With travel slowly coming back to life, I thought it was the perfect time to round up some travel influencers that more than deserve a follow.
Travelers are my favorite type of influencers to follow online (obviously). This website wouldn’t even exist without inspiration from some of the OGs below–you can’t start a blog if you don’t know what a blog is lol. I’m so grateful that I came across these like minded souls. They make the internet a much better place in my opinion! And when it comes to being “influenced,” I definitely don’t mind if it’s in the name of travel.
If you’re like me and love following these types of accounts, or maybe you want to expand your feed for the better, these are the travelers who inspire me the most and more than deserve a follow.
The Tycoons
These are the OGs who’ve been in the blogging world for a long time. They’ve monetized and curated and created companies out of their massive following, but I still love to see what they’re up to and where they’re going!
Nomadic Matt
His site has tons of information about budget travel. If you search for any destination, I bet one of his posts will come up right away–he’s that big! He’s written two books, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day that is a bible among backpackers, as well as his recent memoir, Ten Years a Nomad: A Traveler’s Journey Home. I’m even subscribed to his email list, which goes out every Tuesday and shares current travel news/books/inspiration. On top of everything, he also owns a hostel in Austin! Right now I believe he’s off to Greece, but he stayed still for most of COVID.
The Blonde Abroad
KiKi is a California native who recently moved back to San Diego with her South African man. Her site has so many helpful travel posts (especially for solo females) with highly curated images. I get the feeling that she now has a team of people running her blog, but I still appreciate the content and the photos are always amazing.
Adventurous Kate
Out of the three “tycoons,” Adventurous Kate is my favorite. She’s a very talented, opinionated writer and I always look forward to her posts. She’s traveled extensively out of a backpack, lived in Harlem for years while traveling most of the time, and now she calls the Czech Republic home! It will be exciting once travel opens up to see her new adventures in Europe.
The Vegans
Even if you’re not a vegan, it’s cool to see how these people travel the world and manage their dietary restrictions. And all these ladies have incredible photo skills that makes them fun to follow on Instagram.
World of Wanderlust
Brooke could easily have been in the tycoon section. She’s been at it for years, has a huge following, owns a bakery and dress shop, teaches pilates, and has a book deal in the works. I love seeing what she’s up to. She was in South Africa with her boyfriend last year and had a very public struggle to get home to Australia with all the lockdowns. Now she’s in her home of Tasmania with a new man, maybe? She’s pretty open with her relationship status and break ups and seems to change her mind a lot (super relatable), but I love how unapologetic she is. I can’t wait to see her travels when the world opens up again–I imagine it will mostly be in Australia and New Zealand for the foreseeable future.
Polkadot Passport
Nicole is a photographer based in New Zealand, and I linked her Instagram instead of her blog because I think that’s the best way to follow her. She has the best photos that will definitely inspire you!
Karissa Sparke
I linked her Instagram as well because I think it’s the best spot for her content, but she also runs a fashion blog called Tomgirl and Threads that I enjoy. I wouldn’t consider her a travel influencer–mostly fashion– but when she does travel, I’m always obsessed! And out of these four, she’s the one with the most vegan mentions on her platform.
The Vloggers
This is probably my favorite section and contains the influencers I am most loyal to. I watch these videos every week, and they always make me so happy and excite me to see the world!
Flying the Nest
Stephen and Jess are the most wholesome, happy couple from Perth, Australia. Last year they had a daughter which adds extra cuteness to their videos. They just finished building a van so the three of them can travel full time all the way around Australia. And they recently hit 1 million subscribers on YouTube! They spent the past year living in lockdown, redecorating a house, and becoming parents, but I am so excited for them to hit the road again! Their videos are seriously amazing and will put a smile on your face.
Kinging It
Craig and Aimee live by their motto “Rule Your Own World,” and they use their platform to inspire you to do the same. I love how real they are–they share their struggles as well as their victories. But most of all, they are HILARIOUS. Their videos always have me laughing out loud and I love following all their crazy adventures. They’ve done the Mongol Rally, driven a rickshaw across India, and most recently converted a bus into their home on wheels (they named her Custard). The lockdown has hit them hard, but once things open up I can’t wait to see them take Custard all around Europe. They already have really good series in the bus in places like Switzerland and Scotland that you can check out now.
Kara and Nate
With over 2 million subscribers on YouTube, you know this is a channel that many people love following and I couldn’t agree more. Kara and Nate reached their goal of traveling to 100 countries before the pandemic hit, and now they have a new goal of visiting all 50 states in their converted Sprinter van. They come off as a very sweet, in love couple who are always up for an adventure. They actually just filmed videos at the Indy 500 which are set to upload soon!
Damon Dominique
Damon is a gay guy from Indiana who speaks fluent French and lives in Paris. I love how languages are highlighted in his videos, and he’s also so funny which makes his content even more entertaining. He’s back in Paris after spending 2 months in the states, filming videos in Texas, Florida, and NYC.
The Couples
These aren’t the only couples that I’m sharing (most of the vloggers are couples) but these influencers are definitely a 2-for-1 package deal!
Two Wandering Soles
Katie and Ben have been doing van life since before the pandemic made it super popular. Their blog is extremely resource heavy with long, detailed posts with a focus on responsible travel. I always search their site if I’m traveling somewhere because it’s so informative. They recently launched a van conversion academy with everything you need to know if you are going to build a van from scratch by yourself! They also have tons of resources for location independent jobs and teaching English abroad.
Honey Trek
Mike and Anne classify themselves as being on “the world’s longest honeymoon” lol. They are killing it out there as a couple, and even got a deal with National Geographic to write a book called Ultimate Journeys for Two, which you can find on their website.
Design/Creatives
Everywhere these bloggers go looks absolutely beautiful and you can tell they curate their experiences based on design. I’m pretty sure they’re both professional photographers, too, and their sites have great California content.
Bon Traveler
Jessica is based in Northern California and her blog is full of informative guides. This is another site I like to check before traveling somewhere to see if she’s covered it.
Live Like It’s The Weekend
Michelle’s site is full of dreamy photos–she’s another one who is worth following on Instagram. If you care about design when you travel, you will definitely be inspired by her trips.
Practical/Informative
When I read these blogs I feel like I get such good information, like I want to duplicate exact trips they’ve taken. Because of that, I religiously follow them and read all their posts for practical inspiration.
Otts World
I absolutely love following Sherry. I’ve known about her for a while but I’d say it’s only in the past year that I started closely following all her trips. And already there’s so much she’s done that’s super high on my bucket list–like the winter trip she took to Alaska and a horse ranch trip she did in Colorado. She’s also done tons of hiking and inspires me to do the same. I’d love to do the Camino de Santiago in Spain and hut-to-hut hiking in Maine.
Her blog has so much information, and she only writes about things she’s personally done (which you might think is standard but isn’t). I appreciate that she’s writing from experience about everything–that really shines through. She has an awesome, free e-book you can download about where to travel when if you visit her website. I found it really fun to read through. She also fosters kittens so if you follow her on Instagram you’ll see lots of kitten content along with travel content. What a combo!
A Dangerous Business Travel Blog
Amanda is an award-winning blogger from the Midwest. She always talks about traveling while still maintaining a home base and full time job. It makes for very relatable content, and the itineraries she puts together feel so doable.
The Instagrammers
These are influencers who are most active on Instagram, so that’s how I prefer to follow them. Elise does not have a blog, but Kellie is a blogger and Christine casually blogs.
Kellie Paxian
In addition to blogging and Instagramming, Kellie also has a travel company, Adventurelust Travel, where she offers group trips, a content creation course, merchandise, trip planning, and more. She spends a lot of time in South Africa, and I especially love following for her safari content. I enjoy seeing any trip she does, though, because you can tell how passionate she is about travel. She’s running a group trip to the Galapagos Islands in September, so follow her to see that trip soon (or you can go with)!
Elise Cook
Elise is from South Australia and lives on the cutest property ever with her husband and new baby. They run a (literally) picture perfect wine shop/tasting room (on my bucket list to visit one day). Before settling down, they drove their VW around Australia, so they are definitely well traveled and value travel. Elise always has the best photos and partners with a lot of brands, so her fashion is always on point too. Follow at your own risk because she almost seems too perfect lol.
Cest Christine
Christine has to be one of my favorite people to follow on Instagram. She used to blog several times a week, and I got really sad when she stopped doing that a couple years ago. However! She’s still super active on Instagram 🙂 I started following her years ago when she still lived in NYC. A few years back, she moved to San Diego with her husband and pugs, and I love that I can see my former home through her eyes. She travels a lot (and even makes the most out of her work trips for Spotify), so the travel content is pretty frequent too!
The Podcasters
I listen to so many podcasts on a regular basis, but it’s actually really hard for me to find travel podcasts that I keep up with! I wanted to share these ones that I go back to again and again for great inspiration and conversations about travel.
Traveling Jackie
Jackie is the host of JUMP Podcast, the one travel podcast that I’ll listen to every episode she puts out. You can tell she has a love for words as well as travel, and it results in a very well spoken show. I personally find her super relatable and can tell how much travel means to her. She just got back from her first international trip since COVID to Mexico and I can’t wait to listen to her episode about Baja California!
Zero to Travel
Jason hosts this podcast and brings on guests to share a variety of perspectives about travel. I kinda pick and choose what sounds most interesting to me on any given day, but I always feel inspired and learn something new. Definitely recommend checking it out!
Extra Pack of Peanuts
Trav and Heather are a married couple with 2 young kids who have been digital nomads together for years. They are sooo easy to listen to and always fuel my wanderlust! This is another one I will sort of pick and choose based on my mood but I’m always impressed.
BIPOC Travelers
As a solo female traveler myself, I’ve found that there are so many things to consider that just don’t come up when you’re with a group or another person. But I do have being white on my side, and these travelers of color have opened up my perspective even more to the extra, extra challenges faced by minorities when traveling. I love hearing their stories, seeing what they’ve overcome and where they’ve been, and being inspired to see the world based on their recommendations.
Glo Graphics
When Glo left the U.S. for Europe in 2013, she had a one-way ticket and $500 to her name. She’s since been to 86 countries and is killing it as an entrepreneur. She calls her Instagram “the most joyful place on the internet,” so if you’re not already following, get to it!
Outdoorsy Diva
I found Lauren via JUMP podcast and started following her immediately. She’s an adventurous mom from Florida who hosts a podcast of her own in addition to her blog. She wants to inspire others to “embrace the great outdoors and cater to their inner foodie.” The podcast she did with Traveling Jackie about COVID-safe Florida road trips was so detailed and inspiring.
Dose of Travel
Dr. Nabila is a travel lover and pharmacist (sound familiar? hehe) of Pakistani descent. Her blog is full of travel content as well as pharmacy career inspiration, and she shares amazing travel photos on Instagram. I love seeing what she’s up to!
A Few More
I wasn’t sure which category to put these in/I’m not as religious about following these influencers, but I think they’re still worth a mention!
This Battered Suitcase
Brenna is a Canadian traveler who traveled full time for years, lived in London for years, and moved back to Canada a couple years ago. She’s been very open about her mental health struggles/needing to slow down and I appreciate the authenticity. I really enjoy her writing and photography when she does travel!
Never Ending Footsteps
Lauren says her blog chronicles her life as a “traveler, writer, and walking disaster.” She can be sporadic about posting and always seems to run into issues on trips/change her mind about plans, but somehow it works and leads to really great travel content!
Sailing La Vagabonde
This is a YouTube channel run by Australian couple Riley and Elayna. They live on their sailboat full time with their son, Lenny, and are due with their 2nd child any day now! It basically just follows their life and travel via sailboat, which is totally fascinating.
I really hope this post will lead you to some inspiring travel content as the world opens back up! And if you’re looking for more, here are some of my posts to check out 🙂 You can also search my site by country by going to the “Where I’ve Been” drop down on my homepage. Happy travels everyone!
16 Beautiful Things from 16 Countries
Traveling Solo Will Change Your Life