After sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the Ugly Truths of Being a Travel Blogger, we also wanted to share the other side of the spectrum. There’s a lot of ugly that goes on behind the scenes that you may never know when you see highly curated, beautiful images on the blog and on instagram. Believe it or not 90% of the time we’re not laying on the beach sipping piña coladas, but there’s a reason we all continue to do what we do.
Last Updated: Sep 21, 2018
The Biggest Perks of Being a Professional Travel Blogger
creating a new "normal" & Encouraging others to do so
Having grown up in an immigrant family where security and stability was always the main goal, going outside the norm was never an option. Let alone becoming a travel podcaster at theoffbeatlife.com. The best thing about being in the travel industry is how I have been able to encourage others to live the life they truly love, even if it may seem impossible or out of reach.
I wake up everyday knowing that my purpose is to help others and it makes me so happy and fulfilled knowing I can make a difference in peoples lives. Today, my family may not understand what a podcast is or what being a travel influencer is – but they know that I am happy, have steady income and making a difference in other peoples lives. Bridging that gap and understating of what I do to what “normal” is has been one of my greatest accomplishment.
Learning curve. Even though many people don’t recognize travel blogging as a “real job” as they call it, it is one of the realest jobs in existence where you are forced to wear many hats and therefore learn a lot about business. Through every success and mistake I have learned more about business in the past year alone than five years as a manager at other companies. Whether you succeed or not, you will never ask “what if” and you will always have invaluable experience for any business from running your own from the ground up.
Deb from TheOffbeatLife Podcast
Control of your own destiny
The best benefit of being a travel blogger is having control over your own destiny. We run our own business and we can pick and choose what projects we want to do and what places we want to see. It is up to us how the business goes. There are so many possibilities in the online world that we are always evolving and figuring out new revenue streams and new ways to create content. It’s very exciting. And it is all up to us. The harder we work, the more success we have. But at the same time, we’ve been doing this business nearly 10 years, so we also have a lot of freedom to relax and let the business run itself for a little while if we want some time off or away. This gives us freedom to see our friends and family like never before. We can be flexible with schedules when others can’t.
Dave & Deb from The Planet D
Experiencing Different Cultures
Being a travel blogger affords me the opportunity to learn from people and experience cultures. My blog involves traveling so I’m able to write off some travel expenses, and I can use business credit cards to earn rewards and create more travel opportunities, which feeds into my work. Plus, I don’t have to wake up to an alarm clock unless I have an early flight to catch. I can make my own hours and work anywhere.
Johnny from JohnnyJet
Helping People Get the Most out of their Travels
Without sounding too cheesy, the best thing about my job is being able to help make their travel dreams a reality. In the US especially, vacation time is extremely limited (and limiting) so being able to help people stretch their dollar and get the most out of their travels is what I love about my job. On a more personal level, it’s the freedom of this industry that really drew me to writing and blogging. Being my own boss, traveling where I want — anytime I want. It took me a long time to get where I am, and it’s definitely not without headaches, but I really do cherish that freedom!
Matt from NomadicMatt
Exploring lesser known destinations
One of the main benefits of being a travel blogger is the fact that you get to experience the world and also get paid at the same time. Another positive thing is the fact that you get to meet so many other travelers and talented writers and content creators along the way.
In addition to that I would say that it has also pushed me to explore lesser known destinations. Since I travel full-time, I don’t have to squeeze in all destinations and experiences during a period of a 2-5 weeks vacation. I can travel more often and therefore also take the risk to explore the lesser known destinations and off the beaten path.
If you always travel to the same places as everyone else, it’s also more difficult to come up with an interesting story or something exciting for your readers.
Alex from SwedishNomad
Hearing from the Readers
Hands down one of the best things about being a travel blogger is having the ability to influence/encourage people to travel. We do a little dance every time we get emails from people thanking us for writing about a place or someone telling us that our blog helped them plan their trip. That feeling is awesome! We also love partnering with unique adventure holiday companies whose trips are nothing short of life-changing and seeing our readers experience the stuff we recommend and hearing them rave about it is amazing.
Last year, we were working with a company that did tuk-tuk adventure races all over Sri Lanka. One of the teams that signed up through our website was a trio of 50+year-old women who were total badasses! For them, that experience was a trip of a lifetime and they got to experience it thanks to our blog.
Anna from Adventure in You
The Friends I've Made
Josh from CalifoniaThroughMyLens
Having a Flexible Schedule
One of my favorite things about travel blogging is exploring a city, even my own NYC on my own time. Having flexible hours means that sometimes I start early and end very late, but it also means that I can explore places during off-peak hours, when everyone is in an office so museums, trains or city streets are almost empty. I recently shot a video during a weekend in NYC and it was miserable, I forgot how busy things are in a busy city on the weekends compared to a weekday when I might normally shoot something.
Jen from The Travel Women
Opportunities outside of blogging
Being in the forefront of the digital revolution. I got my first marketing job as a Social Media Manager of a telco a decade ago because of my blog (a personal blog). The company understood that, as a blogger, I am skilled in creating content, marketing it, and engaging with audiences. When I quit working full time and just accepted consultancy gigs, most of my clients found me through my blogs. Same with my blogging partner Vins, who is an SEO specialist. As a bloggers, we are unwittingly building a portfolio or a showcase of both our work and our character in the public eye. Vins and I don’t do consultancy now — we decided to focus on just blogging — but we’re still surprised to receive offers from brands trying to hire us as consultants. And that’s all because of our blogs.
Yoshke from ThePoorTraveler
Overcoming my anxieties and fears
Prior to blogging, I had suffered from many anxieties and fears surrounded by traveling (and lots of other things too!). But becoming a travel blogger has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone time and time again. In the beginning, just the thought of being on a plane, dealing with the language barrier of a foreign country or getting lost on the streets of a new destination terrified me. But, each trip pushed my boundaries and taught me that I was perfectly capable of navigating the world, and designing a life that I am beyond excited about living.
Travel blogging has caused my comfort bubble and confidence to grow exponentially! So much so that it has allowed me to have some the wildest adventures I never thought possible—like climbing an active volcano in Guatemala, swimming with whale sharks in in Mexico and rappelling down a 100 foot waterfall in Costa Rica!
Annette from BucketListJourney
Constantly Learning & Experimenting
Creating our own business gives us the autonomy to have flexible schedules, make quick decisions, and pivot the company the way we want. There is always something new to work on and something new to learn, so it’s never boring.
Because there are so many different ways to make income, we can focus on our strengths, while taking time to learn new skills to improve our weaknesses. We also have the creative freedom to try new things, whether that’s with how we shoot, the type of posts we write, our marketing efforts, or how we work with brands. It’s a great place to be if you tend to get bored doing one thing over and over.
Esther & Jacob from Local Adventurer
What does it Mean to Be a Professional Travel Blogger?
Everyone has a slightly different opinion on this one, but for the purposes of this post, you’re a pro when you make your living from travel blogging.
Have you ever considered starting up a blog? If you already blog full time, what are your biggest perks of professional travel blogging? If you have any questions about it, feel free to contact us!
Esther + Jacob
