where do travel bloggers get money

13 Clever Ways To Boost Your Travel Blogging Income [Podcast Episode 23]

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Want to boost your travel blogging income ? Have you ever wondered how to actually travel and make money, or asked yourself how to become a paid travel blogger?

Then you’re in the right place, as that is exactly what we’ll be covering in this episode of The Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast.

Specifically, you’ll learn:

• How to earn money blogging — including the five main ways I monetize my website
• 13 additional smart strategies for making money from a blog
• 13 platforms that make it way easier to make money from a travel blog — or simply to make money online while traveling

Basically, if you’re interested in learning how to become a blogger and make money this podcast episode has the answers you’re looking for.

Table of Contents

13 Clever Ways To Boost Your Travel Blogging Income – Podcast Episode Audio

…or click the links below to tune in on your preferred audio platform:

Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts/iTunes

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Grow + Monetize Your Travel Blog With These Free Resources

To help you really jumpstart your blogging success, I’ve added 55+ blogging resources like printables, video tutorials, and workbooks into a FREE resource library for travel bloggers.

These resources are meant to help you grow your traffic, community, and income faster and with less overwhelm.

I’m all about implementation and I really want to make sure you don’t just listen to the episode and forget about it, but that you actually use what I share to make your blogging life easier. Inside the library, there are a number of printables and tutorials that will help you take what I share in this episode, and efficiently implement it.

How To Get Paid For Blogging – Episode Transcript

Starting a travel blog, growing a blog , building traffic, growing an email list by creating opt-in freebies , being active on social media, creating your blog business plan . Ultimately, all of these different actions have one common goal:

To boost your travel blogging income.

That’s why I think you’ll love this episode because I’m going to be sharing how to become a travel blogger that makes money — including specific platforms that can help you increase your blogging revenue quicker and easier.

How much do travel bloggers make?

To kick things off, let’s talk about what a travel blogger income looks like.

Honestly, it can vary anywhere from $0 to millions. It really depends on how many revenue streams you have, how well you promote these streams, and if you’re able to scale.

I think a realistic goal when starting out is to aim for $2,000-$4,000 per month and then work to scale to $10,000+ per month. In my opinion, this is very doable, especially if you have your own products or a lot of traffic you can drive to blog posts optimized for affiliates. Here are some creative ways to promote affiliate links .

Once you reach $10,000 you’ll likely have a good sense of what strategies work to scale beyond that.

Automated income streams — like running display ads or having evergreen funnels runnings — is a great way to go beyond the $10,000/month mark.

How do bloggers get paid?

Wondering how to become a travel blogger and make money ?

To answer this, I’ll share the main revenue streams that allow me to make money from my travel blog. These include:

• In terms of how to make money blogging, the above is one of my favorite strategies that is also one of the most underrated
• Want to increase sales? Try showcasing certain products in a tripwire marketing funnel !
• Working with brands and tourism boards on paid blog, email, and social media campaigns as well as paid press trips for travel bloggers
• blog content (like writing a gift guide )
• product lists that promote Amazon affiliate links
• a free challenge that promotes an affiliate partner
• a resources page that promotes your top recommendations with affiliate links
• Running display ads on my website with Mediavine
• Selling a blog for profit
• Crafting content for brand platforms — for instance, I might write for a hotel’s online magazine or help an app fill up their content library with original lists and photos

So hopefully that gives you a quick and general idea of how to monetize a travel blog , and answers the question, “Do bloggers get paid?”

Now what I want to do is dive deeper to give you some very specific ideas for how to start a travel blog and get paid.

Just note that at the time of recording all of the platforms I’m about to mention — which are all also linked below, many with affiliate links — were live.

Of course, that could change, but the tactics still work in terms of helping you become a paid blogger.

This means if you listen to this episode in the future and one of the platforms I mention no longer exists, simply keep the strategy in mind but try to find an alternative platform.

On that note, here are 13 ideas for how to monetize your travel blog.

1. Earn money blogging by creating an email course with Highbrow.

Highbrow is an email course membership site that covers a wide range of topics from travel to writing to health & fitness to entrepreneurship and beyond.

If you have an interesting idea that they haven’t covered, you can create a 10-lesson email course for them, and earn commissions every time one of their paying members takes it.

It’s a really simple way to make some money, as you create the course once, it gets uploaded, and then you’re done and you can start earning an income.

In terms of how to be a blogger and earn money , I recommend making the course relevant to your blog’s topic so that you can promote it right on your website.

2. Get paid to blog by creating an online course with Teachable.

In my opinion, this is one of the most profitable digital products you can sell as a blogger, especially if you follow a product launch marketing plan template to increase sales or pre-sell your online course to validate your idea.

Teachable is what I use to create and host my online courses and membership. That link gets you a two-week free trial, no credit card required!

I’m a huge fan of their platform, as it really has everything you need to run a professional and secure online school.

They have tons of features, so I won’t list them all, but a few I love include:

• built-in discussion forums
• secure payments
• the option to add quizzes or award certificates
• student and school progress reports
• coupon functionality
• affiliate tracking and payouts
• conversion pixel tracking so you can see, for example, if your Facebook Ads are working
• the ability to add and create custom school pages beyond the sales page, curriculum, and checkout page and just a really user-friendly interface

They even have an app so your students can do your course modules right on their phone.

Keep in mind, as a blogger you’re already educating your audience on a topic. Therefore it makes a lot of sense to package your knowledge into a course that further helps them.

3. Become a paid blogger by creating an online Udemy course.

As you’re probably starting to see, when it comes to blogging for money creating courses can be a smart option.

Now personally I prefer Teachable to Udemy because with Teachable I have 100% full control over my content, pricing, and sales.

I also am able to get the email addresses of my students and pitch them to opt in to my email list when they checkout.

In my opinion, with Udemy you do give up quite a bit of control. You have to follow their course creation guidelines and they often run sales that I think devalue the work of the course creator.

That being said, their platform works like a search engine. So if you are at a point where you just want to test out course creation or you don’t want to put 100% of the promotion in your own hands, Udemy can be a good option that also allows you to get started quickly.

I just personally think if you really want to maximize your earning potential, Teachable can be the better option, or even Thinkific , which is also really good. I just prefer the user experience and aesthetic of Teachable.

4. Become a paid travel blogger by joining Perlu and applying for brand campaigns.

There are so many influencer networks out there, but they certainly aren’t all created equal. I’m an advisor for Perlu , and it is one of my favorite influencer networks for a few reasons.

For one, you can collaborate with other bloggers and content creators in groups, or what Perlu calls Packs, to help each other grow.

Moreover, you can simply click into their Collabs section to find paying blogger opportunities to apply for. No waiting around necessary.

By the way, I created a free list of influencer networks here . The list offers 31 networks that make it easier to make money traveling by working with brands as a blogger. They make it easier to land your first brand collaboration !

Additionally, you can join my Perlu Collaborative Posts Pack here .

5. Optimize your website for affiliate links with Skimlinks.

If you’re wondering how to become a blogger and earn money the easiest way possible, you’ll love this idea.

Skimlinks is a set-it-and-forget-it affiliate marketing option for bloggers.

Instead of manually creating affiliate links and adding them to your content, you place Skimlinks’ code into your website. From there, Skimlinks will automatically turn your non-affiliate links into affiliate links — helping you to increase your passive blogging income.

If you’re wondering how to monetize a WordPress blog , installing Skimlinks is a wise idea.

Just note that for this service Skimlinks does keep a portion of the earnings, though I personally still find this platform extremely beneficial and love the true additional passive income each month.

Besides Skimlinks, another option is joining white label affiliate programs , which can also help you automate your affiliate efforts!

6. Become an Ultimate Bundles affiliate and contributor.

Want to know how to be a travel blogger and get paid?

Strategic travel affiliate marketing !

You should absolutely be making sure that a portion of your travel blog post ideas include affiliate-optimized posts promoting partners you love.

Like Ultimate Bundles.

Ultimate Bundles is a company that sells limited-time themed bundles, typically with bonuses, at incredible price points. You may have heard of the Genius Blogger’s Toolkit, for example, which typically sells for 95%-98% off.

No matter what your blogging niche is, it’s likely you’ll find a bundle that you can promote. They have bundles on everything from blogging to travel to self-care to creativity to meal-planning and beyond.

As an affiliate, you earn 40% per sale, and because their bundles are sold at wildly discounted prices the bundles can be quite easy to sell.

Additionally, you can create a product to put into a bundle to increase your affiliate income to 70% — plus you get a contributor bonus.

The other benefit is their bundles are extremely popular. This means even if you don’t make a ton of sales you’ll be bringing loads of new people into the community as they gain access to your bundle product.

You can click here to join their affiliate program .

7. Sell a tour using PeekPro.

Wondering how to be a travel blogger that earns a sustainable income ?

As a travel blogger, selling tours — either local or abroad — is a natural fit. Consider the travel style, interests, and budget of your audience, and go from there.

I recommend adding in some VIP options; as in, experiences that make the tour more valuable. This doesn’t need to be going behind some velvet rope at a club. It can be as simple as getting to go behind the bar at a coffee shop to see how they make the perfect cappuccino.

By the way, if you’re wondering how to start a tour company I’ve linked a free cheat sheet that can help.

In terms of set up, I use PeekPro to sell my tours, which you can connect to your blog.

Their software has a ton of embedded features for upselling and bundling tours, and they even have an abandoned cart feature that automatically emails potential customers who didn’t complete the checkout process.

While PeekPro is free, they do charge a setup fee; however, they have a referral program where current PeekPro users — like myself — can refer others to help them get their software set up for free or at a steep discount.

If interested, please send me an email to jessie (at) jessieonajourney (dot) com.

By the way, I also recently interviewed Kelly Lewis, the founder of Damesly, about how to start a multi-day tour company . This is another great strategy for increasing your income as a travel blogger!

8. Become a travel blogger and get through doing an apparel campaign with Bonfire.

Bonfire shirts are super high-quality. No joke, I had to hide mine because my fiance kept stealing it.

Anyway, what I love about Bonfire is you can design your own shirt for free and then they’ll ship your products directly to your buyers.

You keep the profits — basically the price of your shirt minus the base costs.

You can run the sale as a limited-time campaign, or even open your own store and promote it on your blog.

9. Sell your creations on Creative Market.

If you’re curious how to make money traveling , here is an idea for the creatives:

Creative Market is an online marketplace for design assets like fonts, graphics, themes, social media templates, mock-ups, and more.

I’ve made loads of purchases from this site over the years — honestly, their resources have helped me feel creative and remember how to enjoy social media — though along with using it as a buyer you can also use it as a seller if you’ve got some design skills.

This can be a great way to earn extra money, and you can promote your Creative Market shop on your own website.

10. Create and sell a subscription box through CrateJoy.

Like Creative Market, CrateJoy is a marketplace where you can choose to buy or sell, though their focus is subscription boxes.

They have subscription boxes related to everything from travel to beauty to art to gaming and beyond.

As a seller, you’ll benefit from using their platform from a tech perspective as well as from their traffic — they get 4 million page views per month — and their popularity, as they see about 30,000+ monthly sales.

11. Get paid to travel blog by creating an online shop for relevant products using Sellfy.

The secret to how to blog and make money doing it:

Selling products that help your audience.

Sellfy is an alternative to the well-known platform Shopify, though it’s more budget-friendly, allowing you to create an online store and connect it to your blog without spending a fortune. They even offer a 14-day trial.

If you’re not sure what to sell, consider your blog’s mission. Who do you help and how? What product could further help your audience beyond your free content?

Keep a spreadsheet of all the questions people ask you via email, DM, and in blog comments. This offers good insight into what people want from you.

Also, remember that products don’t need to be complicated. It can be as simple as a well-thought-out printable that helps your audience solve a problem.

12. Host a workshop on WebinarJam.

WebinarJam is a webinar hosting software that can also help you grow your income.

Let me share two ways to go about this:

First of all, if you want to make money with free webinars you can create a free workshop that’s relevant to your paid product, and then pitch your paid product at the end. This works well, as the free workshop allows you to attract the people who would benefit from your paid offer.

It also allows you to show off your teaching style and empower your audience who may have previously thought they weren’t skilled enough to benefit from your paid offer.

For instance, if you have a course on making professional travel videos, you might use the first module as your webinar to get people started and get them excited to learn even more.

Keep in mind, you can also charge for webinars. Just note if you go this route it’s recommended to make it extra special since many people are used to free webinars. Really make sure the content is premium and potentially limited in terms of how many people can attend and how many sessions there will be.

Click here for a free trial of WebinarJam .

By the way, if you need help with your webinar strategy check out this video:

13. Find remote work on FlexJobs.

If you’re a blogger looking for remote work opportunities that pay well while you build up your business, FlexJobs is your answer.

Their subscription service is reasonably-priced and lists loads of interesting work-from-anywhere job opportunities and gigs that pay.

Many of them also include travel as an additional perk. I’ve also seen loads of writing and content creation jobs on their site.

Now I hope you enjoyed this episode on how to make money blogging.

I hope you feel inspired and empowered to start monetizing your blog.

Don’t forget to grab access to the free travel blogging resource library . There are a ton of resources in there on increasing your blogging income.

And of course, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes sharing these bite-sized strategies for bloggers who want to turn their blogs into profitable full-time blogging businesses.

Happy blogging!

Increase Your Travel Blogging Income With These Helpful Past Episodes:

How To Grow Your Travel Blogging Income With A Tripwire Funnel

Create A Challenge That Grows Your Email List & Business Income

How To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing As A Blogger

Monetize Your Email List With 4 Smart Strategies

Create A Profitable Automated Email Sequence (With Template!)

Press Trips 101: How To Get Paid To Travel As A Blogger

How To Create & Monetize A Blog Series

How To Grow Your Blog Fast With 12 Clever Strategies

How To Create A Gift Guide For Your Blog

How To Host & Promote Your Blog Giveaway

How To Write Better Emails With Email Storytelling

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What’s the Average Travel Blogger Salary? (+ Income Reports)

How much do travel bloggers make? Let’s take a look shall we? I’ve used my experience and insider intel to work out the average travel blogger salary across the board…

I’m being nosy and have some rare time on my hands so I thought I’d try and work out the average travel blogger salary, just for… research .

To be a paid blogger is now one of the most popular career goals for kids (and adults) in these crazy online times, but how  much can you actually even earn as a travel blogger, really ?

How much does a travel blogger make?

– Be nice to have a strong enough travel blogger salary to get up to the mountains every year, hey?

It’s hard to guess by appearances – if you take Instagram accounts and blog posts as gospel. Sure, holidays, new clothes, cocktails and fancy dinners would usually mean a person was raking it in, but y’know travel bloggers get a lot of this stuff in return for coverage on their blog.

Many holidays are sponsored, clothes are gifted (or ‘borrowed’) and some travel bloggers don’t actually have homes to keep up while they go off gallivanting around the world. 

I’m talking like I’m not one of these travel bloggers, like I’m writing a study of them, but actually, I’m one too. Have been for over nine years now.

Wanna know how much I earn? 

In a minute. Let me guess at the other travel blogger salaries first.

Typical Travel Blogger Jobs

Aka, how does a travel blogger make money?

– I love nosing on travel blogger income reports!

The travel bloggers who make the most have many income streams , I can say that for certain. You can’t just write a travel blog about your thoughts and feelings in a destination and expect the cash to magically come rolling in.

You need to use every ounce of entrepreneurialism you have, every skill, and every bit of knowledge to make travel blogging make money for you. Here are some of the typical ways travel bloggers make money so they can travel the world and get paid for it. 

This is how travel bloggers get their income.

• – Translation
• – Affiliate income
• – Running tours
• – Selling products
• – Running courses
• – Writing courses
• – Presenting
• – Social media management
• – Freelance writing
• – Writing books
• – Marketing

Some of the best travel blogger income reports

One of the best ways to work out how much travel bloggers are earning, is to look at the open and honest income reports around the web. I love how people put this stuff online…

• It’s a Lovely Life March 2018 Income Report – $208,558.17
• Heleneinbetween October 2017 Income Report – $12,026.78
• Living the Dream April 2018 Income Report – $3,984
• WhereverWriter February 2018 Income Report – $3,575.05
• So between $3500 and $209k per month? Niiiice?!

Just to note though, a lot of travel bloggers have an invested interest in leading you to believe they earn more than they actually do. Whether that’s because they’re selling a travel blogging course, a lifestyle, a product or something else.

So just bear that in mind – definitely not saying the travel bloggers responsible for the income reports above do – just, y’know, some people .

Not all travel bloggers earn even close to that much though.

Let’s look at some of the top travel blogger salaries. 

Top earning travel bloggers

Like many industries, in travel blogging there are a few people at the top earning a small fortune, while there are many at the bottom earning just a few dollars a month.

If you’re a travel blogger with a successful course, with affiliates promoting it, a long standing blog, get to work with brands and have over 100k page views a month – the money could be rolling in. 

If you want to know which travel bloggers are earning the most money, check out my friend Kach’s guide over at Two Monkeys Travel.

They’ve compiled a list of the top earning travel bloggers as revealed by the travel bloggers themselves. They’ve listed the top travel bloggers’ income for all to see.

READ MORE: 30+ TRAVEL BLOGGERS EARNING OVER 5,000 USD / MONTH & HOW THEY MONETIZE THEIR BLOGS

– The travel blogger income of some of the top travel bloggers in the world

I think the only British person on that list is Monica from The Travel Hack, apart from the Monkeys, so well done her . She definitely should’ve bought the beers in Finland last month !

These are the kind of travel blogger salary figures you want to emulate hey?

Best travel bloggers earning money

If you want to read more about the top earning travel bloggers, all earning over six figures a year, you can read some of their secrets below.  I scoured some of the top travel blogs for evidence of their finances.

Let’s look at the travel bloggers income reports.

– Caz & Craig make over 6 figures a year over at the super popular family travel blog yTravelBlog.com. – Goats on the Road make over $100,000 / year.  – Johnny Ward is a travel blogger millionaire  and earns $30,000 A MONTH .  – Nomadic Matt makes over $750,000 PER YEAR .

* Just to note, the bloggers have above have entire teams behind them, so they have a lot of spends too. Here’s Matt’s Team for example.

My guesses at travel blogger salaries

So, how much does a travel blogger make per year?

First rule of getting a salary in England is that we don’t discuss the salary. I know what a few of my friends earn, the journalist ones-ish, but even some of my besties I wouldn’t have a clue.

None of my business apparently. 

– How much money can you make as a blogger?

These travel blogger salary guesstimates are based on my own experiences, an insider knowledge of the industry and from what I’ve heard.

1. Started travel blogging in the last three years, a few sources of income and some outside brand presence, at least 100 blog posts = £20,000 2. Travel blogging for a few years, focuses on blog for at least 5 sources of income, works with brands, does it full time = £40,000 3. Travel blogging for a few years, focuses on blog for at least 5 sources of income, plus some sort of successful course or product, does it full time and won’t do anything for free or in return = £60,000 4. Travel blogging since the start, super successful Instagram and / or YouTube presence, numerous sources of income, well known = £90,000 5. Travel blogging since the start, super successful Instagram and / or YouTube presence, numerous sources of income, well known, and American = £100,000+

Practical Wanderlust made $22,000 travel blogging in her first full year , although just $65.07 in her first six months. 

Travel blogger income

The ‘average blogger salary’ is kind of a ridiculous and unmeasurable calculation.. It’d be like saying ‘what does the average singer earn’?

In blogging you have the likes of Zoella reeling in the millions, and then the millions of bloggers worldwide not making a penny. The spectrum of salary has very different ends. 

As for me, with my delightful travel blog? In and around number 2, give or take 10%. I’m British, I can’t talk about my travel blogger salary – my fingertips literally won’t type to reveal the exact amount!

Earning potential of travel bloggers

Travel blogging isn’t like beauty blogging, food blogging or fitness blogging – for most people travel isn’t something they do daily. It’s something they may spend a year or two on, and then it’s back to the once to three times a year when families, jobs and finances get in the way.

This means that travel bloggers sell less through their blogs, but when they do, the value will be higher. They’re more of an information source than other types of bloggers, making it difficult to predict what they earn.

Many travel bloggers work on an affiliate basis, where they will get some sort of kickback if they manage to sell a product through their site, but travel bloggers are inspiration. Even if we do inspire or persuade someone to travel in our footsteps, it might be a year or two until they actually do it. And by then any reference to the fact that it was you who inspired them to go will be erased or forgotten.

Travel bloggers also have to invest a lot to start off, in our travels , before we start making any back. All things to consider if you’re looking at the finances of becoming a travel blogger as a career choice. A travel blogger salary is one thing, but travel blogger expenses are a whole other kettle of fish!

On the flipside though, the earning potential of a travel blogger is totally uncapped .

This excites me greatly.

How much do travel bloggers make?

The harder you work, the more creative you are, the more you think about it, the more you do – the more you can earn. 

Typical travel blogger rates

This is difficult to talk about without naming exact campaigns, bloggers, their audience sizes, and prices – but just to give you an idea…

– Travel blogger earnings totally vary from blogger to blogger

– A friend of mine with around 20k Instagram followers recently went to the launch of a new travel themed food item and was paid £800 to attend and to create an Instagram post on it.  – I’ve worked with different tourist boards for (on average) a week to create social media content, a video and multiple blog posts and been paid between £1000-£2000 a time.  – It’s normal for a travel blogger with an audience size of around 50,000 U/Vs to be paid £500 to do a product review on their blog and receive the product for free. – Travel bloggers can be paid upwards of £200 to takeover a company’s Instagram Stories for the day. – Many bloggers I know wouldn’t even consider going to a destination for a week unless they were paid at least £1000 in return for the content they produce.

But, also, they’re asked, expected and have done, loads of stuff for free.

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. 

One of the most annoying aspects of trying to earn money as a travel blogger, is that you will constantly and repeatedly be asked to work for free. It really is infuriating. 

– Most travel bloggers will plough their earnings back into their travels

7 steps to earning a good travel blogger salary

Many bloggers earning good money from their travel blogs are in that lucky position because they started early, obviously . Their blogs and sites have gained traction from years of hard work and attention online. They deserve their place on the top earning travel bloggers score board.  When it comes to the question of how much do travel bloggers make, they’re making the top dollar.

Don’t let their rich history put you off though, there are still ways to make money as a travel blogger if you start your blog now…

1. Invest your time

You’ll need to be  willing to invest your time , for no financial return. For at least two years I ran my blog as a labour of love and to practice what I was learning at work.

2. Do a highly regarded course

Get ahead and learn as much as possible. It might seem silly to pay when you can get the information online for free, but at least this way it’ll be set out in an easy to follow way, and you can just do the steps.

3. Stand out

There are so many travel bloggers now that it’s no longer enough to just be ‘a travel blogger’, you need to have a niche and some sort of direction. Think of a way to stand out from the crowd to make you the go to person for that topic.

4. Skill up

Be reeeeally good at one thing – photography, writing, Facebook, videomaking etc – and then keep working on everything else. Back up there ^ somewhere, I said how the highest earning travel bloggers have multiple income streams – remember that.

You need to be always learning, always thinking and always executing.

5.  Do cool stuff

The world does not need another  guide to Barcelona , trust me. Have some sort of gimmick, or do cool things, or go to awesome places and do cool things in those places, that no one else does, to really try and stand out.

Do something to write home about. 

6.  Have a business mind

Many travel bloggers are creative, but to make money they need to be business minded too. If you’re serious about making a lot of money from travel blogging then every decision you make needs to be business minded, even if the decision you make for your business isn’t to be business minded to look like some carefree traveller.

Read books, read well written sites, and learn about the professional side of travel blogging to give yourself the best chance.

7. Celebrate the small wins

Congratulate yourself on the small wins. As a travel blogger every day you are working towards building something bigger. You cannot expect to be the highest earning travel blogger in a few months – Nomadic Matt has been working at it for over 13 years, me, nine.

As you slowly build your empire, remember to congratulate yourself when things go right and keep your eye on the bigger picture.

Is it easy to become a travel blogger?

I 100% believe that with hard work, knowledge and enthusiasm you can come and join us mid-earning travel bloggers , earning a decent salary, working from home and travelling for a career.

Once you’ve got that nailed, then you can start thinking about bringing in those glorious six figures. 

How soon will I start earning money from travel blogging?

Anybody else happily accepting that they’re NOT going to make an income from ‘travel blogging’? Regardless of all the inspirational memes you see saying otherwise! ? #traveltribe — Steve Biggs (@biggsytravels) February 17, 2020

I started earning money after about six months – we’re talking a few quid though, not much. It took about three years – could’ve been two but I was reluctant to give up my job – for me to start making a basic full time income of it. My travel blogger salary soon eclipsed what I was earning in my job, and I knew it was time to leave so I could reap the benefits of all the travel I was being offered.

Since then I’ve travelled the world for three years and managed to top up my savings to buy a house by myself through what I’ve earned from my travel blog.

I started my blog in February 2012, back when no one really knew what they were doing and we were just muddling through. Now there are so many courses on how to make money travel blogging, and so much information and many opportunities out there, that with some hard work and a bit of luck you could be earning quicker than I did.

Or, you could set it all up, all gung ho, and then slowly drift away from it once you realise how much hard work it is to maintain. Up to you.

“Most travel blogs will be lucky if they last longer than a year”. –  Expert Vagabond

It’s impossible to say how soon you’ll start earning money from travel blogging, it depends how much work you put in, how much you know and how lucky you are. A travel blogger jobs salary is difficult to pinpoint.

Questions about travel blogger income 

1. What is the salary of a travel blogger? 

A travel blogger income varies from a big fat zero, to over a million a year. The highest earning travel bloggers I know are Nomadic Matt, The Blonde Abroad and Two Monkeys Travel. They’re all earning a blummin fortune! 

2. How do travel bloggers get paid?

Travel bloggers get paid through affiliates, brand partnerships, freelancing in writing or photography and advertising. They can also charge appearance fees, social media fees, and develop courses and speaking fees too. 

3. Can you get paid for travelling? 

Yes, as a travel blogger you can get paid to travel. I am living proof.  

4. Can anybody be a travel blogger? 

No, unfortunately not. No matter what those ads on Facebook tell you. To be a paid travel blogger you need to be resilient, hard working, good at writing and SEO, and have some sort of funds to travel in the first place. 

It takes a lot of hard work to be a travel blogger. 

5. Can you believe travel blog income reports?

I love reading travel blog income reports, but that’s just because I’m super nosey. Seeing how much travel bloggers get paid is very interesting to me, and can also give ideas of how you yourself can earn more in different markets too. I do tend to take travel blog income reports with a pinch of salt though – years in the travel blogger business has taught me you can’t believe everything you read!

Travel blogger salary

Good luck with it all. I hope one day I’ll be writing about you as one of the highest paid travel bloggers in the world. Let me know if you have any questions, and how you get on!

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Hi, I'm Vicky! I wrote this. You can find me on all the social media @VickyFlipFlop. I love a bit of adventure, will try anything once, and have a strong passion for the local food and drink, whatever it may be. I'm here to help inspire you to travel to places a little out of your comfort zone, or at least to explore the usual destinations in a different way. Stay, have a look around, and if you have any questions – let me know below.

18 Comments

very inspiring, I’m finally making some income after blog post number 47 YAY!

Really interesting post. I remember reading about a travel blogger once who claimed to be earning a certain figure, turns out she had like you said 5 different avenues and another blog which was getting more hits! I’d like to think that one day I’d be earning enough to make a living. I’ve just started it full time so the next year will tell.

Oh good luck! I hope you’ve been ok during this difficult time. To be honest, I take everything I read with a pinch of salt as there’s a lot of exaggeration! I think this year is difficult for us all.

Nice to read and gain more knowledge – no blog yet but thinking about it – and the information helps. Really great for all the pointers

Hi VickyFlipFlopTravels, this content is an encouragement to future bloggers. It is very informative. Thanks for this.

No worries. Interesting to see hey?! I’m happy to say my income has gone up since I wrote this post but it’s been a long road!

Hi Vicky, this article is an encouragement to future bloggers. It is very informative. Thanks

Oh I hope it’s helped inspire you! As we know travel blogging isn’t all about the money, but you’ve got to be able to pay for your flights somehow!

• Pingback: Ways to Earn Money Traveling - CleverLeverage.com

Thank you, very informative. Even though you don’t want to share exact numbers, maybe you could share a range of how much earning you’ve reached at Y+1, Y+2, … ?

You’ve done your research and posted huge amount of travel blogger contents. I’m really a fan of your writing these days. Would you mind if i share this article to my students?

Hello Michel, if it’s just IRL then yeah, sure, share away! If you’re sharing online it’d be great to know where exactly you were sharing it to. Thanks!

Sorry I hadn’t replied earlier Steve, don’t know how I missed that. Are you happy with what you’ve earned? I think there are a lot of people earning a little pocket money from their blogs, which is great. Helps with the costs. I guess it’s only if you plan to pursue it as a full time job that you need to start thinking about how to bring in the big bucks, if you’ve got your main job then there’s no need to put so much pressure on yourself to perform. Just enjoy it!

No worries, I’m glad you found it helpful. So interesting to see what people are actually earning from travel blogging isn’t it?

This is so insightful and pretty thought-provoking! It’s mad to think some bloggers are earning such huge amounts from their sites and videos etc. I think like you say, it’s good to remember they will have started small and done a lot for free!I’m starting to get lots of local attractions for free and glamping stay which I find super exciting!

Oh that IS exciting! I think it makes sense that people are earning so much, when they have such big audiences. Some bloggers’ audiences are bigger than magazines. I think as people have moved to getting their information online the blogger were ahead of the curve. It’s all interesting to watch and observe – I guess we’ll see!

This post is packed with some really fascinating insights. Thanks a lot for writing this!

Let’s start with a low bar 🙂 I’ve been travel blogging purely as an enjoyable sideline to my FT salaried digital analytics career job since the start of 2016. Blog earnings to date = £800. Directly £500 for a video I posted on Jukin Media and £75 for a sponsored blog post … & then indirectly £150 discount off a Stockholm hotel rate and a £75 free tour in Paris (both of which I was going to pay full price for anyway). £0 so far from my Amazon affiliate links.

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Home » Work and Travel » How to Start A Travel Blog That Actually Makes Money

How to Start A Travel Blog That Actually Makes Money

Ahoy friend! I’m hoping you are here today because you are curious about this whole travel blogging gig… How exactly does one start a travel blog and make money online?

Travel blogging is probably the best known of the digital nomad job options out there, it’s super visible after all, and for many aspiring travellers, starting a travel blog seems like the golden ticket to getting paid to travel.

And it’s true…

If you want to start a travel blog it can change your life.

Starting a travel blog absolutely changed my life.

The Broke Backpacker first started in January 2013… It’s been over a decade.

Today, I’m sitting down to share my tips, tricks and hacks for how to start a successful travel blog.

Through this site, I found a way to turn my passion for travel into a career that has seen me gallivant all over the globe, working where I want, when I want.

I now earn six figures a year whilst traveling  – and that’s pretty fucking epic.

And the amazing thing is that with enough dedication and the right information – you can do this too.

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When I first started blogging, my goal was to experiment with being a freelance journalist, something I had always been interested in. I used my travel blog as a springboard for gigs with BBC Travel, The Independent, Business Insider and dozens of others.

It turned out that being a journalist wasn’t for me either but running a travel blog taught me I had a real passion for online business and has pushed me to learn new skills and experiment with multiple different online income streams…

And this is all because I took the leap and started this travel blog. There are so many great reasons to start a blog . I have learnt so much by running this blog that I am now able to apply that knowledge to new and exciting projects.

Over the last decade, I launched multiple ventures (several of which I’m no longer involved in) – I was the founder of a tour company leading expeditions to Pakistan in 2015, I led the first trip there on my own in 2016 and grew the business over six years before I left that venture, I also started an outdoor gear company selling hammocks and other bits and pieces, I exited this in 2021. My most successful venture, outside of The Broke Backpacker and my flagship pride and joy is; Tribal Hostel , a co-working hostel aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs in Bali.

This is very exciting and I am beyond stoked for the future – I truly believe that I can make a couple of million by the time I’m 35, help my parents retire and then drop off the map to start my hippy commune in a magical forest…

Whatever your aspirations are, being your own boss is the best way to get there.

In short, starting a travel blog was the best decision I ever made.

It changed my life, and it can do the same for you.

Now, let’s cut the shit…

Starting a travel blog has worked out for me but that doesn’t mean it’s easy and you can forget about the idea of working with a cocktail in one hand from the beach. That is the most cliche, overused and inaccurate portrayal of what it looks like if you just quit your job to travel and start a travel blog.

Travel blogging is a competitive game and if you want to make any money out of your travel blog you are going to have to be well ahead of the curve because let’s be honest, this has become a very saturated niche.

But you absolutely need a laptop to be able to compete, without one you are dead in the water.

I don’t get “paid to travel” with my blog and I have never been on a press-trip, they just don’t interest me and nobody wants to work with me anyway on account of my branding – The Broke Backpacker ain’t exactly a good fit for a luxury cruise and it tends to be the luxury sector of the travel industry that works with bloggers as it’s the luxury sector that have a budget to waste on pretty Instagram pictures.

But, if you want to start a travel blog and if you are willing to work hard, have a real passion for writing and are not expecting to make a boatload of money quickly, you’ll learn that there are more ways to make money online than you probably realize. Read on and learn how to start a travel blog and how to make money out of your travel blog …

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1. Picking A Niche For Your Travel Blog

2. setting up hosting, 3. installing wordpress, 4. logging into your site, 5. finding a theme, 6. design your brand, 7. install wordpress plugins, 8. produce content that matters, 9. start building an audience, 10. build a successful travel blog, 11. start making money, 12. don’t waste your money on a course, faqs on starting your first travel blog, final thoughts on how to start a travel blog.

If you want to start a travel blog, the first step is picking your niche .

Picking a decent niche is the first hurdle to starting a travel blog and the best piece of advice I can give you is don’t look at what everybody else is doing. You want something unique, something that is 100% yours.

Whether that’s budget backpacking or luxury travel, find a way to make it different. The best way to start a travel blog is to stand out. Be unique!

Think about who the hell are you actually writing for, is this a personal blog for your family and friends?

Are you planning on blogging just as a hobby or do you want to become a professional?

Is there one topic you know a lot about or a unique point of view that you feel confident illustrating through your blog?

Think very carefully about who is actually going to read your content. When picking a domain name, try to pick something that sums up what you are writing about in just a couple of words.

If you want to start a travel blog, these tips in mind when choosing a name…

• Be original:  Steer clear of names like NomadicWill or WanderingWill – they have been done to death. In my opinion, it’s a foolish idea to have your name on the blog at all as this means that it is going to be more complicated for you to sell your business further down the line – sure, you may not want to but it’s good to have the option.
• Leave yourself room for growth: If you want to start a travel blog, don’t call your travel blog ‘TravellingInFrance.com’ because as soon as you leave France you are going to be faced with a problem. I boxed myself into a corner with The Broke Backpacker in that I can’t work with luxury brands even though they do sometimes approach me. You want a strong name that can evolve with your aims.
• Choose a simple URL:   Any travel blog name that is longer than three words is probably too long and for the love of Jebus, definitely avoid hyphens. If you can’t get the name you wanted, because it is taken, I would avoid adding or subtracting an extra word. For example – if The Broke Backpacker had been taken, opting for The Broke Aussie Backpacker would have been a really foolish move as that person would then have to compete with the already established original website in Google search rankings. Lol, somebody did actually do that though.
• Lock down the social media accounts:  Double check that your chosen name is available on social media accounts as well and lock them down. Whenever I think of a new online venture, the first thing I do is buy the relevant domain and lock down social media accounts.

They ARE an affiliate partner with The Broke Backpacker meaning I do receive a kickback commission if any of you fine readers sign up for Bluehost using the links in this article.

Does that affect what I’ve written in this article? Nope, I still love Bluehost and highly recommend them. I’m just also legally obliged to tell you. 🙂

Many digital nomad newbies are intimidated by hosting but it really is very easy indeed to install and set up and you will need to get it sorted before you can properly start your travel blog. Let me run you through it…

If you want to start a travel blog, getting started with Bluehost is the absolute best option for you.

Best of all, Broke Backpacker readers get an exclusive deal on the price – $2.95 a month rather than the normal $10.99 a month – that’s a pretty massive saving.

Bluehost has got great support, and at a beginning price of $2.95 a month, it’s hard to complain about the price.

I have several websites and have experimented with a number of different hosting companies. Bluehost has quickly become my favourite hosting solution.

Hosting your travel blog with Bluehost will only cost you $2.95 a month and if you opt for hosting with Bluehost you can score your domain name for free as well. Best of all, setting up is quick.

First thing’s first, to start a travel blog, click the button below.

Bluehost has been badass enough to give my readers a special deal. Using my links should take you to this page…

Which has the best prices available on the web. If you want to start a travel blog, it’s hard to complain about $2.95 a month.

Hit the big ass green button and you’ll be redirected to a page outlining Bluehost’s different hosting plans…

If you are new to the blogging world and aren’t sure if this is a long-term path for you, I would recommend just going with the $2.95 package. It’s still a great plan to start a travel blog.

However, if you are serious or are planning on setting up more than one online venture – it’s worth going for the ‘prime’ account as it includes more bandwidth and the ability to host more than one domain.

Now’s your chance to get your domain name for free! Unless you’ve already bought a domain name, type your chosen blog name into the box on the left and click next.

If you want to keep your domain name separate from your hosting, NameCheap is a very budget-friendly option.

Visit Bluehost now and search for your very own domain… 

Next up, fill in your payment information and you’re all set!

Baboom! Now it’s time to pick a password. Don’t make it your pets name. Put some thought into making it unique. The last thing you want is your glorious travel blog to get hacked.

Then double check to make the password is correct…

If you’ve done everything correctly, you’ll see this…

You’ve now got your travel blog domain name and hosting all sorted, onto the next step: picking a theme.

Don’t sweat too much about this as it can always be changed later. Just pick one that looks nice.

Once you are finished, you’ll see this.

Now that you’ve signed up for hosting, it’s time to install WordPress so you can make a start on actually putting your site together.

If you are a web-design pro, then click ‘I don’t need help’.

But if you are here, I suspect you aren’t a web design pro. So take some advice from a pro – choose ‘business’. Yes, your blog might have a more personal touch, but business blogs have more professional layouts.

Then, click the big blue ‘launch’ button.

You’ll then be taken here…

Next, select your site title and its description. Again, don’t sweat too much about it now. Put what you’d like the title and description to be, and move on (it can easily be changed later).

Congratulations! You’re now the proud owner of a WordPress travel blog! What on earth do you do now?

It’s super simple. After clicking ‘next step’, you’ll be taken here.

Click ‘login to WordPress’ and you are in! For security purposes, I do recommend using 2-Factor Authentication to protect your site.

Huzzah, you’ve conquered the boring shit! Now we can move onto the more exciting stuff – designing your brand and writing your first posts…

It’s time to make your site awesome! There are a ton of free themes that you can pick up with WordPress but I strongly recommend making the investment into a beautiful theme that will help you stand out…

ThriveThemes

The internet marketers’ best friends, ThriveThemes specialise in themes that are designed to convert your traffic into email subscribers and sales of your digital product. If you have a business plan in mind that revolves around digital products or you are interested in setting up a marketing blog, these are the guys to go for. Thrive also offer some truly awesome landing page and opt-in form packages. Investing in ThriveThemes was by far one of the smartest things I’ve done.

ThemeForest

If you want to pick a standard, none-thrive, theme with a really professional design head to ThemeForest . You’ll pay around $50 per theme (the price varies, but averages out at around $50), but the themes available have hundreds of options for customisation, are usually responsive, and have a support team to solve your queries within a few hours.

I’ve been using a heavily customised ThemeForest theme on The Broke Backpacker for years and I have no intention of changing anytime soon although I am increasingly using Thrive Themes for really important ‘money posts’ and for gaining email subscribers.

Once you’ve bought a theme, install it on your site by following the instructions. In ThemeForest, you’ll be able to download the installable WordPress file. Once you’ve done that, you can log into WordPress, click on Appearance – Themes – Upload, upload the zip file, and you’ll be on your way to creating a kick ass site.

Other stellar themes include Kadence , Generate Press , and Astra . If you have the cash to spend, you can also hire a developer to design or set up your theme for you.

For more ideas on how to make your blog look good, check out some of these design tips from Blogging Fast Lane.

Hopefully, you’ve given some thought to what you want your blog to be all about… Brainstorming with friends or even running polls in Facebook statuses (this is how I often make final decisions on brand names) is a great way to start.

Once you have figured out your brand, you can start thinking about a logo or banner – something to put on every page of your site so that your branding constantly reminds your audience where the hell they are in the deep, dark interwebs. I designed The Broke Backpacker logo and banner image (that you see at the top of every page) myself in PicMonkey  – an extremely cheap and extremely versatile online photo editor, I highly recommend giving it a go.

Designing your brand is a constantly evolving part of running a travel blog; I have re-written my ‘about’ page over a dozen times over the years as my aims changed. I suggest you start by writing out twenty post titles and then figuring out how you are going to arrange these posts on your site – it’s a good idea to throw together a quick site map and have a content plan.

Now that your site is almost ready to roll, it’s time to install some plugins to improve your user experience and to give you a ton more options for what you can and can’t do on your travel blog. Here are some of the essential plugins you should install to start your first travel blog…

• Akismet:  Every day, I receive hundreds of spammy comments on my blog. Luckily, I don’t have to deal with any of them as Akismet blocks all comments that are originating from comment bots.
• Yoast SEO:  After Akismet, this is the single most important plugin for your site as this is the absolute foundation of on-page SEO and without SEO your content will never be read by anybody.
• WP Rocket : Site speed is incredibly important to Google, and these days it’s quite the ranking factor. WP Rocket is the best plugin to help you out with this – it’s not free but it’s worth the money!
• Subscribe to Comments Reloaded:  When someone leaves a comment on your blog post, you receive a notification. Stupidly though, they don’t actually receive a notification when you (or anybody else) replies. This plugin enables that functionality.
• Sucuri:  Sucuri is like antivirus software for your website. It scans and secures your website and lets you know if your site gets hacked. Wordfence is a popular alternative.
• WP Smush:  Images take up a lot of space, and especially on a travel blog, they’re going to be the number one thing that slows down your website. This plugin makes the file sizes of your images smaller without affecting the quality of the photo.

As a travel blogger, you will really stand out if you produce quality content that isn’t identical to the other thousands of travel bloggers out there. In my opinion, there are three qualities that travel bloggers should try to cultivate and to show through their work.

Let’s face it, it’s a lot easier to put energy and enthusiasm into something if you’re passionate about it. If you love taking photos , making videos, writing about your experiences and inspiring others to travel then travel blogging is a great gig.

If you’re only vaguely interested in starting a travel blog to fund your travels then you are definitely making a mistake – do not get into travel blogging for the money, there is much easier money to be made in other online fields.

I’ve always been passionate about writing and, luckily, I had been writing for a long time before I even started my blog – it probably took about one thousand hours of practice to sculpt my writing style from utter shit into something readable. Your passion is your power, find your passion and then build your business around it.

Persistence

The great thing about travel blogging is that, as long as you stick with it, you will eventually have a site that brings in an income. How long does that take? It took me four years but the average seems to be a bit shorter than that – more like six to eighteen months. I think that’s probably because I had no idea what I was doing at first and also wasn’t trying to monetise my blog; it was a hobby, a passion, a place to record my adventures.

Really though it just depends on how much time you put into it – I reckon it probably takes about 1000 hours of work to build up a successful and profitable travel blog; you can put that work in ALL at the beginning, especially if you have years worth of travel stories to draw upon (which I did when I started) or you can pace it out. As long as you stick with it and work hard, you will eventually get there.

Once your blog gets to a certain size, you will start receiving offers for paid content placement (more on that later) from advertisers, SEO companies, and, if you’re lucky, brands related to your niche . The only problem is that nine times out of ten these guys are not fun to deal with – they will offer you pitiful compensation in exchange for plastering their crappy products all over your blog. Sometimes they will even ask you to place content in exchange for ‘exposure’ across their networks.

One of the main things that separates professional bloggers from hobby bloggers is an accurate sense of value; pro bloggers know what their site is worth and they know which products and services might be of interest to their audience. Promoting crap to your audience or undervaluing your site and taking pennies from advertisers will damage your brand and stunt your site’s growth.

Without an audience, your travel blog is extremely unlikely to gain momentum or earn any money unless some extravagant playboy billionaire happens to stumble across your site and decides to inexplicably sponsor you… That ain’t going to happen so if you’re going to take travel blogging seriously, you will need to invest your time into mastering SEO, social media, and the ancient art of hustlin’.

Mastering SEO

Search engine optimisation is the practice of writing an article that Google finds appealing and therefore bumps to the front page. There was a time when writing great content was enough but now, with an influx of very talented and very hungry newbie travel bloggers, you need to make sure that your content is search engine optimised.

You cannot succeed as a travel blogger without mastering SEO – I highly recommend learning it before you even write your first post. Various keyword research tools can help you do the job – Keywords Everywhere and Keysearch are both affordable options for bloggers on a budget,

Whilst it is possible to drive traffic through social media, organic search traffic remains the most effective way of getting readers onto your site and growing your brand. SEO is probably the most important part of running any online business.

Social Media

Personally, I freaking hate social media .

So, it sounds tough, how do you become a blogger without a huge social media following? Well, it is completely possible to run a successful travel blog without much of a social media following, but it might be a bit harder to get brand deals, though not impossible.

I recommend choosing one platform and sticking with it – ideally Instagram or Tiktok. Youtube is its own world entirely and Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat’s popularity in the travel space has fallen.

Really, the most important skill you need is a good work ethic and a vision for what you want to create. You need to be confident promoting yourself and reaching out to potential allies and clients. If you start with that, the rest will follow.

Everybody has a different definition of success. When I started out, my primary objective was to show people that travel doesn’t have to be expensive and that it’s possible to travel anywhere in the world on a budget of less than ten dollars a day. That was my personal goal.

Moving forwards, my definition of success for this blog has changed a bit – partly because of the thousands of hours I have put into it. I am still passionate about teaching others to travel the world broke but I am also keen to fund my travels and build an online empire.

The definition of success for any business is turning a profit so if you’re not making money then you are not running a successful business. Depending on your circumstances, that might be totally OK. You might have millions in the bank and be starting a travel blog to simply record your experiences and inspire others to travel. If this is you, you’re in luck – you are the perfect candidate for travel blogging… Travel blogging can, and should, be fun.

Travel blogging should be about creating, about sharing, about inspiring others to hit the road and discover a life of adventure. Unfortunately though, when you combine that with trying to make a living online the lines can become blurred. If you are passionate about travel, like myself, then starting a travel blog will very much change how you travel…

I know many bloggers who started a travel blog with the objective of making money from their travels so that they could travel forever, most us now daydream of a time when we can pack in the blog and travel old-school… without a laptop, without a phone, without being connected.

So how do you become a blogger that actually makes money ? 

With a few notable exceptions, most professional travel bloggers make between $2000 and $10,000 a month. This figure can fluctuate wildly on a month-by-month basis depending on how you have set up your online income streams. Some bloggers pull in six figures but these guys have been around since the age of the dinosaurs and were able to take advantage of travel blogging being a very new thing with very limited competition.

These early bird travel bloggers were in a very fortunate position indeed as they were the first to write about, for example, travelling in Europe – this means that they have all got dozens of articles sitting happily on the front page of Google and they continue to generate traffic, and therefore income, without having to do too much other than design new digital products to sell to their audience.

However, it’s possible to take those coveted first-page rankings away from other bloggers… If you produce content that is longer, better and properly optimised.

There are two main streams of income for bloggers – passive income (the dream!) and hustle…

Passive Income

Passive income can only really exist if you have a good amount of traffic. In most cases, you need about 50,000 unique visitors a month to your blog before you can start making anything even close to the $1000 mark in passive income. Passive income consists of…

• Affiliate schemes: Selling travel insurance, booking services or Amazon products through your site. Check out affiliate marketing 101 .
• Mediavine:  Mediavine will pay to place ads on your site which payout based on the number of impressions a page – I have got SOME ads turned on on SOME pages on this site and make a couple of grand a month from Mediavine but overall I am trying to limit ads.
• Alternative ad companies : While you won’t make as much, smaller blogs do have some options in the way of ads. Ezoic, SheMedia and Monumetric work with sites that have at least 10,000 sessions per month. Meanwhile, AdThrive is a high-paying alternative to Mediavine once you reach 100,000.
• Digital Products:  Selling ebooks or courses such as a ‘How To Start A Travel Blog’ or ‘How to Become a Blogger’ courses (more on that, no – I’m not going to sell you shit, in a moment).

If you want to succeed as a travel blogger, you’re going to have to work for it. And that means you’re going to need to hustle. Hard. But you’ll thank yourself later once that sweet passive income starts rolling in…

• Advertisers: If you want to start a travel blog you need to know this. Some companies will pay for posts on your site advertising a product, service or website. This can be a dodgy game as Google does not look fondly on blogs that do this. Sponsored content is, however, the easiest way to make money out of a travel blog and most bloggers, even some of the biggest names out there, are involved to some extent.
• Brand Partnerships:  The holy grail for most travel bloggers; brand partnerships involve a travel or adventure related company asking you to use and promote their gear. I’ve scored partnerships, some of them worth upwards of $5000 a year, with a few companies and whilst they are a great source of clean money they are hard to land. Many bloggers aim to score press trips, the real golden opportunities though are paid press trips.
• Selling your soul:  I don’t endorse products I don’t like, some of the shit that companies have asked me to put on this site has been downright laughable… If you don’t care about your image or your audience though, you can make good money this way.

The best way to start a travel blog is to teach yourself .

Here’s why.

There are a lot of travel bloggers out there trying to sell ‘How to Become a Blogger’ courses… The thing is, most of the guys selling these courses have got no idea how to start a successful travel blog, on a budget, in the current market.

The tactics that they suggest often no longer work. Things have changed – the number of travel blogs has exploded and it is harder than ever to stand out and to build a brand amongst so much quality competition.

In the old days, all you had to do was write an article, choose a keyword and whack it on your site – very quickly it would be ranking on page 1 of Google and you would be sorted. Now, if you want to start a travel blog and grow it,  you have to compete with fifty other bloggers who have written about the same subject.

Most of the ‘How to Become a Blogger’ courses contain very limited practical information on how to actually monetise a blog so whilst they can be a good blueprint for things like web design and best SEO practices, they won’t help you fund your travels.

In short, most travel blogger courses are outdated and not worth the money – you can find everything you need to know online and through trial and error. I never enrolled in a ‘How to Become a Blogger’ course and frankly it pisses me off that travel bloggers are selling these courses for such exorbitant amounts of money when much of the content has been floating around the web for nearly ten years and they are not providing any real value.

Saying that, if you want to start a travel blog and prefer to get your hand held, maybe it’s worth it but my advice is to just Google and watch Youtube videos teaching you what you need to know – that’s what I did.

A few commonly asked questions about travel blogging…

Can I really make money blogging?

Yes, absolutely. If you want to start a travel blog you should get excited! It is one of the most exciting digital nomad careers out there and you will learn a huge amount about an absolutely staggering range of topics. You can apply this newfound knowledge to all kinds of online ventures.

Do I need to speak English to start my own travel blog?

Blogging online in your native tongue can be a huge advantage as you will not have as much competition as if you were blogging in English. Your total market may be smaller but it’s easier to lock down a larger percentage of that market and build a recognisable brand fairly quickly.

Travel blogging seems so saturated now, is it too late to start a blog?

This is a question I get a lot from people who want to start a travel blog. Here’s my two cents. Quality will always trump quantity and every year new blogs appear out of nowhere to take a slice of the pie. It is definitely a very competitive space though and if you simply want to make money online so that you have the freedom to travel there are better options out there. If you do start a travel blog; pick your niche wisely… Choose a space where you can become an authority.

How much does it cost to start a travel blog?

You can start a travel blog for under $100 although if you want something flash you can spend way more than that.

But you can set up a free blog, right?

You can start a travel blog where you do not have to pay for hosting but this means you will be doomed forever to have a forgettable domain name where you cannot build up your domain authority as you don’t have your own part of the internet.

Do I need a laptop?

Yes, definitely, it’s imperative for anyone who wants to start a travel blog. You cannot hope to compete without access to a computer.

Travel Blogging Resources

• Ditch Your Desk : Your ultimate resource for making money online.
• Bluehost : When you start your first travel blog you’re going to need hosting, Bluehost offer some of the most affordable hosting packages and, best of all, TBB readers get an exclusive discount on the price!
• Thrive Themes : Game-changing landing pages…
• PicMonkey : Super cheap and super awesome photo editing software.
• Another walkthrough on blogging : Check out my friend Jeremy’s post on travel blogging for some other useful insights.

If you are passionate about storytelling and inspiring others to travel, a career in travel blogging is a fantastic choice and one of the best digital nomad jobs out there.

Be warned though, if you want to start a travel blog you will be fighting an uphill battle to monetise your blog in an increasingly competitive market. It is still totally possible to create a successful and profitable travel blog but if you are doing it just for the money, there are better options out there…

I have no regrets about starting a travel blog – it has been an incredible journey for me and I have learnt so many valuable skills which I am now using to set up a string of online ventures in niches which are better paid and less competitive than travel blogging.

At the end of the day, I’m passionate about travel – not travel blogging.

Having kick-ass adventures and then finding the time to actually write about them is a difficult balancing act. Many bloggers start a travel blog with the hope of funding their trips but the very nature of your travels changes completely when you suddenly have to think about taking photos for Facebook, answering emails and dealing with site problems from the middle of the Himalayas…

My objective is to make enough money to be able to buy a large chunk of land somewhere and disappear forever. To unplug from social media and to travel without a phone or laptop. This is my goal. I’ll be blogging about the journey over at ditch your desk .

Blogging is an incredible journey and can be a seriously rewarding job for those who love to travel. If you’re passionate about travel, photography and learning new skills, blogging could be the job for you, good luck!

But remember, if you want to start a travel blog you have to understand it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Produce great content and keep plugging away and you will, eventually, get to where you want to be.

Will Hatton

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68 Comments

Great post! I love your honesty and frankness! I’ve been learning how to blog for 3 years now! I definitely agree that everyone can learn on their own…and for myself I remember things better if I need to work extra hard to figure them out! So much to learn but I do love it – now I just have to get over my procrastination problem and get those million posts I have started finished! Thanks for your inspiration.

Thanks for the support! Good luck on your journey in 2021!

I work for a travel company but Covid has derailed all travel plans. Hopefully international travel comes back. I plan to start a travel blog beginning mid next year when travel starts coming back. Until then, I’m sticking to Finance niche.

Interesting article!

I was wondering how you can write every day or even 2-3 times per week if you’re just starting out as a travel blogger?

For instance, I don’t have the resources to travel to exotic destinations so how do you suggest I create content for my blog? I’d appreciate your guidance! 🙂

Hi Shristi, good to hear from you! The best advice I can give you is to ensure that you put a set number of hours a week into writing, figuring out how to lay out good copy that flows well, because this honestly is an art which to get fast and good at, requires constant honing. So find whatever it is that is inspiring you in your day to day – maybe where you are dreaming of travelling to next year, or your favourite walks around your area, hidden gems in your local town – and write about that, practice makes perfect and you can find the exotic close to home if you look 🙂

This is really great! I would love a blog expanding on SEO. I think that’s such a difficult piece of the puzzle!

And here’s the blog!

https://ditchyourdesk.com/

Written by the man himself! 🙂

I always wonder how they can earn money while traveling, and here the answer. Just curious about the way they can choose the niches, I mean everyone takes photos of landscape and local food or tells about what they had experienced, which are not really unique.

Nice blog! Thanks for sharing such a blog.

This is quite a lot of stuff here, actually, it can be very useful for me, As I have been planned to start my local travel blog to give a great travelling experience in India. As you are aware India is known for its cultures and ethnicities. There are many differences in culture, food habits and languages with region to region. And In India, there are many bloggers who share their travel experience based on some holiday destinations but in reality, there is much need to be explored yet. Thank you for sharing the information and I would be appreciated if you could help me with a local travel blog.

I gained a lot of ideas through this blog especially on how to pick a niche for a travel. Thank you! The idea is superb!

I have a clear idea that content is king, but today there is a lot of competition and to reach an acceptable traffic level by “natural” ways, might take years and years. Regarding traffic, how have you gained it? Any tips? Have you acquired backlinks or other means of traffic gaining, or is 100% slow natural growth? If you have acquired backlinks, any strategy, or trusted sources.

I need a push, a mental motivational push, as somehow I always tend to focus on what can be wrong…my pessimistic nature, I guess 🙂

This is how I build my backlinks: https://ditchyourdesk.com/building-backlinks-101/

Do you write articles on a regular basis, say every 3days, or only when you feel like writing, such as after your travels?

We publish posts every day. But I only write when I want to now.

Great piece of content for people who wish to start a travel blog but get overwhelmed. Well not for me, I know it will take some time, I am ready to do my part. Guys like you keep me motivated. And one more thing, we need to create a responsible travel style, otherwise this earth and our future is doomed. Please take a look at my kTravel Blog and provide some insights. It will be much appreciated. And thank you for motivations.

I’m forcing myself to! How many posts did you have up before you saw significant traffic? I’m still getting excited about my 2 visits per day.

I had to work for about a year and a half before anything really happened. Worth it though…

HI Will I am just setting up, it keeps asking me to log into my google account? Is this necessary? And the Google analytics, is this necessary? My website is just to advertise myself as a local marriage celebrant. Thanks for your help 🙂

Without analytics, you’ll have no idea where your audience is coming from or even how big your audience is… It only takes 2 mins to set up and the data is very valuable over time.

Nice and an informative article! Thank you for sharing it!

Great post! I used your site for so many tips before my first solo backpacking trip and I got inspired to make my own travel blog from it. I’m just having an issue finding a niche for my blog, but I figure I can just keep writing posts until I figure out what my niche actually is. Think that’s a good or bad idea?

The important thing is that you start and keep going 🙂

This is truly a very good travelling blog, If you’re looking forward to start a travel blogs, this can be helpful for you to start off. Thanks for sharing !!

An interesting post Will, thank you. I’ve always loved writing and recently started a travel blog of my own. The posts are a bit lengthy and the photos aren’t the best quality at the moment ( I have more important things to spend my money on right now!) but I’m enjoying creating it and am quite proud I guess. If you have a spare moment at all, I’d really appreciate it if you could perhaps have a look and give me any advice on how to improve?I currently use own blog:-https://medium.com/@cffmarketing2018/surprising-las-vegas-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-do-in-las-vegas-92eba4bc375e

This is indeed an ultimate guide to starting a travel blog. Nice Work Will!!!! I started my solo travel blog, One Life To Wander, to inspire people to travel alone and travel responsibly. My mission is to help millions of people from around the world to travel better, cheaper and longer.

Picking a niche always seems to be the hardest. But it is one of the most important, if not the most important piece when starting your own blog. Whether it is about travel, gadgets, or anything in the web. But once you’ve got your own niche, things will soon run smoothly especially on building up your contents. Thanks for the awesome share Will!

Information has always been king, seems all of the black hat’s are getting owned from the white hat profit making machines.

Thank you so much for this post!! I’m in a sea of blogging information at the moment, and this was so clear and concise. Love love love your content

Happy to help Jess! 🙂

Thanks for sharing Will. Enjoying reading your articles and actually will give you credit for giving me to needed ambition to start putting some of my travel adventures into words. Its been 20 countries in two years with little money and some wild adventures haha. Aloha and keep up the good stuff

Do it amigo, start that blog! 🙂

Great advice Will! I really like the first point on selecting the right niche. It’s important because you need to know why you are doing the blog in the first place. But thanks for sharing all the great tips! This was really inspiring. I’m about 9 months into blogging and have had some success so far. Just got to keep working and improving. How did you originally get in touch with those sponsors if you don’t mind me asking?

Hey Graham, thanks buddy! There’s no one way to get in touch with sponsors; you have to try everything; email outreach, social media outreach, tracking the right person down on twitter etc… And of course, create unique content so if you can get someone influential to click to your site they will be impressed 🙂

Hey Mate, Your Blog is Awesome! Such Great Information, I’m excited to use some of your tips to continue to grow my own nomadic lifestyle and websites 🙂

Cheers amigo! Best of luck with your online adventures! 🙂

LOVE this post. I’ve had my blog for just over a year and am so passionate about travelling I hope it shows in my words. The growth is very slow and it’s a difficult industry to crack! There are so many millions of blogs out there. I hope one day I can help fund my adventures with my little corner of the internet, until then I will be keeping the passion alive 🙂 x

Best of luck Charlotte! It is totally possible, it just takes perseverance and vision 🙂

So Will, I have to say that I love following you on SnapChat. It’s hilarious and envious all at once. I just hit 40 and have decided to take a gap year and pursue the 210 things on my bucket list & blog all about it. So as you noted above to pick a niche, well I have decided that this is my Niche and I hope to inspire others to pursue theirs. So this may seem stupid but my question is about your guide book, is it mainly geared only to the travel world? I mean I know that I have lots of travel and adventure crossover in my bucketlist but there is more to it and I don’t want to jump down the wrong rabbit hole. Either way, cheers to you and your adventures. I am doing a Rickshaw run in India on Jan 1st, 2017 so hopefully I will be able to send you snaps of my insanity!

Hey Eric! Cheers dude, happy to be of service! The ebook is mostly on how to start a blog but if you have any questions on travel, just snapchat me man 🙂

Great post. I’ve just sent an invite to you on LinkedIn to talk about travel blogging… and then seen this which is awesome. Thanks for writing this and putting together the e-book! Will check that out. Looking forward to reading more posts and hearing of your current adventure!

Hey Lidia, I hope you find the ebook useful! Welcome back to the site any time, join me on snapchat too, @wthatton. Lots of new articles to come over the next few months.

Thank you – words of encouragement and advice just when I need them. Serendipity on a hot afternoon in Australia.

No problems Anne, all the best with your blogging!

Where did you take that picture?? That ultimate hammock looks awesome!

It was at a hostel called Casa Elemento in Minke, Colombia – and it was most definitely epic!

Your website is thebrokebackpacker.com but as you got popular and got all these sponsors and advertising and book revenue then you are no longer broke, right? Like all of these budget travel blogs, the popular ones are no longer getting by on a budget.

Well buddy, actually, I still travel on an extreme budget. Yes, my blog is doing well and yes, I am bringing in money – all of that money is going into the ‘Broke Backpacker Hostel’ pot – my ultimate plan is to open a hostel in Colombia 🙂

Fantastic advice, I’m still in the early stages of developing my travel photography blog and it can definitely drain inspiration at times. Finally a break though by having some of my writing re-posted by travel pages!

Hi, some great advice here. Just wondering how would you define a travel blogger. I wouldn’t really define myself as one but I have just recently started blogging about a little adventure I’m on at the moment, and I use it in my tweets when I’m hashtagging a post. When can I define myself as a travel blogger?

Great post, please check out my stuff on mine if you get time. I would love some honest feedback from an expert like yourself. ????

Keep up the great work Jessie

Hey Jessie! Honestly I think if you write a travel blog, you’re a travel blogger! You don’t have to be earning from it to be one 🙂 Cheers!

HI Will, thanks for the great article. I started part time blogging recently and enjoy it a lot. I would love to be able to do it full time one day.I just wish my readership was up, but it is growing slowly. Thanks again for posting and will look into getting your book. Have a good one.

I am a travel blogger and I really want to build my readership. Any advice on professionals that can improve the interface of my blog? There is only so much I can do myself?

Hey Melissa! I actually just wrote an eBook about this – you can check it out at http://tinyurl.com/qbvoyyb

Do you have a blog post where you talk about the budget you started off with for your website?

Did you start off with a normal WordPress freebie and later buy your domain once you gained traction? Or did you hire someone to create everything for you from scratch?

Hi Lauren, my Ebook on how to become a professional blogger is actually coming out this week and it shall be packed with useful stuff but, to answer your question – I bought the domain early on, even before I decided to become a pro, I recommend picking up a domain and hosting platform from name.com 🙂 I created the site myself from scratch but then later, when I made a bit of money, got a web designer in to tidy everything up.

Indeed being active on social media works as you started following us on Instagram and this is how we read your great blog!! Very interesting and inspiring article for us as we started our travel blog May and since July we have become full time professional travellers 🙂

What you have achieved is very impressive, congrats! We would really value your opinion on our blog http://www.bestregardsfromfar.com . We’ll stay tuned for your e-books!!

Thanks again,

Claire and Marcella (best regards from far)

Awesome article Will. Very useful stuff for aspiring bloggers. You’re doing awesome and you have a whole lotta hustle!

It’s thanks to you guys I started in the first place – you two are a huge inspiration for me 🙂

An interesting post Will, thank you. I’ve always loved writing and recently started a travel blog of my own. The posts are a bit lengthy and the photos aren’t the best quality at the moment ( I have more important things to spend my money on right now!) but I’m enjoying creating it and am quite proud I guess. If you have a spare moment at all, I’d really appreciate it if you could perhaps have a look and give me any advice on how to improve?

Thanks for the link to the fb page above, I’ll be sure to have a look!

Hey Becka, feel free to email me on [email protected] and I can throw some pointers your way 🙂

Man it is hard work! Craig has actually put me on timer tonight to restrict my blogging time. However the rewards are wonderful, we’ve met the nicest of locals who run businesses in the likes of Peru, Bolivia and Colombia and it’s magic to hear their stories. Great post, looking forward to this news…

Hi Will! As a newbie blogger, I am trying to find some of those facebook group since a few days. I don’t know if they are secrets (!!!), but which one would you recommend?

Thanks for your tips and I am looking forward to read that Ebook!

Hi Melissa! This is definitely the best place to start – https://www.facebook.com/groups/wetravelweblog/?fref=ts

I am facinated by the thought of becoming a travel writer, it seems like the perfect job – you get to travel and tell people about your awesome adventures. I met a travel writer in a hostel I worked at in Malaysia, and even though she wasn’t nearly as successfull as the broke backpacker, she still earned enough money to get by. Since english isn’t my first language, I feel like it’ll be harder for me to have a professional blog, when your punctuation and spelling isn’t always on point. I’ll stick to travel in my free time and blog for fun. Very interesting article, though! Really interesting points, and you’re very inspiring, Will! 🙂

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How To Monetize A Travel Blog: 12 Real Profitable Methods For Making Money

• August 21, 2023
• by Margaret Bourne

Wondering how to make money with a travel blog? You’ve launched your travel blog and are blogging away. It’s growing traffic-wise and your readers are loving what they’re reading. However, you’re wondering how to monetize a travel blog and make it profitable. 

Because that next trip isn’t going to pay for itself!

And it would be great to at least cover the cost of your self-hosted WordPress site . Right?

You’re not alone. It’s common for new travel bloggers to look for tips on how to make money with a travel blog.

I know it can be a bit daunting at first, but let’s look at the top 10 unique ways to monetize a travel blog, that all the top bloggers use.

You want to finally start making an income with yours too!

DISCLOSURE : This post includes sponsored content from Travelpayouts. It also contains affiliate links, meaning if you click on a product or service, and decide to purchase it, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. All recommended products and services are based on my positive experience with them. For more information, please read my Disclaimer .

Bookmark this post for future reference on Pinterest.

How To Monetize A Travel Blog: 10 Real Ways

If you’re just starting out as a travel blogger, there’s one thing I must remind you: you may not be making thousands of dollars just yet.

Don’t be disappointed if things start off slow.

Making a sustainable income with a blog – no matter the niche – requires some traffic and readers who trust you.

That comes over time when you’ve built up your personal brand .

Also, before we look at the different ways to monetize your travel blog, consider what will work best for your lifestyle. 

Do you prefer a more passive or semi-passive way to earn money? Or are you OK with working with people or conducting promotion/monetization activities in a more active way? 

This list includes a blend of the various types of monetization strategies. You’ll find those that work best with your travel blog niche and with your lifestyle.

Let’s get started!

1. Tourism Board Or Brand Partnerships

Partnerships with tourism boards or brands are a great way to make money as a travel blogger.

In most cases, you are creating sponsored content like blog posts, social media posts or sponsored newsletters.

This can be very lucrative as your blog and social media accounts grow and you gain an online presence.

If you’re a niche travel blogger , and have a specific audience, brands and tourism boards may have a greater interest in partnering with you.

| READ MORE: How To Get Sponsored Post Brand Collaborations

2. Offering Freelance Writing Services

Many online and traditional magazines, as well as newspapers, love to work with freelance travel writers.

For this opportunity, you’ll need to pitch the story to the magazine or newspaper’s editor that covers travel stories.

Make sure your blog content is in tip-top shape. It can act as your portfolio of work if you are just starting out as a freelance travel writer.

Read more about how to pitch as a freelance writer and land opportunities.

3. Join Affiliate Marketing Programs

One of the best ways to monetize a travel blog is to include affiliate marketing activities .

This is a semi-passive activity, which can bring in a good chunk of money each month if you do things right.

Partner with travel brands from transportation, hotels, travel excursions, gear and more.

Some of the best ones include:

Hotels Affiliate: Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com

Car Rental: Discover Cars , Rental Cars

Home Rental: Vrbo

Tours : Viator , Get Your Guide

| RELATED: How To Get Started With Affiliate Marketing – A Blogger’s Guide

My Travelpayouts Review – Why It’s Perfect For Travel Bloggers

There’s a great affiliate marketing platform for travel bloggers called Travelpayouts . It’s an all-in-one travel monetization platform that helps bloggers maximize their time and opportunities to generate income from affiliate marketing. 

It has over 110 participating top travel brands. What’s great about Travelpayouts is that you’ll have a single wallet for withdrawing money. You can quickly accumulate the amount for your payout as you join different programs from different brands and promote them successfully. 

Join Travelpayouts for free today!

4. Creating And Selling Digital Products

From courses to travel guides in eBook format, printables, checklists and more.

There are many types of travel-related digital products that you can sell.

Consider planners, virtual tours and even apps. Always start with the travel problem and work back from there. And figure out the best way to deliver the solution digitally.

The options are limitless with digital products!

For example, a popular digital product idea can be a digital itinerary template that you can create in Canva.

| RELATED: How To Create And Sell Digital Products On Your Own Blog

5. Creating An Online Course

An unusual way to make money with a travel blog is to produce a course that solves a common “how to” travel problem.

Some people will purchase a course on a travel topic.

For example, if you are a pro at solo travel, some wish to emulate that lifestyle. But they don’t know how!

Take them through a series of a few modules on different aspects of solo travel they need to know: from budgeting to safety.

You can sell the course on a platform such as Podia (also good for digital products), Teachable or even Thrivecart (their course platform upgrade).

| RELATED: Using Podia For Digital Product And Course Selling – A Full Review

5. Launching An Online Store

Selling digital products is one way to monetize a travel blog, but you can also sell physical products as well.

The easiest way to do this is to work with a print-on-demand supplier such as Printify .

This means that when somebody purchases, let’s say a t-shirt from your online shop, the supplier will print the t-shirt and send it to the customer on your behalf.

This is especially beneficial as you can be in the middle of your travels and don’t have access to physical stock.

6. Monetizing Social Media Channels

Travel works very well for Instagram reels or TikTok videos.

Consider all of the types of content you can promote – from destinations, hotel reviews, travel gear tips and more.

Some are more monetizable social media platforms than others.

You can monetize social media channels with these activities :

• Sponsored giveaways
• Subscriptions
• Platform-specific creator programs
• Sell merchandise
• Events and workshops
• Affiliate marketing

So consider this one of the ways to monetize your travel blog and social media accounts.

7. Selling Travel Photos And Videos

You may be wondering how to monetize a travel blog with photos and videos – because that seems a natural fit.

If you are a professional photographer or videographer who loves travel, it only makes sense to make money selling your images.

Not sure if your photos are up to snuff?

Upload them to Unsplash or Pexels for copyright-free use and test them to see if they are attracting interest.

If they are, you’re onto something with the idea of selling your travel photos.

8. Running Travel Tours

How to monetize a travel blog? Become a travel tour guide!

No, I kid… it’s a bit like being a travel agent, but it’s not.

You can do this in two ways:

• Work with a tour provider, leveraging their resources and contacts and you host the tours.
• You create your own tours and run them

The first way is easier, but you’re collaborating with another entity. Sometimes things can get stressful with expectations for success.

By running your tours, you’re in charge. Just be careful with protecting yourself legally and financially.

9. Tourism Board Collaboration – Media Tours

There are two ways to make money working with tourism boards.

The first is to be invited to participate in FAM trips (familiarization trips) – also called media trips.

This is where you are invited to participate in a special tour, including flights, hotels and food, for a few days.

In some cases, there is also compensation for a series of articles on your blog and social media or if you’re a freelance writer, with publications you successfully pitch.

The second way is more interesting and a bit rarer.

If you’ve worked closely with a tourism board and know a destination inside and out, you can end up working as a host for media tours .

Sometimes travel boards want to collaborate with “experts” and that expert may be you!

This is something you can do as a pro blogger. Put this idea in your “future monetization goals” plan.

PRO TIP: International FAM trips are for top travel bloggers. However, sometimes local and regional tourism boards in your area may invite you to participate in their tours. This is a perfect way to get experience and produce quality content to add to your site (that bigger tourism boards will notice).

10. Travel Consultation Services

This way to monetize a travel blog is quite lucrative and doesn’t require much effort on your part.

You can do this job from anywhere in the world – even your home base.

It’s where you take on clients who want you to create and plan their itineraries . You essentially become something of a travel agent.

You can keep things easy by creating an itinerary and having your client do all the booking.

Or you can also make the booking for them. This second option is more complicated as there is the handling of money.

You’ll need to make sure you cover yourself legally and financially through contracts.

11. Running Paid Advertising on Your Blog

One of the easiest ways to monetize a travel blog is through paid advertising.

Here are some of the best:

• Mediavine (need 50,000 sessions/month)
• AdThrive (need 100,000 sessions/month)
• SHE Media (need 20,000 sessions/month but may get with less)

While I can understand why bloggers with huge amounts of traffic place ads (they do make money), smaller bloggers who are growing their sites may avoid them altogether.

Because ads do two things for new and growing bloggers: they slow a site down with cluttered ads and they don’t make enough money to justify the first part.

Save this monetization activity for when you are getting a whole lot of blog traffic.

In the meantime, focus on writing travel blog posts that your readers love.

| RELATED: How To Grow Your Blog Traffic With Three Smart Strategies

12. Monetize Your Travel Podcast Or YouTube Channel

Finally, let’s talk about podcasts or YouTube channels. They can be an extension of your travel blog.

And they can also be monetized through the following methods:

• Affiliate mentions and links in descriptions/notes
• Sponsored content
• Premium content (exclusive interviews with travel industry experts)
• Donations (Patreon account, Buy Me A Coffee )

Grow Your Travel Blog And Grow Your Monetization Strategies

As you grow your travel blog, you’ll start seeing new ways to monetize it open up to you.

Traffic plays an important role in what you can do when it comes to making money.

However, remember, when an opportunity arises take the risk!

You never know if a monetization strategy will work for you until you try it.

Be aware of blog monetization mistakes and how to fix them.

Having a positive money mindset, and big blog goals can make the dream of being a digital nomad a reality sooner than you think.

To jumpstart your monetization strategy make sure to invest in your blog and you can do so by making some extra cash online with easy, legitimate online income-generating activities .

Before you go, check out 100+ digital product ideas that you can create and sell, including many that you can adapt for the travel niche:

Take a moment to check out these travel-related blogging and social media posts:

• 60+ Travel Blog Post Topics To Inspire Your Readers
• 100+ Travel Quotes For Captions And Posts On Instagram
• 100+ Travel Hashtags For Instagram Posts And Reels

Bonus tip: Love food and travel? Maybe it’s time to start a food blog that’s all about culinary adventures and bringing the cuisines of the world into your own home. Learn about the key steps to starting a lucrative food blog.

QUESTION: What do you think is the best way to monetize a travel blog?

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10 Highest Paid Travel Bloggers: The Elite Earners of 2024

WHAT ARE THE TOP EARNING TRAVEL BLOGS?

If you are eager to know what travel bloggers are making and how you can become one too, you are in the right place, as in this article we are talking all about the 10 highest-paid bloggers.

Since the early 2000s, travelers have been sharing their stories on the internet. And now, they’re making more money than ever 🤑. 

👩‍💻  To help you with your travel blog, I highly recommend taking a course . Head here for info on the  best travel blogging courses . If you want to read a full review about the best one I’ve done,  head here .

These previous 9-5ers took the plunge and are now the highest-paid bloggers in the travel industry. And before you think, well, they probably started years ago, think again. 

Yes, some of them have spent almost 20 years travel blogging. But others started just a few years ago. If they can do it, then you can do it too.  

So how much do travel bloggers make? Let’s look at some travel blogs that make money.

The Highest Paid Travel Bloggers

I want to travel the world and get paid! That’s what the owners of these top-earning travel blogs said before setting out to make their dreams a reality.

Then they figured out how do you get paid for a blog and made it happen. So let’s take a look at the top 10 highest paid travel bloggers.

1. Matt Kepnes from Nomadic Matt

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Matt Kepnes | Nomadic Matt (@nomadicmatt)

💰 Estimated Annual Revenue: $1,000,000+

When it comes to travel blogging, Nomadic Matt is a name that many aspire to emulate. His travel nomads blog and New York Times Best Selling Books have been a go-to resource for travel enthusiasts around the world.

But beyond being an authority in the travel world, Nomadic Matt has managed to turn his passion into a lucrative career with one of the highest paid blogging sites on the internet .

🤑 Sources of Income: 

In 2018, it was reported that his travel blogger salary was up to $750 000 per year 🤯.

With even more income streams available through affiliate marketing, display advertising, courses, and products, his income as one of the travel blogs that make the most money has only continued to grow. 

It’s easy to guess that Nomadic Matt is one of the richest travel bloggers around. All thanks to Matt’s travel tips.

One interesting note about Matt’s nomad travel website income is that neither he nor his team of writers gets paid to travel the world — everything they write about comes from their personal plans and travel experiences. 

While the thought of making that amount of money may seem out of reach to some, his success serves as a reminder that with consistency and dedication, anything is possible in the travel blogging industry. 

2. Kiersten Rich, The Blonde Abroad 

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kiki | The Blonde Abroad | Travel Blogger (@theblondeabroad)

If you’ve searched for travel tips on the internet in the last decade, you’ve likely heard of one of Kiersten Rich AKA The Blonde Abroad .

Kiersten is a female travel icon who has managed to turn her love of solo travel into a seven-figure business. 

What sets her apart from the rest? With multiple income streams, she has managed to turn her blog into a business that was generating a travel blog salary of around $1 million dollars per year by 2019 🤯. 

The Blonde Abroad is not just one of the most popular travel bloggers and entrepreneurs around. She’s also a strong, solo traveling female inspiring women all over the globe to leave footprints in the sand of the travel blogging world. 

From brand partnerships to ad income and affiliate marketing to digital products, Kiersten has leveraged every monetization opportunity available. 

But she didn’t stop there. Kiersten has also created unique income streams by consulting and running her well-known, all-female travel tours. 

3. Johnny Ward of OneStep4Ward.com

View this post on Instagram A post shared by JOHNNY WARD (@onestep4ward)

Meet Johnny Ward , a previous 9-5er who quit his job to become one of the internet’s bloggers who make the most money.

Okay, so he didn’t actually make a travel blog business plan to do that, but it is what happened. He’s been a full time travel blogger ever since.  

In 2006, Johnny went on to pursue his passion for travel and blogging. According to his Money I’ve Made from Blogging calculator on his website, that leap of faith has paid off big time — three million dollars big 🤑, so far.

Despite facing challenges along the way, Johnny’s online blogger salary is likely over $100,000 per month now, earning him a spot as one of the most successful travel bloggers on the internet. 

🤑 Sources of Income:

In addition to affiliate marketing and ad income, Ward monetizes his experiences through public speaking and group trips. He has also purchased over 250 websites over the years and has monetized them as well. 

4. Alex Jimenez, Travel Fashion Girl 

View this post on Instagram A post shared by alex | Travel Fashion Girl (@travelfashiongirl)

Alex Jimenez was tired of feeling frumpy and not like her fashionista self when she started traveling full-time in 2008. Come 2012, she found a solution and started her empire at Travel Fashion Girl . 

It wasn’t long until Alex was generating a travel blogger salary per year of seven figures 🤑. Proving again that travel blog money is no joke when you put your mind to it. 

By blending her previous fashion industry background with her around-the-world journeys, Jimenez has created a brand dedicated to helping women pack smart and travel chic. 

Travel Fashion Girl’s seven-figure income was largely through AdThrive and affiliates, particularly from online retailers like Amazon and LTK. She also sells digital products, including packing ebooks to teach her audience how to pack like a pro. 

Alex has also launched her own product line, Compass Rose Travel Accessories, and acquired Women’s Travel Fest, an annual conference that aims to empower women through travel, community, and connection. She also has used her travel blogging money to grow her real estate portfolio.

5. Glo Atanmo, The Blog Abroad

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Glo Atanmo | Love & Lifestyle Tips (@glographics)

This solo-female travel entrepreneur has been making seven figures since 2020 . 

With a massive Instagram following of 259k, plus her website and a YouTube channel, she is proof that you can achieve incredible success with the right mindset and a solid understanding of how to make passive income work for you. 

It’s also an answer to the question: how much do Instagram travel bloggers make. Evidently, a lot as Glo is one of the highest paid travel bloggers on Instagram.

How did she achieve this dream-worthy feat of travel blogging? Wondering how travel bloggers earn seven figures? With multiple streams of income .

Glo Atanmo , now generating income from seven to eight different streams, has become a master of selling sustainable passive income streams — academies, masterminds, affiliate income, digital products, and more. 

6. Dave & Deb of The Planet D

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dave & Deb🔹ThePlanetD (@theplanetd)

💰 Estimated Annual Revenue: $800,000-$900,000

This power couple at The Planet D has undoubtedly cracked the code when it comes to brand building and creating one of the highest earning blogs.

Since creating their website to share and monetize their travels in 2008, they have steadily built up a following of over one million monthly readers 🤯 and counting. 

With a combination of savvy monetization strategies (diversification is key — the best travel bloggers in the world all know that!), this couple earns a high six-figure income annually 🤑. 

According to their blog income reports , these top-paid bloggers affiliate marketing earnings of $20,000-$40,000/month , display travel blog earnings coming in at $30,000-$35,000/month , and campaigns and brand partnerships reaching up to $50,000/campaign . 

In addition to these power income streams, The Planet D adventure travel blog also monetizes a loyal email list, digital products, public speaking, and YouTube (they’re travel vloggers too!). Now you know the answer to the question: how much do travel bloggers make on YouTube 🤯.

7. Shelley Marmour of TravelMexicoSolo.com

💰 Estimated Annual Income: $600,000+

Introducing the Affiliate Marketing Queen, Shelley Marmour — that’s me! After making just $8,490 in the entire 2021 year as a travel Mexpert , I grew my blog to earn multiple six figures by the end of 2022, including a $52,000 month !

If you want to learn how to earn money as a travel blogger, I can help you through my affiliate keyword and blogging courses . 

🤑 Sources of income: 

With almost 300k sessions , I’ve leveraged my affiliate marketing knowledge to earn an impressive $20k- 30k per month 🤯 through affiliate marketing alone. 

But I didn’t stop there. My local travel blog about Mexico also brings in $8k-$10k per month with display advertising , while digital products like my ebook and email list contribute additional income as well. 

I have expanded my affiliate marketing empire by starting multiple niche sites. All of my sites generate both affiliate and ad income, making me one of the most successful travel bloggers in a short period of time. 

8. Dariece and Nick from Goats on the Roads

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dariece & Nick|GoatsOnTheRoad (@goatsontheroad)

💰 Estimated Annual Income: $200,000-$400,000

In 2012, Dariece and Nick set off with a goal of earning $1,500/month to travel and live abroad  — not just for a few weeks a year, but forever. As of 2022 , these two Goats on the Road make $15k-$30k/month travel blogging 🤯.  

This savvy pair has figured out a way to make a living and travel the globe for over a decade now. With a tagline Turn travel into a lifestyle , they are now experts in earning remote income and helping you do the same. 

Can you get paid to travel the world? They’ve proved the answer is yes.

Whether it’s through blogging, online jobs, freelancing, or any other means possible, Dariece and Nick have proved time and time again just how attainable traveling the world can be. 

Dariece and Nick have monetized their blogs with affiliate marketing , ads , and partnerships. However, that monthly income doesn’t include all of their income sources.

They now share their knowledge through 3 travel bloggers’ courses and an impressive email list from their freebie opt-in 101 Ways to Earn Money and Pay for Travel.  

9. Lia & Jeremy from Practical Wanderlust

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lia & Jeremy | Travel Bloggers (@practicalwanderlust)

💰 Estimated Annual Income: $300,000-$500,000

This dynamic travel blogging duo left their desk jobs in 2016 to explore the world. While they shared monthly income reports back in 2018, they’ve stopped doing that in recent years. 

But, they are transparent about their ability to now live off of and make multiple six figures from their blog. life

In 2018, Practical Wanderlust’s 100k monthly sessions were bringing in $11,000 in their highest earning month. Now, their traffic has more than doubled, and so has their income. That’s just the life of a travel blogger. 

Their income streams come from a combination of display advertising, affiliate income, paid press, sponsored posts, and sponsored content, product and course sales, affiliate link placements (no-follow, of course), and even some freelance writing on the side. 

10. Katie and Ben from Two Wandering Soles

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Katie & Ben | Travel Family (@twowanderingsoles)

💰 Estimated Annual Income: $350,000-$500,000

These two wandering soles started their blog in 2014 and haven’t slowed down since. While they stopped doing their income reports in 2019, they were making a whopping $25k/month from their blog. 

This once van-life/budget/nomadic travel blog has turned into an eco-friendly, sustainable travel blog for every type of traveler, from families to digital nomads and van-lifers to scuba divers.

Their reports, although already impressive, only include their affiliate and advertising income.

A few years later, they have tripled their sources of income to include digital products, brand partnerships, email marketing, and courses like their Blogging Bootcamp and Van Conversion Academy.  

Three Ways to Make Money Travel Blogging

So now that we’ve covered the blog travel writers that earn the most money, let’s quickly cover how YOU can start earning money with your blog.

These are just a few tips on how travel bloggers make money. The opportunities are endless — you can dive into a more in-depth article on How to Become a Travel Blogger and Make Money . 

It has some of the best travel blogging tips around, so you won’t be wondering “how much do travel bloggers make” much longer. You’ll also learn about the best paid travel blogger jobs.

You’ll learn how to get paid for travel blogging in no time. Keep in mind that the biggest travel bloggers don’t just use one of these methods — they use almost all of them. 

So, ready to learn how to become a travel blogger and get paid? Try out these top three favorite blogging money makers. 

1. Advertising

Get paid for your content. Display advertising in an effective way to monetize your blog through ad networks. Mediavine , AdThrive, and SheMedia and some of the most talked about ad networks in the blogging industry. 

However, these popular ad networks have minimum traffic requirements, so you’ll have to put in some work before placing ads on your site. 

Depending on your niche (like luxury travel or a family travel blog) and your country, advertising can become a lucrative form of income on your blog.

So how does a travel blogger make money with ads? The more content and traffic you create, the bigger your earnings. 

2. Affiliate Marketing

Unlike advertising, affiliate marketing allows you to start making money with a travel blog even faster.

No need to wait for a specific amount of traffic to make your first dollar. This makes it one of the most popular travel blog monetization methods available. 

My favorite part of affiliate marketing — the sky’s the limit. I make over half of my income from affiliates. 

👩🏻‍💻 I teach bloggers how to find keywords with big potential to earn affiliate income in my  How to Find Affiliate Marketing Keywords Class . You can read more about my class in this  Best Courses for Travel Bloggers  article.

You can gain access to countless affiliate networks, like Viator and Booking.com , that can help you monetize your site like those of this list of travel bloggers do. 

From booking tours to promoting products, earning money through affiliate marketing is as easy as pie, and best of all, it’s all passive. 

So how do travel bloggers make money with affiliate marketing ? Promote products with affiliate links, and you get a commission when readers use them to buy things! It can even be part of your social media management strategy.

3. Products (Digital & Physical)

While affiliate commissions are a great way to start earning, you’re only getting a portion of those profits.

That’s where products come in! E-books , printables, photo presents, and courses are just a few of the ways you can monetize your travel blog with products. 

With a bit of upfront work, you can create products that will keep earning you money long after you’ve hit publish. 

Not only can digital products give you another consistent travel blog income stream, but they allow you to share your knowledge and expertise with your audience.

Plus, you have complete control over the pricing, branding, and distribution of your products. If you want to learn how to make money from a travel blog from day one, digital products are a great option. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to learn more, I’ve written a more in-depth article about all of this → How to Become a Travel Blogger and Make Money .

Frequently Asked Questions: Highest Paid Travel Bloggers

Now that you know all about these highest-paid and most famous travel bloggers, here are some FAQs about how to make money as a travel influencer. 

How much do top travel bloggers make?

Many of the top travel bloggers earn seven figures annually , with money coming from a variety of income streams. Their primary sources of income include affiliate marketing, advertising, product sales, and building a loyal email list of readers that can be monetized.

By building a brand and creating inspiring content, travel bloggers can build large audiences to leverage these monetization strategies, generating significant income from their passions. 

Is it hard to make money as a travel blogger?

With persistence and determination, it is not hard to make money as a travel blogger — especially if you know how to get your travel blog noticed. Establish yourself as an expert in your niche and satisfy your reader’s needs. 

From there, by promoting affiliate products, displaying ads, and partnering with brands, you can turn your travel blog into a money maker. With hard work and the right strategies, how to get paid to blog about travel is achievable.

Can you make a living with a travel blog?

Yes — you can make a living with a travel blog. Many people make a full-time living and impressive income from their travel blogging salary.

The beauty of a travel blog is that you have complete control over how much money do travel bloggers make. 

A professional blogger salary can range from $1 to $1 million per year 🤯. While it takes time to build a successful blog (nothing happens overnight), the only limit to how much does a travel blogger make is the one you set for yourself.  

Can a blogger become a millionaire?

Yes — a blogger can become a millionaire. Not only is it possible for a blogger to become a millionaire, but it has been done time and time again over the last two decades of travel blogging. 

With hard work and dedication, bloggers have continued to reach new heights by monetizing their travels and expertise.

How competitive is travel blogging?

With tens of millions of travel blogging websites on the internet, it is certainly a competitive market. But not all of those millions are travel blog companies that make money. 

By standing out as an expert in your specific niche, you can set yourself apart from the masses and find success as a blogging traveler as a career. 

Industries are always changing, and travel blogging is no different. No matter your passion, there’s an audience waiting for your unique perspective. Don’t be afraid to experiment and stand out from the crowd on your way to the top.  

Final Thoughts: Highest Paid Travel Bloggers

What does a travel blogger do? They travel, write about their experiences, and make money! Isn’t that a job?

This is a small list of the most successful travel blogs and the highest-paid travel bloggers in the industry — for example, I didn’t even get the chance to mention Two Monkeys Travel Group! But, it shows just how lucrative and profitable travel blogging can be. 

There are millions of travel bloggers making a living from their blogs — you can earn money travel blogging too.

If you’re wondering how to travel blog and make money, look no further than these 10 bloggers changing the industry one trip at a time. 

Ready to invest in a travel blogging course? 👉 Sign up for the FREE live webinar to meet my coach Laura, who has helped me grow my blog fast!

15 Ways Travel Bloggers Make Money

This year marks ten years as a professional Travel Blogger and getting paid to travel. When I started back in May 2012 , my primary goal was to create a blog for family and friends to read about my family travel nomadic lifestyle . I had no idea there was a world out there where travel bloggers make money.

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How do beginner blogs make money?

It was only about 4 months into writing when I was recognized at a Malaysian street festival by a reader of my blog. During that same trip, I met the Bohemian Travelers who changed my world. A fellow traveling family who was monetizing a travel blog.

I was immediately intrigued and Mary and I started spending lots of time together discussing #10 on my list of her travel blogger income.  It seemed to me this was just the tip of the iceberg on how to become a travel blogger and make money. I had to find out more.

Can a travel blogger travel for free?

It’s 2019 in Penang . Mary and I are sipping coconuts on the beach, while the kids play with stray puppies. And I ask Mary if she has even been given something in return for featuring it on her blog. It’s a new idea for both of us and I try it. I have 6,000 readers on my blog at this time and write to a hotel offering them a feature on my blog and some social media . I never even considered a life as a travel influencer before this, but the email comes back with a resounding yes.

3 nights accommodation, tickets for my whole family to a theme park, and a hot stone massage just for me. The light switch turned on I think I just discovered how to write a travel blog and make money.

Learning how to become a travel blogger and earn money

I jumped headfirst into trying to make money from travel blogging. Soon I heard about different conferences that taught everything you need to know about how to become a travel blogger and get paid. So, I enrolled.

Conferences on how to be a travel blogger and make money

Conferences I have attended and loved:

TBEX – Travel Bloggers Exchange – Great for beginners who want to get paid to travel blog. Plus a fantastic introduction to #7 on my list of How do you make money as a travel blogger. While TBEX is US-based they do now have conferences in Europe and Asia. I’ll be at TBEX Thailand in 2022 .

TMS – Travel Media Showcase – This US conference is so much fun and a great way to network with travel bloggers and destination marketers.

TravelCon – Run by one of the most profitable travel blogs in the world, Nomadic Matt. This is more of an advanced conference on how travel bloggers earn money. I had a great time in Austin in 2018 catching up with all the brilliant travel bloggers like PlanetD, Glo, Oneika, and Honeytrek.

Problogger – Is Aussie-based. It’s not a travel blog, but a great place to learn about blogging if you’re not sure which niche you want to jump into yet.

Women In Travel Summit – This one is just for the ladies and is great for beginners to experienced. Panels are always my favorite so you can hear how multiple different travels bloggers make money.

How to start a travel blog and make money

I have a few articles on my site about ways to set up your travel blog and email list . Because the first thing you need as a travel blogger is a website. To get started,  visit the official Bluehost website . Once you have your website, set up your social media. And then start networking. You only need one mentor to lead you the way to the start of figuring out how to make money being a travel blogger.

If you are interested in how to make a living as a travel blogger, read on.

How do travel bloggers make money?

1. freelance writing.

After I started featuring on different news outlets, they also wanted me to write for them. And while at first, it might be free to feature on Lonely Planet or National Geographic. I was soon being paid to write for airline magazines , hotel aggregator sites like Hotels.com or Wotif. Freelance writing can pay different amounts depending on the location of the request. On a good day expect to get $1.00 a word, on a beginner salary consider $0.25 a word.

2. Ambassador

Once I had written a few times for one client, they might ask me to become a regular contributor. I was hired as only one of 12 people to become the first Gnational Gnomads with Travelocity . We contributed regular articles, promoted Travelocity on our travel blogs, and even took trips to destinations to promote them in what they call the ‘clap’. Numerous travel bloggers making noise about one destination is like a thunderclap it’s heard loud and clear and far.

3. Affiliate marketing

If there are products a travel blogger likes they can collect an affiliate income from them. Whether it’s from hotels , car rentals , travel insurance , tours , and more. Like those. Every time someone clicks on an affiliate link from your website you can earn a percentage of their sale. Affiliate marketing is a great passive income that can monetize a travel blog for life.

4. Advertising

Similar to affiliate marketing, but for advertising you use companies to place banner ads or in-text ads on your website. These are usually provided by Google Ads, Mediavine, Ezoic, and so forth. Every time someone clicks on an ad on your website your travel blog makes money. It costs you nothing but helps me continue writing free content. You probably see them on this page. Give the Adobe Ad Creator a try.

5. Investing

Once you’ve figured out how to set up a travel blog and make money you can use that money to make more money. I have invested in property and index funding to make sure I diversify my income. I know many other bloggers who use stock picking services for outperformance . or cryptocurrency. I just need to figure out how a crypto tax return  differs from the personal tax return I file each year.

Passive income is the dream income. It’s the best income to earn from any job and can lead to lifelong security.

6. Social Media

Many travel influencers do not even own a travel blog these days. So how do Instagram travel bloggers make money? They get paid to advertise on social media. With enough followers and plenty of engagement, you can figure out how do travel influencers make money. And it’s not only travel bloggers who get paid for social media, but beauty bloggers can earn money on Tik Tok and Instagram, lifestyle bloggers, tech bloggers, food bloggers can get paid, and so forth. At a lower end consider $50 for one Instagram post, and as your audience grows consider thousands.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Erin 🌏Travel🥑Food👱‍♀️Lifestyle (@explorewitherin)

7. Press or Famil Trips

Not for everyone, but one of my favorite sources of income is a press trip, like this Disney VIP tour . A destination or brand invites you on a trip complimentary to showcase what the destination has to offer. Once you have worked out how to set up a travel blog and make money you will find that with an engaging audience these destinations will also pay for your time and content. I had one such trip in the US offer me a two-week road trip covering all expenses – travel, food, activities, accommodation and then pay USD 2,200 on top. And this is just the mid-level to travel blog money.

8. Develop your own products

Most travel bloggers will develop their own products. I have a course on how to get hosted hotel stays and work with destinations for your press trips. Others do guides or books. Whatever you’re strength, develop it and sell it. And if you want to try my course, send me an email !

9. Public Speaking

Another favorite of mine. I have spoken at the Women In Travel Summit, the New York Times Travel Show, Problogger, Dear Alyne, and more. Mostly on how to earn money as a travel blogger. Public speaking gives you a form of authority so that when you are requesting payment you have the expertise to do so. Check out my speaking page if you’d like to book me!

10. Sponsored links

Within a blog, a brand may wish to be mentioned. This helps that brand be seen. They might not require a whole article, merely a mention. This is known as sponsored links and is one of the most popular forms of how to make money as travel blogger. Most travel bloggers grow out of this as their passive income increases.

11. Sponsored posts/reviews

Some brands may require a full article on their product. Often paid reviews come with the knowledge that everything is reported – the good and the bad. And ethical travel bloggers will need to review something they don’t love or use themselves. I find that working with agencies where you can pick the products you want to review yourself is a great way to write travel blogs and get paid.

12. Sell photos

As you can imagine when you are traveling the world and making money as a travel blogger you take a lot of photos. All you need is a decent travel camera or top of the range smart phone to get started. Many travel bloggers find their true calling as photographers selling these images to brands, destination marketers, and even licensing them to be used as stock photography. Did you know I won BlogHer photography twice?!

13. Hosted trips

I’ve never done this, but I could be persuaded. This is the ultimate how to get paid to be a travel blogger. Take people with you. Many travel bloggers now host trips to different destinations taking a cut of the sales. Sounds like a dream job to me and I’ve always wanted to go on one of My Life As a Travel Movie’s trips.

14. Travel planning

I tried my hand at being a travel agent and gave up, but many travel bloggers are also traveling agents and can plan the perfect vacation for you since they’ve already taken it.

15. Consulting or mentoring

Another one of my favorite ways to make money as a travel blogger is to teach others how to make money as a travel blogger. Sessions can be done in person or in this day and age on zoom. It’s like meeting my friend Mary on a beach in Penang, but fast-tracking your learning. because you’re now networking with a travel blogger with ten years of experience. If you want a consult please email me at [email protected] I’d love to teach you how to make a travel blog and make money.

How do travel bloggers get paid?

Most travel bloggers invoice. It can get tricky as many travel bloggers are nomadic, but online payment sites like Paypal or Wise work perfectly.

Is travel blogging profitable?

In the simplest of terms yes. It can be. But it’s not as easy these days since an influx into the market. When I started back in 2012, it was a merging market. You’ll find 2022 has a lot more challenges than back in the beginning, but it is still possible.

How much money can you make from a travel blog?

In 2017 I gave up my nomadic lifestyle and started this new blog . Happy 5 years to Explore with Erin . Explore with Erin no longer runs as a full time blog, but it does continue to grow with each passing year.

The number one question I always get asked is how much money does a travel blogger make? Below is the first three years income of my brand new travel blog to help you understand how much do travel bloggers make a year .

2017 – $9,951.80

2018 – $17,610.80

2019 – $26,402.65

Who is the highest paid travel blogger ?

I’m not going to lie being in the US tripled my blog’s income. In 2016 my travel blog earned over USD$160,000. Are travel blogs profitable? For sure. My friend Kach interviewed several bloggers here to see how much money do travel bloggers make .

Matt Kepnes of Nomadic Matt – more than 50,000 USD per month

Johnny Ward of OneStep4Ward.com – $20,000 to $25,000 USD per month

Dave & Deb of The Planet D – $15,000 to $20,000 USD per month

My last travel blog would have been here. Also making $15,000 to $20,00 USD per month

Earl of WanderingEarl.com – $12,000 USD per month

Monica of The Travel Hack – $10,000 USD per month

Explore With Erin Wrap Up

What a mammoth post! I hope it helped you understand how to start a travel blog and get paid. Travel bloggers make money! What a concept. And like I said if you do need any help, I’m always here to guide you. So what say you? Is travel blogging going to be your new dream job?

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Thanks for sharing! Your info about travel blogging is cool and helpful. It shows how bloggers can make money doing what they love. The different ways you talked about are awesome and give new bloggers ideas to be successful. Your stories are inspiring and show that anyone can grow and do new things in travel blogging. This guide is super helpful for people starting in travel blogging!

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How to Start a Travel Blog and Make Money (An Honest Guide)

By: Author Taylor Lorenz

Posted on Last updated: 02/28/2023

So you want to start a travel blog and make money to live like the fabulous do on Instagram? Lucky for you, it’s not too late to learn how to become a travel blogger and create a travel blog from scratch.

And guess what? You can be widely successful too. I’ve seen new travel bloggers come out of nowhere and have themselves on top 50 travel blog lists, beating other very well established bloggers (though blogging is not a competition, it’s a community).

I’ve been blogging since 2015 and was able to create a blog that is now about 95% percent passive income which means that I don’t actually have to work to make money. Yes, you read that right, the money appears in my account and I continue travelling.

That money didn’t just come out of nowhere though, there was a lot of hard work behind the screen, hours spent agonizing over what to focus on next that would take me to the next level and a ton of behind the scenes action that no one sees (that includes me crying tears of frustration, wanting to give up and trying to convince myself that I wasn’t good enough).

I once read that a new travel blog is created every 6 seconds. 6 seconds! The majority of those don’t survive past one year. Why? People don’t realize that travel blogging is not easy. I mean, if it was easy literally everyone would be doing it.

Travel blogging is tough . It takes hard work, hours of preparation to get to the level of having enough income that’s passive to be able to travel so much, days of research, too much time behind a computer screen and an insane amount of self-discipline.

Travel blogging is the dream job and dreams don’t just appear. If you’re ready to make money with a travel blog then you need to be ready to invest time and money. You are about to start a business and treating it like a business from the get-go will put you miles ahead.

I’m not trying to scare you from starting a travel blog, I’m just being brutally honest because I wish I had someone to tell me these things when I first started.

If you’re serious about creating a lifestyle that will allow you to travel the world, sip cocktails on the beach daily or take time off to climb mountains then travel blogging is for you. Welcome to the beginning of your journey, I’m so excited for you.

Let’s dive into some travel blogging for beginners and learn how to start your own blog step by step.

Table of Contents

1. Pick the Perfect Blog Name

Before we get into how to start a blog, an obvious first step is picking the right name for your blog. And yes, it does have to be perfect because this name is going to represent your brand forever. These tips will help you decide what you should take into consideration before picking a blog name.

Be Original and Stand Out

Even if you think you’re being clever and original try typing in whatever word you want to use in your blog name and see if it comes up on blogs already. You don’t want your blog name to be similar to other blogs, you want your name to stand out so that people will easily remember it.

So no, don’t go Google travel blog name ideas. Get creative! Brainstorm! What is unique about you?

For your own benefit avoid names such as Nomadic [insert name], [insert name] Travel’s, Backpacking [insert name], etc. And please avoid using your hair colour in your blog name, there are so many blonde, brunette, redhead names already out there.

There are already bloggers with names like these that are widely popular. People are going to remember the famous blogger over you.

Make It Easy to Remember

Personally, I’m a fan of blog names that include the persons name, hence why I chose Taylor’s Tracks. It’s easy to remember because it’s sweet and simple. If you have a name that is not easy to remember or spell I don’t recommend using it.

Start thinking about words that will describe your blog and go from there. If none are clicking then use a thesaurus to get some ideas.

Be Professional

Remember, you want to treat your blog like a business from the beginning. If you choose a blog name such as ‘The Hungry Partier’ how many brands do you think are going to want to work with you? The blogger who chose that name has now rebranded and is way more successful.

Think Long Term

Just because a name may be perfect for you right now doesn’t mean it will fit your brand in the future so you have to be strategic. Pick a name that you can grow into. I chose Taylor’s Tracks because it suggests that I’m on a journey, whether it is about travel or whatever else I discover as I grow older is up to me.

Avoid using your age or specific destinations or regions in your name unless you’re 100% sure you’re only going to write about that region forever. I mean, who’s going to look for info about Europe on a blog that’s named Alyssa in Asia?

Don’t make it difficult for yourself to grow in the future.

Don’t Over Complicate It

Avoid making your name complicated with awkward spellings that people won’t remember. Keep out any hyphens and numbers too, people will seriously not remember if there’s a hyphen between two words!

Check to See if .com is Available

While this won’t be the worst thing if you do it, it’s still useful to see if the blog name you decide on is available with as a .com. Sites that use .net, .ca or .org are still great but most people will only remember your blog name when you tell them and not whatever comes after the dot.

Check Out Social Media

To make your life as easy as possible hop on social media and see if the blog name you’ve chosen is available on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

It starts to get complicated when you tell people your blog name, then tell them something different for Facebook and something else for Instagram. People. Will. Not. Remember.

My blog name is Taylor’s Tracks and all people have to do on any social media is search Taylor’s Tracks and BAM , my account is the first one because I secured those names and now have it super easy when I tell people how to find me.

2. Set Up Hosting for Your Blog

If you have no idea what I’m talking don’t stress. I had no clue what hosting was when I first started blogging either but luckily setting up a travel blog is relatively easy.

Hosting is essentially a space that you rent on a computer from a hosting company. You need hosting for a blog, consider it your blogs home!

There are a lot of hosting companies out there and you could easily spend hours searching for the perfect one. I’ll make it simple for you and let you know that I recommend Bluehost . Start doing research and I can guarantee that most bloggers will also recommend Bluehost.

Why? The plans are affordable ( plans start at just $3.95/month , discounted from $7.99), they provide support 24/7 and they make things super simple. Plus, you get to register your domain (the url of your site) for free.

Maybe you’re shaking at your keyboard, nervous to take the first step for creating your dream life (I know I was hella nervous). I’ll guide you through the whole process to make it super simple.

First, head to Bluehost , this is the page you’ll see:

Go ahead and click on the green ‘Get Started’ button. You’ll be brought to a page to pick your plan (like below). The basic plan is ideal if you’re just starting out but if you’re serious about blogging and want more resources go for the Plus, Choice Plus or Pro plan. Keep in mind that you can upgrade your plan at any time as your blog grows.

Click on the plan that you’d like to purchase and you’ll be taken to the next step, creating your domain. Go ahead and type in the blog name you’ve picked in the box on the left (unless you have already registered a domain then write in the box on the right).

Before you click next double check the spelling. Now check again. Seriously how mad would you be if you spelled your blog name wrong!

Fill out your account information.

Fill out your package information. It’s most popular to opt for the 3-year plan (I recommend this) as it will save you money in the long haul and give you the motivation to keep your blog going getting over that 1-year blogging hump. Remember , your blog is a business and you need to make invests in a business.

Review your payment information.

You’ve got a blog!

Now just create a password.

You’re done! Jk, not quite yet. But you have a domain name and hosting and it’s time to get to work.

3. Install WordPress

WordPress is the software that allows you to design your site and create posts. It’s where to start a blog and is by far the most popular option when it comes to blogging software. You may have heard of Blogger, Wix or Blogspot but WordPress is the king.

You want a self-hosted WordPress account which means that the software’s home is on your hosting provider’s servers and not on WordPress’ free account. You want self-hosted because it will give you full control of your site, you can advertise on your site and use Google Analytics (which is a necessity).

Once you signed up for Bluehost you have to do nothing, WordPress is already installed! Just pick a password and then pick a theme. Don’t overthink picking a theme, you can always change it later.

Once you’ve picked your theme you’ll see this screen, it’s time to start building!

First, pick whether your site is personal or business. If you’re serious about making money from a blog, choose business.

Here is what your WordPress and Bluehost integration page looks like:

It’s on this screen that you can start creating pages, blog posts and add plugins.

Next, fill in your name and slogan, again, don’t stress, your slogan can be changed at any time.

Take a minute to congratulate yourself, you now have a travel blog! Now onto how the hell you actually blog.

4. Learn How to Use WordPress

You can login to your site by going to http://yourdomainname.com/wp-admin and typing in your username and password.

Once you login you’ll be taken to your dashboard. From here you control everything for your blog.

I’m no expert in teaching people WordPress so here are a few resources that will help you learn how to work in WordPress:

• WordPress Lessons
• WP Beginner

Familiarize yourself with WordPress before you start writing. This is an essential part when learning how to create a travel blog. Thank me later, learn now and you won’t be cursing at your computer when you’re trying to write a post and have no idea what’s happening in WordPress.

5. Download a Sweet (But Professional) Theme

A big part of learning how to start a successful blog is how your site looks. A theme is the design of your site and what makes it look pretty and appealing to your readers. You want your theme be professional looking so that people will buy from you but it can still be fun.

WordPress comes with some free themes (which I used in the beginning) but they are not the best-looking themes.

Popular places to look for themes are Elegant Themes , Theme Forest and Theme Trust . A professional theme should cost you between $50-100 and will allow you to customize your site with a ton of options.

6. Start Developing Your Brand

I think it’s very important to start developing your brand right from the start. This involves things like choosing colours, making a logo, a header and coming up with a slogan.

As you can see it’s clear what colours I’ve chosen (blue and green), my logo is clear and emphasizes that my blog is about travel because it looks like a globe and my slogan make it obvious what my blog is about.

I wanted my brand to be fun and trustworthy, hence why I picked colours that pop, are gender neutral and trustworthy (why do you think Facebook and Twitter use the colour blue? It’s the most trusting colour!).

I purposefully didn’t use purple (my favourite colour) because I didn’t want guys to be turned off of my site when they landed on it.

I did some colour research before I chose my colours and then designed my logo myself in photoshop. If you don’t have photoshop you can use the ridiculously easy to use tool, Canva .

You could also hire someone to design a logo for you on a site such as Upwork or Fiverr .

Think hard about what you what your brand to represent, what your niche is and what you want people to feel when they come to your site.

Things can be changed later if you’ve made a mistake or want to change things up but rebranding later on is a major task so do your best to nail it all down now.

7. Download Essential Plugins

Plugins add extra features to your blog. You can download plugins through the plugin tab on WordPress. The majority of them are free but some are paid (personally I’ve only ever used free ones).

Here are a few to get you started:

• Akismet: This stops spammy comments and gets rid of them so you don’t have to see or deal with them. Seriously, this plugin will save you so much time.
• Yoast SEO: This plugin helps you rank on Google. Download it now, you absolutely need it.
• Smush : Smush makes the file size of your pictures smaller so that your site will load faster, which is very important.

8. Why You Need to Consider a Blogging Course

Like I’ve mentioned many times previously in this article, your blog, if you want to make money, is a business and you will 100% need to make investments in your business.

One of my biggest regrets when it comes to blogging is not investing more. Instead, I tried to do things as cheaply as possible and it took me 3 years to start making enough money that I could actually live off of my blog. 3 years! Who has that long to wait for a regular income?

The good news is that I’ve seen and know people who have achieved what I have in less time. I’m talking a year or less .

The difference was that they treated their blog as a business from the beginning and realized when they needed help and used it.

You will need to learn about SEO, how to build an audience, how to market, how to use social media…the list goes on. Let me tell you, you need help as a beginner.

There are a ton of free blogging courses out there but they absolutely do not have the same value as paid courses.

One course I highly recommend is actually a membership, called Travel Blog Prosperity . What’s so great about this membership is that it’s only ideal for beginner bloggers, but for bloggers at all levels. This membership truly grows with bloggers as new content is added every month with experts from all kinds of niches and specialties.

Everything from SEO to hosting retreats, social media to email marketing, how to work with brands to podcasting is included. I could go on as there’s so much. My favourite thing about Travel Blog Prosperity is that it’s not like a course that you have to follow step by step. You pick what you need, work on that, and then move on to what is needed for your blog next.

Not to mention the goal setting sessions every month, a community where you can ask questions whenever you need, monthly live coaching calls, and VIP opportunities delivered to your inbox every Monday. I can’t recommend Travel Blog Prosperity enough. Even as a well-established blogger I’m still learning from it!

You can get this course for $9 for your first month to check it out and see if you like it, just use the code TAYLORSTRACKS.

And if you’re not sure about investing in a course right now, try this free blogging course to get you started!

9. Your First Steps

The technical stuff is over (for now). Time to start creating! Here are a few steps you’re going to want to take to make your blog great.

Write an About Page

Tell people who you are! Explaining your story will help you seem more real and thus trustworthy for readers. It’s here that you want to convince people why they should follow your journey, continue coming back to your blog and connect to them. Let your personality show through your writing, be creative, be weird, be you .

Install Google Analytics

Google Analytics is an absolute necessity. It will help you keep track of your progress, tell you where your traffic is coming from (Pinterest, Facebook, Google, etc) shows proof to companies how well you’re doing and give you in-depth information on what’s working (or not working) on your blog. Just download the Google Analytics plugin.

Start Networking

The single most important thing to know about travel blogging is that it’s a community. Blogging is not a race and it is not a competition. There is room for everyone and it is very much a give and take.

You can start networking in blogging groups on Facebook. Here are a few of my favourites to get you started:

• Female Travel Bloggers
• DNW – Making Money Blogging
• We Travel We Blog

Set Up Social Media

Get your brand on all social media channels, create professional-looking headers that have your blog name, logo and use your brands’ colours.

10. How to Make Money as a Travel Blogger

This is an entire blog post (actually many blog posts) itself so I’m not going to go into too much detail. But I will break down the different ways that you can make money as a travel blogger.

• Ads: You can add ads to your site as soon as it’s live. Not all ad networks allow small blogs to join but from the get-go, you can sign up and start earning money through Adsense right away. Once your site has enough pageviews I highly recommend applying for Mediavine . It changed the game for me and added a big chunk of income from the start.
• Affiliates: Affiliates are links to products or services that you make a commission from when a reader makes a purchase. Some examples of affiliates that you can use for travel blogs are hotels ( Booking.com ,), travel insurance ( World Nomads, SafetyWing ), flights ( Skyscanner ), travel gear ( Amazon ), travel activities ( Get Your Guide ), the list goes on.
• Sell a product or service: While creating a product can take time and I don’t really suggest it for beginners, it still is an option. If you know about something really well you could write a simple ebook (or super detailed) and sell it. Or you can use your blog as a portfolio for your writing and do some freelance writing work.
• Sell photography: You do not have to be an established blogger to sell your pictures, they just have to be good and you can use your blog as a platform to showcase your work.

11. Learn How to Write a Travel Blog

You could be bursting with ideas of what to write or you could be totally overwhelmed with where to start.

All you can do is start experimenting and then figure out what is working for you.

When writing a travel blog you want your articles to reflect your personality through your writing style, give people useful information or tell a story. Not all travel blogs are about things to do and where to stay, many travel writers craft stories around experiences on the road or inspirational pieces for new travellers.

My best advice when it comes to choosing what to write about is to start with one topic. For example, opt to focus on one country, area, city that you know well and write multiple articles about that place. You can then interlink the articles and it shows Google that you’re an expert on that topic.

Aim to make each article at least 1000 words (Google loves long articles) and write with keywords in mind. Keywords are what people are searching for on Google. You want keywords in your article so that it will show in the search results on Google which means traffic!

Getting into keywords is another post in itself but if you want to get ahead of the game, sign up for Keysearch , a keyword research tool that is the best investment I ever made for my blog. And here’s an awesome resource for learning how to use Keysearch.

Frequently Asked Questions About Starting a Travel Blog

I bet your head is bursting with questions, I tackle a few.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Travel Blog?

Honestly, not much! The only costs you have to start an actual travel blog are purchasing your domain (which is free with Bluehost ) and hosting which is as little as $3.95 a month.

I recommend purchasing a theme, which are typically $50 but even that’s not necessary.

Some additional costs could come up such as tools for social media like Buffer for Twitter/Instagram/Facebook or Lightroom for editing your pictures. But none of these are absolutely necessary (they just improve what you’re doing) and some even have free options, purchasing is just upgrading.

Hosting: $142.20 (if you sign up with Bluehost for 3 years) Domain: Free Theme: $50 Total: $192.20

Yes, it can be more but really starting a business for under $200 is pretty difficult to do but blogging makes it possible.

Is it Too Late to Start a Travel Blog?

Absolutely not. Travel blogging is constantly evolving which means that it gives opportunities for new people to join in and make their mark at any time. Even well-established blogs have to stay on their toes, updating content and keeping up with all the new trends, social media and more.

Don’t let it discourage you that there are so many people doing it already, be you and you can be successful.

What Tools Do I need to Start a Travel Blog?

Technically the only tool you need to start a travel blog is WordPress, however, here are a few tools that are excellent tips for starting a blog that will help you get going and make blogging and sharing things on social media a breeze.

Keysearch:  I consider this tool an absolute must. It will help you find what keywords to use in your articles and blog titles so that you can rank on Google so that people will find what you’ve written! Use the code KSDISC when you sign-up to receive 20% off.

MailerLite : Start collecting emails right away! MailerLite is easy to use for email automation and is what I personally use. I started with Mailchimp but MailerLite is better for beginners in my opinion, easier to use, and cheaper.

How Much Can You Make from a Travel Blog?

This really depends. What I can tell you is that some bloggers make $10,000 a month or over $100,000 a year. It’s possible to live well off of a travel blog and it’s possible to make less and still travel a lot. I’ve personally made over $60,000 (CAD) with minimal expenses with my blog continuing to grow each year.

When starting a blog to make money know that you won’t be earning instantly, it takes time to build and it will test your patience but it can work out. I’m proof of that!

Andddd that’s it! Just kidding, there is a ton more information that you can learn and that will help you become successful. This is just the beginning and all that I’m including in this article as to not overwhelm you, though I’m sure you’re pretty overwhelmed already!

By the way, congratulations, you’re now a travel blogger!

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links which I earn a small commission from and are at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure policy for details. Thank you for supporting my small business!

Disclaimer: Taylor’s Tracks is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.Com and affiliated sites.

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10 Travel Blogs That Make Money (And Their Secret to Doing It)

By: Author Mitch Glass

Posted on Last updated: March 22, 2023

Ahhh travel blogging…

A lucky few make MAJOR money with their blogs.

The rest of us pour major time into blogging…without much to show for it.

Is it possible for ordinary mortal folk to make money travel blogging?

The answer is yes.

Here are 10 examples of travel blogs that make money. And more importantly…the secret sauce they use to make it rain.

Table of Contents

How much money can you make from a travel blog?

How do travel bloggers make money, #1.) two wandering soles, #2.) the professional hobo, #3.) adventure in you, #4.) practical wanderlust, #5.) it’s a lovely life, #6.) a dangerous business, #7.) one step 4ward, #8.) helene in between, #9.) local adventurer, #10.) living the dream rtw, can you make money from traveling blogging, free travel blogging courses for beginners.

Blogging is one of the best digital nomads jobs (at least for the few who “crack the code” to success).

Not only do you get to work on a travel hobby you’re passionate about . But you can make a pretty penny from it.

There is essentially no income cap .

The only real limitation is your imagination and how hard you’re willing to work (ok ok, I know that sounded cheesy—but stick with me). 

Some travel bloggers scrape by earning pennies. Others rake in tens of thousands per month.

Let’s take a look at what makes the difference.

Blogging isn’t the only way to earn money traveling—here’s over 100 other awesome travel jobs to choose from.

Successful travel bloggers almost always have several income streams. These can include:

• Memberships
• Paid services
• Affiliate marketing
• Sponsored content
• Digital product sales
• Physical product sales
• Patreon and other donations

If you play your cards right, travel blogging comes with even more perks—“free” luxury safari stay in Africa, anyone? 

That said, travel blogging has fierce competition and is tough to break into (speaking from experience here!).

Everyone wants to become a digital nomad and explore the world, and social media (*cough* Instagram) is packed with thousands of images of the exact same destinations. 

To succeed, you need to have a unique angle and stand out from the crowd. “Me too” blogs won’t cut it.

To speed up the process, here are some of the best blogging courses: ▶ Travel Blog Prosperity – Designed specifically for travel bloggers. Her free course alone will put you ahead of most of your competition. ▶ Fat Stacks – Fat Stacks teaches a blogging strategy to explode your traffic in any niche (see my full Fat Stacks review ). He has a gold-nugget packed free course as well.

Keep in mind, you don’t have to blog about travel. You can start a lifestyle blog in any number of niches and make a good living.

10 awesome travel blogs that make money (and how they do it)

This is by no means a complete list of travel blogs that make money, but it should give you inspiration and ideas to earn more with your travel blog.

( Note : Since travel basically shut down in 2020-21, most income data is from 2019. That said, many of these blogs found ways to grow even more during the pandemic.)

Katie and Ben are based in the U.S. and are a great example of how to make money through your travel blog. Originally from Minnesota, they started Two Wandering Soles back in 2014 after quitting their 9-to-5s to travel around South America.

Since then, their travel blog has exploded. They focus mainly on eco-friendly, responsible travel, van life, and leaving a smaller footprint on our beautiful planet. Basically, they’re all about the importance of sustainable tourism .

They also have a great free blogging email course for beginners. 

Income sources : ▶ Advertising ▶ Affiliate marketing ▶ Partnerships ▶ Sponsored content (e.g., reviews for services like hotels and restaurants in exchange for free accommodation or food during their stays). ▶ Digital products – Van Life Build course

All this racks up a hefty income. They earned $73,367 in Q4 of 2019 . This was a couple years ago, and they have since launched their online course, so you can bet their income has grown even more.

Takeaway: If you poke around their site, you’ll immediately notice (1) their content is super in-depth and top notch and (2) they have a lot of content. This goes to show that one way to stand out in the competitive travel space is to not cut corners so you can blow the competition out of the water.

Nora Dunn is a long-term traveler who’s been exploring the world for over 15 years. She’s a former Financial Planner and currently runs The Professional Hobo blog, which focuses on financially sustainable travel. This is a concept that combines her corporate experience and financial expertise with her love of travel. She teaches people to earn, spend, and save money sensibly while on the road.

Over the years, she’s built up a sizable following of people who are interested in living their own nomadic adventures.

In 2019, her income from her travel blog came in at $50,922 . Here’s how that income was broken up.

Income sources : ▶ Affiliate sales ($23,337) ▶ Advertising ($17,543) ▶ Freelance writing ($7,253) ▶ Book sales ($2,209) ▶ Miscellaneous earnings ($580)

Takeaway: Nora is known for writing mega in-depth guides on important topics that most travel bloggers aren’t willing to tackle. She’s also a big proponent of using freelance writing as a tool to supplement blog income. If your blog isn’t yet earning as much as you’d like, find a freelance writing client !

You may have already heard of Adventure in You as they advertise their blogging courses all over Facebook. However, you may not know that their income for 6 months in 2018—just three short years after starting their blogging journey—hit a whopping $83,290 in profit . 

Income Sources: ▶ Ads ▶ Affiliate marketing ▶ Sponsored posts and partnerships ▶ Digital product sales

The Filipino-Welsh duo, Tom and Anna, are one of the cutest travel blogging couples you’ll ever meet. They met while (separately) exploring in Vietnam and have been traveling the world together ever since. Adventure in You was born in 2015. 

Their blog focuses on adventure travel and aims to help people live their lives to the fullest. But, they’ve also branched out into blog coaching and have taught thousands of aspiring travel bloggers how to make money online.

They have a free course on how to start and monetize a blog, plus a paid course, The Blogging Fast Lane , which generates a fair portion of their extraordinary income.

Takeaway: Unless you’ve reached a certain level of success blogging, creating a blogging course isn’t a good idea. However, you can take a page from Tom and Anna’s affiliate marketing playbook. If you check out their Gear section, you’ll see they have TONS of articles reviewing very specific types of gear. Instead of writing articles that everyone writes about (e.g. best travel backpacks), look for more obscure topics (e.g. best travel water bottles).

Grab the most GARGANTUAN list of travel jobs known to mankind (FREE)

By signing up, you will be added to my legendary travel lifestyle email newsletter.

• 65-page eBook jam-packed with every imaginable way to earn money on the road (107+ ideas)
• Learn ways you've never thought of before (it only takes ONE to kickstart your travel lifestyle)
• Everything you need to know in one handy document (income potential, how to start, resources)

Practical Wanderlust is a wonderful example of how to take a bad experience and flip it on its head. Lia created the travel website in 2016 as a hobby blog to document her wonderful year-long honeymoon with her new husband Jeremy. 

Little did she know that the honeymoon would be a disaster, but Practical Wanderlust would blossom into her full-time passion and career.

Since it began, the blog has been providing practical (it’s not in the name for nothing), detailed, and realistic guides for couples or solo travelers wanting to travel the world. They are a hilarious pair, and their blog is bound to make you chuckle.

It’s also one of the top earning travel blogs. 

Just two years after starting, their blog was bringing in over $10k per month . 

Income Sources: ▶ Ads ▶ Affiliate income ▶ Freelance writing ▶ Press trips ▶ Digital product sales (social media courses)

Fast forward to 2021 (three years after the income report above) and Practical Wanderlust is now earning a multiple six-figure income . Because of her success, Lia also offers blog coaching calls to help aspiring travel bloggers follow in her footsteps.

Takeaway: New bloggers often complain that the top-earning blogs are just lucky because they started way back when there was no competition. Lia and Jeremy’s quick path to success proves that this is just an excuse. They stand out because they are FUNNY. Unlike most dry content online, they’re posts are entertaining to read and make you want to keep coming back for more.

Heather and Pete from It’s a Lovely Life are two of the highest-paid travel bloggers on this list. They launched their luxury family travel site in 2014. That same year, the pair developed It’s a Lovely Life into a six-figure blog…all while traveling the world for 150 days and being excellent parents to their three children.

In 2019, earnings from their blog hit $2,233,236 . 

Incomes Sources: ▶ Online courses ▶ Training program sales ▶ Affiliate commission ▶ Sponsored posts

The concept behind their blog is simple: to help other families satisfy their travel bug by teaching them to make a living from their laptops as digital nomads . 

Although they are adventurers at heart, they also have a family home in California where they spend their time (and hard-earned cash) when they’re not exploring the world.

Takeaway: Heather and Pete earn about half their income selling multiple courses on how to blog and make money online. They also offer multiple “tiers” of courses that contribute to their impressive income—including an entry-level blogging course and a next-level blogging mastermind. A percentage of students who buy their beginner courses will go on to purchase the advanced training as well. This isn’t a viable plan unless you’ve built trust with an audience who believes you know what you’re talking about. Maybe you’re not a high-earning blogger yet, but are you an expert in anything else that you could teach (photography, video editing, social media, etc.)? 

Former travel journalist, Amanda, is a little different from her fellow travel bloggers. She didn’t quit her job to travel the world. Yet, since 2005, she’s still managed to visit over 60 countries and 6 out of 7 continents. 

Her blog, A Dangerous Business, was born in 2010. The award-winning website focuses on helping people fit travel into the lifestyle they already have.

Since starting her blog, she’s been either working full-time, in full-time education, or working from her home in Ohio—all while pulling in a steady $10,000+ per month from her blog.

She’s an inspiration to anyone wanting to create a successful travel blog around a full-time job—it is possible, people!

In November and December 2020, she raked in a total of $19,746 from A Dangerous Business. 

Income Sources: ▶ Ads ▶ Affiliates ▶ Photography work ▶ Speaking gigs  ▶ Online courses (not included in income report)

She also has another website, Cleveland Traveler, which focuses on local travel in her hometown. The site launched in 2019 and brought in $1284 over the last two months of 2020.

Takeaway: One of the keys to Amanda’s success is looking for underserved niches. Millions of people love to travel but don’t want to have to quit their jobs to do it. Amanda focuses on helping them.

One Step 4Ward tells the story of Johnny Ward’s incredible quest to travel to all 197 countries in the world. He left his hometown in Ireland in 2006 and started his travel blog in 2010.

Within 6 months, he was making $500 per month from his blog.

Not long after that, $500 became $1000, and $1000 became $30,000. 

Fast forward 10 years and Johnny now owns three websites, has accomplished his goal of visiting all 197 countries, and became a millionaire travel blogger in the process. 

One month he generated nearly $60,000 from his sites—more than the average American makes in a year!

One Step4Ward focuses on destination guides, travel, and adventure tips from (literally) all over the world. His other websites, Find A Tutor and Step4WardMedia, focus on virtual tutoring and online marketing respectively.

Takeaway: During his journey, Johnny kept his living expenses low so he could reinvest his earnings in starting and purchasing a portfolio of websites. He then hired a team of workers around the world to help him manage those sites. This goes to show what you can accomplish if you’re willing to risk investing in your business (instead of trying to do everything by yourself).

Helene in Between was created by Helene and her husband Michael. She moved from Dallas to Germany in 2016 and started her blog for fun after a rock-climbing accident. Since then, it’s become her entire life.

Helene in Between is an inspiring collection of travel experiences, tips, and tricks for getting the most out of your adventures. Her guides talk about destinations from all over the world, from Italy to Aruba, and she has some wonderful stories to tell. 

She also teaches strategies to create a successful blog and manage social media (and real-life).

Her blog has earned over $15k per month while traveling full-time. 

Income Sources: ▶ Affiliate sales (mostly Siteground and Genius Blogger’s Toolkit) ▶ Sponsored work ▶ Digital products (Lightroom presets, Instagram eBook)

Takeaway: Helene boosted her income by contributing a digital product to the Genius Blogger’s Toolkit, then promoting it as an affiliate. This is a toolkit of 100+ blogging-related courses and tools bundled together and sold super cheap. As a contributor, you earn a higher percentage as an affiliate. So, think of something you could contribute, and then promote the toolkit like crazy!

Local Adventurer is a popular travel blog that earns money using an interesting twist. 

Esther and Jacob immerse themselves in one new city every year. So far, they have lived like locals in Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, New York, and are currently in Las Vegas.

They are great at finding adventure in the everyday, stepping outside their comfort zone, and staying flexible in whatever crazy situation they find themselves in.

Since Esther and Jacob started Local Adventurer in 2013, they’ve managed to earn significantly more than the average travel blogger salary. 

In 2019, Local Adventurer brought in a staggering $302.9K . 

Income Sources: ▶ Affiliate marketing ▶ Brand partnerships ▶ Sponsored posts 

Takeaway: Unlike every other travel blog on this list, Local Adventurer earns the bulk of their income from sponsored posts. It just goes to show that you don’t have to follow the crowd to succeed. When everyone is zigs, sometimes it pays (literally) to zag. 

Angie and Jeremy are the faces behind Living the Dream RTW, a lifestyle design blog with a travel twist. 

They quit the 9-5 life to explore the world over 12 years ago, were named one of the USA’s top 10 travel couples back in 2014, and are known for telling it like it is (no sugarcoating). 

Angie and Jeremy do their income report a bit differently. Instead of writing a new post each month, they simply update the old one. They also run another blog called Discover the Burgh, a local Pittsburgh travel blog, which they combine into their income report.

In March 2021, their two travel sites earned in $8,200 . 

This only includes ad revenue ($6,150) and affiliate commissions ($2,050) for their two sites. It does not include extra income from SEO consulting services or income from their other affiliate site projects. 

Takeaway: If you have a general worldwide travel blog without a specific niche, it may be useful to complement it with a local travel blog focused on your hometown (especially if your hometown is a big city). Not only is it easier to be an expert in one city than to be an expert of the entire world, but you’ll also have plenty to write about when you’re not traveling (or stuck at home in a pandemic).

You can make money from travel blogging—even if you’re starting from scratch today. Yes, the competition is fierce compared to 10 years ago, but travel is also cheaper and more accessible, which makes the pie bigger. If you niche down, you can still stand out. 

Here are some other keys to success:

Find a teammate. You may have noticed that most travel blogs that make money on this list are backed by a dynamic DUO. While it’s certainly possible to build a successful travel blog by yourself, teamwork makes the dreamwork. Give it time. Blogging success doesn’t happen overnight. Most blogs on this list have been at it for at least five years. Yes, some grew impressively fast, but with today’s competition, expect things to take longer. Have an alternative income (or savings cushion). It will take at least a year or two for most people to earn livable wages from their blog. That means you need a Plan B to support yourself in the meantime. This might be a normal full-time job at home, or it could be other travel-friendly jobs like freelancing and teaching English. Study and get inspired from others. Follow all the bloggers on this list, read their income reports—including the struggles they overcame to get to where they are today—and keep your inspiration tank full. Never forget your WHY. It’s easy to get lost in your neverending To-Do List, lose sight of your end goal, and feel discouraged. To avoid this, write out the ultimate lifestyle you’re trying to achieve, and post it somewhere you’ll see it everyday. Work smarter, not harder. Blogging takes a TON of time. The more efficient you can be, the better. My Work from Anywhere Toolkit reveals hundreds of free (and super cheap) tools that help you automate your business and finish more work in less time.

Several of the blogs on this list offer some sort of free travel blogging training—I recommend checking them all out.

Two of my other favorite blogging courses are Travel Blog Prosperity and Fat Stacks. They each have their own free intro courses that are extremely valuable as well.

▶️ Travel Blog Prosperity free mini-course ▶️ Fat Stacks free mini-course

Mitch is your typical nomadic backpacker. Or at least, he was . But after stopping in Colombia to take “one week” of salsa lessons, his life took a sharp left turn. He met a cute Colombian girl in dance class, fell in love, and got married. Over half a decade has passed since he left his career to travel the world as a digital nomad, and he’s never looked back.

Nowadays, he’s the blogger behind Project Untethered — where he runs an awesome email newsletter and Youtube channel teaching adventure-craved wanderlusters how to escape the rat race, earn money from anywhere, and build an “untethered life”.

His advice has been featured in Forbes, USA Today, Yahoo, MSN, Reader’s Digest, Condé Nast Traveler, and more.

Mitch's Travel Recommendations: Travel Planning Resources - Everything you need to plan your trip on one convenient page. Going Cheap Flights Newsletter - Get flight deals from your airport up to 90% off sent straight to your inbox. Safetywing Insurance - This cheap travel insurance has saved me over $15,000 in medical bills. Booking.com - Book accommodation without adding your credit card (in case you need to cancel). Trusted House Sitters - Take care of pets in exchange for free (sometimes luxury) accommodation. Flexjobs - Find remote jobs without having to sift through crappy ones. Skillshare - Free trial to take unlimited classes that teach digital nomad skills. Wise - Send and receive money abroad cheaply (great for freelancers).

Tuesday 11th of May 2021

what an information. Inspired by your travel blog I hope i will soon make my personal travel blog. keep writing such more wonderful blogs.

Wednesday 12th of May 2021

I'm glad you enjoyed it - best of luck to you!

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15 Ways To Make Money As A Travel Blogger

By   Zach Buchenau

Last Updated:  April 30, 2021

For many intrepid explorers, making money as a travel blogger is the ultimate dream. 

Just imagine getting paid for publishing content about the places that you’re exploring. You can pitch up at a beachside coffee shop in Bali, log into the WIFI, and produce content while watching the world go by. 

Is there a better way to make a living than this? Maybe. But travel blogging is undoubtedly an excellent way to make money while doing something you’re passionate about. 

And the great news is, there are many ways you can make money as a travel blogger. And we’re going to introduce you to fifteen of the most tried and trusted ways in this post. 

When we’re done, all that’s left is for you to set up your blog and decide where to travel to next. The world is very much your oyster when you’re a successful travel blogger!

1. Freelancing

The gig economy is an excellent place to start out as a travel blogger.

You can set up a profile on sites like Fiverr and Upwork and market your writing services to companies and entrepreneurs who are looking for content creators. 

Even better, if you know that you want to write exclusively about travel, publishing a gig that offers your services as a travel blogger will get you the work that you’re looking for. 

As there are so many writers and content creators on freelancing sites, it’s good to focus on a specific niche. And because you decide upon your own rates and have full control over the projects you take on, freelancing is an excellent way to initially make money as a travel blogger.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Any blogger will tell you that affiliate marketing is the holy grail of money-making opportunities.

If you get it right, you can earn money while you sleep!

Absolutely! 

If you’ve never heard of  affiliate marketing , it’s basically the practice of driving traffic to an external site. When visitors land on the pages you’ve directed them to and make a purchase, you will earn a commission on a sale.

So, if your blog is attracting a decent amount of traffic, affiliate marketing can be incredibly lucrative.

And because it’s organic, you simply sit back and watch the money roll in!

If you want to get started with affiliate marketing on your blog, we recommend the following networks: 

• Flex Offers
• Commission Junction 
• Amazon Affiliates

3. Display Ads

Similarly to affiliate marketing, if your blog is attracting a decent amount of traffic, marketers will pay you to display ads on your site. How does this work? 

Well, in the beginning, you can start by installing  Google AdSense  on your site. It’s an advertising network run by Google, and it’s a free way for websites and blogs like yours to earn income by displaying targeted Google ads on your site.

Starting with AdSense means you don’t have to deal with marketers directly, as everything is handled by Google. When you start bringing decent traffic to your site, you can earn good money by displaying targeted ads.

That said, Google AdSense doesn’t pay very well. In fact, when you’re just starting out, you might only earn a few dollars per month. Which, honestly, can be a little disheartening.

Therefore, if you have the patience, I recommend waiting until you have between 10,000 and 30,000 users per month and instead signing up for a premium ad network like Ezoic or Mediavine .

These ad networks only work with the best-paying advertisers, and thus, you can earn significantly more money.

The only difficulty is that premium ad networks only accept websites with a solid amount of traffic. So, until you have a decent audience, you won’t be eligible.

4. Create/Sell An Online Travel Course

Many travel bloggers earn money by marketing their own online travel courses. Some ideas for online travel courses include: 

• How to travel on a budget. 
• Learn how to make money as a travel blogger! 
• Travel and tourism courses. 

Equally, you don’t need to create a course that’s only specific to travel.

For instance, you might be a yoga instructor and can offer yoga classes on the move.

If you have a skill, people will be prepared to pay you to teach them. 

Seriously, the world of online courses can be extremely rewarding and can help to bring more traffic to your site. And the best part is, it is one of the more passive forms of income you can earn as a blogger. 

5. Write/Sell An Ebook

It’s truly never been easier than it is now to write and sell an eBook on a platform like  Amazon KDP .

Therefore, if you have a unique idea or set of experiences you want to share with the world, write down your ideas and begin working on a book. 

You can hire freelancers on sites like Fiverr to help you with all sorts of things like editing, cover design, eBook formatting, and so on. Once your eBook is ready and published, you can then work with freelance marketers who will help get your book out in front of your desired audience. 

If you set aside the time to publish an eBook, you will be so surprised at how quickly it will come together.

And this is another great way to earn money while you sleep.

6. Blog Sponsorships/Sponsored Posts

A sponsored blog post is essentially when you get paid by a company to talk about a product or brand to your followers. In the travel niche, this might be a specific hotel, guesthouse, or a specific product or app that makes traveling easier. 

Potential sponsors are attracted to bloggers with an engaging presence across social media platforms.

Thus, to attract sponsors, you need to ensure your content is compelling and you’re constantly engaging with your audience. 

Alternatively, you could create a page on your site where you pitch for sponsors and share it widely.

While this might seem a little direct, it gives potential sponsors clear instructions of what to do if they want to collaborate with you. 

7. Start A YouTube Channel

Even if you’re a writer, you can make a ton of money as a travel blogger by creating and developing a YouTube channel.

You could document life on the road or maybe even show your followers what it takes to be a travel blogger with in-depth tutorials. 

You should think of YouTube as an additional string to your bow and create content that you know your followers want to see. 

Bear in mind that YouTube pays per view and engagement, so you will need to have a high-performing profile to start making decent money on the platform. 

8. Make Money Through Instagram

Instagram influencers can be found in every niche.

Therefore, if you’re adept at smartphone photography, you could showcase your talent on the Gram and make money as an influencer.

The most successful influencers create stunning feeds that are noteworthy for all the right reasons. 

As a travel blogger, it’s pretty straightforward to develop a stunning Instagram feed; you just have to share snaps of the places that you visit!

Just know that to become an influencer, you will have to grow your following and engage regularly. 

Brands will then begin to notice you, and if they like what you produce, they will be willing to pay you to promote their products and services on your profile.  

9. Promote Hotels And Resorts

When you’re on the road, you could approach hotels and resorts that you visit and offer to promote them on your blog. In some instances, they will offer you free accommodation in exchange for your post, but in other cases, they might also pay you a fee. 

However you get paid, this is a great way to pick up some money and save on expensive accommodation bills. 

In the early days of your blog, write positive reviews about your favorite places to stay without asking for anything in return. You can then use these as examples to share with future clients when your blog has a wider audience.  

10. Offer Travel Consulting

When you make a living as a travel blogger, you develop a high degree of expertise in traveling to and around specific parts of the world. 

For instance, you might be extremely knowledgeable about traveling off-the-beaten-track in rural Thailand. As such, you can offer your services as a tour guide or travel consultant to people that visit your favorite places. 

You can promote your services on your blog and offer guided tours, exciting trips, and other opportunities for people who want to travel the world. 

11. Partner With Travel Agencies

Although many travelers these days prefer planning their trips independently, there’s still a decent demand for the services of travel agents.

So, if you want to make money as a travel blogger, you could think about developing a reciprocal partnership with travel agents that operate in a specific area. 

For instance, you could direct clients to their services for a small commission or perhaps promote their services and customer experiences on your blog and social media platforms. 

You will also find that if you bring a decent amount of new business to travel agencies, you might even get discounts and free trips for yourself while you’re on the road! 

12. Sell Merchandise

One of the best ways to monetize your personal website is to create and sell branded merchandise.

You can put together a collection of t-shirts, hats, mugs, or pretty much anything you can think of to promote your brand. 

When you develop a cult following, people are keen to buy into your brand by purchasing your merchandise. What’s more, you don’t even need to handle the merchandise yourself. 

You can set up a dropshipping business for your online collection, which means you can make money by selling products from anywhere in the world. 

13. Teach English (Or Another Language) Online

Teaching English or working as a language tutor can be a great way to make money as a travel blogger. Sites like italki enable you to set up a profile and connect with people who are looking for an English tutor. 

You simply set your prices and availability, and you’re good to go.

As a language tutor, you don’t even need qualifications or previous experience as a teacher. 

However, a good way to increase your potential earnings is to complete a qualification like a TEFL and become an accredited English teacher.

These courses can normally be done online and don’t take a great deal of time.

It’s definitely worth it, as you can then charge a decent fee for your services as an online English teacher. 

14. Sell Your Photos

While you’re not going to become a millionaire by selling your photos to stock websites, it’s another excellent side hustle that adds to your income portfolio. 

Instead of just leaving your travel pictures on a hard drive or cloud, upload them to sites like Pexels or Shutterstock and earn money every time someone downloads them. 

Regardless of the money, it’s a good feeling to know that other people are making use of your images, and it’s a good way of getting your name out there. 

15. Rent Your Home While You’re Traveling

If you’re fortunate enough to be a homeowner, don’t just leave your property sitting empty while you’re traveling!

If you know you’re going to be away for a set period of time, say one month, you could market your home as a short-term rental on Airbnb. 

Alternatively, if you’re hitting the road for a longer period of time, consider approaching a real estate agent or property management company to put your house on the market as a long-term rental. 

Although you’ll have to pay fees, it’s much better to earn an income from your home when you’re not even in the country, as opposed to leaving it sitting empty and waiting for your return. 

Final Thoughts

As you can see, travel blogging is so much more than just writing articles about the places that you visit.

In fact, writing is often just one component of the life of a travel blogger. And those that make a decent living from their blogs often have many more sources of income than just their website. 

Although you might not succeed with all the fifteen ideas we’ve presented here, feel free to get creative and try as many of them as you can. Who knows, you might surprise yourself and become a YouTube or Instagram sensation without really meaning to! 

However you do it, earning money as a travel blogger is an incredible way to make a living. So, all that’s left is to set up your blog, pack your bag, and hit the road. 

The world is waiting to hear all about your adventures!

Zach Buchenau

About The Author:

Zach Buchenau is a self-proclaimed personal finance nerd. When he isn't writing about budgeting, getting out of debt, making extra money, and living a frugal life, you can find him building furniture, fly fishing, or developing websites. He is the co-founder of BeTheBudget, and Chipotle's most loyal customer.

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How to Make Money with a Travel Blog

Sharing is caring:

I get a lot of questions about how to make money with a travel blog, so I thought I’d share the ways I personally make money as a travel blogger to give you a better idea of how it all works.

A lot of people hear “travel blogger” and think that must be the easiest job in the world. You just start a travel blog and then get paid to travel and write about it, right? Well, not exactly.

Running a successful travel blog takes a lot of hard work and commitment. I took me well over a year to get to the point where I was even earning a consistent $1,000 a month from my travel blog.

Here’s a look at a bunch of different ways you can make money with a travel blog.

Want to start your own travel blog and make money blogging? Be sure to read this detailed step-by-step guide: How to Start a Travel Blog for Beginners.

Or sign up for my FREE email challenge below to get your blog up and running in five days:

The first and easiest way I make money with my travel blog is through advertising.  As a blogger, you can join an ad network and they will place ads on your blog. You then get paid based on RPM, or revenue per one thousand impressions that your ads receive.

While ads are not the most aesthetically pleasing thing, they are a great way to make money because they’re so passive. As long as people read your blog, you’ll make money. Of course, you do need to be getting a significant amount of traffic to your blog to make ads a lucrative source of income.

There are some ad networks you can join without having much traffic (like Google AdSense) but the pay is so bad you might literally earn pennies a day from the ads. This is why I recommend that newer bloggers stay away from ads until they have enough traffic to get into a better ad network.

I’m with Mediavine and they are one of the best ad networks out there for bloggers. Mediavine requires 25,000 monthly sessions to apply. Another option is Monumetric (which is the ad network I was with before Mediavine) and they require 10,000 monthly pageviews to apply.

Both of these ad networks are good options and offer competitive RPMs.

Affiliate Marketing

Another quite passive way I make money from my travel blog is through affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is promoting products you already use and love, then earning a small commission each time someone purchases something by clicking on your unique affiliate link.

Here are some of my top-earning affiliates on Wander her Way:

• Amazon (I recommend travel-related products from Amazon all the time in my blog posts; for example, my Disne y World packing list contains links to Amazon)
• Booking.com (these are the affiliate programs I use for recommending hotels)
• Leisure Pass (I wrote detailed reviews about the New York Pass and the London Pass )
• Blogging affiliates (I recommend blogging-related products like web hosting and WordPress themes; for example look at my guide on how to start a travel blog )
• Skyscanner (this is a flight booking engine that I frequently recommend on my blog)

Any time someone clicks on one of my affiliate links and makes a purchase, I earn a percentage commission on the sale. (This can be anywhere from 1% to 40% depending on the product.)

This is an online course from Michelle, a blogger who makes $50,000 per month from affiliate marketing and she shares all her best tips and strategies for making money.

Sponsored Posts

Another way I make money with my travel blog is through sponsored posts.

Occasionally, I will partner with a travel brand to publish sponsored content on my blog. I get paid for the post, usually a couple hundred dollars.

I don’t actively seek out sponsored posts, and I will only do one if a brand approaches me first.

However, it’s possible to make really good money from sponsored posts (some bloggers earn thousands from them every month), especially if you are proactive and pitch to brands yourself. You can also join influencer networks and find sponsored post opportunities to apply for.

Sponsored posts can consist of blog posts or social media posts (especially on Instagram.)

I don’t use Instagram for my travel blog, but I know of many bloggers/Instagram influencers who make really good money from working with brands.

Freelance Services

The final way I make money from my travel blog is by offering freelance services.

I work with a couple of other travel bloggers to help them with blogging-related tasks, including:

• Designing and uploading pins to their Pinterest account
• Writing and scheduling posts for social media
• Researching and writing content for their blog/newsletter
• Creating quizzes they can use to grow their email list

This is a great way to earn some additional money indirectly from your travel blog.

The way I was able to find my freelance jobs is by simply commenting or emailing other travel bloggers I follow when they mentioned they were looking to hire someone to help them.

Other Ways to Make Money with a Travel Blog

I shared the four ways I make money with my travel blog, but there are quite a few other ways you can make money blogging.

Here are some additional ways you can monetize your travel blog. I haven’t tried any of these (yet) but they are all good options for making money with a travel blog:

Sponsored Travel

Some travel bloggers work with travel brands or tourism boards on sponsored travel.

This can come in the form of a press trip or other campaign. Some of these are unpaid (but all travel expenses are paid for) in exchange for coverage by the blogger. However, many bloggers also negotiate an additional paid rate for sponsored travel projects.

Selling Products

Selling your own products is a great way to make money blogging.

For example, Kiersten from The Blonde Abroad sells various Lightroom photo editing presets so you can edit your travel photos just like hers.

Digital products like Lightroom presets, ebooks, online courses, etc are very popular.

Some bloggers also sell physical products, like travel accessories or print books.

Tours and Retreats

One really unique way to monetize your travel blog is by running tours or retreats.

Some examples of travel bloggers with retreats are Alex in Wanderland’s Wander Women Retreats and We Are Travel Girls’ Travel Girls Getaways.

Freelance Writing

Many travel bloggers also do freelance travel writing for some additional income.

The great thing about having a travel blog is that you can use it as a portfolio to show off your writing for potential freelance opportunities. You can find freelance writing gigs either by searching for writing job boards or pitching directly to publications yourself.

So these are the best ways to make money with a travel blog.

As you can see, there are a lot of different potential streams of income you can have as a blogger.

I recommend focusing on just a couple of these income streams at the beginning, then adding more as you begin to grow your blog and business.

Want to read my own travel blog income repor t?

Travel Blog Prosperity

If you want to make money with your travel blog, I highly recommend joining Travel Blog Prosperity .

It’s a monthly membership for travel bloggers created by Jessie Festa from Jessie on a Journey.

Normally, the membership is $49/month, but when you sign up using the discount code  WANDER9   you will get your first month of Travel Blog Prosperity for just $9!

When you join the membership, you’ll get immediate access to the following:

• 30+ trainings and lessons for bloggers, with new ones added monthly
• Workbooks and checklists to go along with each lesson
• Twice monthly live group coaching calls with Jessie
• Weekly VIP Opportunities Newsletter with paid opportunities, press trips, and more!
• Private Member’s Lounge group where you can get your questions answered

And much more!

You can see everything offered inside the Travel Blog Prosperity membership .

And don’t forget to use the discount code  WANDER9  to get your first month for just $9! There’s no minimum monthly commitment and you can cancel at any time.

How to Start a Travel Blog

Haven’t started a travel blog yet? Here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to get started!

These are the exact steps I took to start Wander Her Way. You can follow this tutorial and have your own travel blog up and running in less than one hour!

Step 1: Choose a domain name

The first step to starting a travel blog is choosing a name for it. Your blog name will be the first impression that you have on people, so it’s important to pick a good one!

If you need some help coming up with a name for your blog, be sure to read this guide: Travel Blog Names: How to Choose One + Ideas.

To see if the name you want is available, you can use this free domain name checker tool:

Step 2: Get hosting

Once you have chosen a name for your travel blog, you will need to register it and get web hosting.

If you buy your domain name through an outside company, you can expect to pay $15 to $20 for it.

However, if you sign up for web hosting through Bluehost , you can get your domain name for free.

I highly recommend Bluehost for web hosting, and they are the company I (and many other bloggers) use. They have some of the cheapest hosting plans out there, while still having an extremely reliable service and great customer support.

Bluehost has been generous enough to offer readers of Wander Her Way web hosting starting at $3.95 a month (normally $7.99 a month) along with a free domain name.

Here are the detailed steps to set up web hosting with Bluehost:

1. Click the “Get Started” button

2. Select your hosting plan

Which plan to choose: I recommend the basic plan for new bloggers.

I’m personally on the plus plan, but that’s only because I run multiple blogs. Otherwise, I would probably choose the basic plan!

3. Put in your domain name

This is where you’ll put in the domain name that you decided on earlier.

What if I haven’t decided on a name yet?  If you haven’t decided on a domain name for your travel blog yet, wait a couple of minutes and this offer will pop up on your page:

Select this option and you can go ahead and start setting your blog up, then use the free credit to buy your domain name later.

4. Create your account

5. Select your package and pay

Here’s where you’ll select your hosting plan. The 36-month plan is the best deal at $3.95 a month, but you can also pick a 12-month plan at $5.95 a month for an overall lower cost.

What about package extras? You have the options to add on extras like site backups or site security.

I personally don’t recommend any of these because there are free WordPress plugins you can install that do the same thing (which I’ll cover in the next section of this guide.)

6. Congrats, you’re done!

Once you check out, you’ll be redirected to your Bluehost dashboard. This is where you can log in to your blog for the first time and start setting everything up.

Your blog will be run on the WordPress platform. Bluehost installs WordPress automatically for you, so you don’t have to do anything on your end.

Step 3: Designing your blog

Your blog will come with the default WordPress theme installed. You will definitely want to change this, which means it’s time to pick a theme for your blog!

When it comes to designing your blog, you have a couple of options: you can hire a web designer, or you can install a theme on your own. I recommend installing a theme on your own because it’s MUCH cheaper and easier.

There are plenty of free themes out there, but I don’t recommend them because they look very plain, don’t have many customization options, and don’t include customer support.

A premium theme is a much better investment and will make your blog stand out from the crowd.

If you need help finding the perfect theme for your travel blog, make sure to check out my list of the 5 Best WordPress Themes for Travel Blogs.

Step 4: Install plugins

WordPress plugins add extra functionality to your blog. There are thousands of plugins out there, but the ones I recommend most for new bloggers are:

• Yoast SEO:  Yoast helps you write blog posts that are SEO-friendly. SEO, or search engine optimization, is what gets your blog posts ranked in Google. Yoast will tell you exactly what you need to do for each blog post you write to improve your SEO.
• Akismet:   This plug-in filters out spam comments on your blog.
• WordFence Security:  Great security plug-in to protect your site.
• MonsterInsights:  MonsterInsights lets you view analytics like page views and your most popular posts. You will need to install Google Analytics on your blog first.
• UpdraftPlus:   This plug-in makes regular backups of your site so you never lose anything!
• Social Warfare: Add social sharing icons to your blog posts.

All of these plug-ins are 100% free to use.

Step 5: Start posting!

By now, you should have purchased a domain name and hosting through Bluehost, installed a WordPress theme ( these are my favorites ), and customized your blog with plug-ins.

Now all that’s left is to start posting!

Need some inspiration on what to write about on your travel blog?

• 50 Awesome Travel Blog Post Ideas
• How to Write 13 Travel Blog Posts from One Trip

More Travel Blogging Tips

This post is part of my ongoing series about travel blogging. For more tips on travel blogging, be sure to read the following blog posts…

• Travel Blog Names: How to Choose One + Ideas
• How to Start a Travel Blog for Beginners
• 6 Best WordPress Themes for Travel Blogs
• Travel Blog Income Report Roundup

About Denise Cruz

Denise is a marketing executive who escaped corporate to travel the world… twice. A Brazilian native living in the U.S., she’s lived in 4 countries and visited 35+ others. After side-hustling her way to financial independence, she curates solo destination guides, slow travel tips, and travel blogging advice on Wander Her Way. When she’s not on the road, you can find her in Miami with her dog Finnegan.

How Travel Bloggers Make Money: 12 Ways to Monetize Your Website

• Pinterest 121

Have you ever found yourself wondering how travel bloggers make money? Maybe you’re an aspiring blogger or have been in the game for a while now and are looking to monetize your website.

It’s crazy to think that 10 years ago, blogging wasn’t really a thing.

Today, influencer marketing has grown into a full-on business, with companies getting a better return on their investment with travel bloggers versus traditional marketing and advertising outlets.

The fact is, bloggers have clout.

They have an engaged following and a more personal connection with their audience than the average magazine or travel guides.

Countless studies have shown that blogging is the future of digital marketing so if you’re interested in making a career out of traveling, starting your own website is the way to go.

For all those wondering how the sausage is made, so to speak, here are 12 ways to monetize your website and generate steady income as a travel blogger.

RELATED POST: HOW I MAKE $800/MONTH TEACHING ENGLISH ONLINE

1) Affiliate sales

Affiliate sales are great for beginners because all the hard work is done for you; simply plug in the links and make a percentage of sales made to a major company through that link.

There are some affiliate programs with more favorable terms than others, including 30-90 day cookie tracking for purchases attributed to you, percentage of commission and ad space needed on your website.

For those with a large U.S. audience, look into Amazon’s affiliate program as a way to get started earning money quickly.

You can also meet representatives from other companies at conferences, like Booking.com or Get Your Guide, and they offer sign up incentives and bonuses to get you on their team.

As you progress and grow, ideally affiliate sales would be a smaller percentage of your income and the majority of your sales push can be made towards your own products.

2) Launch a course

Many successful travel bloggers have launched a course on their area of expertise, from starting a blog to pitching brands.

You can target the how-to audience by marketing skills you’ve learned along the way.

While not a travel blogger, Melyssa Griffin did this with her Pinterest course, which has sold millions in revenue. Same with Marie Forleo and her B-School program.

If you have an area of expertise, from water painting to digital marketing, you can sell your knowledge online. 

Some popular programs to help you host your course include Teachable, Udemy, Podia and Thinkific.

3) Sell ad space on your website

Google Ad Sense is the first program that comes to mind for most people, but rarely the most profitable.

Instead, aim to get into Mediavine, which requires 25k sessions/month, or other programs like Ezoic or AdThrive.

You’ll have to give up some of your website space, but you can get steady revenue on a cost per click basis.

This means that the more traffic your site gets, the more you get paid.

The best way to ensure continued growth and organic traffic is by investing in SEO strategies.

4) Paid speaking engagements

Once you establish yourself as a blogger, you can apply to be a paid speaker at different events like travel and business conferences, university events, private fundraisers and more.

The key is to establish an area of expertise and market yourself as the go-to source for that field.

You should have a professional video reel and rate sheet easily accessible to prospective clients.

5) Open an e-commerce store

How do travel bloggers make money on their own terms?

Open up their own e-commerce store. You can host a shop right on your website with different plugins like WooCommerce, Shopify and Easy Digital Downloads.

Make sure to check any fees or minimal amounts required for payouts.

This is a great place to start if you have a limited number of items to sell, a strong following or want to start branding with custom items like t-shirts or related travel goods.

If you’re really crafty, you could also open up an Etsy store in hopes of reaching a bigger audience.

6) Write a book

Publishing is easier than ever now thanks to Amazon.

You can submit an e-book and have it available on Amazon shelves within a few hours; all you need is the text, a cover and your basic book information, like the description and categories.

In fact, publishing is so easy that you don’t have to stop at just an e-book.

If you get a print cover designed, you can turn that ebook into a print book with the click of a button and on-demand printing.

Writing a book is a great way to establish your expertise, build your resume and garner additional press coverage and credibility.

RELATED POST: SELF PUBLISHING VS. TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING

7) Host a virtual summit

If you can get experts together on a topic, you can host a virtual summit.

Generally, the model for this works with a free opt-in where attendees can see the sessions for free as they air, then pay for lifetime access to the videos, anywhere from $50-$200 per person.

There is also the potential for add-ons like one-on-one critiques or a competition of sorts.

If you are feeling emboldened by the success of your virtual summit, you can also take it live and do and in-person event.

There are some travel bloggers that have successfully started their own travel conferences.

RELATED POST: 8 REMOTE WORK TIPS TO GUARANTEE YOUR SUCCESS

8) Sponsored posts and content

Travel bloggers often get paid to work with brands and post content on their site and social media channels.

These partnerships are readily disclosed and can range from discounted or comped travel to generous compensation.

Ideally, the travel blogger would still deliver honest reviews and maintain their brand despite the partnership.

There are also people that write to travel bloggers often requesting to pay for backlinks.

Generally, as these are companies that do not mesh with my site, I mark these emails as spam.

Who you choose to collaborate with, however, is completely up to you.

9) Start a podcast

One way to get new listeners in perpetuity, and also more followers and engagement to your website, is to start a podcast.

People like to listen to things nowadays. Audiobook and podcast consumption is on the rise, and now is the time to get in on the ground floor.

The best part is that years later, the podcasts you’ve already recorded will still be getting you new listeners.

It’s like the audio version of SEO, and is a smart investment for storytellers and coaches.

Be aware that this is not an easy endeavor, requiring the proper recording and editing equipment, intriguing guests and a consistent approach to posting in order to retain followers and get good reviews.

10) Host your own trips

If you think you have an area that you know so well that others would want to go with you, host a small group trip.

You can charge for the deposit beforehand to help you secure the necessary reservations without going out-of-pocket, and get deals for bringing a group of people along.

Everything will be much cheaper if it’s split between you and 9 others, and you can make anywhere from $1,000-$10,000 per trip.

Bonus if you have a strong social media following that will want to join you on your trip.

11) Offer private coaching

If you know you have a specialized skill that you’re willing to offer at a price, list your coaching services for sale.

Just be aware that this isn’t really scale-able since you only have a set number of hours in the day.

You could aim to offer ongoing private coaching to clients, but this puts you in the position of constantly having to find and retain high-paying clients.

It’s more work than it looks like at first, and at the end of the day what you’re worth may not be something that’s accessible to the client who wants to reach you.

It may be better to invest in a team and have them answer everyone back by email for you, while you devote your time to more lucrative efforts.

12) Freelance write for other outlets

I also caution against this because you could end up writing competing posts for more established domains, hurting your Google ranking, but you can make money guest posting or blogging for bigger websites on a freelance basis.

Some bloggers will pay you $30-$40 per post that you write for them, and bigger magazines and newspapers can pay $300 and up.

You could also sell your travel photography to these outlets if it’s good enough.

The next time you’re curious about how travel bloggers make money, refer to this list.

It’s easier than you think!

If you ever want to try it for yourself, it’s worth a shot. The truth is, when you pursue your passion the money will come.

There are ways to grow your blog and your audience, especially with a strong niche or area of expertise.

Click here for a FREE list of 19 Websites With Work from Home Job Listings

Till next time, safe travels!

Liked this post? Pin me below. 

Michelle Segrest

Saturday 4th of April 2020

Really fantastic and helpful ideas! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise!

Jen on a Jet Plane

Friday 10th of April 2020

My pleasure Michelle, happy to help!

Alexandra Booze

I've been considering opening up an e-commerce store to sell my prints! Thank you for these tips -- they are amazing and I haven't thought of a lot of them.

You absolutely should Alexandra -- now is the time!

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Travel blogger salary – 28 Ways travel bloggers make money

In this article you will read about a travel blogger’s salary and how bloggers have successfully turned they travel blogging job into full-time careers where they not only make enough to backpack around Southeast Asia, but also to live in some of the world’s most expensive cities like Singapore, Sydney or San Francisco. 

We will delve into how travel bloggers make money, not just into how I make money, and look at a reasonable travel blogger salary.

You will also find a handy travel blogger income calculator that should help you gauge how much you could make if you started a travel blog .

This post is not about how influencers make money, that is a pretty straightforward discussion which we will discuss later, but about how travel bloggers make money.

HINT : There is no one size fits all approach, and you can make money travel blogging in many different ways.

I will venture to say that this is the most comprehensive and exhaustive post about ways travel bloggers make money I have found and it is full of tips and advice from peers who are succeeding at monetising their travel blog in a variety of ways. I hope you find a new revenue stream you didn’t think of.

JUMP directly to How travel bloggers make money

Can you make money travel blogging? Some considerations

Before we get started, two pieces of advice.

Diversification is king.

Making money from a travel blog is perfectly possible and lots of people do it successfully, many in the six digit range annually (that is a minimum of USD8,000 a month).

But the most successful ones have diversified their portfolio significantly. 

Contrary to regular jobs where one employer will pay your salary, being in the digital world and trying to make a living off a digital property like a blog requires you to diversify tremendously because most of the revenue streams are unpredictable and constantly changing.

They also *could* largely depend on someone else’s business decisions (aka Google, Pinterest, etc.)

For example, if your income is mostly coming from ads and, suddenly, the platform which serves ads on your website decides to change its policy your income could go down to zero .

If you rely exclusively on selling Amazon products and suddenly Amazon stops working with the third party seller that you were advertising, your income could go down to zero.

You get the gist.

Depending on one revenue source in a world that is rapidly evolving is not a good idea. You need to hustle and you need to diversify. Most people will have their toes dipped in at least 4-5 different areas to guarantee a minimum income every month.

Secondly, and slightly related to the above, most bloggers have variable monthly income .

This is related to the fact that the industry is in constant flow, that is affected by seasonality and where some revenue streams are campaign-driven and one-off.

This is the scariest part of taking the leap and becoming a full time travel blogger: Not knowing how much you will make every month .

Dispelling the myths of a travel blogger job

Thanks to the overhyped media coverage of the influencers’ and travel bloggers’ life, everyone has an idea about what a travel blogger job looks like and that image is almost always incorrect.

It is important to go into this industry with a full understanding of what it entails. So here are a few myths about a travel blogger job that we need to dispel.

Most of the work happens on a computer not by the beach

Every single travel blogger will tell you this: Don’t be tricked into believing that bloggers are living a life of constant travel and no work .

Working online is tough and it requires an incredible level of commitment and very long hours . You actually (surprise surprise) need to work, probably longer hours than with a regular job for someone else, because you need to generate an income. 

And this is especially true at the beginning, when you are starting out and have no baseline passive income to live off.

Don’t assume that because you see a new photo every day from a blogger where he or she is having fun somewhere that this is how they spent their days.

Heck, most times, the photo may have been taken at another point and when you see it posted the person is probably behind a laptop typing away somewhere far less fashionable.

Let me reveal a dirty little secret about a travel blogger’s job .

We may travel for 3 days then be home for two weeks just working non-stop, 15h days, in front of a computer.

In the 3 days, we collected enough material to last us the two weeks, so our online persona is traveling for two weeks. 

And let me add, this is not because we like to create an illusion, but because posting all the materials we collect in a day at once would bombard our feed and followers, so it is best to spread it out a little. Also, because when we are traveling, we try to enjoy the moment and spend time trying to create the content we will share. The editing and posting happens after we return to the office.

When I held a full time job at Google I wrote about how I spent about 40% of my time on the road . But that did not mean that my days were spent by the pool sipping a margarita, primarily because you cannot work on a laptop in the sun, it overheats in no time!

You rarely disconnect

Another side effect of having a digital, always-on life is that I rarely disconnect from it.

When I had a full time job at Google, weekends were my most productive time on the blog.

I was fresh and I could focus on the blog entirely. When I was at my day job at Google, I was usually disconnected from the blog. Now that the blog is my full time job, because of the nature of the job, I  almost never switch off from the many social media channels I have.

This only ever happens when I visit a country that has no internet.

Keeping up with three email addresses, an Instagram account ( OIALJ ), a Facebook page ( OIALJ ), one Twitter  profile, one Flipboard , one YouTube , one Pinterest and many other smaller networks such as Quora means everyone expects me to be online all the time.

Clients are in all time zones, other peers too, and the messages and emails come in at all times of day and night, 7 days a week.

The time fallacy

When I started to pay attention to my income report I focused on “value for time” and on fostering the passive income streams as opposed to the active ones.

The travel blogging income you can generate is directly correlated to the time you can invest plus the passive income you have been able to build.

To make more money you can either generate active income more efficiently (charging more or woking faster) or increase your passive income streams.

Because the objective of any travel blogger is not to work more but to work less, passive income is the key to success.

How much travel bloggers make

The salary of a travel blogger can vary dramatically from blog to blog and depends on how many revenue streams you play with and how successful you are with each.

The following sections are split into Passive income and Active income.

For the purposes of this blog, passive income is the one that is generated even when you are not working. If you take a holiday for a week, your passive income will continue to bring in a salary.

Active income is the income you generate when you work on a campaign or do something for a client. 

So let’s take a look at all the possible components of a travel blogger’s salary.

Travel bloggers passive income

As discussed, passive income is the ideal revenue source .

You want it to have as much weight in your overall income as possible.

Sadly, this is also the hardest to master and to grow . If it was so easy, everyone would do it.

But don’t get discouraged, it’s not that hard. 

By being a travel blogger you can generate passive income through your blog (obviously) and also, by using the assets and skills you have developed to generate income in other ways. For example, by selling your travel photography.

I call them passive, but the reality is that if you truly left your blog untouched, these revenue streams would eventually die out too so they are passive because you do not have to do anything to make them happen but they do rely on a successful and updated blog .

And this is more and more relevant because the industry is becoming more competitive every year so it takes a shorter amount of time of a blog to become obsolete if left untouched.

Display advertising (USD200 – USD1,000+)

This is the most obvious salary source for almost every travel blogger.

Display ads are those banner images that you find everywhere online which advertise a given brand, product or offer. Just check the ads on this blog post.

A lot of bloggers will proudly say that they do not like ads and that they have decided not to “clutter” their side bars with ads.

However, I would argue that we are all so used to ads being everywhere that we are not bothered by them. As long as you do not overdo it, you should be fine.

When setting up ads on your site you need to consider a few things :

• Will you use an ad serving platform or get in touch with direct advertisers ?
• What ad serving platform you will sign up for?
• How many ads would you want to show?
• Do you show them on desktop or also on mobile ?

Let me answer them all one by one.

Some people decide to have ads they have directly negotiated themselves with the advertiser . For example, if they are running a sponsored post for a hotel chain, they may also include a banner ad for that hotel for a month after the article is up.

These are not really passive income streams per se as you need to constantly find new advertisers and renegotiate contracts , but they may generate higher income than if you just use a third party ad serving platform.

Talking of which. Ad serving platforms are those which broker the relationship between advertisers willing to advertise their product or service and publishers (aka the bloggers) who are willing to take ads and show them to their readers. The most commonly known platform is AdSense , from Google.

AdSense is easy to set up and you get approved almost immediately after applying it if your blog is at least six months old. After you are approved, you need to include the ads on your site by copying and pasting a small piece of code on your articles or side bars. A very easy thing to do, even I can do it.

After that, Google will show ads to your visitors depending on who they are and their preferences. AdSense shares a percentage of their revenue from advertisers with you , usually based on the amount of people who click on the ads shown on your site. For every click, you will get a commission. In my case, with about 60,000 page views I used to generate about USD150-200 from Adsense every month.

If your blog is large enough there are higher end ad serving platforms that will offer more commission and which may work on impressions (number of people who see the ads) as opposed to clicks.

MediaVine is a well-established one which a lot of people use and are happy with, including myself.

They offer much higher commissions and returns because they are more targeted. As soon as I moved to Mediavine my ad revenue increased 10 fold overnight.

You can see the monthly evolution in my Income Reports section so you get the most updated values and how it evolved since I moved over from AdSense to Mediavine. Within the first month, my ad revenues were up four-fold .

To get on Mediavine, you need to have a minimum of 25,000 monthly sessions so as soon as you start a blog, this should be the objective.

How much you make from ads this way can vary from $10 to $40 per 1,000 sessions depending on your niche and on the location of your audience.

US/UK/Australia audiences pay higher RPM (revenue per 1,000 sessions). That mens that if you hit 25,000 sessions and they are all US-based you could be up to making $1,000 from ads .

Sell online (USD50 – USD10,000+)

A major revenue stream for some people are online product sales, for example, merchandising or packing lists with the things to take on a trip.

You may have seen that a lot of blogs have online stores .

Usually, the blogger is not sitting at home packing and shipping your orders but rather a third party company is. Here are some of the types of things you can sell on your blog.

1. Own products

Selling your own products online is a good idea if you have a specific skill or product that is unique . Doing it through your blog is a means to monetise the traffic that you are already generating.

If you decide to setup an online store page on your blog, you have three options:

• Do the end-to-end fulfilment yourself
• Outsource it to companies like Amazon who would receive your stock, keep it in consignment and then shipping it every time there is an order
• Or use third party fulfilment companies without any stock

If you do the end to end fulfillments yourself then you would have to keep stock at home, setup all the shipping and customer care functions and take the order.

This is unpractical if you are a travel blogger.

It would also not make it a passive income stream because you would be tied to the business 24/7.

If you do not do that yourself, you can either create the product and have Amazon do the selling for you – this is how all sellers on Amazon do it, or you could use a third party to manufacture the items every time there is a sale.

If you sell via Amazon, you need to make sure you take care of the manufacturing and give Amazon enough inventory at all times but they do all the end-to-end fulfilment of each other and even handle customer service.

If you use a third party fulfilment company then you don’t hold stock anywhere.

For example, Jodi from Legal Nomads , generates most of her income this way. She has been selling her own designs on t-shirts, bags and posters through her Shopify store. She designed the prints and got a friend to hand draw them beautifully.

Her designs are related to food and travel, her niche, so they perfectly align with her audience and she is able to monetise the visitors to her blog this way.

What is more, Jodi draws additional income from her Gluten-free cards which she sells on Gumroad because Shopify does not let you sell digital products.

She designed the cards herself and got them properly translated into other languages to help Celiacs on the road eat safely .  

To replicate Jody’s model, you can use Shopify to create the online front store (they charge USD20 per month) and then use third party companies like Printful , Merchify or CafePress to manufacture the item with your artwork every time a customer places an order.

These third party companies fulfill your sales and print to order so there is not stock maintained and you do not have to worry about shipping or handling orders.

This formula allows you to sell standard products like phone covers, t-shirts, posters, mugs, etc. with your own artworks so they are unique and aligned to your niche.

The downside here is that you will have to manage the customer service part and if there are issues with the address or returns, the printing company will only take responsibility for faulty products and not for wrong orders, etc. so you need to make sure your T&Cs are specific.

2. Third party products as an affiliate

A lot of people have gone the Amazon way via the Amazon Influencer store.

The difference between selling third party products and having your own store is that when you resell third party products you are basically only getting a commission whereas with your store you get the margin you decide based on what the printer gets and your selling price.

Setting up a third party store is possible through Amazon because they give you the tools to create an entire store on your blog that looks like it is yours but is in fact powered by Amazon .

Your job here would be to curate a selection of products that you would recommend to your visitors and then place them on your online store following Amazon’s guidelines.

Every time someone orders from your Amazon store you get a 4-6% commission.

The effort is much lower but so is the return.

You don’t do anything else here so, once the store is setup, you just need to ensure your Amazon sellers and products are not discontinued and let Amazon do the rest.

A good example is Mapping Megan . She set up her Amazon store selling adventure gear and products . This is directly aligned to her Adventure Travel Blog motto and helps her visitors locate products she likes.

Even though the store is new, she is already able to make USD50 a month this way, totally passively, except for keeping an eye on broken links if a product she is promoting is discontinued on Amazon.

Despite having a full blown store, Megan is more successful at monetising the contextual links because her articles are heavily promoted and rank high on Google Search results, as opposed to her Store page which is visited by her regular loyal audience.

3. Merchandising

This is a bit like Jodi above in the sense that you can use the same channels and tools to make it happen but, instead of promoting a destination or artwork, you promote your brand. It is a common revenue stream for celebrities.

Take Doug the Pug .

Not a travel blogger. For one, he is a dog, but I completely love him and since the girl who owns the dog must have struggled to find ways to monetise her close to 10 million followers across Instagram and Facebook, and the dog is such a personality, merchandising makes sense for her. If your brand is such that you can monetise it, then this can be a great revenue stream that also builds free advertising for you .

Affiliate marketing (USD100 – USD10,000+)

Affiliate marketing is basically the same as referral marketing, it’s the way to monetise word of mouth .

When someone comes to your blog and clicks on an affiliate link to a website you are referring, you will get a commission if the reader buys something. This is perhaps the panacea for most bloggers, the true passive income.

Affiliate revenues apply to almost every online blogging industry and make up for the entire travel blogging salary of many people.

You can make thousands every month through affiliate.

For example, I have been following Matthew Woodward ever since he started and it has been impressive to see him go for USD2,000 a month to over USD20,000, a month.

His blog is a great example of how an open-affiliate-links and honest approach can work well . He reviews digital services and tools for hosting, email marketing, outreach, etc. extensively, tells you all the goods and the bads and then clearly explains how he makes money if you buy it through his referral link.

His reviews are honest and have all been fully tried, many with A/B tests over several months, so he adds real value. Therefore, you are happy to use his referral code.

In fact, I have learned so much from him that I always go to his site to find his referral codes when I am buying a tool I know he must have reviewed, it is my way of paying him for sharing his knowledge for free.

On the flipside, there are plenty of people who will recommend a product just because of the affiliate revenue they get, even if it’s a product they do not use and would never recommend to a friend.

Everyone needs to make their decision here.

These are some of the most common affiliate programs used by travel bloggers to generate an income.

1. Accommodation booking

Hotel booking engines are one of the easiest and most convenient affiliate programs there are.

Almost every blogger generates some income from hotel booking sites.

The most commonly used are:

• HotelsCombine which is a meta search engine, that is, they show you the prices on all the booking sites and then you click to book directly on that site. You can make money per lead (ie. every time someone clicks on a HC link on your site, or per booking made by those who click.
• Booking.com as the largest hotel booking site is a very popular choice. The downside is that they don’t have a cookie, that is, your reader has to read your article, click and book for you to earn. During th same transaction.
• Agoda is a popular booking affiliate used for those with a lot of content from Asia because it has high recognition there.
• Airbnb pays a referral fee like it does to any regular person but it is known to limit that to $5,000 at which point you will stop earning and may have to create a new account (you never heard that from us). You don’t get cash out here but Airbnb credit so you need to be a user of the site to benefit

2. Amazon affiliates

Similar to the stores I mentioned in the previous point but instead of setting up a separate front end store, you just sell products in your posts . There are two strategies here: contextual links, adding them when talking about a product in an article, or full-blown stores.

Contextual links are the most common. A good example is packing guides where you can include links to products on Amazon you are recommending to take on a trip. This may work well if you have an engaged audience and a specific niche.

A lot of blogs make significant revenue streams from having very optimised sites that review products.

Foe example, you could write a very optimised post that reviews all the best travel scarfs and recommends the best. Those that land on your page are looking to buy one so they have purchase intent.

Some bloggers set up specific Niche Sites that are primarily optimised just for affiliate sales of Amazon products, for example sites that are focused on camping equipment, or kayaks.

The advantage with Amazon is that they will give you a commission on anything your reader purchases after arriving at the store through your link, whether that was a product you recommended or not.

It is easy to get lost down the rabbit hole on Amazon because the site is so optimised to make a sale that you get bombarded with other things you didn’t know you needed and end up making a purchase. At which point,

You will get a commission.

There are also a few downsides to Amazon too.

If you do not have your audience in one of the main Amazon countries you may experience issues with the products you want to recommend not being shipped there.

This happens to me in Singapore where there is no local Amazon store and a lot of the sellers on Amazon do not ship to Singapore. Even though Amazon is global, you will need to set up a different account in each of the countries you want to advertise from.

In my case, I have UK, US and Spain because these are three countries where Amazon and my audience coincide. Amazon is only in Spain, UK, US, Mexico, India, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, China and Brazil.

Lastly, Amazon only makes payment via bank wire if you have a bank account in the country where the store is. So if your audience is from the US but you do not have a bank account there, the only way for you to get paid is with a cheque or using TransferWise account.

There are other sites that work similarly to Amazon like Lazada in Asia or eBay, but Amazon is the best known.

3. Travel Insurance

Another great affiliate program for travel bloggers or nomadic people in general is World Nomads .

They have a great rapport and customer reviews and I personally know a lot of bloggers who use them and have successfully and painlessly submitted and received claims.

They are highly recommended and have a very generous affiliate program, so hat makes them a great affiliate.

4. Affiliate portals and aggregators

Although I usually prefer to sign up directly with the affiliate program of the company I want to promote, there are aggregator portals for affiliate programs.

Some of the most popular ones are Share a Sale , Awin  (previously Affiliate Window) and Commission Junction (CJ).

A lot of individual companies don’t set up heir own programs instead using the services of one of these aggregators.

They work like Amazon in that they will provide you with the links to be added as contextual links and you can also include banner ads to go with it. They collect payment from the brands, aggregate them, and pay you.

The advantage of using an aggregator is that a lot of individual programs will have either geographical constraints or require commissions to reach a minimum thresholds to make payment (eg. $100 or $500).

With an aggregator you can achieve the minimum payment amount faster because you can accumulate sales from several companies, and they may offer a wider range of payment methods like Paypal or international bank transfers.

Additionally, their reports are usually much more detailed as this is their bread and butter, and focused on helping you optimise your links.

The downside?

Some of these programs are constantly removing and adding new companies so you may have added all the links from CJ in your article only for the company to leave CJ.

This has happened to me and it is incredibly frustrating so make sure that the links you add are from long standing companies.

Also, if you do not reach a minimum number of sales they may drop you from the program which is even more frustrating.

Lastly, make sure that the geographical reach of the program matches that of your audience’s (going back to my previous comment on the Amazon stores) so that you don’t waste your audience’s time by referring them to a site where they cannot buy what you told them was so great.

5. Teaching English abroad

Teaching English as a foreign language is great if you want to work and travel the world. 

A good way to leverage this experience and create a passive revenue stream is through affiliate sales of the companies who offer courses to become a certified English teacher abroad.

Alice from  Teacake Travels , has several articles on her blog about  teaching English abroad  including five articles on each of the countries she has taught English in and also a comprehensive guide to getting started.

She also helps people who email her directly with tips and advise. Every time somebody decides to purchase the course from MyTEFL she used and recommends, she earns a $35 commission.

The commission is usually higher than what you will get from other affiliate programs and once the guides are set up correctly and rank with the right keywords, they should convert better as well.

Donations and tip jar

This may sound either obvious or strange but you are providing a value to your audience, for free, and you are trying to make a living of all the possible ways except from the people who get value from your site.

Why not ask them to contribute?

For example, The Guardian does that at the end of each and every article and with a pop-up.

If what you are providing is unique, not easily and freely available elsewhere and you offer a genuine value your audience appreciates, implementing such donation boxes may help with paying the bills.

Like The Guardian, you may choose to appeal to people’s honesty and integrity and simply ask them to support you with or without a stipulated fee or recurrence in payment.

A lot of people think this is begging, tacky or cheap but you could also see it as a way to let people who enjoy your content support you. I have never seen a problem in asking for what you are worth.

Another interesting idea in this realm is what Jean from Traveling Honeybird does just that on her Patreon page . Patreon allows her to set different levels of contribution and she offers to send the subscribers her posts first and also to send postcards from her travels. She makes around USD100 a month this way.

Subscription services

Nowadays we are not used to paying for anything that comes from the online world but the word Freemium or Paywall still rings a bell for many companies who offer a range of online services for free and then have a subscription-based area only for members who may pay a small fee.

This is usually the case for newspapers and online magazines like The New York Times but may also include members-only reviews, offers, in-depth content or value that cannot be found elsewhere for free.

This is not an easy revenue model to master which is why it is not a typical element of a travel blogger salary, but there are some successful cases.

Here are the variants of this model:

• Membership – Where access to a reserved area is only accessible to monthly paying customers
• Freemium – Where a part of the content is free and part is paid for
• Micro-payments – Where you pay per piece

Selling photography

A lot of travel writers started off with strong photography backgrounds . Others, had to learn the hard way.

Travel writing is closely linked to appealing visual images and videos so it is logical that a lot of bloggers generate an income from selling them online.

Often, the photos that sell best online are not those which are more stunning. A bowl of apples or a landscape can sometimes do best.

A popular site tos ell your images is Shutterstock . As a photographer, you get a commission every time someone downloads your image.

The amounts are low, USD0.25 per photo downloaded, but this is basically a long-term passive income stream that will survive whether your blog is active or not.

The good news is that the more you sell the higher the individual payout per photo you will earn.

To join Shutterstock you will first need to apply by submitting your first 10 images and then wait for them to be approved before you can upload an unlimited amount. Every photo uploaded is approved by their staff so it may take some time but their tagging capabilities are intelligent and allow you to tag away quite quickly.

Bear in mind that photos need to be a minimum of 20 MG and that models in the shots need to sign release forms for the photo to be on sale – without the release form the photo will be rejected. Shutterstock also has a referral program (<- this is my link) where you earn USD0.04 per photo your referral sells for the first two years.  

Publish a book

Most bloggers are good at one thing: writing. Unless you are a social media maverick or a photographer/videographer, words are still the strongest weapon for most of us. Communicating a thought, conveying a message or telling a story is what we do best so it comes as no surprise that a lot of us have decided to put pen to paper in a real book in order to monetise our writing skills.

When it comes to writing a book there are two types of topics: related to the blog or unrelated to the blog. There are also two ways of selling it: on the blog or on third party stores.

If you are writing about a topic that is directly related to your blog, you will most likely consider marketing it to your audience through your channels.

If you are writing about a topic that is not directly related to your blog audience’s interests, you may choose to sell it primarily via third party stores. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Writing about a topic that is in your domain makes it easier to market it and it gives you an additional revenue stream to monetise the eyeballs on your site. However, when you write about a topic that is not related to your blog you are opening doors to new audiences.

Most bloggers will use a combination of own channels and third party distributors , harnessing the power of Amazon and other publishing networks’ reach with the engaged audience and higher profit of a direct sale.

What needs to be considered is that your publishing and marketing strategies will be different depending on the channel.

If you are thinking of self-publishing on Amazon , CreateSpace will be a useful resource to help you edit the book, design the cover, convert to a kindle-friendly version and create the paperback.

What is more, CreateSpace will also print the paperback version on demand so you do not need the budget to make a print run and pay for storage, a copy will be printed every time someone orders the book.

To illustrate, I wanted to share two different approaches to self-publishing books: a food travel guide series and a prolific, bite-sized writer.

Amber, from With Husband in Tow , wrote and published a book on Emilia Romagna’s food which she sees sales of every day. As her blog is primarily aimed at food and travel, this is a topic that is very much on point. To publish and review the book, she used PressBooks. She had used them before for her guide to Myanmar and is happy enough that she will use them again. Her book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks.

On the other hand, Ryan from Blogging from Paradise , has published over 120 books on blogging life and coaching on three storefronts: Amazon, Selz and iTunes.

His books are also available in audible version and are concise and specific. Instead of publishing in-depth books, Ryan focuses on getting out short, topic-based ebooks with a specific objective in mind, like helping you write your first ebook or overcoming writer’s block. He uses ACX to create and distribute the audibles for iTunes and Amazon.

They shared their experience writing and publishing ebooks with me.

For Amber, the process was not easy as it required an in-depth understanding of the region and detailed research on the ground . Her and her husband Eric spent six weeks in Emilia Romagna in an 18 month period, talking to local producers, restaurants and business owners, which they complemented with talks with the tourism board.

Ryan has taken the opposite approach. He focuses on creating short, 6,000-word ebooks that can be written and published quickly , even within the day. Over the years, Ryan has focused on honing his writing skills and is able to produce thousands of words per day. Depending on which type of book you are looking to write, your approach may be more like that of Amber or like Ryan’s.

But regardless of how you get to the final product, the promotion is what will determine whether you succeed or fail at creating a passive revenue stream. Amber and Eric agree that publishing an ebook is not a fully passive income stream as promotion is a time-consuming always-on effort. They leverage their social media reach as well as the local and national tourism boards looking to promote the area to reach relevant audiences. And are constantly promoting the book.

Ryan believes that the secret is to build the relationship with your readers through valuable free content on the blog so they keep coming back and are ready to buy your product when you have one. He uses his mailing list and social media channels to promote the ebooks.

I also decided to embark on publishing a book: 100 tri ps of a Lifetime . My first ebook was a compilation of my best trips of a lifetime most of which I have never taken as this was my curated travel wishlist.

I decided to self-publish it as a PDF sold on Gumroad on my website. My biggest learning is that writing a book is going to take much longer than expected . I also learned that books which contain formatting (tables, lists, etc.) as well as high quality images, are not suitable for Kindle so if you plan to sell mostly books through that channel, make sure your ebook is text based.

Update : I have also completed my second ebook to date which is titled  30 Proven Ways to Make Money Online with or without a Blog   and is a comprehensive look at how anyone can make money from the internet. It’s basically a more in-depth and detailed version of this article. So if you’re enjoying this post and you want a more structured way of making money online, give my new book a try. Get it on Amazon here .

Podcast or audio books

Like with books, podcasts are a good revenue stream you can monetise by selling them online or through your blog.

Although there are lots of free audiobooks and podcasts available, creating something engaging and unique could warrant a revenue stream . The advantage of a podcast is that the editing is minimal, significantly lower than with a book or a video so they are low cost to produce and distribute as they are light.

You can sell your podcasts on iTunes as well as on Amazon. Who knows, you may create the next Serial .

Active Income generation

This section includes the bread and butter of a blogger, the 9-5 part of the blogging job , even if that is only a couple of hours a day in the case of part-time bloggers. This is the part that does not get done if you are on holidays because it requires active involvement and effort.

Just like with passive income, you may generate active income from the blog or from other sources.

Destination Marketing (USD500+)

Directly promoting a destination , instead of a property or hotel, is called destination marketing. A destination can be promoted via:

• Group set trips: These can also be called Press Trip and are usually organised by either the Tourism Board or a Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) who represents them. They tend to come on set dates and with listed deliverables and include a group of influencers, sometimes both from online and traditional print media
• Individual trips : Where the campaign is tailored-made for the blogger

Although most trips organised by tourism boards and the DMOs who represent them tend to be free, they rarely include daily fees or payment for the services. However, if you pitch your idea and are a good fit, you might be able to command a marketing fee for the work.

The Crowded Planet draws most of their income from destination marketing campaigns charging anything from USD1,000 for a weekend trip to USD5,000 with photography and videography deliverables. A good example is their Stopover Finland campaign with Finnair and Visit Finland. These campaigns are usually integrated and cross-channel and may include photography, videography and articles as well as social media.

Marketing campaigns for brands

As opposed to a destination, when a campaign is made for a specific brand, they are the focus. A destination may also be included as part of the campaign, but the main promotional effort is devoted to the brand.

Marketing campaigns for brands are specific to the blog’s audience, focus and the brand’s objectives . They may include anything from articles reviewing the property to social media campaigns or even the sale of photography or videography services. In this case, bloggers will define their fees based on either daily rates or detailed rack rates per service. The preference is entirely personal.

I prefer to charge daily rates including a type of coverage because I will price the inclusions per day depending on my equivalent daily rate. My rates can be anything from USD300 to USD700 depending on what is included in the package. I may then price additional services like photography or video editing on top as additional costs.

My friend Scott Eddy makes a full time living with this . He promotes luxury hotels, airlines, wineries and destinations on fully comped extended trips including a daily rate. Most of his coverage will be on social media where he has a combined 1,4 million followers with the biggest portion coming from Twitter where he has 1,1 million. He has been named one of the most influential people on travel on the platform and so he can command high daily rates reaching up to USD1,500.

Looking through his feed you can easily see the campaigns he works on. I particularly like the Star Alliance Round the World campaign where he went on a wine and luxury themed round the world trip with the Star Alliance airline partners.

Influencer Events

Like celebrities, some bloggers also make money from making appearances at events .

Although this is not a very common revenue stream , it is possible in cases of people who promote specific destinations and are based there. For nomadic travelers with global audiences, this is more difficult. I have been invited to numerous events in Singapore because of my Singapore-focused blog, Singapore n Beyond .

If you are a highly regarded and very engaged influencer with an audience that truly listens to your opinions you may be able to command a fee to attend certain events. I have been told that Lady Iron Chef, from Singapore, will do so. He (it is actually a man) has one of the most highly engaged audiences I have ever seen and so when they promote a place the business feels it straightaway and people come queueing.

Brand ambassadorship (The sky’s the limit!)

Brand ambassadorships are a more comprehensive form of influencer marketing . The ambassador represents the brand in several fronts and may also provide content for the brand to reuse. Each ambassadorship is different and will include some elements or other.

Cacinda, from Points and Travel , has acted as ambassador to several brands such as Travelocity , Yahoo Travel, Delsey Luggage , Rocky Mountaineer , TripAdvisor , Club Carlson or FlipBoard .

You can click on the links for an example of the work she does. She tells me that each contract varies significantly based on what the brand wants.

S ometimes, she provides content for the brand including photography or write-ups for their sites. Other times, she has represented them at events.

Because the conditions and the work varies significantly, so does the pay. From some she gets free products whereas others can pay up to USD40,000 annually and include other perks.

Brand ambassadorships are a relatively new income stream for bloggers and a very nascent strategy for brands looking to tap into the potential of influencer marketing without the hefty tag of a celebrity.

Finding them is not easy as there aren’t established channels for this. Cacinda has found hers though Facebook forums, Craigslist, and Classified Ads but the largest source is word of mouth. Once her status started to become more visible, it was easier to find and successfully win the contracts.

Social media campaigns (USD150+)

Social media campaigns are the most widely spread of all the online marketing campaigns . They have existed for some time and even the social media platforms have finally added tools and ways to make these collaborations smooth (even if that often means that you will have to advertise a campaign to get any reach).

Once your presence and vanity numbers reach a certain level , you will start receiving offers from brands. The certain level may vary depending on the niche you are in and the fit with the brand. If you are a perfect fit, have a small but engaged audience and a very specific segment, you may be able to monetise your channel early.

Lots of large social media celebrities make a full time living off this even without any other online presence. There are several tools to calculate your approximate fees based on reach and engagement but, ultimately, it will come down to your ability to negotiate.

If you are looking to proactively reach out to brands or to expand your outreach efforts beyond the offers you receive, there are dozens of influencer marketing platforms which aim to do just that: connecting brands with influencers.

There, brands are able to post offers and get influencers to apply or directly shortlist influencers they are interested to work with and send them a personalised offer. I have made the most money from these platforms.

1. Social media sponsored posts (USD100+)

Social media sponsored posts are the most basic of all the brand collaborations .

A brand wants you to promote them with a video or a photo on your channels and will pay you to do so. Some brands will also include a budget for advertising so they reach more of your audience. The post may be provided by the brands (like this campaign I did with Avoya ) or they may give you the chance to come up with the post yourself in keeping with your personality, brand and tone.

2. Twitter chats (USD250+)

Some bloggers with large Twitter reach make money hosting twitter chats. If you have a good following and you co-host it with another Twitter user you could be making it a weekly or monthly activity that you get a new sponsor to pay for. Twitter chats are usually themed, they have a maximum of 10 questions which are numbered (and so are the answers) and a hashtag you can follow.

Some of the longest running and largest Twitter chats you can have a look at for reference are:

• #TTOT (Travel Talk on Twitter) which uses the hashtag #ttot hosted by Travel Dudes (270k+ followers) and Roni Weiss (founder of TravFest and other travel companies) on Tuesday at 9:30am/pm GMT
• #RTWChat hosted by BootsnAll on Tuesday at 3:30pm PST
• #TL_Chat hosted by Travel + Leisure on Tuesday at 2pm ET

3. Product placements (USD150+)

Mostly common for platforms like Instagram or Pinterest , which are more visual, product placements are the online world version of the TV product placement of your childhood.

Some Instagram influencers can charge up to USD1,000 just for one photo (celebrities like the Kardashians charge more than USD200k for a photo!) where the product in question is mentioned . The fees vary vastly depending on your reach but someone with 20,000 followers could easily command USD150-250 per photo and much more if it is a video.

Barbara, from Jet-Settera , has thousands of followers on Instagram and occasionally posts photos for brand collaborations. She started to work with brands when she reached 25k followers and the work has kept coming. In order to determine her prices she uses Influencer Marketing Hub’s Instagram calculator . To find opportunities she signed up to influencer marketing sites.

Like Barbara, you should remember to indicate when a post is sponsored – i.e. someone paid you do it. If it is something you genuinely love and recommend, studies prove that you will get the reach and engagement anyway so play fair.

4. Social media take overs (USD150+)

Another way of monetising your online influence is by taking over social media channels of other brands.

As a brand, it is difficult to keep generating new and original content . Some brands resort to reporting the content from their customers and some of them have started to engage with influencers to let them take over their online social media channels and publish their own content.

Usually, the take overs will also include cross-promotion on their personal channels so the brand gets both the content, the endorsement and the reach out to the blogger’s social media followers.

Social media take overs usually involve little extra effort on top of the regular coverage you would provide on a given campaign so they are a great added revenue.

On the downside , the administrative part of it may require defining the details as the brand is unlikely going to give the login details to their social media channels so you either get a phone they provide that is logged in already or send your posts and hashtags to a contact person who posts them as if he or she was you, in the case of Instagram or Twitter.

Social media take overs are usually charged on a daily fee based on deliverables specifying the number and angle of each post. If you include sharing on your own channels as well then you should adjust your fee based on your social media promotion rates as well.

5. Contests on social media (USD150+)

Another way in which you can monetise your reach is by hosting a giveaway with a brand willing to reach your audience.

Giveaways differ from direct promotion in that there is something in it for the audience too. People are very used to giveaways and the noise makes it hard to get traction unless what you are giving away is of very high value, very relevant to your audience and they have a high chance of winning.

Giveaways are usually charged in bulk with a list of services which detail the number of posts for promotion, the costs of running the giveaway (I always use WooBox) and whether there are any associated articles on the blog linked to it.

Advertorial posts (USD100 – USD1,000)

This is perhaps the most traditional way of advertising.

Advertorial posts are the online version of the print magazines and newspapers’ ads . Typically, advertorials will include a write up about a brand along with a review and relevant information.

Most bloggers provide advertorial services that can start at USD50 depending on the size, reach and audience of the blog. 

Advertorial posts help brands with awareness. As a blogger, you should not be expected to endorse the service or product and can openly describe it, or you can test the product or service and provide an honest and open review of its pros and cons. I do some of these and charge USD450 per post including social media and full disclosure to my readers. 

As these are sponsored posts that a brand paid for, the links must be marked “No follow” in the HTML code. This is so that it aligns with Google’s guidelines for SEO and Search results. By marking them “No Follow” you are telling Google that you have been paid to write the post.

This is important, as Expedia found out when Google penalised it and it disappeared from the search results . However, brands will insist that they want “Do follow” links because this is one of the main reasons they are paying for a sponsored post. This is an ongoing battle in the online publishing world. If you decide to leave the links “Do follow” and take the risk because it is the prerequisite for the brand, do so understanding the risks.

Link building (USD100 – USD1,000)

I make a point to differentiate the sponsored posts from the pure link building strategy, especially when talking to brands about their Influencer Marketing efforts, because the objectives are very different.

Link building is perhaps the most talked about concept in online marketing , together with SEO, which is closely related.

Everything in the digital world starts with driving traffic to your blog. Once you have the traffic, it is easier to monetise a blog. The best way to grow the traffic to your site is through organic ways. That is, by appearing top on the Google search results page when somebody is looking for information.

As Google is very customer oriented, it shows search results based on what it believes will give you the best answer to your question. And this accuracy and relevance is determined by millions of aspects in Google’s algorithm among which is how knowledgeable you are on the topic, something which we call Authority.

For example, if your website talks exclusively about how to boil an egg in New York City it will likely have a lot of people linking to it when they talk about boiling eggs. Because it is exclusively devoted to the subject and a lot of external websites have linked to it, every time somebody living in NYC searches “How to boil an egg” the chances of the egg boiling site appearing at the top of the search results page are high because Google will consider you an authority on egg boiling.

In order to tell Google that you are an authority on your subject , your site needs to be about the topic being searched for and you need to have a lot of inbound links (links to other articles on your site) because that is considered an endorsement by Google. A lot of endorsements means higher authority.

By now you realised why brands would pay to have links pointing to their websites and this is what they are paying for when they are buying a link. Sometimes they do not really care where the link is and they might be happy to include it in an existing post, but they will be keen to decide the text where the link is placed. In this case, the only value of a link is in the endorsement hence the link will be “Do follow”. A “No Follow” link is of no value, so wanting to disclose this is probably a deal-breaker for them.

Email marketing (USD500+)

In my opinion, Email marketing is making a comeback .

After years of near-death, email marketing seems to be reviving into one of the higher return rates there is. However, building a marketing list is tough , takes time and a lot of consistency and perseverance. Once you have it, if it is an engaged and targeted audience, it can be a source of income both as an advertising channel, like social media, or as a way to upsell and promote your products or services further.

Those with a valuable audience will be able to monetise this in very high figures given the low return that other social media channels produce as a result of their algorithms. But be careful not to alienate your audience with newsletters filled with ads or irrelevant content or they may unsubscribe.

Some good examples of monetisation of this channel can be found in the traditional media publications which had a relevant base of subscribers and are now monetising it by sending them email offers. Conde Nast will send you daily emails where they promote new and old content and regularly send sponsored newsletters. So will DestinAsian.

Travel planning services (USD50+ per session)

I have decided to include this in the section that is related to a blog, but you could also offer this service standalone. However, having a front store that shows your knowledge on a destination is the best business card you can have.

One of the most common things travel bloggers get asked for (after how do you make money!) is help with organising a trip . As a result, some bloggers have started offering trip planning services for the destinations they know well or live in. There have also been a number of startups that focused on brokering this service.

Backpacker Banter set up two travel booking services: Epic Gap Year focused on surf, dive, snow and adventure and RTW Backpackers, focused on travel in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Southeast Asia.

Freelance remote work

Most bloggers will utilise their skills in a variety of ways to freelance, these are some of the most common freelance opportunities.

1. Article writing (USD50 – USD800)

Article writing can take the shape of a ghostwriting assignment or a submission as a contributing author to well-established sites who pay writers for their work.

I have written for BBC Travel before and they pay anything from USD400 to USD800 per piece and you do get authorship . They are very strict in their editing though, so for the first few times you will spend a lot of time revisiting the piece.

There are a number of sites that provide writing opportunities. The most common ones are:

• Upwork – a freelancing website with all manners of jobs not just writing. The issue here is that competition is fierce so price becomes the decision factor as there are people willing to do it for less and the jobs are assigned based on bidding
• Fiverr – everything for USD5 but you can also list jobs for more than that, the rates are set by you and you can choose to list a 100 word post for USD5
• CopyPress – a well known and used writing site which will send you jobs after you have been approved. To be approved you must pass a test. They are known to pay late
• ProBlogger – its job board is full of remote jobs including writing and other
• BloggerPro Jobs – which is a job board, also has other opportunities beyond writing
• Freelance writing jobs – consolidates job opportunities from other sites like Indeed and Craigslist plus adds its own
• Guru – specializes in, well, gurus, so you need to pass a test and interviews on the skill you want to offer services in then you get paid better rates
• Matador network Marketplace is always open to submissions that are short and listicle format so they are quick to write. However, they pay a flat fee of SGD50 so unless you can write one an hour it is not such good pay. You need to be a student of one of their programs to have access to these opportunities. This is also a great place to find other writing opportunities for travel media companies that pay well

Some bloggers make several thousands of dollars a month from writing. It is all about having the right content and contacts with the publishers who pay the best and then making sure to minimise the editing loops after that. If you are able to score writing opportunities at USD250 for a 1,000 word post (that is USD0.25 per word), then you need to produce one a day to make USD5,000 a month.

2. Translation work

Some bilingual bloggers have sites on two languages and sell their translation services online. Some of the sites listed above also advertise translation jobs. Guru, for example, will offer good rates for experienced translators. 

3. Copyediting and proofreading (USD15+ for 500 words)

The same as above. Most of the writing sites also offer copywriting services as this is a very similar skill. Copyediting is usually low priced quick work, unless the writing is terrible, in which case you might have to get very involved in correcting it.

Before I hired a full time content manager for the site I used a company to do the copyediting for me and I paid a monthly fee to review all the articles that I was publishing.

The best way to find such opportunities is to go directly to the publishers because intermediaries are a sure way to reduce prices. Most companies needing copywriting will need it on an ongoing basis (like me) so aiming for that ensures a regular revenue stream with the added flexibility of being able to do your work whenever and wherever.

4. Video and Photo editing (USD1-10 per photo)

Many of the freelancer sites will also sell photo and video editing services . I have in the past used Fiverr for photo editing. The good thing in this case is that you can showcase your skill easily if you already have a blog with a photography portfolio.

If you are a videographer you can easily charge anything upwards of USD250 for a 1min video editing job. Your contact list is a better way of selling this service as the skill is even more relevant than with photography so referrals and business colleagues (or other bloggers) who may be looking for such services will be more inclined to go with someone whose work they like and follow. Freelancing sites are a good place to list your services.

5. Graphic design (USD500+ for a logo)

A lot of bloggers were graphic designers in a past life and still make a living from offering this service to others.

Although there are a lot of sites (namely the ones in point 1 above) who also list graphic design jobs, the best way to get opportunities is to network in the Blogosphere as a lot of bloggers will eventually need this service and referrals are the best way to grow in these circles.

If you go to Fiverr there are hundreds of them offering anything for SGD5 so it is not a good place to make a decent living.

Content Creation (USD120+)

Another way of utilizing your skills is to create content for destination marketing organization (DMOs) and companies.

This goes beyond just the written word and may include image and video. To maintain a travel blog, you always need fresh content which means you are creating material all the time. You can then use these enhanced content creation skills to generate material for other people.

Inma from A World to Travel says that once you have developed your own style, understand the workflow and are ready to keep learning and in the know; you might as well create content for others. As you are traveling to a destination or using some products already, it could be beneficial to pitch some content to be published through other companies.

There are a variety of factors determining what you can charge for these services , such as your experience, the hours you will be putting in, the equipment you might need to make it happen, the deadline and the actual value you are providing.

Inma charges upward of USD120 per day, but this will grow depending on the factors mentioned above. The most important part of content creation is the quality that you provide. As the content will be broadcast somewhere else than your website and social media networks, your quality needs to be top notch if you’d like to generate content frequently. If the content you produce has good quality, no matter how big your blog is, you can make a significant amount of money if you put yourself out there.

Here’s a video A World to Travel did for Aptece  in  2014 for a great example.

Mentoring of other bloggers (USD50 per hour)

Some bloggers get asked for help planning trips. Others, like me, get asked for coaching on the business of blogging .

Consulting services in the wide sense of the word, are a great revenue stream, especially once you have developed the base materials and knowledge from where to pick and choose the areas that each client needs the most help on.

It will take time to set it up the first time around, but then the additional production cost with every new client will be marginally lower and you will learn and improve the materials with every consultation.

If you are good at what you do and you have done it successfully you are the best banner sales ad for yourself . A lot of people ask me about tips for success and I offer such support on an hourly fee basis.

There are weeks when I spend 2-3h with different people sharing things that worked for me, other weeks I spend no time as I am traveling and have no time. I do not proactively market this so people approach me in an organic manner. Many are interested in juggling a corporate job with a profitable blog. I had a full time job and my two blogs for 3,5 years before going full time in February 2018 so I have a lot of experience in trial and error.

Some bloggers have formalised this, like Trisha from PS I’m On My Way who offers travel coaching services .

She covers areas like digital nomad life, volunteering, itinerary planning and professional blogging and charges hourly rates between USD50 and USD175. Her services are so popular that all the slots she makes available every week are quickly filled up. Her success is the result of building a strong relationship with her readers, who she interacts with on a regular basis and constantly offers value for free. When they need her, she is there.

Ryan, from Blogging from Paradise , has also branched into live blogging coaching. He offers one-on-one hour-long sessions for USD200 or an 8-week package including eight sessions of one hour and unlimited email support. If you are only interested in the advice part but already know your way around, Ryan offers a comprehensive report to help customers build their blog successfully for USD1,000.

Your hourly rates can be anything you set it up for, going back to my initial statement, so be sure to charge what makes sense to you. Something to consider is the local timezone of your audience and that of your own, as these coaching sessions tend to be in real-time.

Blogging retreats (USD1,000+)

For those looking to offer this coaching in a more structured manner , the idea of a blogging retreat may be appealing.

Here, the teaching happens in a group environment in a physical location and for a duration so learning is more intense and concentrated. There are lots of retreats that are educationally focused and some have sprung up to offer blogging coaching either to those looking to start up or to those looking to take their businesses to the next level.

Digital Marketing Agencies – Consulting to brands (USD1,000+)

The same way you can coach bloggers you can consult companies in digital marketing. The type of consulting is different because their objectives are different but a lot of hospitality brands have not yet fully landed in the digital world and need a lot of help, sometimes just to start up.

Consulting to brands tends to be focused on social media where a blogger is strongest and has proven success but it can also be more integrated and look into online or influencer marketing and its various aspects. At the core, a consulting project will answer a problem that a brand has so you just need to decide where your expertise is and where you can help.

Some topics that I have engaged with brands on which will hopefully stir your imagination:

• Startups looking to launch their social media presence and needing help to set off
• Brands looking to work with influencers and not knowing where to start
• Improving social media presence and driving more traffic
• Content strategy: how to generate, promote and convert content
• Designing and implementing marketing campaigns
• Strategies to target a specific audience (i.e. Millennials)
• Improving visibility and SEO

I consult to brands on a regular basis. Sometimes, this is as a follow up to a campaign, sometimes it is the starter for a campaign. After you have showed you know what social media and influencer marketing is, a brand will be keen to test out your knowledge and expertise with your audience , if you fall in their segment.

Consulting services can be charged at varying prices because they are normally tailor-made for the client. Usually, the project is scoped for focus and duration, then priced based on team and daily rates.

I was a management consultant for eight years (this is how I got to travel the world on a weekly basis) so I have extensive experience in consulting.

Consulting fees are usually charged either by the day or by the hour . More senior people or experts who may only come for the project at certain times are charged by the hour whereas the core project team is charged by the day. The more senior a consultant, the higher the daily rate he/she commands.

As projects bloggers work on are sometimes part-time and with a very narrow scope, the price can be set based on deliverables instead , although you will be calculating your effective hourly rate in the background to make sure it is a profitable project for you without a high opportunity cost – i.e. you could not be using your time to do something with a higher hourly rate instead. Either way, your consulting proposal should have a problem statement and a suggested approach and end with credentials and fees.

Sarah, from Deep Blue Digital Marketing , quit her job to travel the world and shared her experiences at Gluten-free Travellers while continuing to freelance as a digital marketing expert through sites like Upwork.

She realised there was a large opportunity to offer these services in a structured manner so she set up her digital marketing agency to offer copywriting, web design and development, SEO, social media, content creation, influencer marketing, email marketing, Facebook ads/lead generation and Google Adwords among other.

Sarah charges a monthly fee starting at AUD1,000 and including some of the services above which she delivers through a roster of freelancers who are experts in their domain. She takes care of content writing for Rad Season, Instagram marketing for Go Real Escapes, SEO work for Scuba Shane Diving and digital marketing strategy for One Life Adventures. She has found her clients via SEO, Facebook ads, email marketing, networking, word of mouth, referrals and LinkedIn.

Speaking arrangements (USD500+)

Some bloggers have made a name for themselves in a specific area and are able to command a speaking fee at conferences . In the travel world, most conferences are unpaid. But there are opportunities to speak about your niche if you have managed to create a public persona who has a unique skill others will be interested to hear about. The best way to get these opportunities is to start practising at conferences which may be free. Once you have a few under your belt choose a topic that you can be an expert in and pitch to get paid for conferences.

A good example is Scott Eddy who has built a strong social media brand, especially on Twitter, and is regularly speaking about this. Here is a sample of his speaking. For those looking to offer this coaching in a more structured manner, the idea of a blogging retreat may be appealing. Here, the teaching happens in a group environment in a physical location and for a duration so learning is more intense and concentrated. There are lots of retreats that are educationally focused and some have sprung up to offer blogging coaching either to those looking to start up or to those looking to take their businesses to the next level.

Leading or hosting tours (USD5,000+)

A few of the large travel bloggers have moved to the real world by leading tours to some of their favorite places. One that I love is Wandering Earl , one of the best known and longest traveling bloggers. He has been offering tours since 2013 as a response to his audience asking for it . In 2017 he will offer 10 trips. He also offers private planning, though I’m not sure he would be leading those. Although his travel style is that of budget, his trips are not cheap, they start at USD 2,100 and above for places like India or Romania.

Shane from The Travel Camel , has also started to lead tours with the help of local travel agencies . He would design the itinerary in conjunction with a tour company and market it via his channels. Traveling with him means exploring a country he has been to before with the extra knowledge and anecdotes of someone as well-traveled as he is.

I have been approached by several brands to lead tours as well. If you have the right audience and niche, this can be a very successful revenue stream. You get to travel to a destination for free, all expenses paid, make additional revenue from the commission on each customer and the brand gets your endorsement and your marketing power.

Localised tour sales

Some travel bloggers are static. They have chosen a locale and have specialised in that destination . As a result, they are able to forge close ties with local travel companies and broker bookings of their tours or services. My Tan Feet is a good example of that. They have a discount page where you can book a lot of the local Costa Rican tours and they get a commission from that. Their readers also get a discount so it is win-win for everyone.

This is only possible if you know a place so well that you can develop these relationships as a lot of them might require manual booking in the back end rather than directly connecting to the booking sites of the local tour companies. On the flip side, your commission on these tends to be higher than with any other passive income stream like Amazon or affiliate marketing because you are able to negotiate them directly with companies who don’t have access to affiliates.

Online courses or webinars (USD100+)

I talked about the fact that passive income is the ultimate objective to most.

The second most important objective is that of scalable revenue . That is, revenue that you can make with low additional marginal cost. Passive and scalable revenue streams are the panacea for any blogger.

Webinars and online courses are some of those. Once you have created the materials, you only need to tweak them minimally to re-sell them again. There are different types of online courses :

The best ones are those on demand because you do not need to be there for them to happen. Revenues come in passively. However, live courses tend to be the most successful ones because the audience has the chance to ask questions.

Having social reach and a mailing list is the starting point to marketing these courses.  But you can also promote these courses without any reach if you are good at getting the word out there and you have enough referrals and endorsements. Some of the largest online marketers will have such courses. In the travel blogging world, some of the most popular courses are related to starting a travel blogging business or taking yours to the next level.

Nomadic Matt , the internet’s largest travel blog, started the Super Star Blogging online school for bloggers . He has courses on starting a blog, photography, videography and taking your blog to the next level.

But you don’t have to be the largest travel blog to make a living out of this revenue stream. Lots of smaller bloggers have done so with niche and segmented approaches. If you are good at a specific skill, you can create webinars or courses on that one specifically. If you want some experience and also practice, you can offer a free webinar on Travel Massive’s platform and test the waters for your content then move it in-house and sell it to your audience.

There are also bloggers who have created online conferences. Meg and Tom from Food, Fun, Travel did that with their Travel Blog Summit where they aired the summit over two days with speakers from all domains and then put the course online for anyone to buy it. In their case, the content wasn’t even their own but created by the speakers they hired, in a true conference style.

Host or presenter

Some bloggers make a full time living out of hosting travel shows for brands .

On a campaign with Accor and Scoot I met Boy Eats World mum and kid. Raffles, the boy, is a TV host for Accor hotels in-room TV travel channel and has a crew following him on his trips and recording the episodes. Talk about being a celebrity. Of course, he has a personality that is incredible for a kid his age, but there are other bloggers like Fly with Maggie who have also done it. She hosts her own Chinese travel show and is a bilingual vlogger having also hosted programs on other channels.

Influencer Marketing or Blogger outreach (USD20+ per link placed)

Similar to consulting services, some bloggers have started offering outreach and influencer marketing services to brands .

It probably started with a conversation with a brand they approached who was keen to getting more bloggers come stay with them. Thanks to the connections and the tight knit community of bloggers, sourcing others for brand campaigns is easy.

A blogger may not have the tools and data that an influencer marketing company has, but the accumulated knowledge based on experience, pedigree and professionalism observed through hours reading threads and seeing people behave are hard to codify in an algorithm.

In this case, outreach campaigns can be for sponsored posts or contextual links where the blogger takes a cut for sourcing other sites willing to host the links.

You may wonder “Why don’t brands do that themselves?” From years of interacting with brands you realise that most don’t even know where to start and that, what may seem trivial and obvious to a blogger, is an opaque world to brands.

This revenue stream can be unofficial and informal or it can evolve into a full fledged social media management company.

Social media management (USD150 – USD1,000)

If the blogger outreach efforts work and you start to devote more and more time to this you may find yourself getting wider scope requests from clients and offering social media management services may make sense. This is the case for many bloggers who take care of social media accounts of other brands formally or informally, and may or may not couple this with integrated online marketing companies.

For example, Love and Road have been managing social media accounts of hotels and brands for a few years. The work here may come from previous campaigns with brands or from directly pitching to those who may benefit the most from professional help. They change monthly fees including a certain number of posts and social media channels and get the content from the brands themselves.

Transitioning out of the blogging life

Although many bloggers go from regular jobs to a digital nomadic life, a few are also going back .

This is the case for Mark Anthony and Camille, both from the Philippines, who embarked on an 18-month honeymoon they documented at 365 Travel Dates only to return to the Philippines and put all their experience to work by building a tented glamping camp in Palawan .

The Birdhouse El Nido is where they set up shop and settled down. However, the learnings and experiences they gathered traveling across the world and talking to hoteliers has helped them make sure their beautiful home is permanently fully booked with happy guests.

Because a life on the road is not always a permanent solution but an adventure we embark on to finally find ourselves.

Are you a digital nomad or blogger? Do you have experience on any of the above revenue streams or perhaps a different one? Share it with us!

Read further : You might also be interested in my 2019 Professional Content Creator Survey which shows exactly what a content creator does and how they work, busted the myth that they are all sipping cocktails on the beach.  

Pin this 28 ways to make money travel blogging post to your #digitalnomad Pinterest boards. It’s going to help you a bunch!

• Check if you need a visa, get help processing it at iVisa .
• Never ever leave without travel insurance. Get affordable coverage from World Nomads or long term insurance from Safety Wing .
• I find all of my flights on KAYAK . Check their Deals section too.
• Search for all your transportation between destinations on the trusted travel booking platform Bookaway .
• I book all my day trips and tours via GetYourGuide , they are the best and their tours are refundable up to 24h in advance.
• Get USD35 off your first booking with Airbnb .
• Compare hotels EVERYWHERE at HotelsCombined and book with Booking.com .
• Compare car rental prices at Rentalcars.com

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How to Become a Travel Blogger and Make Money in 2024

Wondering how travel bloggers make money?

As a profitable travel blogger — I made $272,175 from blogging in 2022 — this article shines a light on how to make money as a travel blogger.

There are 10 common ways to make money travel blogging, but the most successful travel bloggers also think outside the box.

👩‍💻 If you’re serious about making money from a travel blog, I highly recommend taking a course! Head here for info on the best travel blogging courses . If you want to read a full review about the best one I’ve done, head here .

But, Isn’t blogging dead? That’s something I see come up a lot, and a question you may have as well.

I am personally making over $40K+ per month ( click here to see how) , and I know plenty of other travel bloggers making that and even more — so if blogging is dead, we didn’t get the memo 🤷‍♀️ 

Now, plenty of travel bloggers don’t have a monetization plan for their blog, and therefore, don’t make money.

Unfortunately, this is the vast majority of travel bloggers. In short, if you don’t have a plan to use proven strategies to make money blogging, you likely won’t. 

Ready to discover how to make money as a travel blogger? Let’s get to it!

How to Become a Travel Blogger and Make Money

How to become a travel blogger.

Wondering, How to start travel blogging?

The first question to consider is: Do you want to make money with your travel blog, or will this be a hobby blog?

If you have no interest in making money, starting a new travel blog is easy! If you want to make money blogging, that’s more involved.

How to Start a Travel Blog

Easy — You can start a blog from home with a free Blogger account right now!

All you need is a travel blog name (you’ll also want to take the corresponding handles on any social media channels you use). Next, start sharing your best travel tips, epic stories and more — and you have a travel blog.

How to Start a Money-Making Blog

Like most things, I believe there’s a right way , and a wrong way to start becoming a travel blogger.

If you want to make your own travel blog to start earning money, I highly suggest investing in a travel blogging course with step-by-step instructions, so you start it off right.

The best blogging course I’ve done is 👉 Scale Your Travel Blog to Six Figures — and I’ve been in quite a few courses .

There is a system to travel blogging success, and either know the system, or you don’t.

You’re either writing SEO-optimized content with high volume, low competition keywords that will rank on Page 1 of Google, or no one will ever see your content. In fact, stats say only 25% of users even go to Page 2 of Google.

Through travel blogging courses, I learned that I need to write the articles you want to read, and not just the articles I want to write.

I learned how to get my content on Page 1 of Google with search engine optimization (SEO) — in fact, that’s likely how you found this article!

The way I see it, you can spend time, or you can spend money.

You can either spend your time trying to find good free content, which could take years and still not pan out, or you can pay a professional to learn what they’re doing, so you can simply replicate their success.

Ready to invest in a travel blogging course? 👉 Head here to see the best ones!

How to Make Money From a Travel Blog

If you’re wondering how to make money with a travel blog , there are really countless ways.

You can pursue the ones that work best for your blog and your ideal audience, but whatever income streams you go after, know that multiple income streams are essential for success.

Below, I will show you 10 common ways to make money from a travel blog — but they by no means represent the only ways to make money blogging about travel.

1. Ads On Your Site

Did you notice the advertising on my site? Those ads account for 45% of my income right now.

The coolest thing about them is they are completely passive income, meaning as I sleep, I still earn money from the ads simply being on my site.

Yep: I do nothing, and collect money. There are few better feelings in the world than this!

To have ads on your site, you’ll need to sign on with an ad management company. Below, I will compare the six companies that can place ads on your site.

1. Mediavine

Among bloggers, many consider Mediavine and AdThrive (#2 on the list) the best because they pay the most and have great customer service.

To apply for Mediavine, you need 50,000 sessions per month (50K people visiting your site in a 30 day period), which is a lot.

🤑 How much I make on Mediavine: About $9,000+ USD per month with 250,000 monthly page views and mostly U.S. traffic (U.S. traffic pays the most).

When you first start out travel blogging, 50,000 seems impossible. As a new blogger, I also thought it was impossible, but eventually, I got there!

Now, it was a lot of hard work, and I invested in travel blogging courses so I could get on Mediavine fast.

On a personal note, before I was on Mediavine, I was with SHE Media (#3 on the list).

The month I switched, I 6X’ed my ad income going from SHE Media to Mediavine — though from what I hear, most bloggers only double or triple their ad revenue doing the same.

2. AdThrive

Besides Mediavine, other top-level travel blogs that make money are on AdThrive .

To apply, you’ll need 100,000 page views in a 30 day period. This means that in total, the visitors to your site have visited a total of 100,000 separate pages on your site.

3. SHE Media

For bloggers with less traffic, there’s SHE Media . They say you need 20,000 monthly sessions to apply, though some bloggers get approved with less.

The thing many dislike about SHE is they require you sign a one-year contract, something no other company asks for.

I was with SHE Media for about four months in late-2021. If you read other reviews of SHE Media, you’ll see that most bloggers say their payments are good, but their customer service is hit or miss.

I completely agree with the majority of this — that overall SHE wasn’t terrible, and they also weren’t great.

🤑 How much I made on SHE Media: About $800 USD per month with 30,000 monthly page views and mostly U.S. traffic (U.S. traffic pays the most).

4. Monumetric

For bloggers with less traffic, Monumetric only requires 10,000 monthly sessions.

The thing many dislike about Monumetric is they require a $100 USD set up fee to put the ads on your site, something no other company asks for.

Before SHE Media, I was on Ezoic . At the time, they required 10,000 monthly sessions, but now have no traffic requirement — so you can join Ezoic with basically no traffic.

Now, the more traffic you get, the more you make, so don’t expect much of a payout with low traffic.

While all ads on your site will slow down your website speed, Ezoic is known as the worst with this.

They have tried to make strides in this area with their Leap tool, but if you look through travel blogging forums, you’ll see a generally anti-Ezoic sentiment.

I was on Ezoic for about four months in early-2021, and have nothing good to say about this company. They offered basically nothing in the way of service, and it took me a few weeks to figure out (on my own) how to get ads set up.

🤑 How much I made on Ezoic: About $185 USD per month with 10,000 monthly page views and mostly U.S. traffic (U.S. traffic pays the most).

6. Google AdSense

Like Ezoic, there is no traffic requirement with Google AdSense . From what I understand, you make a few dollars a day, at most.

If you’re considering Ezoic vs AdSense, it seems you’d definitely make more with Ezoic — though I in no way recommend them.

2. Affiliate Marketing

First off, What is affiliate marketing? If you’ve ever recommended a product, restaurant, great book, or anything to another person, you’ve actually done affiliate marketing without knowing it. 

Affiliate marketing is when I recommend hotels, tours, rental car companies, travel gear, etc., on my website.

I’ll then insert what are called affiliate links that go to these products, places or services, and when someone buys anything through my affiliate link, I make a commission.

You can learn more about all this in my How to Find Affiliate Marketing Keywords Class .

🏆 Best Affiliate Marketing Networks

Most travel bloggers are signed up with a few affiliate networks that make sense for your niche. Head here for a list of the 50+ best affiliate marketing networks for travel bloggers .

Since my blog only covers Mexico, you’ll find Mexico tours, Mexico hotels, Mexico rental cars and products for traveling to Mexico.

• Best Car Rental Affiliate: Discover Cars
• Best Travel Insurance Affiliates: SafetyWing (I used to recommend World Nomads, but no longer do)
• Best Hotels Affiliate: Booking.com , Expedia and Hotels.com
• Best Home Rental Affiliate: VRBO (Airbnb doesn’t have an affiliate program)
• Best Tours Affiliate: Viator and Get Your Guide
• Best Affiliate for Physical Products: Amazon

Using a combination of the companies listed above, my affiliate marketing income in 2022 was $162,871 . In 2021, I made $5,217 total from affiliate income all year — so 31X more money in just one year.

I attribute a lot of my current success to working one-on-one blog coaching with Laura of Scale Your Travel Blog to Six Figures . But make no mistake, I am successful because I worked hard, and I worked smart.

3. Selling Digital Products

With affiliate marketing , you’ll only get a commission or a percentage of the sale. When you sell your own products, you get all the profits (minus some fees).

For this reason, many bloggers create digital products like eBooks, printable travel planners, travel guides and more.

You can list the products on your website, or work on building up your email list, so you have direct access to those who have an interest in your content.

Digital products are a great way to make money as a blogger because you create them once, and sell them forever!

Many bloggers will use a site like Canva to create a digital product. There is a free version, but the paid version is well worth the $13 USD per month. ▶︎ Sign up for Canva here .

To sell the products, sites like Gumroad or ThriveCart are both great options.

4. Paid Press Trips

On a press trip, you’ll essentially be paid to travel! How cool, right? Well, sort of.

Personally, I find these too time consuming to arrange, and when I travel, I want to enjoy it; not work. However, many travel bloggers make money while traveling with press trips.

To secure paid press trips, you’ll contact tourism boards (sometimes called a national tourism office) or local travel-related companies.

There’s often a lot of back and forth hammering out the details, and contracts everyone will sign, before the actual trip.

✈️ How do you get press trips for travel bloggers?

Let’s say you want to get paid to travel to Morocco. You’ll first contact the Morocco tourism board, and see if they’d pay you to come to Morocco and create content for them.

If so, you’ll both come to an agreement, then you’d take the trip and blog about it afterwards.

Is it really that easy? That depends.

If you have a large social media following, high-traffic blog, or blog with a completely focused niche (if you have a Morocco blog, the Morocco tourism board is more likely to say yes), getting paid press trips is actually easy.

With a Mexico niche site, I do get tour companies and hotels that contact me for free travel — so this is just one reason to have a niche blog, which is a travel blog with just one focus.

In truth, most bloggers just starting out will get a lot more no’s than yes’s for paid trips. 

5. Sponsored Posts

Another way you can make money travel blogging is with sponsored posts.

This is when a company pays you to write a review of their tour company, or a hotel review, or review of a great travel product, or even just write about the company itself.

They are basically just paying you to promote them on your site, but they want it in your voice — the one that resonates with your audience.

If you think about it, no one knows better how to speak to your audience than you, so companies usually give you creative control.

You can reach out to companies yourself and offer to write a post to promote their products or services.

In some cases, they will contact you, especially if you have a Contact page or Work With Me page on your website (like this one ) that connects to your email address.

6. Sponsored Links

Some companies will also pay you to put a link to their site in one of your existing posts.

Say you have a post ranking in spot #1 on Page 1 of Google titled “Best shoes for travel.” A shoe company might see your post, and offer you money to link to their website.

As it only takes 30 seconds to insert a link in a post, these will earn you far less than a full blog post dedicated to one specific place or thing.

How much you charge depends on a lot of factors, but you can expect $50-100 USD for a link, though some bloggers charge more.

7. Networking With Other Travel Bloggers

Another one of the best ways to make money blogging, is through leads from other bloggers about paid opportunities.

This might not be a direct payout at first, but the best travel bloggers have a large network of colleagues, who will send jobs their way from time to time.

👯‍♀️ Private Facebook Groups

One benefit to all the travel blog courses I’ve taken is access to a private Facebook group.

In these, you can both ask the teacher or mentor questions you have about the course material, and also network with your fellow classmates, who just so happen to be travel bloggers!

I am in a few, and can attest that the quality of information you get in private Facebook groups for travel bloggers is much better than what you get in public groups.

People also tend to be nicer since the teacher has a presence in the group, and no one wants to get in trouble.

👯‍♂️ Best Free Facebook Groups

If you want to check out some free blogging travel groups, there’s Affiliate Marketing for Travel Bloggers , which is my group, and SEO For Travel Bloggers , which is my friend Nina Clapperton’s group.

Looking for the best SEO course for travel bloggers? Check out Nina’s SEO Roadmap , which I can’t recommend enough.

There’s also Women Travel Bloggers , Women Travel Creators and Digital Nomad Wannabe , and all five of these are some of best and most active Facebook travel blogging groups out there.

As with most Facebook groups, you’ll want to take all the info you get with a grain of salt.

✈️ Best Travel Blogging Conferences

I started this travel blog during Covid in 2020, so all blogger conferences have been on hold.

Now that the world has opened back up fully, I plan to attend some travel blog conferences like Travel Blogging Summit (where I was a speaker in 2022), TBEX , Women In Travel Summit , and TravelCon .

Note: Sadly, TravelCon from Nomadic Matt has been canceled indefinitely after the May 2022 conference.

8. Monetize Your YouTube Channel

There are many travel vloggers, like Hey Nadine and The Bucket List Family , who make great money off their YouTube travel videos.

To apply for the YouTube Partner Program and monetize your channel, you’ll need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year.

Note: I don’t have a YouTube channel.

9. Monetize Your Travel Podcast

I had a podcast called Dream To Destination , for one year from 2020-2021. It was a lot of fun, but definitely a lot of work. However, many travel podcasters do make great money podcasting.

I only had the podcast as a hobby, and still made a bit of money from it because it was monetized with ads.

I wrote a detailed guide, How to Start a Travel Podcast for Free (Like I Did) , and if you want a deep dive into this topic, please check it out.

10. Work as a VA for Another Travel Blogger

VA stands for virtual assistant, and it means you can work virtually from anywhere. This is a great entryway into the digital nomad lifestyle or location independence so many want from being a travel blogger.

You can sign up to UpWork or Fiverr to find virtual assistant jobs with travel bloggers, or join some free Facebook blogging groups and offer your services.

As someone who’s in quite a few of these Facebook groups, I always see successful bloggers to hire a VA.

What’s the average travel blogging salary? 

When it comes to making money travel blogging, there’s no average amount. It’s much like asking how much the average singer makes — obviously Adele makes much more than a wedding singer.

Similarly, there’s no answer to how much does a travel blogger make?

🤑 Here are My Stats

• I made $ 272,175 USD in 2022.
• I made $40,106 USD from blogging in December 2022 — $24,151 from affiliate marketing, $9,382 from ads on my site, and $6,572 selling my own products, like this Affiliate Marketing course .
• My main website (this one) received 205,000+ page views in December 2022, and more than 2.6 million page views in 2022.
• Want to know how I did it? Join my email list where I share weekly tips on how I make such a crazy amount of money after just 2.5 years of blogging.

There are some travel blogger salary articles out there, so we know The Blonde Abroad and One Step 4 Ward , both have $1 million+ per year blogs.

In 2017, Nomadic Matt was making multiple-six figures, but I’d assume he too has a $1 million+ travel blog these days.

By contrast, some bloggers make $0.

When I got serious about monetizing my blog, I decided I will absolutely hit seven figures one day, and I started taking steps to do so — like investing in the best travel blogging courses I could find.

I mean, if The Blonde Abroad can, so can I!

What’s the earning potential of travel bloggers?

This really is a better question to ask than How much do travel bloggers make? , or Do bloggers make good money?

I look at this blog (and my other blogs, Travel To Merida , Travel To Oaxaca , Tulum Travel Secrets ) as small businesses, and with your own blog business, the sky’s the limit on how much you earn.

For me, I only want to work 20 hours a week. If I were working a full time 40 hour workweek, I could make a lot more money than I am right now.

In short, when you’re a small business owner (yes — bloggers are! ) you set your own ceiling on earnings.

Travel Blogging: Frequently Asked Questions

What is a travel blog?

A travel blog is a website with information on traveling — like this one!

There are many niches, or sub-genres of travel blogs. Mine is focused on Mexico travel, while some travel blogs focus on Paris travel or, or camping travel, or cruises, or solo travel; the list goes on and on.

What is a travel blogger?

A travel blogger is the person who’s running the travel blog, or someone who writes travel blogs for other people’s blogs. I am actually a multiple six-figure travel blogger who makes a full time income from my blogs.

If you’re a woman, you’ll usually be called a female travel blogger; though the term male travel blogger is pretty much never used.

If you’re unsure how to be a travel blogger, it’s quite simple! In fact, all you need to do is start a travel blog website, then write some travel blog posts.

If you only want to document your travels, this will suffice; if you want to make money, consider a travel blogging course . The one I always recommend is Scale Your Travel Blog to Six Figures — which I have done!

How to Start a Travel Blog Without Traveling

When we all lost the ability to travel freely in 2020, many travel bloggers still thrived. How? , you might be wondering — By blogging about where they live.

While the place you live is familiar to you, it’s a full-fledged travel destination for the people who don’t live there. 

Is it Worth Starting a Travel Blog in 2024?

As someone who makes a full-time income from my travel blog, works only about 20 hours per week, from any location on Earth I want to — FU+K YES it is!

However, setting up a Wordpress blog and learning how to blog properly takes time. Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.

My blog did nothing in year one; it was basically a place to hear crickets.

In year two, I invested in the best travel blogging courses I could find, and made $7,762.22 dollars ($2,435.18 in December 2021 alone).

Now, in year three, I made $ 272,175 USD in 2022.

While my numbers may seem impressive if you’re making $0 from a blog, I’m still a small time blogger. (OK, maybe a “medium time” blogger 🤣).

There are so many bloggers who make more than me, but since I know blogging is a marathon, not a sprint , it’s only a matter of time before I get there too.

Final Thoughts: How to Become Travel Blogger and Make Money

There are many ways to make money blogging, and the top travel bloggers are doing many of them in tandem.

The one thing to always keep in mind about travel blogging and any blogging is that it will take time to get there. 

The highest paid travel bloggers who make more than $1 million have been blogging for a decade or more before they saw numbers like that.

To really make money as a travel blogger, you need to be in it for the long haul.

From my personal experience, I didn’t start seeing any income for more than one year. When money started finally coming in, it was not much — but I kept at it.

This year, 2024, is my fifth year blogging, and I made $ 272,175 USD in 2022 . My goal for 2022 was $250,000 USD, but I surpassed that.

For the record: I’m not special . I think anyone can be a successful travel blogger, if you have a solid plan.

I learned a lot of what I know from the Scale Your Travel Blog to Six Figures course. (👩‍💻 Read my honest review of the course here .) However, even with the best course, know that blogging takes time.

Ready to invest in a travel blogging course? 👉 Sign up for the FREE live webinar to meet my coach Laura, who helped me grow my blog fast!

How to Make Money from Travel Blogging (Monetize your Travel Blog)

Here’s a quick recap on 10 ways to make money from Travel Blogging. I’ll discuss them in more detail as we go after sharing our personal travel blogging story and how to earn money from home .

• Paid Press Trips
• Brand Campaigns of Brand Ambassadorship
• Webfluential for Sponsored Posts – Advertisers
• Commission from Affiliate Partners
• Social Media Promotions
• Donation from Readers
• Trip Planning or Travel Coaching ( Here’s our services )
• Public Speaking
• Publishing E-books or Books
• Exchange Deals – this is not monetary but could be considered as income!

“What do you do for a living? How can you afford that travel lifestyle?”

Kach and Jon:   We’re full-time travel bloggers! 

Table of Contents

OUR TRAVEL BLOGGING STORY

For most people, travelling the world is an adventure that involves a lot of saving, followed by the slow yet inevitable draining of your funds, until you’re eventually reduced to the reality of returning home to re-integrate into society, getting back to work, and perhaps dreaming of the next adventure.

Not for us. When we started traveling, we knew that there would be no going home, no inevitable return to the office to save for another short-lived adventure. We were searching for a sustainable solution to traveling the world long-term, so saving, volunteering , and bar work just didn’t fit the bill – reducing spending was only a temporary solution, we wanted to actually make money from traveling!

Some people assume that travel blogging is an easy task. Well, starting a blog is definitely easy, but running it as a business and turning it into a source of income is not. Even before we started travel blogging, Jonathan’s aim in life was to find different ways to earn a living while traveling around the world, so we started testing out the different options – from teaching English in Vietnam , volunteering in hostels and restaurants, running a massage business in Peru and finally starting our own travel blog a little over a year ago.

We started the blog as part of our quest for a sustainable travel lifestyle . In the beginning, we worked between 12 and 16 hours a day for more than 3 months, which gave us a good head start but it wasn’t sustainable or healthy and we certainly don’t recommend it, which is the main reason why we re-branded on making our website a community travel blog with over 20 writers around the world – Here’s how we did it .

If you just want to start a travel blog for fun and to share your experiences with your family and friends then I highly suggest that you use the Note platform on Facebook, because there you already have your “Facebook friends” as your audience. But if you plan to start a travel blog as a real way to fund your travels or your lifestyle then you have to think about how to treat it like a serious business from the beginning.

I’m a very passionate person so whatever I do I have to put my very best into it! I’m a very goal-driven and ambitious person, so I always have plans and strategies (my college degree was in Economics and my old profession was in the Quality Assurance field).

We started our travel journey in 2013, but only started travel blogging in late 2014 after a lot of persuasion from my family and friends to document our love story and our around the world trip. We didn’t know how to do it but the first thing that came to mind was to inspire my friends who were always complaining about their day jobs and to try to make a living, or at least to experience some discounted Luxury Hotels ! We started reading a lot of articles and found that there were many professional travel bloggers earning a good living through full-time blogging. I wanted to be like them so I studied for 2 full months to find out how it all works and how they make money!

After about a year of hard work, we invested $1000 USD in re-designing our website. Our monthly running costs for the website can be over $1000 (USD), which pays for our domain name and managed hosting, social media advertising, automation tools, content creation for our writers / VA, and other maintenance costs just to keep everything running. We didn’t have all the right gear when we started, but we’ve been very lucky and thankful to find some sponsors as well as gifts from family members, but I know that most professional travel bloggers are investing money to have the latest gadgets to run their websites smoothly (if they couldn’t get it sponsored!) . Yes, you need to invest money to earn/make money, perhaps not as much as we do, but we want to go bigger so we have to invest bigger.

Please also ask yourself what your strong point is – do you love photography, social media live posting, writing, or making videos? You don’t have to do all of it, we don’t! I don’t know how to edit videos so we’ve decided to focus on written content and doing more live streaming ( Facebook or Periscope).

After a year of travel blogging, we’re on our way to reaching our travel goals and fulfilling our tag line “From Monkey Backpackers to Luxury Travelers”, so  I’m going to share with you some of the ways that professional travel bloggers make money from Travel Blogging.

I have already written Part 1 of this article about how you can Start a Travel Blog .

10 Ways to Make Money from Travel Blogging (Monetize your Blog Tips)

1. paid press trips.

When we first started travel blogging, we were happy enough with getting discounts and eventually complimentary hotel stays from 1 night, up to a week stay. From there, we started to partner with tour companies on an exchange deal basis, with articles being written on our site or on theirs. I think it was beneficial for both parties, we even have messages from partners who told us that we brought them, new clients who had read about them in our articles, so we were doing something right!

Eventually, we learned that some tourism boards actually give you an allowance for attending the trip, or they can even pay you a daily rate. One of our writers went on a paid press trip in Indonesia and they gave her an $800 USD allowance for the 2-week trip. Now we’re also charging a daily rate when working with tourism boards aside from the cost of the flights, accommodation, and excursions. We also have a New York-based Agent now who is helping us to land paid destination marketing projects and other campaign contracts.

We know of some bloggers who get paid from $300 – $500 per day just for attending press and fam trips! In exchange for this payment, you’re expected to do a lot of work and of course, a report afterward to show how effective your campaign has been – usually based on social media reports and traffic analytics.

2.  Brand Campaigns or Brand Ambassadorship

When you have an audience and a following, companies will approach you to promote their products and services to them. If those products and services are appropriate to your audience and you would be happy to use them yourself, then you can promote them through sponsored posts, social media campaigns, ad banners on your website, and more. While doing any of these just once will earn you a nice payment, it’s far more beneficial to both parties to form a long-term brand partnership, providing greater exposure of their brand and demonstrating a higher level of trust in their products. Of course, this also means that you’re securing a longer-term, more reliable income.

3. WebFluential for Sponsored Posts – Advertisers

There are different ways to get sponsored posts, most of the time companies will send you an email to inquire about your rate which is usually between $150 to $800 depending on your Domain Authority ( you can read more about Domain Authority here ) . Some bloggers frown upon other bloggers who are selling text links on their sites, but you just have to be smart and careful about it!

If your brand is not yet fully established then I suggest you join a website like Webfluential , an online platform that connects brands with social influencers. Aside from Webfluential, you can also check  Affiliate Window   (most of our income is from Affiliate Window!)

4. Commission from Affiliate Partners

Affiliate Marketing is now one of the main sources of our income from travel blogging. Before blogging, I had always booked my Hotels or flight tickets online and we only discovered this method of earning money last year. Basically, the advertisers will pay you a commission when you sell their products through your website – we usually earn from Booking.com , Hostelworld , Agoda , and other accommodation companies . They don’t charge extra to people booking through our links, it’s just the same as when you look and book a room from Google or TripAdvisor , they earn commission too! So as long as you are responsible for what you recommend to your readers, then you can feel fine about earning a small reward for doing so!

I’d like to thank all of our readers who use our affiliate links to book their accommodation (like our Best Hostels and Best Luxury Hotels lists), as you are helping us to earn a living from the advice we give. We promise we will never recommend something that we wouldn’t use ourselves.

If you’re a travel blogger and you want to do this too then here are the companies we work with, all free to sign up and no minimum amount of traffic required –  Affiliate Window ,  Share A Sale , Rakuten LinkShare . You can also contact me directly and avail a 3-hour Skype blogging coaching to help you analyze your blog site and teach you how you can properly monetize it, without selling your soul. Email is [email protected]

5. Social Media Promotions

I love Facebook and Twitter, but finally, we have someone who has taken over our Instagram! As I’ve mentioned earlier, photography is not our strong point, but we’re slowly learning.

We know some bloggers who are earning money from Instagram alone by taking over brands’ Instagram accounts or posting advertisers’ photos in their own accounts. This is more common with fashion and lifestyle bloggers, but lately travel bloggers who have a strong following on this platform are starting to earn some decent money too!

Travel Blogging Rates (our rates):

• Facebook Promotion – $100 to $350
• Twitter Shout Out – $50 to $200
• Instagram Sponsored Post – $75 to $500
• Twitter Chat Hosting – $250 to $400 (per hour)
• Instagram Takeover – $25 to $ 200 (per photo) depending on your following.

6.  Donations from Readers

Yes, there are times when supportive readers give donations to their favorite travel bloggers! We had an amazing experience when we were building our blog in Costa Rica – we lost our GoPro and at the time it was the only camera we had (it was the early stages and we didn’t have much money at the time) . Out of the blue, one reader sent us money from Paypal to buy a new one. I cried with joy for the whole week, I didn’t want to accept it at the beginning but that was a big blessing! I was more motivated to work hard on the blog after that, knowing how supportive people really were. From then we even had random readers who asked us for postcards, then we were surprised to find that they had deposited money in our Paypal account to thank us. Readers have sent me packages of Filipino food seasoning and clothes that I can wear on our travels etc! Really thankful!!

Creating content is hard – writing, taking photos, and managing social media accounts are all tough, especially when your readers email you and send you unlimited questions on social media. I’m not complaining because they are the reason I do this and I love it! I personally reply to all the messages and emails that I receive every day, maybe around 50 to 100 people! It takes time, sometimes even up to 6 hours of my day just replying. I’m not discouraging you guys to message us because I feel more motivated reading lovely messages from people supporting our blog but by doing this.

So thank you very much to everyone who appreciated all the work, you can still donate so I can buy Nutella (hehehe) , feel free to message us to get our details!! We will never change and will try not to let you down as we grow bigger!

7. Trip Planning or Travel Coaching

I’ve done quite a few coaching sessions with readers-turned clients, some only do one-time coaching while some choose a month-long process, asking about specific topics like – teaching English in Vietnam, getting visas in certain countries, or even about starting a travel blog. It’s not a big money-making project, but it feels good to help and it’s always way better talking to people directly. I usually do it via Skype and charge an hourly rate (with free post-consultation)

Here’s are the services we offer and what we charge , we hope to do this more full-time as I really enjoy it and I’m really happy seeing that I’m helping my clients to change their lives!

8. Public Speaking

I loved public speaking in high school and college and I thought it would be just the same in the blogging world, but it’s very different! Jonathan and I had our first opportunity to be a panel speaker during the World Tourism Forum in Istanbul, Turkey and we know that experience will open many more doors, which is already happening! We have a lot of plans to do more public speaking, training, and coaching in the future. Let us get married first and then we’ll be right on it!

We know some Travel Bloggers turned public Speakers who are earning more than $2000 per event as well as their travel costs. We’ll make it there!

9. Publishing E-books or Books

Running a travel blog while traveling full time is really tiring so I haven’t been able to finish the books that I’ve been intending to write since last year, but finally, I will be releasing my 3 e-books this summer!

As much as I want to give them away for free, these are the products that we have worked hard on since last year and spent a lot of time researching and writing for our targeted audience! Our content on the website is 100% free, we even give away freebies and trips to our readers, but now I will be releasing something that I created from scratch and will be charging for it. So I hope you guys will support me on this one!

10. Exchange Deals – this is not monetary but could be considered as income!

Some people think that we actually don’t need to earn money because we’re already traveling the world, which is often mistaken for being rich and having a “hidden pot of gold” somewhere. Especially when they see us staying in 5-star luxury hotels! Well, we understand the confusion and where this misconception comes from, but the simple truth is that we aren’t actually paying for those hotels, they are provided free of charge!

This is how we do it – we often make an EXCHANGE DEAL agreement with brands like hotels, tour agencies, and other travel companies which are perfect for our audience, or a part of our audience. In exchange for a free stay, or tour, we provide exposure to their brand through our social media and our website. Remember, there’s no such thing as free!

If you’re a travel blogger and want to learn how to pitch and get sponsored stays or trips, I can also help you with that with a 2-hour blogging coaching session so feel free to email me!

We’re not yet earning the same combined amount of what we were earning while I was still working for an oil company in Iraq and Jonathan as an Architectural Technologist in the UK, but I know that all of the effort and money we invested in building this will reward us eventually! One day it will become our passive income while we’re busy building our Yoga Spa Resort and raising our cute little monkeys!

Disclosure:  Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. So when you make a purchase we sometimes make a small commission, at no extra cost to you. The cost to you remains the same, sometimes even cheaper if we have negotiated a special deal for our readers.

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32 thoughts on “ How to Make Money from Travel Blogging (Monetize your Travel Blog) ”

I’ve read so many of your “how to make a successful blog” articles. You really have some great topics to read through. I did have one question though on getting free hotel/trips/meals/etc. You said that lots of times people will reach out to you directly for it, however, have you ever reached out to companies (hotels/restaurants/etc) to ask them? My blog is new, but to get a kick start I though about reaching out to some local hotels to feature their rooms/services. Thoughts?

Such a great post, thanks so much for all the advice! Our motivation is up again after reading this 🙂

Very Informative!! I believe that anything is possible with hard work, patience, and dedication.

Seriously great couple of articles on the topics. We’re pretty new with our site and super helpful advice you’ve provided. Thx

Hi Kach and Jonathan, THANK YOU so much for being such an inspiration. I’ve recently launched my website, noelontheroad.com because of YOU. I’ve read all your blogs and they’re all very helpful. Thank you for being so selfless, sharing your experiences on the road. You’ve been inspiring a lot and I’m one of them. I’m starting to monetize through affiliate links. I hope to meet you both one day. I will surely ask for selfies (yes, a lot of selfies lol). Enjoy your honeymoon! I can’t wait for your upcoming live videos on Facebook. I love you both! – Noel

Thanks, very informative… just started mine

great, very informative article thanks for sharing!

It was great to meet you guys at the WTF! Hopefully see you somewhere else in the world soon! 🙂

Hi Nanci, I agree that starting a blog is essential in today’s Internet world, but getting a blog started and hosted can be daunting for most writers who want to focus on the craft and not the technical part of blogging. T

You get to enjoy traveling + you get paid for it. That’s the dream. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing, very informative. Goodluck to all your travels.

I have read this post last week. You guys are awesome and such an ispiration to all bloggers regardless of the platform. Very informational post. God bless!

Phew! Making money out of travel blogging sure does sound like a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. More power to you guys! Cheers to living your life the way you want to live it! 🙂

Great post and thanks for sharing what you have learned. We are about 8 months into it and our traffic has been growing so some of these are quite timely for us. keep up the good work.

Great tips – I’ve only used affiliate links but have since abandoned it altogether. I find that it takes away from my creative writing when I’m forced to write for something that I might not really believe in. BUT, it works and you’re a prime example of that – so good job and keep going 🙂

Sounds like you guys are living the dream! Some great tips here for aspiring bloggers.

Quite interesting. I never considered influencers as a significant factor. In all honesty, with school this project will have to wait.

You guys are an inspiration! I’m a newbie travel blogger so reading posts like this are very inspiring to me! Although public relations is my background, I still have a long ways to go and a lot to learn! I’m currently teaching in South Korea and have blogging as a hobby. But I’m seriously considering making it a full time gig after being abroad and moving on to my next adventure!

Thanks for your advice!

This is an awesome post! I have recently started my blog and has not thought about monetizing it at this moment. but definitely would want to do it when the blog is ready. Would keep this post in mind.

Congratulations for your successful blogging experience! There’s a lot of work behind it, you can be proud of that!

I love how detailed this post and how open you guys are about sharing your journey. That is a rare thing in the travel blogging world as you might know. Kudos to you for being so large-hearted!

Amazing article with so many different ways to monetize a travel blog. I think I have to try some of it.

I’m going to share this with my friend as she has just started sharing her travels on Insta and Youtube so maybe this is something she can consider for the future!!

This is an awesome ans well-wrought post! Thank you for sharing. I need another source of income 🙂 x

Keep up the work. I guess it depends on where you are in the world how much you get paid for certain tasks, but it all adds up and unless you work hard to blog and promote these money makers wont come. Angela from Daysinbed

wow what an amazing way to blog for sure I don’t envy you I am very proud of you

This was just absolutely fascinating to read, I am part envious and part worn out reading it! x

This is a very informative post. Thanks for sharing all these info. It will help a lot of travel bloggers and other bloggers too.

Wow, I had no idea people paid so much for social media promotions, that’s awesome. Thanks for sharing! I don’t make any money blogging at the moment but I am going to bear these tips in mind for the future! LOVE your blog a lot. xx

Great article in this increasingly competitive (super-competitive) field. Hopefully there is room for more people but if not, it will just spur more innovation!

Such a great insight about running a travel blog. Like anything else there’s a lot of work wirh anything, but it must be rewarding x

Thank you for the info guys, and congrats to all of your awesome success, you definitely deserve it!!!!! Much love, Alyssa

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: Many of the articles on Two Monkeys Travel Group are guest posts by a number of Approved Contributors and are hosted by Two Monkeys Travel Group. Approved Contributors control their own work and post freely to our site. This includes all text and images that they use within their own work. All contributors are instructed to follow internationally recognised copyright and intellectual property guidelines. Two Monkeys Travel Group takes its own responsibilities very seriously, so if you feel that any part of this work is abusive in any way, please send us an email so that we can investigate - [email protected]

DISCLOSURE: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. So when you make a purchase we sometimes make a small commission, at no extra cost to you. The cost to you remains the same, sometimes even cheaper if we have negotiated a special deal for our readers.We use all of the companies we have listed here and that’s why they are in this list, but of course we need to keep Two Monkeys Travel Group running as well as it can, which is exactly what you’re helping with if you do decide to buy or book something through an affiliate link! If you have any more questions about the companies we use or any other companies you’re looking at, just email us and we’ll be happy to help. Please see our full disclaimer page for more information.

Written by Kach Umandap

Founder of Two Monkeys Travel Group. Since 2013, Kach has visited all the 7 continents (including Antarctica) and 151 countries using her Philippines Passport. In 2016, she bought a sailboat and went on sailing adventures with her two cats - Captain Ahab & Little Zissou in the Caribbean for 2 years. She now lives in Herceg Novi, Montenegro where she's enjoying her expat life and living on a gorgeous Stonehouse. She writes about her experiences traveling as a Filipina traveler with a PHL Passport. Also tips on backpacking trips, luxury hotel experiences, product reviews, sailing & adventure travel.

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Do Bloggers Get Paid? Debunking Myths About Blogging Income

I n the digital age, travel blogging has emerged as a dream job for many wanderlust souls seeking to explore the world while making a living. Yet, amidst the Instagram-worthy snapshots, one burning question often lingers: do bloggers get paid? In this comprehensive guide, we’ll debunk common myths surrounding travel blogging income and shed light on the reality of monetizing your passion for travel.

Do Bloggers Get Paid? Here’s the Truth.

Simply put, yes – they can, But it’s not as easy as it seems. Here’s what I’ve learned from blogging as a career and from other bloggers I’ve met along the way.

Myth #1: Travel bloggers make money effortlessly by jet-setting around the globe.

Reality:  While travel bloggers do have the opportunity to explore exciting destinations, monetizing a travel blog requires dedication, hard work, and strategic planning. It’s not just about snapping Insta-worthy photos; it’s about creating valuable content, building an engaged audience, and cultivating meaningful partnerships with brands and tourism boards.

Myth #2: Bloggers get paid handsomely for every trip they take.

Reality: While sponsored trips and collaborations with brands are lucrative opportunities for travel bloggers, they’re not a guaranteed source of income.

Paid partnerships often involves pitching, negotiation, and demonstrating the value you can offer to brands. Additionally, sponsored trips may come with obligations such as content creation and promotion, making them more akin to work assignments than leisurely vacations.

I was once paid $1,500 for a trip across the country. After airfare and hotels, that left me with a profit of about $500.

Typically, for me to make money off of a press trip it either has to be all inclusive – or I have to spend a lot of time pitching to other brands to sponsor my trip as well.

Myth #3: Travel blogging is a get-rich-quick scheme.

Reality: Like any entrepreneurial endeavor, success in travel blogging takes time, patience, and persistence. Building a profitable travel blog requires consistent effort, strategic planning, and a willingness to adapt to changing trends and algorithms. While some travel bloggers do achieve financial success, it’s typically the result of years and years of hard work and strategic decision-making.

Understanding the Different Revenue Streams in Travel Blogging

Here are some of the ways that bloggers do make money. What I’ve found is that the best way to make a substantial amount of money blogging is to have multiple income streams.

Sponsored Content :

One of the primary ways travel bloggers generate income is through sponsored content. This can include sponsored blog posts, social media campaigns, and sponsored videos. Brands pay travel bloggers to create content that promotes their products, services, or destinations to their audience.

Affiliate Marketing :

Affiliate marketing allows travel bloggers to earn commissions by promoting products or services through affiliate links. When readers make a purchase or booking through these links, the blogger receives a percentage of the sale. This can include hotel bookings, flight reservations, travel gear, and more.

Advertising Revenue :

Displaying ads on your travel blog can also generate revenue through ad networks like Google AdSense or direct partnerships with brands. The amount of revenue generated depends on factors such as website traffic, audience demographics, and ad placement.

Product Sales :

travel bloggers create and sell their own products, such as e-books, travel guides, online courses, or merchandise. This allows them to monetize their expertise and provide value to their audience beyond just travel inspiration.

Freelance Work :

Many travel bloggers supplement their income by offering freelance services such as writing, photography, social media management, or consulting. These skills are in demand within the travel industry and can provide additional income streams.

Strategies for Building a Profitable Travel Blog

It takes a lot of hard work and effort, but here are some steps simplified!

Define Your Niche :

Identify a specific niche or focus for your travel blog, whether it’s luxury travel, budget travel, family travel, adventure travel, or sustainable travel. This will help you attract a targeted audience and differentiate yourself from competitors.

Create High-Quality Content :

Invest time and effort into creating compelling, high-quality content that resonates with your audience. Focus on storytelling, stunning visuals, and providing valuable information and inspiration to your readers.

Grow Your Audience :

Build a loyal and engaged audience by consistently delivering valuable content, engaging with your audience on social media, and optimizing your website for search engines. A larger and more engaged audience increases your value to potential sponsors and partners.

Monetize Strategically :

Explore multiple revenue streams and monetization strategies to diversify your income and minimize reliance on any single source. Experiment with different approaches to see what works best for your audience and niche.

Network and Collaborate :

Forge relationships with brands, tourism boards, and fellow travel bloggers within your niche. Collaborations and partnerships can open up new opportunities for sponsored content, press trips, and affiliate partnerships.

In conclusion, while travel blogging can be a rewarding and lucrative career, it’s not without its challenges. Success requires hard work, perseverance, and a strategic approach to monetization. By understanding the realities of travel blogging income and implementing proven strategies for growth and monetization, aspiring travel bloggers can turn their passion for exploration into a sustainable and profitable career.

Related Posts:

• 7 Ways To Monetize A Travel Blog
• How To Monetize Your Travel Blog With Travelpayouts

20 Highest paid travel bloggers – How much do travel bloggers make?

Can you imagine becoming a millionaire simply by writing for a travel or just by traveling? It might sound strange that someone could become a millionaire simply by travel blogging, but that’s because it is. Okay, listen up…

Getting started with travel blogging is the first step toward earning money. Many bloggers, like Matthew Kepnes, Mark Weins, Johnny Ward, Heather Delaney Reese, Sharon, and others, are among the 20 highest-paid bloggers. They are estimated to make 7 to 6-figure incomes per month. 

If you dream of creating your own travel blog and want to know more about the highest paid travel bloggers, you can read this article to the end. This will give you a clear idea of how you can become a travel blogger.

But before we move any further…

Table of Contents

How do travel bloggers make money? 

Blogging isn’t easy because there’s so much competition online, so you’ll need some strategies to raise your site above the noise. 

Travel bloggers’ earnings vary significantly depending on several variables, including their audience size, niche, and monetization strategies. To make money from their blogs, many travel bloggers use the following strategies:

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing can make a big difference for your travel blog. 

Also, if you’re unfamiliar with affiliate marketing, it works like this: whenever a blogger recommends a product they are using, they include a link to the product’s sales page. 

If they are part of the brand’s affiliate program, they get a cut of the sale when someone clicks on their link and purchases the product. But don’t worry, the buyers won’t have to pay anything extra, and you will only gain from this.

“Brands Ads” is the partnership between bloggers and companies that sell travel-related goods and services while keeping their audience’s trust by posting honestly. 

In these partnerships, the bloggers promote content about the brand’s products or services in exchange for compensation. You can sign up for the following websites to find brands interested in working with bloggers.

• The Blogger Programme 
• Webfluential
• Tap Influence 

Brands will contact you directly to promote their wares when your site has sizable followers. You can market those brands and services through sponsored articles, social media campaigns, and display ads on your website.

Also, remember when forming business relationships with the companies you are working with, you can meet your blog niche and the needs of your readers. 

Brand ambassadorship

While comparing the two terms, “Brands Ads” and “Brands Ambassadorship,” the latter is the more profitable option since it provides you with a long-term partnership with companies. 

As a travel blogger, you can create high-quality, engaging content that appeals to your target audience to establish a solid online following and readership to gain brand ambassadorship.

You should also reach out to tourism boards, travel brands, and other relevant businesses to pitch them on ways to work together to attract brands that will connect with your audience and match your niche.

Once you secure a position as a brand ambassador, you can count on consistent income for the foreseeable future.

Paid press trips

The term “Paid Press Trip” refers to when a blogger is invited to a destination to try out a hotel’s or travel agency’s services, and the host organization or company pays for the blogger’s travel expenditures. This covers all of the travel expenses and amenities of a blogger.

It frequently leads to long-term partnerships and paid collaborations later on, which benefits your blog, too.

Freelance writing

Through freelance writing, you won’t be making money directly from your blog, but instead, you can increase the number of readers by contracting to write for other magazines and websites, which will, in turn, interconnect back to your blog. 

Selling eBooks, books, and online courses

Nomadic Matt and Wandering Earl, two of the most popular travel bloggers, use this strategy to spread the word about their sites.

The Nomadic Matt is selling his book and blogging course, while the Wandering  Earl is cashing in on the popularity of his e-book on cruise ship jobs.

So, to expand your blogging business with new revenue streams, consider offering online courses or selling products, audiobooks, e-books, etc.

Offering website services

With the right planning, you can increase your revenue by at least twofold!

Offering services on your website, such as writing and editing content, social media management, etc., is one way to take advantage of your expertise and generate twice as much income as you’ve been generating before.

Photography/Videography

If you are good at photography, you have another edge, as photography/Videography can also help you make money from travel blogs. You can either work as a freelance photographer for other travel bloggers and brands for content creation. 

Apart from that, you can also directly license your photographs.

Banner ads (Google Adsense + Ad networks)

Banner Ads are one of the coolest and easiest ways to earn a handsome income on your travel blogs.

All you need to do is activate your Google AdSense account, and you will get paid for the ads displayed on your website every time a viewer reads your blog. 

Isn’t it simply amazing? 

Some of the best ad networks that you can go for are 

• AdThrive 
• Google Adsense 

SEO sponsored posts

Another common way that helps more or less all the travel bloggers earn is sponsored posts. 

So what happens is that as you post more frequently and the blog starts to gather traffic, your website’s domain authority starts to grow. The more the DA of your blog, the better your website’s SEO health. 

As a result, more potential advertisers start contacting you and paying you to post their links on your site.

However, the best SEO practice is to mention on your website that it is a paid link. 

Some of the easiest ways to find sponsored posts are social media groups and your email. 

Apart from that, there might be several other ways to opt for, like monetizing YouTube channels and Instagram, making traveling products, running tours, etc. So, make sure to look for those ways on your own.

20 Highest paid travel bloggers – Our top picks  

Travel bloggers are new entrepreneurs in the breed of digital nomads who have intertwined the art of vlogging and blogging. They do it by sharing their travel experience with the audience, and in turn, they earn a profit. 

So, let’s unleash the list of the most successful travel bloggers and their mystery to high-income levels.

1. Matthew Kepnes from Nomadic Matt 

When enlisting the highest paid travel bloggers worldwide, the young Matthew Kepnes deserves to be on the top. He is the highest paid blogger in the world.

He is a full-time content writer and travel blogger who has traveled to more than 100 countries and earned a lot of money through it, too. 

It was only in 2004 when Matthew Kepnes went on his first trip, and that enriched his soul with a thirst to explore the whole world. Therefore, after completing his MBA, Nomadic Matt stepped out to explore the world and make his passion his source of income.

Today, he runs a successful travel blog named Nomadic Matt that attracts millions of organic audiences monthly. Additionally, he wrote a famous book, “How to Travel the World on $50 a Day,” that was sold in hands.

His known sources of income are:

• Travel blog and media school
• Destination Specific Guides
• Affiliate marketing 

2. Mark Weins

Mark Wiens is a well-known blogger, vlogger, and YouTube personality.

He enjoys exploring new places and trying new meals; he became famous and among the highest-paid bloggers in the world when his two passions came together.

From the blog Matrationology and YouTube channel, the known Social media sensation has earned more than $9.5 million.

Most of his blogs are based on visiting and reviewing the local cuisines across the globe. 

Apart from landing a successful blog, he runs a restaurant in Thailand and an e-store to sell his goodies.

3. Johnny Ward from One Step 4Ward

A known entrepreneur and travel blogger, Johnny Ward is a living example of becoming a millionaire by pursuing his dreams with full determination. 

Soon after completing his education, Johnny Ward embarked on the journey to achieve his dream life. Inspired by Matthew Kepnes, Johnny Ward kickstarted the process with a travel blog, and within no time, he grew the website so much that he started to earn $1000 per ad. 

The known Irish traveler has visited every country and is on a mission to climb the seven summits and Mt. Everest.

His website, One Step 4ward , involves different segments related to travel, adventure, crazy travel stories, travel tips, blogging to earn, and endless opportunities to become a successful millionaire.

4. Heather Delaney Reese from It’s A Lovely Life

Heather Delaney Reese and her family are the jet-setters who run a successful blog called It’s A Lovely Life for the last 20 years, worth several millions.

The whole journey of Heather Delaney Reese started in 2000 when she set to travel and enjoy life after completing her degree in journalism. 

Today, the family travels throughout the year, and on the days when they don’t travel, they live in California, teaching people how to earn by simply blogging, reviewing food and products, etc.

5. Sharon of Where’s Sharon Family Travel Blog 

Sharon is a high-paid travel blogger behind Where’s Sharon Family Travel Blog . 

Her blogs are all based on traveling with family and living a quality life. Most of her blogs are based on luxurious adventures, and she lets her audience have a glimpse of both luxurious and low-budget insights. 

Today, she is earning not only from her blog but also through affiliate marketing, sponsored ads, brand partnerships, etc. 

6. Katie and Ben from Two Wandering Soles

Katie and Ben from Two Wandering Soles are yet another Highest Paid Travel Bloggers who know how to turn their passion into a paycheck.

The process started when the two lovers got married at the age of almost 25. They settled out of the daily 9 to 5 grind to enjoy a holiday of 3 months, and from that, they went on the mission to make traveling their prime source of income.

Today, the adventurous couple has traveled to several countries and run a successful travel blog called Two Wondering Soles . In it, they mostly share their adventurous traveling experience, how it is to travel and live in a van, practical tips about traveling in a van for days, travel photography, etc.

They mostly earn through marketing, free trips, brand partnerships, etc.

7. Esther and Jacob from Local Adventurer

Esther and Jacob are also famous social media sensations which are loved by people all across the world for their unique traveling adventures. 

Initially, the process started when Esther started to post about traveling on her wedding website, and later, she gave it a try by visiting the local areas of the country and featuring them. 

Fortunately, that turned out to be a great success, and since then, Esther and Jacob have been exploring new areas. 

They are a team of 6 members, and their blog has been counted as one of the top 5 travel blogs running in the U.S.

Indeed, a remarkable achievement!

And the best thing is that the team plans to give 50 percent of their profits to an NGO.

8. Greg and Holly Johnson from Club Thrifty

Next, meet Greg and Holly Johnson, an American couple who started a blog back in 2003 called the Club Thrifty to pay their debts. Today, it has become a treasure-evolved blog based on travel tips, savvy credit card reward strategies, and lifestyle travel advice. 

Initially, the blog was primarily based on financing, banking, and budgeting. But with time, as they paid their loan, they started to travel to different countries and share their epic journey with the audience through their Club Thrifty blog. 

Since the couple has faced money challenges, they try to help others break free from debt. In fact, they have written a book, Zero Down Your Debt, too.

9. Dariece and Nick from Goats on the Roads

Dariece and Nick are a lovely couple who run a successful travel blog and YouTube channel called Goats on the Roads .

For years, they have been working as a travel blogger and freelancer. Their YouTube channel and blog primarily focus on travel adventures, traveling tips, and freelance writing. Additionally, they do freelance photography and offer online courses about travel blogging and monetization.

10. Dave and Deb from The Planet D

Dave and Deb are an unstoppable duo who have visited more than 1150 counties.

They run a successful travel blog called The Planet D , in which they share their funny yet exciting travel experiences. Their blogs are so perfect that Forbes claimed them among the world’s top 10 travel bloggers. 

Apart from running a blog, they do sponsored posts, partner with brands, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, tourism campaigns, etc., to get their adventure and trips paid off to the fullest.

Additionally, they have won the Society of American Travel Writers Award two times.

11. Amanda Williams from Dangerous Business

Amanda Williams is a wanderlust travel blogger who started the travel blog Dangerous Business to chase her passion for writing about dreams. 

She is a copy editor by profession, but with time, her job let her realize that she loves writing about traveling. 

Since then, she has visited more than 60 countries and six continents and shares about their adventurous trips and solo inspirational stories.

The unique fact about Amanda Williams is that despite being one of the Highest Paid Travel Bloggers, she hasn’t quit her job. And that’s the message she wants to spread. You can become a travel blogger and continue your job. Most of her blogs incorporate methods in which you can add travel to your daily lifestyle.

12. Derek Baron from Wandering Earl

Derek Baron is another name that has gained much recognition as a travel blogger. He is an English teacher turned travel blogger.

He has been traveling since 1999 and has visited more than 118 countries. 

He has run a blog called Wandering Earl since 2009 and posts on it regularly about the unique areas he visits. His main aim is to show people that long-term traveling is not a crazy thing to think of. You can try it out and live your life to the fullest. 

He also has a trip-arranging company called Wandering Earl Tour that arranges small tours for people and takes them to unique world areas.

13. Lia and Jeremy from Practical Wanderlust 

Lia and Jeremy are known vlogging and blogging couple who do joyous traveling throughout the year and make their viewers laugh to the fullest.

The two run a successful blog called Practical Wanderlust and a YouTube channel sharing details about their traveling and adventures. Apart from this, they run another successful travel site in which they help other bloggers earn more than a full-time job by merely traveling. They offer travel guides and tips, budget management, and travel counseling to help blooming bloggers reach new heights.

Their prime source of income are:

• Sponsored posts
• Affiliate programs 
• Advertising 

14. Monica from The Travel Hack

Next, meet Monica, the travel expert behind the successful travel blog “ The Travel Hack “.

She is a married woman and a joyous mother of three who has been blogging since 2009 and shares the adventures of traveling to different countries on her blog, including travel advice, consulting, and tips. 

However, after COVID-19, her priorities changed, and she started to enjoy life’s small luxuries.

Since then, she has traveled locally instead of engaging in far-flung travel and is happy making many unforgettable family memories.

15. Matt Karsten Expert Vagabond

Matt Karsten is a known digital nomad, photographer, and travel blogger. 

He is one of the travel bloggers who was clear since day one that he is not made for a regular job and that traveling is his only means of living and earning. That is why Matt Karsten saved for one year from event photography and freelance skills to go on a 1-year trip to Guatemala. 

And guess what? It turned into a more than a decade travel trip that continues to date. 

In this period, he traveled and explored more than 50 countries and initiated a blog called Expert Vagabond to share his memories. 

In the blog, he shares his professionally photographed pictures of different areas, funny traveling experiences, adventures, low-budget travel guides, etc. 

Some ways he earns while traveling are influencer marketing, freelance travel photography, affiliate marketing, selling travel courses, brand ambassadors, etc.

16. Kach from Two Monkeys Travel Group 

Kach is a known nomad Filipino blogger who has traveled to more than 140 countries in the past ten years and has a long list of other countries to visit.

It was only in 2013 that Kach understood that she was not made for a regular 9 to 5 job, and thus entered the world of traveling and blogging.

And she can visit so many countries despite her weak passport only because of her passion. 

Today, she runs a successful travel blog named Two Monkey Travel Group , featuring adventure and luxury travel guides, itineraries, destination travel blogs, etc., thus earning by offering services like travel consulting, trip planning, brand ambassador, paid Press Trips, and sponsored posts.

She lives in a stone house villa and has a monthly income of $10,000 to $15,000. 

17. Jeremy from Living The Dream

A known traveler and founder of “ Living The Dream “, Jeremy is yet another travel blogger who has been able to turn his adventurous dream life into a source of income.

He has traveled to more than 70 countries, mostly with his wife. Therefore, in their blog, Jeremy and his wife document the best areas to visit in a country, the foods you must try, and some adventure activities. 

He is one of the travel bloggers known and liked more for his adventurous traveling, like scuba diving in the Galapagos, visiting mountain gorillas of Uganda, etc. And that is the reason why his blogs are always a treat to read.

According to the income report, Jeremy earns USD 6000 to 12000 monthly. 

18. James Hills From Mantripping 

The owner of the company mantripping.com , James Hills, is yet another person who earns a handsome amount while travel blogging. He created his blog in 2008, initially focusing on men’s living and lifestyle. But with time, it evolved, and James Hills also started incorporating food reviews and travel stories in his blog.

One unique fact about his traveling blog is that James Hills incorporates his travel stories, interviews other travel bloggers, and learns about their experiences.

19. Brian Kelly From The Point Guy 

Brian Kelly is one of the most highly-paid travel bloggers and one of the best travel influencers.

He kick-started his journey of traveling and became a travel blogger in 2010 by writing a blog in his very own The Point Guy .

The best fact about Brian Kelly is that he focuses on letting people learn how they can experience traveling at a minimal cost. 

And that’s why people love him so much that his website gets 10 million monthly visits.

20. Stephanie of Travel Break

Stephanie of Travel Break is a young girl who has earned fame and financial success through her travel blog. Like others, he also opted for a regular job to earn. 

But things took a turn when she bought a one-way Sydney ticket and became a full-time travel blogger. 

Today, she is a successful travel blogger and an incredibly skilled author.

Related article: Top 5 Travel Bloggers You Should Be Following in 2023

The business of travel blogging – Basic expenses

Are you feeling inspired to become the next highly-paid influential travel blogger? Then wait a minute, as here comes a sneak peek. 

Where travel blogs help you earn more than a 9 to 5 job and help you live your dream life, you need to spend some time in the business to meet the public’s demand. 

Some of these that most successful travel bloggers opt for are:

1. Hosting, domain, plugins, themes, web development and security

Whether you set up a travel blog or fashion blog, you can buy a hosting service, domain, and premium plugins to help your website work better. 

For a newbie, opting for a CMS like WordPress with cheaper hosting packages, free themes and plugins is an excellent way to go. Once you get some traction for your blogs regarding traffic, you can shift to premium ones.

You can get your domain from Name , Namecheap , GoDaddy and other famous places. Some of the best companies that offer a good hosting package are:

To build and maintain your website with WordPress, you’ll need a theme and some plugins. Luckily, the WordPress ecosystem is full to the brim with free themes and plugins.

2. Virtual assistants and freelance writers

Most successful bloggers hire virtual assistants and freelancers who help them write and create content and publish blogs more frequently. 

Once, a blogger was asked, and he said he had hired a team of VA, graphic designers, and content creators to assist him in running a successful and well-managed travel blog.

However, if you’re new to travel blogging, it’s a great idea to start writing with your own hand. Later, when you profit from your business, you can hire people for your website maintenance.

3. Audio/video gadgets for content creation

Here are some everyday gadgets that travel bloggers may find helpful:

Camera: A good quality DSLR camera and lenses for taking high-quality photos during travels. A mirrorless or point-and-shoot camera can also work well and be more compact.

Laptop : A lightweight laptop is essential for travel bloggers to write blog posts, edit photos, manage their site, and keep up with work on the road. MacBooks and Ultrabooks are popular choices.

Smartphone: Used for taking photos/videos, uploading content, social media, navigation, and as a WiFi hotspot. An iPhone or Android smartphone with a good camera and lots of storage is recommended.

External hard drives To backup photos and videos from trips. SSD drives are fast, durable, and hold lots of data.

Drone: Helps capture unique aerial footage and photography during travels. The DJI Mavic and GoPro Karma are popular compact options.

Gimbal stabilizer: Allows smooth panning and stabilization when shooting videos. Useful for vlogging. The DJI Osmo is a common choice.

Microphone: Better audio when filming videos. A clip-on Lavalier mic or shotgun mic improves sound quality.

Portable charger: To charge devices on the go when access to outlets is limited. High-capacity external battery packs from Anker or RavPower are popular.

Tripod: Used with cameras and smartphones to reduce blur and capture sharper long-exposure photos. Lightweight travel tripods are ideal.

VPN subscription: To access the internet securely and bypass geolocation restrictions while traveling abroad.

The key is finding gadgets that aid content creation and help elevate production value while fitting within a travel-friendly budget. And don’t forget the accessories like SD cards, cables, power strips etc.

4. Online media expenses

Lastly, promotion is expansion. Travel blogging needs a regular advertising backup like any other business to run successfully. Additionally, it helps get you free travel trips.

You can promote your website content through Google ads and Social Media ads as well.

You can consider sending newsletters and updates to your visitors via email services like MailChimp, MailPoet, MailerPoet and ActiveCampaign.

You can advertise by ads, reaching some potential advertisers, partnering with social media sensations, etc.

Tips for newbie bloggers – How can you monetize your travel blog? 

Lastly, let’s wrap it up with a tip segment for newbie travel bloggers that can help them become high-earning travel bloggers quickly.

1. Have business plans and goals

If you want to join the ranks of the most successful travel bloggers, you can’t treat blogging as a hobby but instead treat it as a vocation. It’s important to consider the long-term goals, content strategy, and content creation for your blog.

By laying out a strategy and establishing concrete objectives, you’ll have a clear picture of where you want your blog to go and what steps you need to take to get there.

2. Create a plan for your content, like how you’ll optimize and monetize it.

You need a strategy for your content—what you’ll post, when you’ll post it, what topics will generate the most interest among those in your target audience, etc.

You can also research the various blog monetization methods to ensure your site is properly monetized.

3. Participate in networking events to get added to the PR list.

Another way that travel bloggers and almost all bloggers try is to participate in events and introduce their names in the industry. 

So, you can participate in as many networking events as possible. 

For example, how about starting with the great ITB Asia or WTM London?

4. Find a coach! Take travel blogging and business classes

Guess what? Studying algebra without a tutor? Seems baseless? So is travel blogging. 

To run a successful travel blog, you should take tips from successful people and coaches in the field and pave your way to success.

5. Boost your strengths!

Lastly, focus on your strengths and try something new yet exciting that manages to attract a huge fan base. 

For example, you can start sharing about the culture of areas you visit, help users learn their language, etc. For example, you can visit India and make top-earning travel blogs in India about their traditional foods that are appreciated throughout the world for their unique taste.

Final thoughts  on higest paid travel bloggers

From capturing life-taking adventures to luxury getaways, travel blogging has turned into a passport to a full-time income source. In fact, it is helping people hit 6 to 7-figure income easily, and visionaries like Matthew Kepnes, Mark Weins, and Johnny Ward are living proof.

The best part about travel blogging is that you can chase your dreams, live a dream-like life, and still cash it. Isn’t it amazing?

So, why not dip your toes into the world of travel blogging and open to endless horizons?

If you liked this article, don’t hesitate to share this on social media so that you can help your friends make an informed decision. Finally, don’t hesitate to subscribe to our newsletters to get more exciting news, offers and articles in your inbox.

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7 Vacation Destinations That Are Cheaper to Fly to Than Drive

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Planning a vacation involves many decisions. Where do you want to go? When do you want to travel? Another consideration is choosing between flying or driving. Despite what you might believe, some destinations are cheaper to fly to than to drive. 

In this article, we’ll cover seven popular vacation destinations that are actually cheaper to fly to than drive. 

Denver, Colorado

Are you interested in hiking in the Rocky Mountains? How about attending music festivals at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre? Denver, Colorado, might be at the top of your visit list, but before you load up your car, be sure you consider your flight options. 

Jesse Neugarten, Dollar Flight Club’s founder and CEO, says, “Recently, we’ve seen round-trip flights to Denver from major hubs like Los Angeles and Chicago for as low as $180 on airlines like Southwest and Frontier. We’re also seeing prices around 20% lower than average this year.”

Orlando, Florida

If you’re looking for a little magic, Orlando, Florida might be on your vacation destination list. Whether you want to take your family to different theme parks at Walt Disney World or visit a nearby beach, evaluate your flight options in advance. 

“Flights to Orlando from cities like New York and Atlanta are currently priced around $100 to $150 round-trip on airlines like Spirit, Southwest, and JetBlue. We’ve noticed these prices are about 16% lower than average this year,” according to Jesse Neugarten.

Las Vegas, Nevada 

Do you enjoy fine dining? How about a bustling nightlife, large shopping centers, and different entertainment options? Making the drive to Las Vegas, Nevada, might seem simpler than catching a flight, but is this really the case?

Jesse Neugarten highlights, “Flights to Las Vegas from cities like San Francisco and Dallas are available for as low as $50 to $110 round-trip on airlines such as Southwest and Allegiant Air. Our data at Dollar Flight Club shows that these prices are approximately 28% lower than average this year.”

Nashville, Tennessee 

Everyone should visit the hub of country music at some point. Nashville is the place to be if you’re interested in trendy shopping, live music at every corner, or up-and-coming restaurants. If you’re a road trip person, driving to Nashville might be your preferred method of travel. However, before you put your road trip playlist on, consider your flight options. 

Nashville can get hot in the summer, which is why many airlines offer low prices. In July, Southwest Airlines offers flights for as low as $39. Throughout the rest of the year, it’s not uncommon to find flights under $100. Saving on your transportation costs can free up spending in other areas, like your restaurant budget or lodging accommodations. 

Reykjavik, Iceland

Have you dreamed about seeing the Northern Lights? How about spending a few short days exploring Iceland? Reykjavik, Iceland, limits your travel options to boats or aircraft. If you are concerned about travel time or get seasick, taking a hopper flight might be your best (and cheapest) option. 

Airlines, like PLAY, offer various low-cost flight options to Iceland. During the northern lights season (from late August until April), you can find flights for around $79 from Europe or New York to Iceland. Additionally, PLAY Airlines has numerous hopper flights with layover options of up to 10 days at no extra cost. With costs this low, it’s going to be cheaper for many people to fly to Iceland than road trip to many locations closer to home.

Austin, Texas

Are you seeking a warm vacation with different cultures, cuisines, and nightlife activities? Austin, Texas, provides just that and more. Since Austin is located near the middle of the United States, you might consider traveling by car. However, because of its popularity, flights are relatively inexpensive. 

Like other destinations, you can secure flights to Austin for under $100 for a one-way trip. These prices can go even lower if you travel during the off-season. Frequently check major airlines or Google Flights for price drops.

Washington, DC

Do you want to visit the White House? How about immersing yourself in American history? If so, Washington, DC, might be a destination you are planning on visiting. Keeping costs low requires you to look into cheap flight options. 

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Flights to Washington, DC, can be cost-effective. In fact, flights under $100 are common. Airlines like United Airlines, Southwest, and Delta all have cheap flight options year-round. Watch for sales throughout the year to get the best price on your flight. 

To Fly or Drive? 

These destinations are only a few of the vacation spots that offer low-cost flight options. In fact, if you are near a major airport, the odds are high you can find travel deals to your destination. When deciding between driving and flying, you need to factor in the full cost. For example, if you rent a car, what’s the cost? How about the cost of gas? 

Although driving seems more straightforward, it’s not always the cheapest solution for your travel plans. Take the time to search for deals.

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11 Summer Travel Hacks That Will Save You Money

Our resident travel expert shows you how to game the system on flights and hotels.

If you are planning a summer trip this year—and even if you are late to the game—there’s good news all around. Domestic airfares are down, according to the travel firm Hopper, at 5 percent cheaper than summer 2023, and hotel room rates in the U.S. are softer by roughly the same margin. An increase in international airline capacity—flights to Europe from the U.S. alone have seen an 8 percent uptick this summer versus last year—has helped ease pressure on prices, translating to 10 percent savings.

Still, if you find yourself balking at rates, you aren’t imagining things: Traveling after the pandemic is, in fact, pricier than it was before Covid shutdowns. Airfares are 10 percent higher overall than they were in 2019, and the average cost of a room domestically last year, at $180, was around $15 higher than it was four years earlier.

The following is our travel savings playbook for this summer and beyond.

How to score the best deals on hotels

1. bar none.

It’s a mistake to assume that endless googling will unearth cheaper prices than simply booking directly on a hotel’s website. These days, such direct bookings will almost always offer what’s known as the BAR, or best available rate. The reason is simple: By booking directly with the hotel, on its own site, the property won’t need to share commission with Hotels.com and the like, so it can pass on the savings to you. You’ll also avoid the scammy vendors that often clutter the results of such resellers, offering seemingly cheaper deals that turn out to be more expensive when you finally reach the payment page.

2. Find the freebies

If you’re planning a stay with a chain, like Accor or Marriott, make sure to join its loyalty program, which is always free. In exchange for your data, you’ll get bonus benefits, like comped breakfast or gratis wi-fi.

3. If you don’t ask, you won’t get

Don’t be afraid to engage with the hotel directly to ask if there’s flexibility around a given rate. Send a polite email, pointing out that you’d love to book five nights but wondered if there’s an incentive they could offer for that longer stay—a 10 percent discount, perhaps, or a free meal or two. We promise, it’s not tacky. They are thrilled to offer something to you in exchange for booking directly with them (see No. 1).

4. Futureproof your price for free

Do you have the niggling fear that after you’ve settled on a price, it will go down? That’s where Pruvo comes in. Make sure to book a refundable room, then forward the confirmation to [email protected]. (You can also install a Google Chrome extension, which automates the process even further.) The company’s software will then monitor for price cuts and alert you when they happen, prompting you to cancel that first reservation and snap up the same room at a lower rate. Pruvo is free to use, too, as it makes money through commissions, and per the firm’s own studies, prices drop in four out of 10 cases after booking, on average by around 14 percent.

5. Resale isn’t limited to vintage clothes

If you’re heading to a popular destination, consider a reseller like Roomer. Think of this like eBay for hotel rooms: Anyone with a nonrefundable booking they can no longer use can list it for resale via Roomer (free to list, and sellers pay a 15 percent fee when it sells). You can then snap up that room at a discounted rate, so the original traveler loses less money than they might have done otherwise, and you score a superb deal on a room that isn’t otherwise discounted. A win-win! Roomer claims that the average discount is around 45 percent, but expect it to be lower in peak season in prime places.

6. Travel like it’s 2010

Remember Groupon, that deal-offering darling of a decade ago? It’s still operating, albeit at a lower profile, and you can often score great packages there. The best way to use it is to search its Getaways Collections and sort by category, whether casino hotels or water parks, and then by price.

How to score the best deals on flights

1. new routes = smart deals.

One of the best strategies for saving is to focus on what’s new, whether routes, airlines, or destinations. Lesser-known routes are by definition cheaper and are more likely to use promotions to gin up interest. Take the West Coast–Caribbean routing, a formerly less popular route where airlines are now seeing interest and adding service with gusto. Several carriers have introduced new nonstops. Cayman Airways, for example, expanded its LAX–Grand Cayman service to twice weekly late last year, while JetBlue programmed an LAX–Nassau flight around the same time, connecting Southern California with the Bahamas nonstop. Alaska Airlines did the same thing, with year-round service from L.A. to Guatemala; it also now offers a winter getaway from Seattle and L.A. to Nassau, the first-ever direct to the Bahamas from SEA.

2. Go beyond the big names

Don’t forget that there’s a range of airlines beyond the major carriers, many of them start-ups with smarter business models (translation: better fares for you). Use Google Flights for the broadest search, and when you see the results, pull down the Airlines tab; scan it for unfamiliar names beyond Delta, American, and Southwest. Consider Breeze Airways, for example, which calls itself the “Nice Low Cost Carrier,” with benefits like brand-spanking-new planes and bargain prices; most of the planes are already fitted with wi-fi for in-flight entertainment to stream to your device (and every plane will be by fall). It was started three years ago by David Neeleman, the same man who invented JetBlue more than two decades ago. Its main area of focus is the Southeast, rather than the Northeast, where JetBlue started. It has hubs in Charleston, Tampa, Norfolk, and New Orleans; the most recently added Breeze hub was Fort Myers, Florida. Neeleman’s new carrier connects smaller airports, often in cities that were once well served by those major carriers before they consolidated and cut back.

3. And go ever-more-niche regional carrier

Don’t discount super-niche regional carriers like Silver Airways, a South Florida–headquartered operator that serves the Caribbean, just because you have never heard of them: There are one-way flights from West Palm Beach to the Bahamas, for example, starting at $59 one way. BermudAir is another notable start-up: It connects the island territory, still deeply British despite its proximity to the U.S., with five cities here, including Baltimore and Orlando.

4. New airports unlock destinations

Tulum is one of the hottest destinations in Mexico, the Instagram-anointed wellness hub that’s now rivaling Cancun and Cabo San Lucas in popularity. The biggest issue for quick trips there was logistical: It’s an hour-plus drive from Cancun airport, the region’s longtime hub; with traffic, it could take much longer. That problem was resolved earlier this year with the opening of TQO, Tulum’s own international airport, which quickly saw service added from almost every major U.S.–based carrier—Delta, United, American, and JetBlue are already operating service there.

5. Warehouse clubs are the best-kept travel secret

If you have a membership to a warehouse club, such as Sam’s or Costco, there are travel deals available to you already that you’ve probably never noticed. Go to the website and look for a Travel tab. Costco, for example, offers packages, hotels, cruises, and rental cars, which include member-only discounts on all those categories. Similarly, there’s a tab on airlines’ websites that many people overlook, like the Vacations tab on AA.com and Southwest.com, among others. These also offer packages, a popular way to travel in Europe, where flights and hotel rooms are bundled. Although we Americans are less inclined to book this way, these deals can be especially meaningful during peak season. Here’s how it works: Airlines allocate seats on certain flights to these packages and ring-fence them from the algorithms that typically control prices, which makes them markedly less susceptible to spikes in pricing of any kind. If you’re traveling in peak season, whether July or Thanksgiving, this means that such bundled deals can sometimes prove cheaper than booking the flight alone.

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Some Caribbean islands see almost 'total destruction' after Hurricane Beryl

A more complete picture emerged Wednesday of the extensive damage wrought by Hurricane Beryl's trek across the Windward Islands, revealing destruction and at least seven deaths.

At least three islands report more than 90% of the homes and buildings either destroyed or severely damaged, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency reported Wednesday . All three are within the chain of Grenadine Islands, where Beryl roared into the Caribbean on the southern end of the Windwards, between St. Vincent and Grenada.

With 19 participating states across the Caribbean , the agency was helping coordinate disaster response on Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines even as it continued to track Beryl’s movements across Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize. The eye of Beryl, still a Category 4 storm, raked Jamaica's coast Wednesday afternoon and was expected to pass near the Cayman Islands Thursday morning, before making landfall in the Yucatan on Friday morning.

The damage estimates for the Windwards – where Beryl made landfall over Carriacou – are only "a very preliminary look," said Elizabeth Riley, the disaster management agency's executive director. Beryl struck the islands with sustained winds of 150 mph and higher gusts on Monday, and the National Hurricane Center had warned that winds could be up to 30% higher on the tops of hills and mountains.

The impacts to the Grenadine Islands are "quite significant," Riley said, leaving residents exposed and vulnerable. Even as recovery efforts began, a tropical wave brought rain and gusty winds Wednesday to the suffering residents.

Grenada prime minister discusses damage on Carriacou

In a briefing late Tuesday after spending more than two hours in a helicopter provided by the government of St. Lucia, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell described "total destruction" on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

"There's really nothing that can prepare you to see this level of destruction," Mitchell said. "It is almost Armageddon-like, almost total damage and destruction of all buildings. Complete devastation and destruction of agriculture. Complete and total destruction of the natural environment."

"There is literally no vegetation left anywhere on the island of Carriacou; the mangroves are totally destroyed, the boats and the marinas significantly damaged," he said. "There is almost complete destruction of the electrical grid system in Carriacou. The entire communication system is completely destroyed."

However, Mitchell added, he'd been heartened by the volunteers "showing true Grenadian spirit" by arriving from other less damaged areas in boats and fishing vessels to begin delivering relief supplies to those affected.

Hurricane Beryl's fearsome seas As Beryl tears through Caribbean, a drone sends back stunning footage

Beryl damage updates

The following are the preliminary assessments Riley listed:

Carriacou, Grenada

• The total population of 6,081 has been affected, so shelter is "a significant consideration."
• Majority of homes and buildings have been extensively damaged
• Communications have been significantly compromised

Petite Martinique, Grenada

• Estimated 80% of the houses and buildings extensively damaged or destroyed
• 900 people affected
• Majority of the island is sheltering in place

Canouan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

• 100% of the island's population (12,600) has been affected
• An estimated 90% of the houses were damaged, either extensively or destroyed
• Police station in Charlestown lost its roof

Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

• Full population of 3,000 was affected by extensive damage
• Estimated 98% of buildings, including houses badly damaged or destroyed
• Airport control tower destroyed, hospital roof destroyed
• Power plant received significant damage
• Government assisting people who wish to evacuate

Mayreau, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

• Total population of 300 people affected
• 90% of the housing stock and buildings have been damaged or destroyed

Palm Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

• Resort and desalination plant significantly damaged
• More than 40 homes with damage, a number expected to rise
• Confirmed significant damage to the fishing sector
• More than 200 boats damaged
• Significant damage to the coastal infrastructure, particularly along the south coast 
• Partial road obstruction
• Significant damage on southern end 

Trinidad and Tobago

• Power outages
• Water disruption on Tobago 
• Roadway blockages on both islands

Bequia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

• An estimated 10% of the homes and buildings suffered roof damage
• Airport and runway are usable
• Minimal damages reported

Mitchell, Grenada's prime minister, said the island's northernmost parish, Saint Patrick suffered significant damage. The parishes of Saint Andrew, Saint Mark and Saint John also suffered much more damage than the parishes of Saint George and Saint David.

"It is clear that agriculture has taken quite a battering. It is clear that many persons have lost their roofs," Mitchell said. "It is clear, in some instances, many people have lost their entire homes."

Dinah Voyles Pulver covers climate and the environment for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or @dinahvp.

The latest rules of tipping: How much to tip in 2024

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Despite how commonplace tipping is in the U.S., it can still seem confusing to understand how much to tip for which services. Though common advice says to tip 15 percent to 20 percent, it may not always be obvious how much to tip for a service — or even when to tip at all.

Around two-thirds (67 percent) of Americans who dine at sit-down restaurants always tip their server, according to Bankrate’s Tipping Survey . For other services, whether or not to tip can be less clear. Fewer U.S. adults always tip when they go to coffee shops (at 20 percent) or when pick up takeout food from a restaurant (at 11 percent).

Customers are also increasingly prompted to tip for other services, such as car maintenance, retail stores and self-serve food, and many are feeling confused and frustrated as a result. More than 1 in 3 (35 percent) Americans believe tipping culture has gotten out of control, and 11 percent are confused about who and how much to tip.

Tipping may feel frustrating, but it’s vital for some fields. Because the expectation is that tipped workers will make more through tips, they legally only need to make $2.13 an hour in the U.S, according to the U.S. Department of Labor . As you plan your next local outing or luxurious trip , here’s how to show your thanks and tip appropriately for a wide range of services.

Bankrate’s insights on tipping behaviors

• Tipping etiquette isn’t always obvious. 11% of U.S. adults are confused about who and how much to tip.
• But pre-entered tip screens don’t necessarily make tipping easier. 34% of U.S. adults are annoyed about pre-entered tip screens; 25% tend to tip less, or not at all, when they’re presented with the screens; and only 14% tend to tip more when they see them.
• Some find tipping gratifying. 29% of U.S. adults say they feel good when they leave a generous tip.

How much to tip at restaurants

For waitstaff at sit-down restaurants , the tip should be at least 18 percent of the pretax bill, according to Cortney Norris, an assistant professor of hospitality and tourism management at Oklahoma State University who studies tipping habits.

Beyond that, the size of a restaurant’s gratuity depends on how well you’re served, including whether your order is correct and whether the server checks on you after you receive your food. Check your tab carefully, because some places add a gratuity to the bill. You may or may not want to supplement that.

“I think that percentage range has moved up, based on inflation and cost of living,” Norris says. “(Waitstaff) wages haven’t. $2.13 has been the sub-minimum wage since 1991. That tip amount has to increase to offset everything else going on in today’s economy.”

Tips are not necessary at fast food restaurants, counter-service restaurants or for take-out orders. Counter-service restaurant workers will likely appreciate any tip for fantastic service, but unlike waitstaff, they likely already receive a full hourly wage, Norris says.

Additional tip: Some restaurants include a menu item such as “Beers for the kitchen,” where you can add several extra dollars to your bill to tip the cooks and dishwashers behind the scenes.

How much to tip at bars

Tip $1 per drink for beer or wine the next time you’re at a bar, according to Norris. For cocktails, which take more time and expertise to make, tip at least 18 to 20 percent of your bill.

If you know you’ll be ordering multiple drinks over the course of a night, tipping $5 on the initial drink and then $1 for each drink after can be a show of goodwill to the bartender. For open bars, consider tipping at least $1 per drink.

How much to tip at coffee shops

At coffee shops and cafes, tipping your barista around 10 percent to 15 percent on coffee or about $1 on a drip coffee would likely be appreciated.

You can also pay your Starbucks barista by leaving a tip with the app.

How much to tip delivery drivers

Delivery fees can be quite high, but that money usually doesn’t go to the driver.

Delivery giant Grubhub advises tipping $5 or 20 percent of your meal price — whichever is greater — if it’s a simple delivery. If your area has severe weather, if the driver has to walk up several flights of stairs or if you are making a large order, tipping an extra 3 percent to 5 percent shows your appreciation for a difficult job.

How much to tip at hotels

Expect to pay a variety of tips at hotels , and the bigger and more luxurious the property, the greater the amount.

How much to tip while traveling

If you are traveling outside the country , do a little research on tipping customs before you go. Tips are expected in Canada, for example, but not in Japan. And always tip in cash and in the currency of the country you are visiting.

How much to tip at weddings

The size and scope of the wedding determine the amount you should pay in tips. Carefully read the contract for the wedding and reception venues before deciding on gratuities, as they might be included in the price. Also, if you are the host, make sure service workers at the party do not leave out tip jars, since you would not want to burden your guests with leaving tips.

How much to tip at salons and spas

Hairstyling and other beauty services are licensed, skilled crafts. Elaine Swann, a lifestyle and etiquette expert and the founder of the Swann School of Protocol in California, recommends tipping 5 percent to 20 percent for beauty services, depending on the quality of service.

Some independent massage therapists charge all-inclusive rates for their services, but generally tipping 20 percent for spa services like massages, facials and more is advised.

Most all-inclusive resorts , however, don’t encourage tipping.

How much to tip for transportation

Most ridesharing apps allow you to tip your driver through the app, but make sure to keep cash on hand if you’re taking a shuttle, taxi or limousine.

“With Uber rides, the least amount is 3 to 5 percent, and it goes up from there,” Swann says. “Make a judgment call. Was the vehicle clean? Was the person pleasant? Did they do something extra? It just depends on the level of service.”

Generally, the longer the trip, the larger the tip.

How much to tip child care

Regardless if you’re showing appreciation to a teen babysitter or a daycare worker, tipping 15 percent to 20 percent for childcare workers is generally advised.

Additional tip: Consider giving your children’s daycare teachers a small gift or handmade treat during the holiday season.

How much to tip movers

How much you’ll tip movers depends on many factors, such as if you own a lot of heavy furniture or if the movers will be expected to bring items upstairs.

Tip more for a more difficult, labor-intensive move, and be sure to tip for each individual mover. Offering water bottles, especially on a hot day, can be another kind way to show appreciation for a difficult job.

General guidelines for tipping etiquette

Tipping is more of an art than a science. These guidelines are a great place to start, but don’t feel like you have to stick to them if a worker gives you fantastic service and you want to show your appreciation. Otherwise, if you receive poor service, try to show empathy to the workers and bring up your complaint with them before leaving a small, or no, tip.

“In general, for things like sit-down restaurant meals, haircuts and taxis/rideshares, I’d say a 20 percent tip is recommended,” Bankrate Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman says. “Unfortunately, many people are tipping far less — sometimes even nothing at all. But for all of those services, I think a 20 percent tip should be standard practice. These people are working hard and depend on tips as a big part of their salary.”

Generally, if you don’t know whether or not to tip for a service, Norris, the assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, advises tipping if you couldn’t do it yourself or if the person added value to your overall experience.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of tipped services. Additionally, don’t forget about tipping for other personalized or highly-skilled services, like tattoos or housekeeping.

• Tipping is required for sit-down restaurants. For most services, tipping is optional, albeit appreciated, and is typically based on exceptional service. But at sit-down restaurants, tipping is the majority of a worker’s pay. Make sure to tip at least 18 percent.
• Tip according to the service provided: The more skill and experience that goes into a service, the more you should consider tipping. Someone who you have a personalized relationship with that knows your preferences also might earn a bigger tip, since they can offer knowledgeable advice and higher quality services.
• Cash is not necessarily king: Check the tipping policy at a company before using their services. If there’s no way to tip a worker when you pay, ask if they prefer to be tipped via a peer-to-peer payment platform, such as Venmo or Zelle, or in cash. Just make sure to leave cash in a visible spot when you might not be present to speak to the worker in person, such as for hotel housekeeping.
• Show appreciation for favors, too: You may tip a professional, but you’re unlikely to pay and tip a friend who’s helping you move your couch. Paying back a friend with a meal or a favor in turn is a kind gesture when you receive help for free.

Methodology

Bankrate commissioned YouGov Plc to conduct the survey on tipping habits. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,445 US adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 29th April – 1st May 2024. The survey was carried out online and meets rigorous quality standards. It employed a non-probability-based sample using both quotas upfront during collection and then a weighting scheme on the back end designed and proven to provide nationally representative results.

Sources : Suggested guidelines for tipping

• General tipping guidelines on coffee shops and others from Emily Post .
• General tipping guidelines on delivery, salons, travel and more from Ramsey Solutions .
• Tipping guidelines on babysitting from Kidsit .
• Tipping guidelines on moving from Move.org .

Related Articles

Financial goals: Common examples, and why they’re so important

Survey: 66% of Americans have a negative view of tipping

Survey: More than 1 in 3 Americans think tipping culture has gotten out of control 

The craziest places I’ve been asked to tip

Money blog: US fast food chain to open 60 restaurants in UK - with dish you have to sign waiver to eat

Welcome to the Money blog, your place for personal finance and consumer news and tips. Leave a comment or your Money Problem/consumer dispute (don't forget to leave a contact number/email) in the box below.

Wednesday 10 July 2024 00:27, UK

• Which is cheapest supermarket once you include Clubcard and Nectar?
• US fast food chain to open 60 restaurants in UK - with dish you have to sign waiver to eat
• Dyson to cut 1,000 UK jobs following global workforce review
• Price of a cuppa could rise as tea leaves cost up 20% in a week

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• Basically... What are the different ways of paying for a car?
• Women in Business : From blackouts to CEO - how burnout helped create UK's biggest venue booking platform
• Best deals on school uniform ahead of new academic year
• Further reading: Ian King answers your questions on what Labour government means for your personal finances

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Move out the way Chick-fil-A, another viral American fast food chain is about to launch in the UK. 

Dave's Hot Chicken has announced it will open restaurants in 60 locations across the UK and Ireland, with the first coming early next year. 

The social media sensation is known for its jumbo chicken sliders, sliders and bites. 

They can each be ordered in seven different spice levels from no spice to reaper, which is so hot you have to sign a waiver to eat it. 

"We know there is an opportunity to make Dave's Hot Chicken one of the iconic restaurant brands, and we do that by partnering with incredible operators, like Azzurri Group," said Bill Phelps, CEO of Dave's Hot Chicken.

"The flavour of Dave's Hot Chicken resonates across borders, and we're looking forward to the first UK store getting open soon." 

The chain is coming to the UK after it signed an agreement with Azzurri Group - one of the country's biggest hospitality investment platforms.

The group already operates Italian restaurants Zizzi, Ask Italian, and Coco di Mama as well as the fast casual Mexican restaurant Boojum. 

Dave's Hot Chicken was originally founded by three friends Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan and Tommy Rubenyan, who spent $900 to launch in a car park in 2017. 

Since then, it has grown rapidly with more than 200 restaurants now open across the US. 

It has also garnered the attention of famous investors like singers Drake and Usher, and actor Samuel L Jackson. 

The move to the UK comes after a recent expansion by Popeyes and an upcoming launch by Chick-fil-A. 

EE has launched a subscription service designed to protect users from nuisance calls and scams.

Called Scam Guard, the system will use AI to spot likely spam calls and alert users to them.

It will also notify the owner if their personal information has been found on the dark web, and offer tips on how to secure any in-danger accounts. 

Anti-virus and malware protection for two devices and tools for stronger password creation can be included as well.

The mobile operator is offering the service to pay-monthly phone customers, starting from £1 a month. 

EE, which is part of the BT Group, said it hoped the system would eliminate the stress of cybersecurity and educate users on the subject. 

It comes after government research published earlier this year showed 40% of crime committed across the UK was fraud-based, and almost all phone users experienced nuisance calls on a regular basis.

"We have always prioritised the protection of our customers and our investment in Scam Guard is something we are all incredibly proud of," said Helen Burrows, policy director for BT. 

"This is something we take seriously, and while we already block an impressive number of scams, there is always more that we can do. Scam Guard covers all bases, so customers can feel safer on our network."

Aldi will open 10 new stores across the UK this summer.

The German supermarket chain has already opened stores in Skelmersdale in Lancashire, Newport in Wales, Castle Gresley in Derbyshire, Goole in Yorkshire and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire this year.

And it is now set to open sites in Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, and Olney Park in Milton Keynes, in the next month.

Towns such as Aberdare in Wales, Broughty Ferry in Dundee and Leytonstone in London are also set to open new stores.

In total, the UK's fourth-largest supermarket is on track to open 35 new stores this year, with each creating around 40 new jobs on average.

The openings form part of Aldi's long-term target of 1,500 stores in the UK.

Jonathan Neale, real estate managing director at Aldi UK, said the store wanted to "ensure that high quality yet affordable food is available to everyone" and that was why the chain would "expand across the UK".

Where will the new branches be opening?

• Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire
• Olney Park, Milton Keynes
• Aberdare, Wales
• Broughty Ferry, Dundee
• Leytonstone, London
• Beckton, London
• Middleton, Leeds
• Rugeley, Staffordshire
• Gosforth, Tyne and Wear
• Holloway Road, London
• Shepshed, Leicester 

Over half a million pensioners are still paying off their mortgages, research shows.

In its survey of 2,000 people over 50, the financial services firm SunLife found that retired mortgage holders still owed more than £30,000 on average.

Data found that of the 68% that were homeowners, 23% were still paying off their mortgage.

And while 87% of those with outstanding mortgages were still working, the research showed that 13% of those still paying off their mortgages were retired.

This means that of all retirees in the UK,  7% - the equivalent of just over 500,000 older people - may still be paying monthly mortgage payments.

On average, these retired mortgage holders still owe £33,627.

The data follows a recent Bank of England report which revealed nearly half of all mortgages issued in the last three months of 2023 were for 30 years or longer.

Last month, worried homeowners told the Money team they would have to work longer and later in life to pay their mortgages.

You can read more here ...

Crisis-hit Thames Water has warned its cash remains on track to run dry by the end of May next year due to a lack of new investment, forcing it to prepare a plan for its lenders.

The country's biggest water company, which serves almost a quarter of the population, previously said it had £2.4bn of liquidity as of the end of March.

The company said on Tuesday that the sum had fallen to £1.8bn by the end of June.

Cash-strapped Thames Water has been struggling to secure fresh funds from existing shareholders after they withdrew promised investment of £500m amid a funding row with the industry regulator.

Read more from our business news reporter James Sillars below... 

The UK's largest hotel brand has had to change its marketing after a complaint to the advertising regulator - removing claims which said buying early means getting the best price.

The complaint against Premier Inn was "informally resolved" by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), meaning the hotel chain agreed to amend the communication and details of the issue were not made public.

No formal ruling was published but the ASA told Sky News a complaint had challenged Premier Inn's claim that booking early gave the best deals on the basis the statement was misleading and could not be substantiated.

The ad in question said: "Book early to secure your choice of hotel and dates for the best price!"

Read more from our business news reporter Sarah Taafe-Maguire here... 

Card spending fell last month for the first time in more than three years, according to Barclays.

It's the first time there's been a drop in card spending values since February 2021, the bank's June data showed.

The figures cover nearly 40% of the nation's credit and debit card transactions and combine it with consumer research.

It's due to a combination of prices rising less than before, as inflation weakened, and wet weather dampening clothes, pub and garden centre sales early in the month.

Read more...

Dyson has revealed plans for 1,000 job losses in the UK.

The manufacturer of innovative vacuum cleaners and other products said the cuts, which amount to more than a quarter of its UK workforce, followed a review of its global workforce needs.

It is understood that the redundancies are not linked to the general election as the process had begun beforehand.

The company's founder Sir James Dyson had previously been  critical of the Conservative government 's approach to economic growth and science.

Follow this breaking story here ...

Is it an infringement of hygiene regulations, or just a drop in the ocean?

Well, those who are caught relieving themselves in the sea in Marbella could seemingly be fined a hefty €750 (£634).

In new plans to help clean up the Costa del Sol, fines could be levied on beach-goers who are found guilty of "physiological evacuation in the sea and on the beach".

The wording of the by-law has given rise to ridicule in Spain, with many questioning just how it would be policed.

A spokesperson for the city council has since moved to clarify the proposals, saying they referred to the fact people might urinate into the sea from the shore.

"The by-law does not impose a sanction for peeing in the sea," they said in an  email to The Guardian . 

"It will not be applicable. The by-law regulates possible antisocial infractions on the beach, just as any such acts are regulated in any public space such as on the city's streets."

The rules have been approved by Malaga's council but need to pass a public consultation before becoming law.

Taking in 25 different beaches in the Malaga municipality, the rules aim to bring a halt to a practice dubbed "an infringement of hygiene and sanitary regulations".

Under the rules, repeat offenders caught more than once in the space of a year could face a fine of up to €1,500 (£1,270).

Things have just started looking up, inflation is under control, an interest rate cut could come next month, but tea leaf production in India is about to throw a spanner in the works. 

The price of a cuppa could be about to rise after harvests in places across the country were drastically reduced by extreme weather events - including floods and heatwaves. 

As a result, it's predicted average tea prices this year could be 16% to 20% higher than in 2023.

In the last week of June, the typical price of Indian tea leaves rose to more than £2 per kg - a near 20% increase, according to the Tea Board. 

A government ban on 20 pesticides has also had an impact. 

More than half of India's total tea production is plucked during July to October.

"Extreme weather events are hurting tea production. Excessive heat in May, followed by ongoing flooding in Assam, are reducing output," said Prabhat Bezboruah, a senior tea planter and former chairman of India's Tea Board.

The country produced a record 1.394 billion kg of tea in 2023, but in 2024 production could fall by around 100 million kg, he warned.

India's tea production in May plunged more than 30% from a year earlier to 90.92 million kg - its lowest for that month in more than a decade. 

In June, production improved slightly thanks to good rainfall, but flooding in July limited plucking in many districts of Assam. 

The region accounts for more than half the country's tea output, and the UK is India's top export destination. 

And, we are a nation of tea drinkers - consuming around 100 million cups a day. 

The average price of a packet of 80 tea bags costs £2.64 - up from £2.38 last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Of course, the extent of the price increases depends on a variety of factors, including how much manufacturers and retailers will absorb and if tea supply contracts are due to expire. 

By James Sillars , business news reporter

The FTSE 100 is in positive territory on Tuesday morning despite a hefty drag from BP.

The index was trading 0.2% higher at 8,212, with miners among the sectors leading the way.

BP was down by more than 2% after it warned of a hit to second quarter profits due to weaker refining margins and oil trading.

Among wider fallers in London was Indivior.

Its shares plunged by more than a third. The drugmaker revealed at 7am that it had lowered its annual profit forecast, not aided by the fact it would discontinue the sale of its schizophrenia drug Perseris.

Global share performance today may well depend on remarks in Washington DC.

Investors are eagerly awaiting evidence to a Senate committee by chair of the Federal Reserve Jay Powell this afternoon.

Any hint that the central bank has moved closer to a US interest rate cut will be seen positively.

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