical…………

OH THIS BOTHERS ME. Photoshopping people out. I have been to Disneyland about 100 times. Maybe more. And unless these girls had some sort of early secret access there is NO way there is not a single other person there. LIESSSSS. I have been asked no less than 67 times to photoshop people out of the background of their photos. People EXIST… I don’t know why you HAVE to photoshop people out? More attention on yourself?

Another deceiving photo with NO people in it. You are trying to tell me that you got a photo in India, second largest country in the world, in front of one of the 7 wonders of the world, that attracts 8 million people annually, which is approximately 22,000 people a day, WITH NO ONE ELSE IN IT? I do see based on the shadows/light that this photo could have been taken at like 6am. So I guess it is possible. Though I’ve never been there at 6am to confirm or deny. ALSO, how is her dress doing that on the ends? It loos like it’s held up by strings.

Girl please. Not only did you not eat all that, like, where did all those flowers come from? Is that part of the room service? These photos drive me nuts.

Hi, ya can I order one of everything? Yes, six drinks for two people as well. And when you serve it can you sprinkle a variety of flowers on the table. It’s for the gram. Thank youuuuu.

Now, dis sum grade A bullshit. Do you see the blur at the top of the mountains. There is a “haze”? You can see it clearly on her arm that’s up in the air too. THAT’S PHOTOSHOP. She took her photo and photoshopped the sky onto it. And she did it poorly at that.

The newest craze. Picture at the end of a boat with a fake, over saturated sunset.

And you better wear a flowy dress. I just want to know when these bloggers go out on these boats at sunset for these photos is it literally just for the photo? Or do they enjoy the boat ride and spend time out there? These are the things that keep me up at night.

Of course I have to bring this up. ASS ASS ASS ASS. Did you know you can’t be a travel blogger unless you wear thong bathing suits and post pictures like these? I think it’s in their contract. Now our Instagram feeds are filled with women with banging bodies, ass out, in locations that are completely fabricated while we sit at home crying into a pint of Halo Top. Cheers.

So I figured I would round out this post with travel bloggers I LOVEEEE. Who are real and authentic. Their pictures are not only gorgeous but also NORMAL. I posted a few of my favorites below that I highly recommend you check out! @destinationchaser, @merknmountains, @ellenextdoor, @kaptain.kenny, @passionpassport, @alexinwanderland

In the mean time I will continue posting authentic pictures on my Instagram (@gingerandivory) but the min someone comes at me with a $500,000 check you bet I will photoshop the sky into fricken outer space with me in a glitter bikini, ass out, birds everywhere and maybe an elephant cause yolo, with some random guy I’ll hire as my Instagram boyfriend. You will call me a sell out, but you can also call me rich.

Read more of Marissa’s blogs here !

Tags: fake travel bloggers , fake travel photos , I hate travel bloggers , Travel Bloggers , Travel Bloggers are annoying

Marissa Neitzel

Related posts.

Featured Bloggers

Can You Still Make Money With a Travel Blog?

Beau Peters

How We’re Celebrating International Women’s Month!

How to Make Your Travel Blog Storytelling Stand Out

Isabelle Jordan

21 U.S. Travel Bloggers Worth Following

21 u.s. travel bloggers everyone with wanderlust should be following.

If being a travel blogger sounds like a dream job — well, it kind of is. Writers across America spend their days exploring fantastic sights in dozens of exotic countries, documenting what they experience and making a living as they go.

But that doesn’t mean the job is easy. Most professional travelers have made impressive sacrifices to follow their dreams, whether it's by selling all of their belongings, living in small apartments with several roommates, or just living very simply. Superb travel blogging also takes a unique knack for making extraordinary travel experiences resonate with the masses.

Here, we’ve rounded up some of the most engaging and inspirational travel bloggers across the U.S. And yes, a little bit of jealousy is OK.

A Dangerous Business

The blogger behind A Dangerous Business is Amanda, who decided in high school that she wanted to travel. An avid Lord of the Rings fan, she was determined to visit New Zealand and spent two weeks there in 2005. She has since been to over 50 countries on six continents.

With the hopes of traveling more, Amanda started A Dangerous Business in 2010, but isn't a full-time traveler. She enjoys the comforts of home — and her beloved cat — far too much. Instead, she created the blog as a hobby and a way to combat boredom at work. In 2015, after earning her Master's degree in Tourism Management, she went full-time as a blogger.

The goal of A Dangerous Business is to help people find ways to fit travel into their lives. Amanda works with global brands and destinations to create bucket-list-style travel trips, and has been featured on The Huffington Post and USA Today Travel .

Follow Amanda on her adventures by visiting her on Facebook and Instagram .

The Everywhereist

An author and public speaker, Geraldine DeRuiter runs the award-winning blog, The Everywhereist .  

While her focus is primarily on travel-related topics, she does occasionally delve into content related to dessert and feminism. And she has an apparent fondness for Jeff Goldblum.

The Seattle blogger has been featured in Forbes , The Independent and The Huffington Post . TIME Magazine also called her work “clever,” while The New York Times described her as "dark and hilarious."

These assessments are evident when you explore The Everywherist, which showcases Geraldine's dry wit. Check out her Facebook page and Instagram page to keep up with her shenanigans.

The Blonde Abroad

The award-winning travel and lifestyle blog, The Blonde Abroad , is run by California native Kiersten Rich. She left her job in corporate finance to become a world traveler, and has now been to over 50 countries.

Through her blog, Kiersten hopes to inspire people to live a life they love and not settle for anything less. The Blonde Abroad is a multi-level business that allows Kiersten to earn an income through various streams of revenue. She offers social media and marketing consulting, content creation and blog mentorship retreats, and takes all-expenses-paid press trips to produce content for brands.

You can catch all of Kiersten's adventures on Instagram , where she does weekly Q&A stories on travel, work and personal topics.

Adventurous Kate

Kate McCulley travels the world for a living and documents her adventures on her blog, Adventurous Kate . It all started in 2010 when she quit her job in online marketing to travel to southeast Asia for six months. Those six months turned into five years and she's now traveled across more than 65 countries.

Adventurous Kate started on that trip to southeast Asia, when Kate began building up her freelance work portfolio while developing her blog. In 2016, she moved to New York City, revamped her blog and downsized her travel, so she's only away from home about 25 percent of the time.

You can keep up with Kate on social media by following her on Facebook , YouTube and Twitter .

A self-described former cubicle dweller, Matt Long is the man behind the LandLopers blog. His passion for travel led him to start the blog, but he doesn't backpack around the world. He lives in a house in the suburbs with his three dogs and has found a way to make travel his profession. The blog name comes from the word "landloper," which is a wanderer or vagabond.

LandLopers is a reflection of Matt's experiences, and provides information on many travel-related topics. He strives to make travel more fun and accessible by sharing tips on how to experience the best destinations around the world.

Follow Matt on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook .

Lee Abbamonte

A Wall Street veteran, Lee Abbamonte worked in energy and wealth management for eight years after earning his undergraduate degree in Finance and Marketing from the University of Maryland at College Park, and his MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Lee is now a multimedia travel personality, brand ambassador and entrepreneur.

He's also the youngest person to visit every country in the world, plus the North and South Poles. His goal is to visit all 325 countries and unique destinations in the world via the Travelers Century Club list. He has been featured in or on a wide array of media outlets, including Fox News, ESPN, CNN, Sports Illustrated , the Washington Post and Conde Nast Traveler.

Lee documents his travels on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .

Sending Postcards

The travel blog Sending Postcards is a labor of love between a married couple. While they don't disclose their names, they do share their story. After their wedding, the duo left Canada to travel the world together. The blog was essentially a way to document their extended honeymoon.

The two spent a year traveling around Africa, Europe and the U.S., living in Montreal for a few years before settling in San Francisco, which they currently call home. As they travel to various destinations, many right in and around California, they share their adventures on Sending Postcards.

Hippie in Heels

Rachel Jones grew up in a small town in Ohio, where she lived with her brother and parents. When she got to college, she spent two summers backpacking in Europe and a month in Uganda. She went on to graduate with honors as a nurse. After 11 months as a cardiac care nurse in Charlotte, N.C., Rachel realized that a life in the "real world" wasn't for her. And so, she decided to retire from nursing and follow her heart.

She chose Goa, India, where she could ride a camel and climb a mountain, as her next home. It's where she's spent the last five years and where she currently documents her life on her travel blog, Hippie in Heels . She basically lives out of a backpack and survives on street food. While she's barely getting by financially, the trade off is worth it because she's been to 30 countries and counting. And she met the love of her life in India.

Follow Rachel and her Indian adventures on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter .

Pause the Moment

In 2008, the day after his 24th birthday, Ryan headed to Dublin, Ireland for his first solo backpacking trip through Europe. The three-month experience was life changing, and in 2010, Ryan quit his job. He then set off on a trip around the world that was supposed to last six months to a year. His passion for the sun, the sea and adventure wouldn't let him stop there, and he's been on the road for seven years.

Now he's a digital influencer and travel blogger who has spent the last three years in Playa del Carmen, sometimes visiting Greece during the hot summer months. His blog, Pause the Moment , features travel guides and resources for destinations all across the world. In 2017, he started running small group tours to Egypt, which he plans to continue in October 2018.

Catch Ryan on his Facebook page and on Twitter .

Camels & Chocolate

A Nashville-based freelance writer and fitness buff, Kristin Luna runs the Camels & Chocolate blog. She was a college tennis player and marathoner, and she loves to travel with her husband. And while she's all about diving, hiking and skiing, she's not a nomad. She has simply mastered the art of balancing career with family and traveling.

Most of her freelance work involves influencer campaigns where she partners with brands and destinations to create original content. She also consults with small businesses on marketing and media strategy. And while she currently lives in Nashville, her blog has been around since 2007, so it's full of helpful and interesting information on tourist locations all over the world. Kristin has appeared in multiple media publications, including Redbook magazine, Glamour magazine, Marie Claire and National Geographic .

Camels & Chocolate has a social presence on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter .

Just Chasing Rabbits

Mississippi couple Mark and Jennifer Campbell share their travel stories on their blog, Just Chasing Rabbits . The self-proclaimed "young at heart" duo has been traveling together since 2004, when they went to New Orleans on their honeymoon.

Mark and Jennifer travel with a sense of curiosity, always on the lookout for unusual and amazing sites. They hope to inspire their readers to take everyday moments and turn them into unforgettable adventures.

In addition to giving readers an inside look at their travels, Just Chasing Rabbits also has an online shop full of cool travel-related products personally selected by Mark and Jennifer.

Keep up with the two lovebirds on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter .

My Itchy Travel Feet

A travel guide for baby boomers, My Itchy Travel Feet is the work of Donna L. Hull, the blog's chief navigator, and Alan Hull, the site's photographer. The Montana couple has been documenting their travels since 2008, covering both domestic and international destinations.

They have travel guides for a variety of places all across the world, and also have tips and ideas for themed trips like bucket list trips, cruises, romantic getaways and national park adventures. With Donna's preference for luxury and Alan's rugged sense of adventure, My Itchy Travel Feet has something for every baby boomer (and beyond) to enjoy.

Follow the couple on their travel journeys via YouTube , Instagram and Facebook .

Be My Travel Muse

Since 2012, southern California resident Kristin Addis has been a solo globetrotter. After working as an investment banker in Newport Beach, she got burned out and decided to make a big change. She sold her belongings — everything except a carry-on bag — and has since experienced amazing global adventures.

She's hitchhiked across China, taken a 35-day safari to Africa and spent two months hiking in Patagonia. She even became a Buddhist nun for 10 days. Her blog focuses on solo travel and outdoor adventures like hiking, camping and scuba diving.

New content is posted on Be My Travel Muse every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, offering readers ways to make the most of their travels. Kristin shares packing lists, country cost guides and exercise tips for novice and expert travelers from all around the world.

See where Kristin's next adventure will be by following her on Instagram , YouTube and Facebook .

Local Adventurer

Each year, travel bloggers Esther and Jacob of Local Adventurer move to a new city. The Atlanta natives decided on a year in each spot because it's enough time to discover amazing spots in each new place, without being too permanent. After moving across the country and realizing that they hadn't gotten to know their hometown as well as they should have, they decided to get out and explore.

Esther and Jacob travel full-time but focus on local destinations. They seek to find adventure in everyday life, seeing the world through a childlike lens that highlights the beauty in even the most mundane things.

My Beautiful Adventures

Chinese medicine doctor and travel photojournalist Andrea (Andi) Perullo de Ledesma is a Charlotte, N.C., resident and blogger who runs My Beautiful Adventures . She's a native southerner but has lived in seven states and been to over 50 countries on six continents.

She claims to live a very dichotomous life because she struggles with wanting to capture the world on film through travel and focusing on her experience practicing Chinese medicine, which she considers her true calling.

Andi's love affair with travel can be credited to her intrigue of diverse cultures, roads not traveled and life-changing experiences. During her time traveling the world, she met an Argentinean man, Lucas, who she married in Buenos Aires after five years of a long-distance relationship.

In 2015, Andi had a son, Joaquin, whom she calls her "most beautiful adventure yet."

Follow along as she travels the world on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter .

Hole in the Donut

No, Hole in the Donut is not a food blog. But it might awaken your appetite...for travel.

Barbara Weibel is the owner/editor of Hole in the Donut, which she started in 2007. While working in various industries like marketing, advertising, real estate and public relations, Barbara was merely earning an income, but never felt passionate about what she did. She envied people who loved their jobs.

That's when she left her job and spent six months traveling solo around the world. She had no plans other than to go wherever the wind blew her. She documented all of her travels and blogged about the different places she visited. In 2009, she decided to become a full-time traveler.

Hole in the Donut is where Barbara shares her adventures in interesting countries. She features stories about the people she meets, the wild encounters she has and the spiritual lessons that she learns along the way.

Stay in the loop with Barbara's travels by following her on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter and YouTube .

Jessie on a Journey

Started in 2011 by Jessica (Jessie) Festa, Jessie On A Journey is an award-winning solo female and offbeat travel blog. Jessie was born and raised in New York, where she is a certified sightseeing guide.

She grew up traveling, taking North American road trips and Caribbean cruises. While studying at the State University at Albany in New York, Jessie had several opportunities to travel. She taught English in Thailand, backpacked solo across Europe, studied in Australia and hiked through China.

After college, her 9 to 5 job wouldn't allow her time to travel and Jessie realized that she had to spend her life doing something she loved, not something she was "supposed" to do. Now she runs her blog, offering readers tips on solo travel, as well as blog advice and resources for others who want to start a travel blog.

Hook up with Jessie on Twitter , Instagram and Facebook .

Travel Mama

Moms who like to travel will find common ground with Colleen Lanin, the founder/editor-in-chief of Travel Mama . Colleen is an award-winning author with a Master's degree in Business Administration. She's also a member of the Society of American Travel Writers. She was invited to the White House as one of the 100 most influential travel bloggers for a summit on study abroad.

Colleen's stories have been featured in Parenting Magazine , the Chicago Tribune, Working Mother Magazine and the Orlando Sentinel . She has lived in California, Minnesota and southern France, as well as Arizona, where she currently resides. She shares her life with her husband, two children and a rescue pup.

Check out Colleen and Travel Mama on the Travel Mamas Facebook page and on Twitter .

Solo Traveler

Janice Waugh started Solo Traveler in 2009. When she became a widow and am empty nester, a love of travel fed her inspiration. Her personal musings quickly became public and now Solo Traveler is a community where people who love travel share tips, tricks and support one another.

The Solo Traveler publishes posts that highlight the benefits of solo travel and how to do it well. Weekly features cover solo travel destinations and photos provided by readers. The blog has a Facebook page with over 230,000 followers, as well as a Pinterest page loaded with more tips, tricks and solo travel ideas.

Tourist 2 Townie

Gareth Leonard, a former Marketing Director, has a passion for slow, meaningful travel, which he shares on his blog, Tourist 2 Townie . After spending six years working to make other people's dreams come true, he decided to drop everything and follow his own path.

In 2009, he bought a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires and left his comfortable life behind.

Now he documents all of his adventures in Argentina, as well as other destinations around the world. He gives recommendations on the best places to see, the coolest things to do and his favorite places to eat. Check out Gareth on YouTube , Facebook , Instagram and Twitter .

6 of the most annoying travellers and how to spot them

If you’re reading this, it’s likely you share our love for travel! As wonderful a privilege as travel is, it often has a way of bringing out the worst in people…

Whether they’re pushing you out of the way to be the first off the plane or talking obnoxiously loud on a red-eye while others are trying to sleep. If you love to travel, you’re likely to have come across some pretty annoying travelers on your journeys.

But, what better way to cope than by embracing an adventurer’s mentality and laughing about it? Here are our six most annoying travelers and how to spot them, so you can chuckle to yourself, brush them off and continue exploring.

1. The Complainer (AKA The Snob)

Profile: Constantly complains about everything, whether it be the temperature of the restaurant you’ve chosen for dinner, how the Parisian café staff don’t speak English well-enough or comparing everything to how it is done ‘back home’. We get the point, you’re never happy. Please, keep those thoughts to yourself, other people are trying to embrace a new experience.

How to spot them: This person may not demonstrate these characteristics to you at first but if you’re traveling together, in time, the incessant complaints will give him or her away.

2. The Ultimate Tourist

Profile: These type of travelers have to see all the clichéd hotspots, and they have to do it all in one day! Checking attractions off their list of things to see is more important than enjoying the cultural experience of being abroad. They will often be the first to want to move on to the next activity after they have taken a picture with the attraction or famous piece of art, because ‘truly enjoying the moment’ is not on their list of things to do.

How to spot them: Typically wearing crocs or socks and sandals, a colorful cap, and some variation of a fanny pack.

3. The Instagram Model

Profile: Everyone knows one. In fact, you might even be one yourself. These travelers always have to stop and take a dozen photos in front of a beautiful vista while blocking a frustrated crowd of people trying to enjoy the view. They’re often caught standing or ‘yoga posing’ in front of a crowd at the Grand Canyon or hogging the space in front of the Mona Lisa equipped with a selfie stick. Perhaps we have all been guilty of this one from time to time, but the true ‘Instagram Model’ will inevitably stand out as the most obnoxious.

How to spot them: A very common specimen, usually wearing a choking amount of cologne or perfume and is often wearing something unfittingly sparkly or furry.

4. The Wretchedly Sick One

Profile: You’re stuck on the plane for eight hours from LHR to JFK and your seatmate is sniffling and coughing non-stop… need I say more? Yes, we have all been there and it’s good to have empathy for your fellow human, but you have to admit, that in the moment, you wish you could escape them and their germ-infested airspace…

How to spot them: Often seen with bloodshot eyes and a red nose. While not always avoidable, you can plan for the worst, equip your immune system and bring plenty of antibacterial wipes on your flight.

5. The Unsettled Traveller

Profile: These are one of the most annoying types because you can’t seem to escape them for the duration of the flight. Sometimes they are young children, but somehow that would be more forgiving. They are usually grown adults that can’t seem to find a comfortable position to stay in. Therefore, they are constantly shoving their knees into your back, invading your space by reclining their chair during dinner or grabbing hold of your seat while on the way to the airplane restroom for the sixth time…

How to spot them: Difficult to spot before the annoyance occurs, but some clues are that they come baring many bags and struggle to shove their oversized carry-ons into the overhead compartment.

6. The Oversharer

Profile:  If you are the kind of person who loves time to yourself in the sweet embrace of silence, oversharers could be your personal nightmare. You’ve finally settled into your seat on the plane, ready to relax, crack open that bottle of wine and start the latest rom-com when the person next to you says, “So, where yah from?”

How to spot them: Usually tells you an uncomfortably intimate story from their past within a few minutes of meeting you while you’re left thinking; “I don’t remember asking…”

You May Also Like

Best of #musement on instagram in april 2018, best of #musement on instagram in february 2018, 11 of the best travel podcasts, 12 essential english foods and drinks to try, leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Challenge me
• Enlighten me
• Take me away
• Uncategorized @us
• Wine and dine me
• Afternoon Tea
• Aix-en-Provence
• Alessandria
• Alnwick Castle
• Amalfi Coast
• Amazon Rainforest
• Adele Barnau
• Alessandro Santoro
• Alex Skinner
• Alyssa Fowler
• Amanda Coletta
• Ana Olivia Fiol
• Andrea Barragan
• Angelo Tarallo
• Anna Boshdemont
• Annalice Furfari
• Arianna Serra
• Bryan Shelmon

Here's how to know if you're an annoying traveler

Oct 17, 2019 • 2 min read

Every traveler has an irritating habit or two , whether it’s hovering by the gate before your boarding group is called or jumping into the aisle to be the first pull your bags from the overhead bin as soon as that “fasten seatbelts” sign switches off. But how annoying are those personal tics, really? 

To see what bugs your fellow travelers the most, online travel agent Agoda commissioned a study of nearly 10,400 people from ten different countries, all of whom had been on holiday at least once in the past year, and got the lowdown on their pet peeves. Responses varied a bit based on location, but on the whole, people who can’t seem to use their indoor voices took the not-so-coveted crown. 

Fifty-seven percent of global respondents said that noisy travelers were their biggest annoyance, followed by travelers who refuse to put down their devices at 47% and those who don’t understand cultural nuances at 46%. Rounding out the top five are huge tour groups at 36% and selfie-takers at 21%. 

From place to place, though, the data tells a different story. Singaporeans, Filipinos, and Malaysians find insensitivity to local culture nuances more than twice as frustrating as Chinese and Thai travelers do, while just 54% of British and 41% of American travelers (41%) have a problem with it. Meanwhile, only 12% of Chinese travelers are bothered by selfie-takers, but nearly a third of Australians can’t stand the practice. 

Spending too much time on your phone is the other big one, though whether you’re traveling alone or with others makes a difference. Solo travelers spend 15% more time on their devices than they do when they’re with others – nearly two hours a day versus 100 minutes when traveling with friends and 86 minutes when traveling with family – unless they’re American, in which case the reverse is true. On average, the Yanks put in more phone time when they’re with friends than they do when they’re alone, 62 minutes and 86 minutes respectively. For more details and the full demographic breakdown, visit agoda.com .

Explore related stories

May 3, 2024 • 5 min read

A trip to Slovenia could include snowshoeing, lake swims, spa days, sensational wine and so much more. Here’s our guide to the best times to visit.

May 3, 2024 • 12 min read

May 4, 2024 • 17 min read

May 3, 2024 • 14 min read

May 3, 2024 • 16 min read

May 3, 2024 • 6 min read

May 3, 2024 • 7 min read

• Middle East
• North America
• South America
• New Zealand
• Moving abroad
• Start Blogging
• Photography

5 Blogging Practices that Make Me Want to Scream

Home » Blog » Blogger » 5 Blogging Practices that Make Me Want to Scream

Sharing is caring!

It’s been 5 months since my last rant . Wow, how does time fly!

It’s coming up on two years since I quit my job to become a full-time traveler blogger , and last week was my blog’s 5 year anniversary (stay tuned for exciting news!) so I have been doing a lot of deep thinking and pondering lately about life, my blog, the future, you know, the usual. You can probably see where this is going.

I’m going through a blogger mid-life crisis.

So a few months ago I attended an amazing blogger conference in Sri Lanka and was blown away by all of the incredible people there and positive conversations that were going on. But since then, like all good things, it came to an abrupt end when we all went home.

I realized when I started to think about my 5 years of blog stuff, recently I have inadvertently taken a step back from the travel blogging community over the past few months because I have been really frustrated with a lot of the attitude and behavior going on in there. Like really frustrated.

Through travel blogging and social media, many truly wonderful people have come into my life, and who continue to inspire me on a daily basis. And I’ve been able to follow my dreams and build my own business that have brought me some of the most amazing opportunities. And I am so grateful and happy for that, and I wouldn’t change anything in the world for the experiences I’ve had.

But as the years tick by, I feel like things are slowly going downhill. The interwebs have quickly become flooded with crap blogs and all sorts of seriously questionable behavior. There, I said it. Someone had to say it, might as well be me.

I’ve never been one to keep strong opinions to myself.

Nor is that to say I am an example of a perfect travel blogger. God knows sometimes I even annoy myself. In fact, I’ve probably been guilty of some of these points over the years. But I think it’s really important that bloggers can look at themselves and really analyze their own behavior; or, you know, use their brains before clicking publish. Wishful thinking.

I am not sure how many of you guys actually care about travel blogging, but many of you in the past have expressed interest to me in the behind-the-scenes of being a full-blown digital nomad (or lazy internet writer without serious career aspirations according to my family) and I know FAR TOO MANY OF YOU relish my haters , so why not indulge?

And for the small percentage of you that are bloggers, I’m very sorry if I’ve hit a nerve. And for any of you who are up and coming bloggers, this is for you. Chew on it, mull it over, ponder. Please. I’m writing this for the dual purpose of getting these feelings off my chest and also bringing people’s attention to some of the shady behavior going on in travel blogging.

While I try and generally keep my blog a happy and positive space, at the same time this has been weighing on my so much and bothering me for so long, I felt like I really needed to get it down on digital paper. My blog has always been a space for me to organize my thoughts and feeling, no matter how dark. So here we go.

Please excuse the lack of rainbows and unicorns, grab a cup of coffee, and get ready for a big, long-overdue rant about 5 blogging practices I’m totally sick of.

1. Gimme, gimme, gimme attitude

I’ve been to about a dozen travel blogging conferences and trade shows in 3 years and there is one reoccurring them above all else – the attitude of how much can I get?

Simmer down, people! Greediness is never attractive, and I can tell you the PR people you are hunting down like flies can read through you like a children’s book.

Don’t get me wrong, one of the main reasons I decided to become a full-time blogger was because I wanted free trips. Full disclosure. That being said, I did not go after free stuff like I was going to die tomorrow. I waited and waited and waited. I said no to contra when I was offered it because it wasn’t the right fit for my blog AND because I knew I didn’t have the influence to warrant it yet. I didn’t want to sell out.

I put my blog first and my love of presents second.

But the most important thing I did? I focused 100% of my energy on my blog itself and producing good content. Not SEO, not link baiting, not pandering to other travel bloggers for a hook-up. I held out. I had been blogging for two years and I spent another year figuring out how to build a community of people who were similar to me. I focused on writing better stories and taking better photos.

If you’re interested, I recently wrote about my 10 tips for starting a kickass travel blog .

Now when I go to conferences, I was astonished by the behavior of MANY travel bloggers. People who have been blogging for less than a year trying to get invited on trips. People who have literally ZERO engagement on their blog and somehow think they have enough sway to deserve not only a invite on a blog trip but also to be paid a daily rate.

I speak to all bloggers when I say this (and please please please listen) – you need to fully understand your brand, your value, and above all, YOUR INFLUENCE before you start marketing yourself and trying to work with brands and DMO’s.

Influence is the key word here – you are an influencer. People give you free stuff not because they like you, but rather they are investing in you because they believe you will bring them business. They are looking for a return from you, will you send them business? If you don’t think so, then ethically should you accept stuff?

And your numbers aren’t always the most important thing. There are blogs with plenty more traffic than mine but have no engagement and there are really small blogs with super specialized niches who have such a strong community of followers, you know they have a lot of influence. By keeper track of feedback, engagement and reader surveys, you’ll learn over time what kind of value your blog has and from there can develop good projects and partnerships.

The most important thing to remember is your audience – you will only want to work with sponsors that appeal to them, provide them something they are interested in. You have to know them really really well.

Instead of fixating on the freebies and perks, instead why not work on building relationships with the businesses you’d be interested in working with in the future? Go to workshops, listen to tutorials, take blog courses to work on improving the areas you need to before trying to make that leap into a business.

2. Lack of creativity

Maybe it’s just me, but I like creative people. When I read blogs, I like the ones that try new things, stand out, say something I haven’t thought about before or question things. Or I like ones that provide really valuable information that I could use. The most successful blogs stand out from the crowd.

I read a lot of blogs that focus on all sorts of amazing, weird, and different things and use all sorts of mediums to share their stories. Oh, and I only read about 5 travel blogs regularly.

I think to go into a field like travel blogging, you need to be a creative person. You are basically starting your own magazine or newspaper but you’re the one writing all the stories and taking all the pictures. And if you decide to do it on your own, on your own terms, in a way you are breaking away from tradition.

So what does it mean to be creative? I’m not saying you have to be the most amazing photographer or writer or whatever, but try and present things in a creative or new way, because, let’s be honest here, there is so much travel writing out there how on earth will you stand out otherwise? Or perhaps focus on what you are an expert in, what are your strengths? Tailor your blog around what you are really good at.

This is where things get tricky. There are some really amazing blogs out there that are really crap at marketing themselves. Content does not always win. And then there are the blogs that have terrible, eye-bleeding content, but are really good at marketing themselves.

Flashy graphics, beautiful designs, the latest themes, hipster fonts. Yes, that looks good but you need more than a snazzy cover to keep people around. For me, what the blog actually says and offers the readers is the most important.

Guys, I can’t stress this enough, creativity is super important in blogging. The market is absolutely flooded with blogs, there are millions of them. Is your game-plan going to be win new followers with flashy graphics or write the most kickass travel post EVER about the coolest experience you’ve had on the road?

Stop fretting so much over SEO. Stop spending all your time thinking about how to gain followers. Stop trying to optimize and guest post and do this and that that *might* get you a hundred new pageviews. And please for the love of god stop trying to game the system on social media. Don’t buy followers. Don’t use bots. Don’t play the follow/unfollow game. Take all that brainpower you are wasting on trivial shit and focus on creating something that will stand out and will last.

Trust me, that’s how you are going to be successful in the long run.

To be honest, there is also a massive dearth of creativity in the professional side of travel blogging as well. In my opinion conferences like TBEX, the leading biggest, baddest travel blogging conference in the world show a lack of commitment to innovation which drives me bonkers. Maybe it’s just me, but you would think that a conference that prides itself on being “the future of travel media” might put in a little more effort into actually being the future of travel media instead of their current business model of “what we’ve done has always worked so why change?”

I won’t be the first blogger to say that I go to see my travel blogging friends, not to learn something new. Yes, I do have blogging friends, even after this post. I promise. At least I hope I do. Eeep!

So how do you tell people to be creative? Well, that’s a tricky one sirs. What I usually do is keep an eye on what’s been done before then do the opposite. Or I think about how I normally would tell a story and then take one more step to make it more exciting and different. Challenge yourself.

3.  Sense of entitlement

There has been a massive debate in the travel blogging community for years now about how travel bloggers think they deserve to be paid to travel. This growing sense of entitlement among travel bloggers really bothers me.

Yes, you read that right. Somehow getting a $10,000 free trip to Tahiti isn’t good enough anymore. Now many travel bloggers think that their time deserves to be compensated.

I wavered back and forth on this for a long time. And again, to be perfectly up front, I have been paid day rates and I have upcoming trips that pay day rates. However, most of them have been Instagram trips, not blog trips, and those rates come from the fact that I sign a big fat contract selling my photographs and their full copyright usage. In laymen terms, I am not being paid for the fact that I am going on the trip, I am being paid as a photographer. That’s very different than asking to be paid on a blog trip.

I think there are maybe a dozen travel blogs MAX out there that are truly big enough and truly command enough impact and influence that they deserve to be paid outright day rates. When they talk, people really listen.

I believe bloggers really need to refocus their energies on building long-term partnerships with brands that pay or work using their skills in social media, writing, photography or video and be able to cash that in on collaborations and projects that pay. I think bloggers deserved to be paid when they are selling content, in some way or another.

There are heaps of ways to make money as a travel blogger, and getting day rates on a trip shouldn’t be one of them.

Again this goes back to knowing your value as a blogger. And when pitching projects try and think about what else you might be able to provide that you could put a dollar amount on. How can you help? Do they need photos? Video? Maybe even blog posts for their own site? Could you potentially write the story for another publication that does pay?

4. Circle jerk community

I’m sorry for using the word circle jerk on my blog. Mom, please don’t Google it.

Moving on, while I really, deep-down, love the travel blogging community as a whole, something many of you might find questionable after reading this post, there is this really weird, bizarre “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” behavior running rampant around the blogosphere. And not in an honest way.

Like someone posting in a FB group “hey I’m going to Fiji, can someone please pass along the Fiji tourism board contact kthanksbye” and 20 people comment saying “Oh em gee, I’ve always wanted to go to Fiji, can you message me too?!”

Back to point 1 – greedy enough?

(Also, tangent, if you can’t find the contact of who you are looking for in any other way than posting in a 5,000 person public Facebook group, you probably don’t deserve to go to Fiji).

It’s like bloggers that only comment on other blogs. Why don’t you try to find your own followers than harpy off of someone else? Or those posts asking everyone to share their latest blog post and everyone else will reshare. Or just tweeting amongst other bloggers. Seriously, the list goes on and on.

It’s the same behavior I’ve mentioned before, instead of trying to attract new readers to a blog, many times bloggers are somehow magnetically drawn to other bloggers. They try to get their friends on trips they don’t deserve. They try and wheedle contacts out of people. I get daily emails from bloggers I’ve never heard of let alone have met asking me for all sorts of favors. Um, nope.

Trying to piggyback on other people’s contacts and work isn’t a good business model. Or worse, trying to snitch people’s projects out from under them is even worse.

Instead of trying to interact a lot with other travel bloggers, which don’t get me wrong, I do, I also have made a big point to observe and learn from other creatives, influencers and even other types of bloggers. It’s been really inspiring and has encouraged me to take risks, try new things and really think outside the box.

5. Unprofessionalism

Coming from someone who just wrote “circle jerk” in public forum, you might find this one hard to swallow. But bear with me.

The worst thing about travel bloggers is the lack of professionalism. And I don’t mean in their writing. Lord knows I drop enough “f” bombs on here to make a nun blush. That actually doesn’t matter.

I am mostly talking about their blogging practices, related to all of the above points. Many travel bloggers like to oversell themselves, make promises to the moon and back and then don’t deliver. Do I need to explain why that’s ABSOLUTELY THE WORST THING EVER and why that is detrimental to travel bloggers as whole?

Bloggers who don’t deliver are the worst offenders.

Would you believe just last year I did 6 major projects where I had to work my ass off to convince someone to work with me because they had had a terrible experience with a blogger in the past? That’s a terrible statistic.

I think one of the worst things I blogger can do is misrepresent themselves.

And I say that because I see that all the time. Especially from those bloggers who are really good at marketing themselves. They know all the key words that marketers want to hear and they know how to make themselves look really really good.

They say they have tremendous engagement. They say they have so much experience. They say they are the best blogger ever. But do they have the content and influence to back it up? Nopers.

Of course it’s also not so professional to sleep with guides on press trips, get so wasted you miss the early morning wake up call, or have a hissy fit on Twitter because you didn’t get an upgrade on your free flight, seriously guys, the list could go on and on.

I think it’s time I probably stopped, don’t you?

Bloggers as a whole are a self-made industry. There aren’t industry regulations and standards. Anyone and their mom can start a blog, so it’s really important that we put on a good face and do our best. My philosophy? Underpromise and overdeliver.

This is directed for new and old bloggers alike, I think there is a lot that can be done better and more that we can become aware of, don’t you think?

Over and out.

What are your thoughts on this? Are there any blogging practices out there that upset you too? 

About the author

296 Comments on “ 5 Blogging Practices that Make Me Want to Scream ”

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Great post Liz.. Agree with every single word..

Loving these tips Liz!!

I’ll definitely keep them in mind if anything comes up like it – although I’m pretty happy for my blog to be my memory bank (the number of places I’ve been to and I have so few memories of them) and a means to keep the fam updated on my wanderings!

Keep the tips coming so I’m all set for takeoff in Sep! 😉

My blog was my memory bank for 2 years, I just wrote for me, and even now I still write a lot of things that I just need to put somewhere.

And this is why you’re one of my favorite bloggers! You’re honest and sometimes downright ruthless, but I respect that. I was just at the Women in Travel Summit conference this past weekend in Boston. It was my first travel blogger conference. While I enjoyed the conference and felt I got a good deal of information out of it, I did notice a lot of the things that you mentioned above. The Facebook group for the conference attendees makes me laugh out loud. Prior to the start of the conference so many people kept asking what the weather was going to be like and what to pack and all I could think of was “aren’t you travelers?” Hello, it’s called weather.com! Now, after the conference, some bloggers are asking about how to get stuff trips with no followers, etc. Makes me cringe. I just started my travel blog last year and I have a small following. Yes, I would love to grow my blog, gain more followers, and get free shit. Doesn’t everyone?! But, at the end of the day, I write for myself because I genuinely enjoy it. Thanks for your awesomeness and keep being real! 🙂

I am a big believer that passion will get you through anything!

My favorite is a guy who copied and pasted content from other sites and then passed it off as his own. Word for word, with punctuation marks and everything. Then he’d go on the Facebook travel blogger discussion groups and brag about his awesome numbers and…ahem, cough cough…”hard work.” That was a good time to hit the unfollow button.

I have seen blogs like that too! The craziest thing was they posted the same blog content on the same week in the same fb group as the original blog post! That takes some balls!

That’s WHACK!

Related Adventures

Emails Suck. Mine Don't.

Why Traveling All the Time Is Not As Cool As It Looks. 9 Things Travel Bloggers Don’t Like to Talk About

“You can do anything you want!” or “Leave your boring job and travel!” — this is pretty much what we often read on  social media . Many people are secretly jealous of travel bloggers — the people who turned traveling into their job and who now tease us with their mind-blowing photos and videos from all over the world. But what is hiding behind these cool photos? Are their lives really all that great and as serene as they seem?

Bright Side decided to find out more about the dark side of the lives of famous travel bloggers and the things that they don’t often talk about. And at the end of the article, we will tell you about the new format of traveling that more and more people are choosing now.

1. The absence of a stable income

This is so much right on point, that should be talked more about :)

Most of the travel bloggers don't have to do anything with travel - they make money from posting beautiful photos and vids on social media. They come to one place, spend there a short time just to make photos and then go to another one. Some of the places even pay them

Probably, occasional travelling during your vacations is way better than this

Related Reads

16 brave girls agreed to compare makeup done by them and by a professional, and the results might surprise you.

What Life Looks Like Before and After You Turn 30

Helen Hunt, 60, Stuns During Her Latest Appearance, and Her Lips Become the Center of Attention

«He Looks 35 Now,» Keanu Reeves Cuts His Long Hair and People Are In Love With the New Look

A Homeless Woman Receives a Full Makeover and Impresses the Whole World

30 Crazy Shots That Can Make Your Head Spin

Meg Ryan, 62, Is Praised for Finally Looking Her Age As She Stuns in Her Latest Appearance

“She Looks 20 Years Younger,” a Woman Undergoes Transformative Surgery and Leaves Everyone Speechless

15 Outfits From Fashion Designers That Made Our Jaws Drop

«I Thought She Couldn’t Lose Weight,» Keely Brosnan Looks Completely Transformed in New Pic

This Is What Our Favorite Cartoon Characters Would Look Like As Adults

Miley Cyrus Causes a Stir by “Leaving Nothing to the Imagination” as She Wears an Extremely Revealing Dress

Is Travel Blogging Worth It? (An Honest Look Into What Blogging is Like in 2023)

If you’ve made your way onto this post, chances are that you’re either tired of working that 9-5 job or want to make some extra cash for traveling.

I totally get it, I’ve been there, which is why I’m here right now, writing this blog post for you to read.

You’ve likely stumbled across a list of ways to earn money from home and have found the words “become a travel blogger” super appealing.

Well, good news, I’m here to tell you that it is super appealing , and there are so many reasons why you should stop asking yourself, is travel blogging worth it?

In this post, I’ll go over why travel blogging is such a great job and why it’s worth all of the hard work that goes into it.

Are You Ready to Become a Full-Time Travel Blogger?

Check out this FREE webinar to see what it takes to become a full-time blogger (without having to learn social media)! 😆

Who I Am and Why You Can Trust Me

Hey there! I’m Kassidy, and you may be wondering who the heck I am and why you should trust me as I tell you a little about travel blogging.

Well, I’m just another normal person like you, who had a big dream of quitting my 9-5 and traveling the world.

That’s where I learned about travel blogging, took the plunge, bought a domain name, and started writing about “what would I take with me to a deserted island” and “updates on my road trip!”

Aka posts that no one actually cares about, besides maybe my mom and my grandma.

This was back in May of 2020, right after the world shut down, and I quickly learned that I loved staying at home for work and didn’t want to work a traditional 9-5.

So I started to do some research and was asking myself this exact question… is starting a travel blog worth it?

But then, I found Mike and Laura of Mike and Laura Travel in September of 2021 and invested in their Scale Your Travel Blog course.

This course has taken both of my blogs to new heights and has helped me learn everything that I need to know to be successful as a blogger.

I’ve learned that blogging is so worth the time and effort that goes into it because I’ve gotten to have so many amazing experiences with my blog.

Not only have I learned more about my home state, but I’ve been inspired to travel more around it, have gotten to work with great people, and have earned money from my website.

If you’re ready to jump right in and want to learn more about what it takes to be a travel blogger, sign up for Laura’s FREE training to help you get started. 👇

Sign Up for the FREE WEBINAR to Learn More Here! ➽

What is a Travel Blog?

Some people think of a travel blog as a website where people publish updates about their travels for their friends and family to read.

While this is the case for some people (and is how my blog started!), it’s typically not true for most blogs.

A travel blog is a website that contains useful posts and information about locations, tips, flying, foods to eat, and anything else that has to do with travel.

Many blogs are niched down into more specific topics such as vegan travel, family travel, Minnesota travel (that’s me!), etc.

If you’ve ever searched something online such as “ best hikes on the north shore, MN “, it’s very likely that those first few results are from travel bloggers!

So even if you don’t think you’ve ever read a blog, it’s very likely that you have!

Is Travel Blogging Worth It?

This can be a huge question and concern for people trying to jump into the world of travel blogging.

There’s a lot more to learn about creating a profitable blog than most people are aware of, and it certainly isn’t a way to get rich fast.

Starting a blog and turning it into a profitable business can be really tough and can take a long time to accomplish.

You’ll need to invest in yourself and really switch your mindset to show yourself that if they can do it, so can you!

In saying that, if you have the desire to succeed and want to change your life and live it how you want, then yes, travel blogging is absolutely worth it. 🙌

While there can be really hard patches and you will have to work hard, travel blogging is a great job (yes, it’s a real job, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!).

It can give you some pretty epic experiences such as paid trips, allow you to meet some awesome people, and write about the best places ever.

Plus, you’re able to have location independence and you can continue to grow your earnings as high as you want because the sky is the limit when you have your own business! 💰

But, if you don’t know what you’re doing, blogging can be pointless and can get you a whole lotta nowhere. So learn what it takes to be a great blogger with this FREE WEBINAR.

Pros of Travel Blogging

There are tons of positives that come along with being a travel blogger, and I want to highlight a few of the best here.

✅ You Get to Travel for Work

Of course, one of the top reasons that everyone wants to be a travel blogger is that you get to travel for work.

Yes, it’s true, there will be times when you might get to have a sponsored trip and you will get paid to travel.

You also are getting paid in ad money for writing about the places that you’ve been to and sharing them with the world.

This is a huge perk and is one of the main reasons that bloggers get into the travel space.

But be sure to read my cons below and how it isn’t always just fun and games, and there is a lot of hard work with those vacations.

✅ You Get to Help Others Travel

With a travel blog, you get to share your message with the world and help others travel to the beautiful places that you’ve been.

Whether that’s sharing locals’ insight into your hometown or giving your readers an itinerary for a trip that you took, you’ll get to share that with others.

I love being able to share my love for Minnesota with my readers on Kassidy’s Journey and help others plan their visit here.

Travel bloggers are some of the top people who help people plan trips.

Think of the last time you searched something such as ‘best restaurants in X,’ or ‘best places to hike in Y.’

Many of the results that you say when you hit ‘search’ were likely travel bloggers!

✅ You Have Location Independence

One of my absolute favorite parts about being a travel blogger is that I get to have location independence.

I don’t have to stay home to work, and I certainly don’t have to go into an office to work!

I can take my laptop with me wherever I go, as long as I have a wifi signal!

This makes it really easy to plan trips without having to take off work and go home to visit my family whenever I want.

✅ The Sky is the Limit

As your own boss, the sky is the limit for everything that you do and everything that you make.

If you have a dream to create something, there isn’t anyone else that’s going to tell you that you can’t do it, because you’re the boss.

You’ll also be able to increase how much you make based on how hard you work and what you put into it because there really is no limit to earnings.

✅ You Make Your Own Schedule

Another huge perk of being a travel blogger and being your own boss is that you get to make your schedule for the day!

That means if you want to be done with work by noon, you totally can.

And if you want to take a break during the middle of the day to go to the beach, you also can do that!

You won’t have to miss family gatherings, you can always go to your kid’s sports games, and you can take a sick day whenever you want.

Sure, there are some deadlines thrown in there such as publishing posts, contributing guest posts, or working with brands.

But for the most part, you get to create your schedule every day!

✅ Possibilities to Work With Great People/Brands

Another plus of being a travel blogger is the possibility to work with brands and people that you love.

For example, you could be invited on a paid stay somewhere or a sponsored trip somewhere that you’ve been wanting to go.

Or maybe a brand that you absolutely love reaches out to you and asks you to test out its new product.

Or you reached out to them and they accepted the offer to work with them!

There are a lot of great experiences to be had as a blogger.

✅ You Don’t Have to Understand Social Media

A huge worry for me becoming a travel blogger was that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when it came to social media (and I still don’t!).

But the good thing is that to be a successful blogger, you don’t even have to use social media!

That’s how powerful SEO is and having a good understanding of it can really help you scale your travel blog without even having to post once on Instagram or Facebook.

Cons of Travel Blogging

And of course, as with anything, there are certainly cons when it comes to travel blogging, which we’ll take a look at below.

❌ You Aren’t Actually on Vacation All the Time

Contrary to what people often think, travel bloggers aren’t just on vacation all the time.

Sure, they may take their work with them somewhere cooler than their hometown, but they’re still going to sit down and work, even if there’s a beach chair calling their name.

So if you’re looking for a job where it’s all play and no hard work, then, unfortunately, travel blogging isn’t for you.

❌ Judgements From Others

I’ve heard it many times, and I’m sure I’ll hear it again. Judgment from others who don’t understand that this is a business, and not a hobby.

It can be really tough to explain to others what you do if it doesn’t fit the mold of what is supposed to happen after you graduate high school.

But that’s okay if they don’t get it, it doesn’t matter, because it’s not their job and they really don’t need to understand.

If they don’t believe you, show them your bank account. 😆

❌ Unpredictability

One of the hardest parts about blogging is that it isn’t as predictable as a job that is salaried is.

There is no hourly rate or yearly salary that bloggers receive, and every month is typically different.

Seasons can affect how much you make, algorithm changes and updates from Google can affect it, and more.

It’s just something that you have to learn to roll with and know how to educate yourself on what’s happening over here on the web.

How to Start a Travel Blog

There is a lot that goes into starting a blog, and I couldn’t possibly fit it all into this post.

But I’ll give you a quick rundown of what it takes to start a blog so that you can have a better idea of the work that goes into it.

• Brainstorm your niche and a name for your blog/domain name.
• Choose a self-hosted company such as Bluehost to host your website online, and a blogging platform such as WordPress.org to create your blog.
• Choose a theme (I recommend Kadence from WordPress!) and start designing your website and start getting it ready to publish content.
• Create a Google Analytics and Google Search Console account to track your stats.
• Learn SEO and have an understanding of keyword research through a course, such as Scale Your Travel Blog .
• Start writing content and publishing well-written, SEO-optimized articles that target low-competition keywords.
• Build backlinks to your blog and blog posts.
• Start earning money through affiliate marketing by writing affiliate posts.
• Grow your traffic and apply to an ad network.

Now as I mentioned above, there is a lot of stuff that goes into starting a blog, so this is a pretty basic list.

But these are the basic steps that bloggers take to start up their blogs and start earning a full-time income.

Best Travel Blogging Course

If you’re ready to start jumping into the travel blogging world (which is so awesome because it’s such an epic job!), then I really recommend that you invest in a coach early on.

I wasted an entire year blogging about nonsense when I could have been making money, just because I didn’t know what I was doing.

That was until I invested in myself, my future, and my dreams , by signing up for a blogging course and coach.

Scale Your Travel Blog

Laura from Mike and Laura Travel is a well-known coach in the travel blogging world, who took her blog from pennies to over 6 figures in 2020.

Yes, you read that right, she actually knows what she’s doing right now , unlike a lot of the other bloggers who monetized their blogs way back in 2010.

I’ve been able to learn everything that I need to know about monetizing my travel blog from Laura, and I’ve been able to take it to new heights.

She’s helped me feel confident in my blog, has helped me begin to monetize, and actually cares about her students and how they’re doing.

If you’re considering if starting a travel blog is worth it, sign up for the free webinar below to learn more about how to start as a blogger, right now!

Sign Up for Laura’s FREE TRAVEL BLOGGING WEBINAR here! ➽

Can You Make a Living With a Travel Blog?

The short answer is absolutely , yes you can make a living with a travel blog!

There are a few key ways that bloggers earn money from their websites; ad revenue, affiliate marketing, and paid products.

Of course, there are many other ways, but these are the top 3 ways bloggers earn income.

Now, remember, blogging isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme, it can take months to years to create a successful business for yourself.

But once you’ve got the knowledge down that they teach in Scale Your Travel Blog , you could be earning income in a much shorter time.

Is Travel Blogging Easy?

Although it may be tough for some people to believe, travel blogging is not an easy jo b , and it’s certainly not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Travel bloggers often work for years without getting paid anything before they start earning a full-time income on their blog.

Sure, it can go much faster, if you know what you’re actually doing, but most people don’t for a long time, and waste time just writing about whatever they want.

That was where I was at with my blog, because I thought that blogging was an easy, rich market to come into, and I would have loads of cash in weeks.

Clearly, that’s not the case. And you have to work for your income and success, but with a course and coach who knows what they’re doing, that success can come a lot faster.

Watch Laura’s free training to learn the best strategies for making your blog into a business a whole lot faster. 👇

Is Travel Blogging Too Saturated?

One of the biggest concerns that bloggers have before committing to their business is that the travel blogging space is too saturated.

And while it is true that there are thousands of other travel bloggers out there, it’s been that way for many years, and people continue to break through.

Think about it this way; there are tens of thousands of nurses out there that are all searching for the same job in the same field.

But that wouldn’t stop you from going to school to get a degree to chase your dreams of becoming a nurse, would it?

So why should you let other people who have decided to become travel bloggers affect your decision to become one too?

Are Travel Blogs Profitable?

Yes, blogging can be a very profitable business that you can earn a lot of money from!

Some of the top bloggers earn 7 figures, while thousands of others earn 6 figures each year!

Even if you’re just looking for a way to earn some extra money on the side, having a profitable travel blog can be a great way to bring in that extra cash!

FAQs: Travel Blogging

The amount of money that travel bloggers make ranges greatly, depending on the niche, how much work they put in, and how long they’ve been blogging. Some of the best and highest-paid bloggers make 7 figures every year. Others make 6 figures, and some who choose to use it as a side hustle, rather than a full-time gig, may make just a few thousand a year. Other bloggers make $0 per year, but these are the people who don’t have the knowledge or mindset that they need to succeed.

While you can certainly choose just “travel” as your niche, it’s going to be a lot easier to grow your blog with a more focused niche. Think smaller such as a specific location or a certain activity. Or, a type of travel such as vegan travel, travel with kids, Disney travel, etc. For example, this blog, Kassidy’s Journey, is only about Minnesota, so my niche is Minnesota travel.

You can start making money almost immediately on a blog with affiliate marketing, as long as you do it the right way. Running ads on your site is the other big way to earn an income, but to do so, you typically need quite a bit of traffic to your site.

No , it is not too late to start a blog, and travel blogging is not dead. Jumping into the travel blogging space without a niche can be really tough, but if you have a specific niche, it’s a lot easier to gain traction. If you know how to use SEO and affiliate marketing (which you can learn how to do both in the Scale Your Travel Blog Course !), you can earn money blogging.

The best way to get your travel blog “noticed” and start gaining traffic is to use SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is a powerful tool that is the best way to earn income from your blog. You’ll be able to gain traffic through your posts that are ranking highly on Google, therefore allowing you to apply for an ad network.

How long it takes to start earning from a blog varies from person to person. But if you fully understand SEO and are well-versed in it, you could start seeing income in the first few months with affiliate marketing! Joining an ad network typically takes longer and could take a year or more.

Wrap-Up: Is it Worth it to Start a Travel Blog?

So now that we’ve gone through all of the pros and cons, ways to start, and more about starting a blog, is travel blogging worth it?

Yes, it is worth it, and for so many reasons like getting paid to travel, having experiences that others don’t have, and being location-independent.

There are so many great reasons to start a travel blog, so use what you’ve learned and get started today!

Kassidy Olson is a Minnesota native that loves spending her time exploring her home state. She writes for Kassidy's Journey to showcase that Minnesota isn't just a flyover state. She's here to give her personal recommendations, insights, tips, and more to help you plan your trip to Minnesota, or help locals enjoy their home state more.

• Sign up free

Resources / blog / How to / Article

6 steps to become a successful and profitable travel blogger

May 21, 2019

If you've got the travel bug, get this guide on how to start and grow a travel blog, plus key ways to earn significant income as a successful travel blogger.

You’re sitting at your desk daydreaming about being on an island somewhere in the south Caribbean.

Just a fun little cliff dive will do.

And when you need a break from waterfalls, your mind takes you on a quick plane ride to a quaint cafe in the middle of a historic European town with cobblestone roads running through it.

Ah, the joys of travel, adventure, and hopping between different cultures.

How do you make traveling while working a reality?

If you’ve ever dreamt about becoming a travel blogger, here’s a reality check -- you can make it happen and get paid to do it, but it isn’t a cakewalk. You have to be willing to put in the hours and hustle to monetize your blog .

Is it worth it? Definitely. Is it as easy as writing a few blog posts and calling it a day? Not quite.

Today, we share with you the realities of being a travel blogger and the steps you need to take to join their ranks as a well-paid traveler.

Let’s get to the important bits first: Just how worth it is becoming a travel blogger?    

How much can you make as a travel blogger?

You can make as little as nothing, or you can earn a substantial income as a travel blogger. It all depends on your persistence and having the right monetization plan set up.

After all, the demand for reading travel content online is growing. Digital travel content sees double-digit growth year-over-year.

When you’ve got your foundation properly laid out, you can earn over $3,000 per month , just like these fellow travel bloggers:

Nora earns over $3,000 per month from her The Professional Hobo travel blog. Nora has been traveling full-time since 2007 and has stepped foot on over 55 countries.

At the mid-range, Monica earns $10,000 in monthly income from her The Travel Hack blog, which she started in 2009.  

Finally, on the far side of the revenue scale, Matt Kepnes pulls in over $50,000 a month through his Nomadic Matt site. Matt has been trotting the globe since 2006.

Pretty impressive, right?

Don’t worry if a decade of blogging sounds daunting to you. If you continue to publish valuable content regularly, your audience will grow, and so will your love of the craft.

The main takeaway is to build up your stamina for the long-term. If you do, you’ll be miles ahead of the norm, where a whopping 59.3% of bloggers start a blog and then abandon it.

With a bit of perseverance, running your own travel blog can be profitable because the startup and maintenance costs are relatively minimal. Still, some costs to take into consideration are:

Additional folks to help with your production as you grow and hire virtual assistants , freelance writers, and so on

Website maintenance, like hosting and domain registration

Automation and management tools, like your platform or email service

All in all:

You can earn a significant income as a travel blogger with today’s growing demand for digital travel content. So long as you keep up your blog over the long-term, you’ll be successful at it.

As for how to get started, check out our simple, six-step system below.

6 steps to start a travel blog

Step #1. find a theme based on your travel passion.

Your first step is to find an angle based on your travel passion. You don’t have to cover everything travel-related. Instead, narrow in on a niche or theme.

To whittle it down to one travel theme, ask yourself:

What is it about traveling you enjoy the most?

When you travel, what do you gravitate toward most? Is it the people, culture, food, natural environment, or history?

As an example, blogger Dan focuses on traveling solo and capturing the world’s scenic wonders through his professional photography, which is featured in his Dan Flying Solo blog.

Couple Megan McDuffie and Michael van Vliet focus on a completely different theme, and spotlight on their Fresh Off the Grid blog delicious foods and easy recipes you can make while camping and traveling to outdoor destinations.

As you can see, you can get creative while selecting your theme and choose from a wide array of niches within the travel category.

The key is to get specific so you can focus on one niche audience. Once you’ve done that, and only when you’ve settled on a niche, you’re ready for the next step.

Step #2. Research and learn about your niche audience

Once you’ve selected your niche topic, it’s time to conduct market research . This step isn’t optional: market research is vital for understanding your audience and gaining clarity on what they’re interested in.

After all, your goal is to deliver to your blog audience precisely what they want and need. Good business is about solving people’s problems, ideally before they’re aware of those problems.

As for an effective way to conduct your research, start by diving into online forums, discussions, and social media groups to uncover popular points of interest within your topic.

For instance, a quick query for “travel photography” in Reddit pulls up several Subreddit threads within the 2.7 million large online community.

This serves as a great place to glean some useful insights for your blog. You can brainstorm ideas on how to educate and solve some of your audience’s related problems based on what you glean from social communities.

Better yet, take it a step further and join these groups to start engaging with members to learn first-hand what they’re biggest struggles are and how they talk about those struggles.

That way, you can address their needs in your blog articles and provide valuable, educational content to your audience using their own words.

In a nutshell:

The only way you can serve your niche is by getting to know them. Use social communities and one-on-one conversations to dig into people’s problems and find ways that your blog can solve them.

Then, begin writing.

Step #3. Start writing regularly (and imperfectly)

When people ask writers how they produce so much content, the answer is always a little disappointing, but true: we just start writing.

You need to do the same. Because your blog is something you need to keep up over the long-term, don’t let your perfectionism slow you down at the starting line.

Your style, voice, content, formatting, and et cetera will organically develop over time. The important thing is to start writing a blog , not writing it perfectly.

Curious about which topics to cover in your first articles?

Use the info you gathered from your market research and focus on educating your readers about how to overcome their challenges.

The more specific and useful your content is, the better. 57.2% of people who thought the content was meant for someone else claim the content wasn’t useful.

Your first few attempts to write for your audience probably won’t be perfect, but the sooner you get started, the better you’ll become at writing for your niche.

Plus, the more you get to know your audience as you build relationships through your blog, the more you can cater to your readers’ needs, which means the better your content will be.

It’s a nicely self-sustaining cycle that way.

OK, the writing part is the bulk of the work, but if you’re just starting out, you’ll need to do some extra hustle with logistics.

Step #4. Purchase your domain name and choose a blogging platform

Your next step is to purchase your domain name and choose a blogging platform.

To purchase your domain name, check out these top five domain registrars :

As far as blogging platforms go, there are numerous platforms to choose from, including Blogger , WordPress , and Squarespace .

Keep in mind, your bigger goal is to monetize your site, so look out for the ability to integrate your blog with a product page, or use an all-in-one platform like Podia, which allows you to manage everything from a streamlined dashboard.

You can check out the platform’s ease of use by signing up for no-obligation free trial , where you’ll find an editor dashboard that has a convenient left-hand editing bar and corresponding real-time updates displayed in the right frame.

Pretty easy to navigate, yeah?

Regardless of the domain registrar and platform you choose, be sure to select those that work best for your budget and business goals over the long-term.

Many hosting packages boast attractively low prices for the first year, but significantly higher premiums once the promotion expires, so it’s worth checking out what your post-discount price will be for the coming years before signing anything.

After all, you’ll want to keep up your travel blog and grow your business over time, and that’s far harder to accomplish if you’re hit with unexpected fees midstride.

Once hosting and domain names are taken care of, it’s time to dig into the fun part of setting up your blog -- the design.

Step #5. Keep a simple design

Keeping with the theme, I’ll say it plainly: Use a simple design for your travel blog.

94% of first impressions are design-related, and 88% of visitors are less likely to come back if they have a bad experience. The more complicated your design is, the more chances you have for something to go wrong.

To keep your visitors coming back, we recommend keeping a clean and simple blog design, which means:

Lots of white space

Easy to navigate

In other words, something like Chris and Rob Taylor’s 2TravelDads site.

By following in Chris and Rob’s footsteps, you’ll create a positive user experience (UX) for your audience, which is essential for building your business.

Design-driven businesses have outperformed the S&P by 228% over the last decade, so keep that in mind as you continue to expand and grow your own.    

The big lesson is:

Maintain a simple design for your travel blog that’s easy for your readers to navigate. This will create a great UX for your visitors and strengthen your business growth overall.

Step #6. Upload and publish your blog content

At this stage, it’s time to upload and publish your blog articles.

Since you’ve already written your articles, publishing your posts is the easy part. Depending on your platform, you simply upload your written content in the form field and include a featured image.

If you want to get more advanced, you can set up different blog categories, include tags , write a meta description , and customize your URL slug .

Whatever you use, ensure you’re using it consistently. Publishing posts regularly is vital to the success of your blog.

Why? Your readers will get acclimated to anticipating your new content and relying you as the expert on your topic, especially as you accumulate emails and send out announcements about your latest article posts.

As for the nitty-gritty of frequency, bloggers who publish weekly are 2.5x more likely to report “strong results” than those who post monthly or less.

So, make it a habit to maintain a regular posting schedule over time to grow your blog.

Now that you have your blog page all set up, it’s time to grow your audience and start monetizing your site.

Let’s dive into some tactics on how to promote your blog and grow your audience.

How do you grow your blog audience?

#1. tap into social media.

Use social media to publish posts about your travel blog articles and reach new readers.

66% of marketers use blogs in their social media content, so it’s worth using your social platforms to spread the word about each of your published articles.

If you’re wondering which channels to focus on, continue researching your niche market to find out where your target audience hangs out the most.

Most likely, your audience will be on Facebook. 61% of marketers claimed Facebook as the most important channel for the fifth year in a row.

Note, however, that Instagram is on the rise and can make for a great social channel for expanding your travel blog audience, especially because the platform is visually based.  

Like with all of your published content, be sure to post regularly, so your audience gets used to hearing from you as the expert on your travel topic. The more followers you accumulate for your content, the greater your industry authority will become.

Of course, getting a little outside help with said industry authority wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.

#2. Guest post on other prominent blogs

Another way to expand your audience reach is to guest post on other blogs that receive more traffic than yours.

It’s an effective way to get in front of a broader related audience, while also contributing your valuable knowledge by forcing you to write for a new audience, so it’s a win-win for both parties.

To guest post, follow five simple steps :

Find relevant blogs to target

Prep your guest post

Send your pitch

Write your guest post

Well-established travel blogs that accept guest posts typically have writing guidelines for you to follow, like Practical Wanderlust’s site.

For a list of travel blogs that accept guest posts, you can check out these two lists by WritersInCharge or Effective Business Ideas , to see if they fit your niche.

Note, however, that while guest blogging is a viable strategy and good for building your audience, it's not as easy as it used to be and the return isn’t super impressive.

So, keep in mind this strategy may be a good supplement for audience growth, but it’s not ideal for driving the bulk of your outreach.

As for what is ideal for driving your outreach, check out our next strategy.

#3. Create a lead magnet to attract new readers

Use a lead magnet to entice new readers to opt-in for more of your content and join your email list.

A lead magnet, if you’re unaware, is an incentive you offer your visitors by giving away content for free in exchange for their email address so you can continue to communicate with and warm up your audience to your brand and other paid offers.  

Lead magnets come in a wide array of formats, including cheat sheets, templates, assessments, guides, how-tos, checklists, ebooks, whitepapers, video tutorials, and et cetera.  

For instance, founder of travel blog Backpacker Banter , Chris, offers a free guide at the top of his travel blog, where subscribers can opt in for his travel planning guide in exchange for their name and email.

By collecting his readers’ contact info and email, Chris can then send subsequent emails to nurture his audience further.

In other words, he can email content that continues to educate his audience, touch on their problems, and help to solve their biggest needs, through more blog articles and paid offers.

Fortunately, the secret to making lead magnets work is pretty simple -- be clear about your offer. When you give your subscribers a good idea of the kind of content they’re signing up for, you can boost your opt-in rate by almost 85% .

Offer a helpful lead magnet to grow your blog audience and nurture them toward your additional valuable content and paid offers through your email list.

Now, let’s look at our last audience-builder for the day.

#4. Use SEO to build organic traffic

Using organic inbound marketing, like search engine optimization (SEO), to attract visitors to your blog is one of the most powerful ways to expand your audience.

Bloggers who earn over $50,000 annually rate unpaid organic Google traffic as the most important marketing channel for their blog.

It’s no wonder when over 50% of traffic to websites in the travel industry comes from search.

What are some search engine optimization tips to use?

Use keyword research - You can try tools like Ahrefs and BuzzSumo to find out which keywords and terms are the most popular. If there is a lot of traffic and low keyword difficulty competing for those terms, that’s a good recipe for an article topic.

Match your content intent with your keywords - It doesn’t matter how many keywords are mentioned in your article if the intent behind those keywords doesn’t match up, so be sure to prioritize the humans behind the keyword volume.

Be mobile-friendly - Searches on mobile have far surpassed desktop searches, which means it’s imperative your blog content is optimized for mobile devices.

An important takeaway is to focus on serving your audience relevant, useful content on your travel blog, which helps you become a credible expert on your topic. As people search for more info, your goal is to rank as the top resource within your travel niche.

OK, with audience growth under your belt, it’s time to leverage your growing audience and earn money from your travel blog.

How do you make money as a travel blogger?

#1. participate in affiliate marketing programs.

Looking for a simple monetization method? Use affiliate marketing to earn income as a travel blogger.

Affiliate marketing, if you need a refresher, is when you promote an outside business’ product or service on your blog and earn a commission for each sale you make on their behalf.

With 20% of publishers’ annual revenue being generated through affiliate marketing, it’s a profitable channel for monetizing your travel blog.

Top travel affiliate programs to consider are:

Amazon Associates

Booking.com

Cruise Direct

Sandals Resorts

TripAdvisor

If you’re curious about how much you can earn using affiliate marketing, founder of Living the Dream travel blog, Jeremy, earns about $25,000 per year through his travel affiliate programs.

As you explore affiliate programs, keep in mind anything you promote should align with your brand and serve your audience (are you noticing a theme?).

After all, you’re doing all this work to build your credibility as a trusted resource, so it’s best to protect the credibility and loyalty that you’ve grown with the same audience-first approach to monetization.

The same is true for the next monetization method, as well.

#2. Partner with related brands

Another way to get paid as a travel blogger is by partnering with complementary brands.

Similar to affiliate marketing, in a brand partnership, you also promote an outside business’ product or service on your blog.

Rather than earning a commission on each sale, you earn income based on an agreement between you and your brand partner, which means the expectations and pay levels vary.

For instance, creator of Expert Vagabond blog, Matthew Karsten, earns $4,000 – $20,000 per deal with brand partnerships and influencer marketing, depending on what’s involved.

For a frame of reference, Matthew’s travel blog overall pulled in over $250,000 in 2018.

Brands can pay you for a wide variety of travel-related gigs from guest posting to taking over their Instagram account to going on an all-expense-covered trip to one of their destinations.

To find brand partnerships, you can follow these five simple steps :

Reach out to brands that share your audience

Create content within a set timeframe

Understand the expectations

Be true to your brand (even if it means turning down freebies)

Build a relationship with the brand

Note that partnerships aren’t usually available for newcomers in an industry -- they’re often reserved for influencers -- so while this is one of the most lucrative ways to monetize, it’s also one of the hardest to land.

Fortunately, ads and sponsored posts are far more beginner-friendly.

#3. Use paid ads and sponsored posts

Another way to earn revenue through your travel blog is to use paid ads or sponsored posts.

Because your SEO is your most powerful way to attract organic visitors, we recommend using Google AdSense if you’re going this route. Google AdSense naturally aligns with your SEO tactics and complies with most adblocking suites' “ acceptable ads ” policies.

How does it work?

Basically, advertisers pay Google AdSense to show relevant ads on your blog pages that complement your content. Ads are displayed as text-only, image-only, or text and image ads.

Here’s an example of text and image ads displayed in one of A Broken Backpack’s travel blog articles.

In exchange for the ad being displayed on your site, you get paid, though the amount varies depending on these factors :

Your blog’s traffic volume

The type of traffic

The number of advertisers competing in your niche

The type of content published on your blog

The position of your ads

Paid ads come with a fair warning, however. 92% of online ads aren’t even noticed, and 64% say ads today are annoying or intrusive, so you may not want to rely on paid ads alone.  

Another way to drive revenue to your blog site is through sponsored articles, where an outside entity pays you to include a mention of their product or service on your blog.

For instance, successful travel blogger, Raphael Alexander, dedicated an entire article on his Journey Wonders blog to his post sponsor Tep Wireless.

It’s important to note it’s a legal requirement to include a disclosure for any paid sponsored content on your blog, which Raphael does at the end of his post.

While you can earn a significant amount from sponsored posts, this one also comes with a caveat -- 54% of your readers don’t trust sponsored content, and 57% of readers prefer you run banners ads instead of sponsored articles.

If paid ads and sponsored articles don’t sound ideal to you, our final tactic is a more trusted way to monetize your travel site.

#4. Sell digital products online

You can also sell digital products on your own website, such as online courses and ebooks, to earn a significant income from your travel blog.

Creating online courses and publishing ebooks are great examples of how you can share your travel expertise while pulling in revenue, but don't just take my word for it. Let's look at some examples.

First up is Taylor Jackson, who sells his Make Money with Your Travel and Landscape Photography online course for $90, where he teaches students how to sell travel and landscape photography.

Another example is Nomadic Matt’s series of online travel courses , which teach his audience how to follow in his footsteps and become a successful travel writer, blogger, photographer, and vlogger.

Nomadic Matt also sells a wide selection of travel budget and tips ebooks directly on his site, including The Ultimate Guide to Travel Hacking ebook.

Online courses and ebooks aren’t your only option, though.

You can create other info products to sell , like guides, mini-courses, bootcamps, audiobooks, video tutorials, or even flashcards. The main ingredient, as ever, is to provide something of educational value.

Join our newsletter

Join thousands of creators receiving our weekly articles about launching, growing, and thriving as a creative entrepreneur.

As you can (hopefully) see, you have a variety of options when it comes to selling digital products to your blog audience.

As always, offer your audience valuable solutions to their problems regardless of the format you decide to go with, and you’re as good as gold.

Your destinations and blog audience await your arrival

Getting paid to work while traveling is definitely doable. If you have dreams of exploring the world, you can become a full-time travel blogger and earn a significant income with these tips.

Let’s recap it for you:

Income levels for travel bloggers vary from zero to thousands of dollars per month, depending on how much effort and consistency you put toward your blog.

To start your own travel blog, find a theme based on your travel passion and conduct market research to learn more about your niche audience.

Once you begin to write regularly, you’ll have a consistent flow of content to publish, which means you’re ready to purchase your domain name. Choose a blogging platform that allows for a simple design when you’re shopping around.

After designing your blog site, upload and publish your articles regularly.

To grow your audience, use social media, guest post, create a lead magnet, or use SEO tactics.

Four ways to earn income as a travel blogger include affiliate marketing programs, brand partnerships, paid ads and sponsored posts, and selling digital products.

Ready to become a paid blogger and live the nomadic life?

Safe travels -- the world awaits.

More from the blog

Keep on reading

How to choose a web host (7 factors to consider)

If you want to build a website or blog with WordPress, you need website hosting. Learn how to choose a web host that fits your needs and your budget.

How to record video on your iPhone (Filming, editing, & more)

You don't need a fancy production setup to create amazing videos. Here's how to record videos on your iPhone like a pro.

Create your first product prototype in 5 steps

Ready to turn your idea into a product your customers will love? Here's how to create a prototype for your digital product in just 5 steps.

About the author

Cyn Meyer was a content writer for Podia , an all-in-one platform where online courses, digital downloads, and communities scale with their creators. Cyn also enjoys playing music, helping retirees live active, healthy, engaged lifestyles, and hopping into the ocean.