13 Tips for Becoming a Travel Blogger |

Ryan Biddulph March 31, 2023 blogging tips 🕑 7 minutes read

Grecia Costa Rica

Blogging while you circle the globe feels freeing.

Travel blogging is worth the trade off of working generously, patiently and persistently for years.

Being a full time travel blogger requires substantial work on your part. Hug this truth to ground yourself in reality and to experience the freedoms this life affords.

Even though Blogging From Paradise focuses heavily on being a blogging tips resource I have a little secret to share; the few travel posts I’ve published over the years amplified my success powerfully. My travel blogger friend network even helped me get featured on Forbes. Some deem me the most interesting travel blogger on the internet……but I’ll let you decide.

Follow these tips for becoming a travel blogger.

1: Love Traveling

You better love traveling or else your career will flop.

Sometimes folks see the glittery benefits of circling the globe and getting paid without knowing what traveling involves. Changing time zones, suffering through jet lag, dealing with language barriers and embracing cultural differences challenge even passionate bloggers with a yen for circling the globe.

Love travel. Being passionate about circling the globe lets your love shine through your blog posts.

2: Love Observing and Recording Travels

Do you love observing your travels?

Spending time on a beach does not instantly dictate the words into your WordPress backoffice. Observing, remembering and recording travels transmits your thoughts for readers to enjoy.

Practice observing your day. Take your time. Recording experiences connects you with readers.

Be present. Take notes, if need be.

Cultivating this skill takes time, patience and a willingness to practice observing to add important details to blog posts.

For example, this post detailing my first impressions of Prague required my deliberate observations to publish a thorough post.

3: Love Writing Stories About Your Travels

Being incredibly passionate about writing seems to be a powerful difference maker separating top travel bloggers from everyone else.

Leaders blog for years before going pro. Passion sustains you. Having a passion for writing carries you through fear, cuts like a knife through discomfort and pulls you above, below, around or through blogging obstacles.

4: Monetize through Multiple Income Streams

Monetize your blog through multiple income streams like:

to increase travel blogging income.

Avoid the common travel blogger error of monetizing through 1-2 channels – namely sponsored post and ad revenue – and getting burned during dry spells or flat out droughts.

New travel bloggers have no blog traffic. Advertisers require blog traffic. Bad match.

Start affiliate marketing. Sell other folk’s products and services. Slowly but surely increase your new blogger income by leveraging other entrepreneur’s offerings. Write eBooks about traveling. Create a course to aid travelers.

Open multiple income streams to steadily boost your blogging income through a range of dependable channels.

5: Travel!

Travel bloggers need to travel for content to publish.

Before one deems this tip as one published by Captain Obvious, travel bloggers often struggle for not hitting the road for content ideas. Some work full time jobs. Others just self-sabotage.

Life gets crazy busy for all of us. But you need to actually travel to gain credibility as a travel blogger.

Take this not so subtle reminder to hit the road. Create content. Help readers. Succeed.

6: Publish In-Depth Resources

Publish long-form content to develop your authority.

Aim for 1200-1500 words or longer to hit the mark.

Add as many details to your posts as possible. Detailed posts resonate with readers wanting to learn more about locations, tips and reasons aligned with traveling.

Be generous. Give away as much valuable content as possible. Cover topics by drilling down into critical details to please both Google and your readers.

Being thorough lays the foundation for a prospering travel blog monetizing campaign.

7: Speed Up Your Blog

As a rule, travel bloggers use images, advertisements and high definition videos liberally. Each tends to slow down your blog’s load time which tests the patience of fickle readers.

Embedding dynamic advertisements along with heavy images potentially lessens traffic and profits potential as readers head for the cyber hills; readers need to stick around to actually click on ads for you to make money.

Consider investing in:

a VPS or some form of premium hosting to handle your blog traffic
a CDN for quicker loading images
a lightweight premium theme

Invest money to speed up your blog which improves your user experience.

8: Study Top Travel Bloggers Closely

Established, professional travel bloggers like Nomadic Matt clue you in to how to succeed online. Pay close attention to him and other top pros to better understand what it takes to become a professional travel blogger.

For example, note how Matt emphasizes blogging with SEO in mind. Many of his blog posts dominate page 1 of Google for highly competitive travel search terms. Follow his lead to position yourself to succeed online. Observe pros to figure out how to blog the right way.

More importantly, pro travel bloggers teach you what not to do.

Follow pros. Watch them closely. Blaze your unique travel blogging trail but learn from top pros how to succeed so you can succeed, too.

9: Be Honest

For whatever reason, travel bloggers deeply fear sharing less glamorous or even nightmarish aspects of traveling.

In most cases, travel bloggers intend to convey a perfect image of self and travel to maintain some glowing reputation.

Hiding the truth about yourself and your travels forms an energetic anchor of fear holding you and your travel blog back. Note Nomadic Matt again; he blogs in honest fashion even if his genuine approach ruffle feathers. He became highly successful because his integrity shines through.

Scrap the Infinity pool shots, bikini clad selfies and perfect travel blogger persona for a little bit. Share a selfie right after waking up from a jet lagged evening. Discuss the challenges travelers face in certain spots. Brace readers for less enjoyable aspects of circling the globe.

I portray traveling in honest fashion because I share:

the upsides and downsides of travel
some of my funny, wild and nightmarish travel experiences
the benefits and struggles of being a traveling blogger

Be genuine to gain credibility.

10: Negotiate Or Fixed Price?

Some travel bloggers negotiate sponsored post and advertisement prices.

Other travel bloggers only offer fixed pricing for sponsored post and advertisements.

Do what you feel clear on to prosper through these channels.

I never got clear on bargaining. I do not work in a Middle Eastern Souq. Offering solely fixed pricing for ads and sponsored posts banished tire kickers and bargain seekers from my email inbox to make room for prospering clients.

Do what feels good to you. Negotiating may feel fun, freeing and enjoyable to you. Go this route to enjoy the ride and to prosper.

But if offering fixed pricing feels good simply take that route to experience the greatest travel blogging success.

11: Invest Money in Blogging Resources

Invest money in blogging resources like online courses, coaching and eBooks.

Access proven guides to help you succeed online.

Pro bloggers publish resources to pack their most helpful content into effective formatting.

Investing money in professional blogger resources saves your:

time
energy
focus

to do what you need to do to succeed.

12: Network with Pro Travel Bloggers

Network with professional travel bloggers.

Learn from pros. Bond with leaders. Observe how pro travel blogging buddies expand your reach by promoting you.

Help travel bloggers. Retweet their posts. Share their posts on Facebook. Comment genuinely on their blogs. Buy their eBooks. Invest in their courses. Allow your generosity to make you stand out.

Eventually, as you increase your blogging skills, blogging friendships form.

Organically, pro blogging buddies tend to:

promote you via social media
promote you via their blog
endorse you

increasing your blog traffic and profits.

I landed a feature on Entrepreneur only after creating and connecting for a long time. My pro travel blogger buddy network put me on the radar screen of contributors from world renowned sites.

Building this network took a while but the benefits of networking far outweigh the work, time and energy commitment to network effectively.

Travel Bloggers to Follow

13: Be Patient and Persistent

Be patient and persistent to become a professional travel blogger.

This is a critical intangible tip to follow closely.

Travel blogging requires multiple skills to master.

Being:

an observer
a writer
an entrepreneur

demands your patience because developing even a single skill consumes ample time and energy. Building multiple skills simultaneously feels confusing if not overwhelming sometimes. Enter patience.

No travel blogger goes pro overnight. Patient, persistent bloggers who publish helpful content, connect with pros and monetize effectively eventually go pro.

Conclusion

Create and connect.

Create helpful content. Connect with your readers.

Become a professional travel blogger by sticking to the basics.

Your Turn

Do you want to become a professional travel blogger?

What tips can you add to this list?

Barbara Charles says:
January 29, 2015 at 3:08 pm

Hi Ryah,

So I thought when I found out you live chose by, I’d get to meet ya! 😉 But a travel blogger’s got to do what a travel blogger’s got to do, right? First – Wow! Impressive and so on point for so many things I don’t know where to start. But I’ll tell you what I like best. What is OPOS? Obscure Product Offering Syndrome.
LOL! Hysterical, but oh so true.

The one thing I notice as I’ve been visting a lot of blogs lately are these rather obscure products. And now I know I’m on t he right track. I’ve have a product but the product is more toward the middle of a ‘lesson’ instead of in the intro. Not sure you know what that means, but it means, there’s other info I need to introduce to the blogger first before I put this obscure product out there. Bottom line is that’s what I resonated with today. (All the other stuff too, but that’s what impressed me because it tells me I’m doing it right.) Getting things in order, updating my template, meeting and commenting on other posts – I’m doing it all with the hopes of improvement on my blog. Although I don’t want to be a travel blogger 😉 (got kids and family I don’t want to be away from, I do want to be a successful blogger.

No I’m not a full time travel blogger, yet! Got some work to do, starting out with the many resources and blogs to check out that you recommended.

Funny story with the nuts raining down! ha! But there might have been some fighting up in the air if I’d been that woman! sorry. 🙁 But funny when sitting here reading it!

Anyway, be safe in your travels. See you in the blogosphere.

Barbara

Keep ’em coming

Will Hatton says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:39 am
Awesome article Ryan! Some really great points in here, Triberr especially has been unbelievably useful for me over the last few months! I definitely think your right, if we’re going to survive; we sure as hell have to diversify our incomes! You’ve given me a lot to think about which I shall now act upon promptly, kind of like the time I backed into a parked BMW… Now all I have to do is keep on truckin’, put in the time, make the investment and see the fruits of m labour pay off, heck – maybe one day I’ll even OWN a BMW!
All the best!
Will
Ryan Biddulph says:
January 28, 2015 at 11:20 am
Will I know you will 😉 Keep on inspiring and thanks for reading!
Ryan Biddulph says:
January 28, 2015 at 9:57 pm
Bob you’re doing awesome to me, loving your stories and your blog. Thanks so much!
Deborah Tutnauer says:
January 29, 2015 at 2:12 pm
Mindset and falling nuts!
As in – pay attention to what you think and what you think about what you think or you might lose your marbles!
Truth be told, though 12 of the tips are so vitally important – the mindset one could be the straw that broke the camels back no matter how well you incorporate the other 12. Funny how people just don’t want to go there. It’s hard to get uncomfortable, but that is in fact where you success is waiting for you – outside the comfort zone.
I personally do not want to be a travel blogger. Though I have not traveled quite as extensively as you and Kelli, Ryan, I have traveled a lot. At this stage in my life I love the occasional adventure and the homebody thing. We’ve traveled enough that my 13 year old daughter is loving being home and the structure of school (a very outside-the-box alternative one!), violin, dance and of course friendship and BOYS!
I’m good with that. I’m an entrepreneur business success blogger in the way that you are travel blogger. I aim to compel my readers to explore their perceptions, beliefs, stories and sticking points. It’s the inner roadways that I write about. And as you so powerfully explained, it’s those inner machinations that can make or break your business success, whether as a blogger or another type of venture.
Great article Ryan! Thank you.
Deborah
Barbara Charles says:
January 29, 2015 at 3:08 pm
Hi Ryah,
So I thought when I found out you live chose by, I’d get to meet ya! 😉 But a travel blogger’s got to do what a travel blogger’s got to do, right? First – Wow! Impressive and so on point for so many things I don’t know where to start. But I’ll tell you what I like best. What is OPOS? Obscure Product Offering Syndrome.
LOL! Hysterical, but oh so true.
The one thing I notice as I’ve been visting a lot of blogs lately are these rather obscure products. And now I know I’m on t he right track. I’ve have a product but the product is more toward the middle of a ‘lesson’ instead of in the intro. Not sure you know what that means, but it means, there’s other info I need to introduce to the blogger first before I put this obscure product out there. Bottom line is that’s what I resonated with today. (All the other stuff too, but that’s what impressed me because it tells me I’m doing it right.) Getting things in order, updating my template, meeting and commenting on other posts – I’m doing it all with the hopes of improvement on my blog. Although I don’t want to be a travel blogger 😉 (got kids and family I don’t want to be away from, I do want to be a successful blogger.
No I’m not a full time travel blogger, yet! Got some work to do, starting out with the many resources and blogs to check out that you recommended.
Funny story with the nuts raining down! ha! But there might have been some fighting up in the air if I’d been that woman! sorry. 🙁 But funny when sitting here reading it!
Anyway, be safe in your travels. See you in the blogosphere.
Barbara
Keep ’em coming
Anna says:
January 30, 2015 at 4:54 am
Another awesome post full of good tips (and good stories), Ryan! I suppose I can be considered a travel blogger, but I’m not too sure anymore if it’s really my thing… though I do want to run a successful blog. But about what? I guess I’m still trying to figure it out. I guess I just want to write about life in general. So I’m not sure if I can just narrow my blog down to a specific niche, and write about only a few specific topics. 🙂
As always, I agree that mindset is the most important, and also probably the hardest to work on!
Ryan Biddulph says:
January 30, 2015 at 10:16 am
Yep Anna get super clear on your purpose and all will flow 😉 Thanks much!
Ryan Biddulph says:
January 30, 2015 at 10:18 am
Barbara you’re on the right track for sure! Yep, we’re almost out the door now ;)…but would love meeting up with you when we return. Thanks so muchfor reading!
Ryan Biddulph says:
January 30, 2015 at 10:19 am
Deborah awesome analogy! So true; if we do the inner work we can see the outer success. Much appreciated Deborah, thanks so much for the fab comment!
Dariece says:
February 6, 2015 at 12:17 am
I swear I commented on this before…but I guess not! Better late than never 😉
Thanks so much for the shout-out Ryan – and for calling us young Goats and not too old ones! lol.
I definitely agree that it’s important to have a variety of income streams. Even if we’re not making money, if we’re not spending it, that’s a great way to keep some money in the bank. House sitting, couchsurfing, sponsored trips/tours, etc. are great ways to keep money in your pocket.
Write, Write, Write…you’re right, right right! Something that we’ve been finding hard to do at the moment. Having a sort of work/travel balance issue going on at the moment. We want to see all of Mexico and haven’t been putting enough time into the site. Starting tomorrow (seriously) we are getting back on track 🙂
Cheers Ryan, great article.
Dariece
Ryan Biddulph says:
February 7, 2015 at 12:23 am
Awesome Dariece that’s great to hear….and it’s my pleasure!!
Anthony Gaenzle says:
March 30, 2021 at 8:04 pm
First, I can’t believe you wrote 4000 words and completely trashed it! May those words rest in piece. 😊
Second, being a travel blogger would 100% be my ideal career. But with little ones, it would be tough. I guess I could start local and maybe do a “Stay-cation” travel blog!
This is all great advice. I’d imagine having a travel blog could be freeing and fun, but you have to learn to keep it that way and not make it too serious and lose the joy.
Excellent advice throughout for aspiring travel bloggers.
Ryan Biddulph says:
March 30, 2021 at 9:15 pm
Haha yes Anthony, I deep-sixed those suckers LOL. The stay-cation, local idea sounds brilliant! Especially with the little ones, you can visit local spots while maintaining stability with your family life. I totally dig that idea.
Alyson Long says:
March 31, 2023 at 6:26 am
Well, I am a professional travel blogger and have been for a lot of years. The industry has changed. Travel blogging is full of fakes and “niche site” SEO and AI writers (who all took some trash course) filling the internet with absolute junk. Most of it factually incorrect. I think today the key is to stay interesting, unique, and original. You have to have a unique spin to make it past all the junk out there. It’s harder for sure. Hopefully Google will start weeding out these idiots soon, because right now they’re not. I can give examples. I was researching a road trip local to me yesterday, the #1 and #2 posts were Ai junk, written under fake names, who had obviously never been here. Way wrong with all facts! Incredibly wrong. So of course I will publish my own version and smash them. RIP.
Stefan (Berkeley Square Barbarian) says:
March 31, 2023 at 6:46 am
Great advice, there, Ryan, as always. Thank you for sharing those tips and never holding anything back.
So many more ways to monetize Ellie’s and my blog. Only looked into half of those so far. I guess being invited to visit holiday destinations (for free) is normally not thought of as a type of ‘monetization’, because you are not getting paid any money (not for the freebie anyway). To us that’s definitely one of the upsides that comes with being a travel blogger, though, I won’t lie. 🙂
Focussing on writing in-depth resources is something I should do much more. It’s so much easier doing a short write-up about a restaurant visit or walking tour. But comprehensive “Ten Things To Do In [enter location name]” pieces or the like are so much more effective and useful.
Finally, can’t thank you enough for including Berkeley Square Barbarian in your list of travel bloggers to follow. Very kind of you.
And what a list to be included on. We love Mapping Megan’s travel posts, and World Travel Family, Travel Notes and Beyond, and To Travel Too.
Ryan Biddulph says:
April 1, 2023 at 3:51 am
You and Ellie are doing an excellent job Stefan. The secret is to keep blogging, to keep drilling down to add details to blog posts and to keep income streams open through which you can receive money in order to go pro. The challenging part gets easier with realizing that simple creating and connecting leads to the travel blogging career, with mindfully publishing thorough content and building genuine bonds like ours being the foundation for thriving.
Ryan Biddulph says:
April 1, 2023 at 3:57 am
“I think today the key is to stay interesting, unique, and original.”
Ding ding ding. We have a winner here. Well said Alyson.
Publish interesting, unique, original content to succeed and you will forgive, look past and look over the uninteresting, copycat, rehashed content out there as being an illusion posing zero threat to what you do. Knowing your worth and spreading it for the world to see, to use and to enjoy dissolves any fears or even judgements related to the silly happenings in the travel blogging niche these days. Like crabgrass or a bad cold, bloggers who take shortcuts always seem to stick around right until the moment someone plows through with a lawnmower or gets enough sleep; the crabgrass and cold disappear instantly, then.
Remember this: you and 1,000 or 10,000 other people read those 2 rubbish articles on page 1, position 1 and 2 on Google, deemed the content junk, did not trust it and nobody was fooled. You and I are pretty smart; Google employs 156,000 highly intelligent minds backed by a $1.3 trillion market cap. They’ve got this. They’re good. They’ll figure it out, especially as more user feedback for the crappy page 1 travel blog results finds their inbox.
Keep being genuine, helpful and unique and your success will accelerate.
Alyson Long says:
April 23, 2023 at 5:40 am
When I was a kid and got my first camera I just loved taking photos to share. Then when I started REALLY travelling in my 20s I’d put together elaborate photo albums with words pictures, maps, tickets. The internet still wasn’t invented. I guess I was born for this job and I’m incredibly happy I stumbled into it over a decade ago. And I think I’ve known you the whole time Ryan. I truly love travel and writing about travel and if I find an account full of elaborately posed selfies, particularly half naked, I unfollow, it’s not travel, its self promo. I promise never to post a photo of myself in a bikini (you really wouldn’t want that) and I ALWAYS post the gritty realities.
Ryan Biddulph says:
April 24, 2023 at 5:02 am
I can feel your passion for traveling and photography Alyson; it shines through your blog and social media accounts. As for being genuine, it is the only way to go if you want to succeed, enjoy the journey AND to feel clear on it. Way too many travel bloggers never get clear on their campaign, meaning that they allow their fears to scare them into making less than genuine, manipulative decisions. Not a good thing.

13 Tips for Becoming a Travel Blogger