What is a Travel Blog: Definition & Examples from a 6-Figure Blogger

Wondering what is a travel blog? I answer that and how you can make money with one!

Travel blogging is all the rage (and or good reason) but there definition for what actually constitutes as a travel blog depends on who you ask.

But I promise, it’s actually pretty simply (and easy to get started).

A travel blog is simply a blog focused on travel. But there’s usually a little more to it than that — while you CAN make a generic travel blog, the riches are in the niches, as they say.

Most travel blogs focus on something specific, like a style of travel (for example, cruises), a specific destination (like Thailand), or something else like what to pack or the best food along the road.

There are PLENTY of niches that you can start with.

If you’re passionate about travel and you want to share your love of it with, then travel blogging might be for you. There is plenty of opportunity, and you can even monetize it to help you create a solid, stable income (with time, of course).

Still not clear on what a travel blog is? No worries.

By the end of this handy little travel blogging guide, you’ll understand exactly what a travel blog is and how you can start your own and earn money with it. I LOVE travel blogging, here’s what you need to know about it:

What is a travel blog?

A travel blog is a blog that’s specifically dedicated to travel in some capacity.

Travel bloggers share stories, tips and tricks about traveling.

There are a ton of different sub niches, which help bloggers curate their ideal audience with a focus. The more niche the blog, the easier it is to start growing.

What Type of Things Are Included in a Travel Blog?

Travel blogs can feature almost any kind of content related to travel from packing lists to destination guides.

Some of the most popular types of travel content you’ll find on blogs include:

Trip Recaps

These are essentially reviews of specific trips the blogger was on.

These types of posts are focused on the writer’s experience and often take a story-like format.

They often feature original images and snippets about specific activities and experiences they had.

This is a great way to get a snapshot of a location and learn from a blogger’s experience — but it’s not specifically an itinerary or recommendations guide.

Itineraries

Itineraries are great for covering keywords like “three days in Rome” and other time-specific Google search phrases.

These guide you through the essentials of a specific destination and help the reader plan a trip that will make the most of their (often limited) time at the destination.

These are often focused around things to do and places to eat.

Tips

Tips are informational content that usually appears in the form of listicles.

These are great for addressing questions that people have about a destination like the top safety tips for solo female travelers.

These are another great opportunity to help people plan their trip (or even start thinking about traveling) and can be destination-specific or more generalized.

Packing Lists

If you’re looking for a great opportunity to link to specific gear reviews you have, provide a mass list of affiliate links, and even capture emails, packing lists are for you.

These types of content are listicles, and they are great for helping fill in the gaps that travelers may have and are also great for affiliate marketing.

This is especially popular for hiking bloggers.

Tour and Hotel Reviews

For bloggers that regularly travel, tour, and hotels reviews put a personal spin on whether or not a reader should try a particular tour or hotel.

They cover everything from the rooms, to food, and transportation.

They are great for affiliate marketing but add a real personal spin to them which is great, especially in today’s and age.

Travel Gear Reviews

Just like hotel and tour reviews, travel gear reviews cover your personal opinions on what you take with you while you’re traveling.

If you’re a digital nomad blogger, you might review your favorite Bluetooth keyboard, likewise if you’re a scuba diver you might review your favorite flippers.

These are great for affiliate links.

Financial Advice 

Blog articles that are based on financial and budget advice while traveling.

These guides are mostly informational, but you could sell digital products surrounding them. Including these on your travel blog will have to make sense — not ALL will features these.

It’s also important to factor in your audience when you create these, if you run a budget-friendly travel blog, luxury budgets are not what you’ll be talking about.

Photographs

The BEST travel blogs feature original photographs.

Not only is this great for the reader’s experience, but Google really loves them when it comes to making content that ranks.

Original photographs help better illustrate the story you are telling, and can also be a great opportunity to make money. You can even sell your photographs or use them in your own business ventures.

For this you’ll need a good camera.

About Page

Your “about page” has considerably more value for a travel blogger than most believe.

This is where both your readers and Google understand who you are and WHY it’s you that should be telling the story.

Google relies on experience as part of their core ranking factors, and it’s your about page that can help them identify who you are.

See mine here as an example.

Videos

Travel bloggers sometimes also create video content.

This isn’t true straight across the board, not everyone works with video. But YouTube is a great place to show off your personality and get more people to know you.

It s also a great place to rank highly in video search which is something Google relies on more and more each day.

Check out my Youtube here.

Special Discounts

Travel bloggers can also share special discounts with their readers.

These discounts are usually associated with your affiliate marketing partners, and it’s a great way to share your favorite things with your readers at a discounted price.

By sharing these significant discounts, you can entice your readers to not only buy from you, but keep in touch to watch for more.

Types of Travel Blog Niches

There are PLENTY of opportunities in the overarching travel niche.

It’s important to point out that while I’ve created a list of many of the most popular, this is not the be-all, end-all of travel blogging niches.

If you’re interested in something that’s not on this list, chances are there’s still an audience out there for you.

Traveling With Kids

Traveling with kids in tow is a whole other travel-related ball game, and there is plenty of opportunity.

Whether it’s traveling with a family of five (you know, since most “family passes” are made for a group of four) or trotting across the globe with children of a specific age, there’s an audience out there seeking tips.

I’ve seen travel blogs about everything you can think of, from heading on a plane with your newborn baby to RVing around the USA with a pack of teenagers in the back.

Family travel is a popular niche because there are A LOT of different types and styles of families out there, and planning a trip is a lot of work. People need the advice from others who have been there done that.

Ecotourism and Sustainability

Responsible travel is a fast growing niche, and it’s well worth consideration if you’ve just started your own travel blog.

This sub niche of travel focuses on exploring the world without leaving a big impact. It’s aimed at people who want to see the world, but also want to do it in a way that s respectful of the environment.

The idea is that if you can have fun while making a difference (or NOT making one) in the process, why wouldn’t you?

Sub niches of this sub niche could be budget friendly sustainable travel or even luxury ecotourism.

Road Tripping

Traveling in a car is different than traveling on a plane, train, or even a boat.

It means packing smart, heading to destinations that are within driving distance, and seeing the world a little bit slower.

It’s a great way to see a lot of places without spending a lot — and a fun niche to work in.

You can write about how to plan a road trip, where to stay along the way, and even how to make money as you go (like collecting cans for recycling).

RV Travel

RV travel is a slight variation on road travel in that your place to stay goes with you.

There is plenty of opportunity to work in this niche, and it’s a great way to fund your own RV travels (once you have your blog monetized.

You can also blog as a service within this niche — connect with any prospective RV owners and help them to plan their own road trips or offer to provide content to RV parks, campgrounds or even retailers.

Foodie Travel

Traveling is a great way to experience and taste the world around you.

If you’re a foodie, you can help others find the best foodie destinations and places to eat.  It’s a rewarding and delicious way to have fun when you start content creation.

If you want to step up your game, you can add recipes to your blog that help the travelers bring the delicious food home.

This is a great niche if you’re a good photographer or create new recipes.

Solo Travel

Solo travel is a big trending niche right now.

Not everyone needs (or wants) a travel partner, and many people like to travel on their own. If you’re a solo traveler, you can share your experiences in your blogs and create content that caters to solo travelers.

Affiliate links, display ads and even digital products and courses are popular in this niche.

Destination-specific Blogs

From Mexico to Thailand, destination-specific blogs are a great way to make money with a travel blog.

This is a solid sub niche for you if you know a destination VERY well.

These combine a little bit of all the different blog posts out there, but it’s all focused on one specific place.

Outfits, Gear and Packing Lists

If you LOVE a good packing experiment, this might be the sub niche for you.

It focuses on what you can bring with you along your travels, and helps travelers set up stellar packing lists so they know they’ll have what they need on the road.

This is a great way for those of us that love to test out products and share our reviews.

25 Travel Blog Examples

There are SO MANY different kinds of travel blogs out there. From theme parks to traveling with your best furry friend, I’ve gathered a few examples from the best sub niches out there.

You’ll find a quick description of each blog below, and some notes on how they make their income.

It’s important to note that I’m basing income notes on what I can SEE, I don’t have intimate knowledge of the income of these blogs or how much they make.

Sub niche: Fashion and Packing

1. Travel Fashion Girl

Travel Fashion Girl is the premier fashion travel blog on the ‘net.

It’s won multiple awards and sees millions of visitors per year.

The content is primarily focused on packing lists and guides — what to wear, cool travel gadgets, and the best bags.

It earns its income primarily through affiliates and display advertising, but they also have digital products for sale.

2. Her Packing List

If you’re interested in the fashion and packing sub niche, Her Packing List is another one to look at.

It’s not as established as Travel Fashion Girl, but it covers similar topics. You’ll find content about packing lists, the best bags to travel with, cool new gadgets, and other things that will make your travel experience stellar (and fashionable).

The blog employs affiliate links and display advertising, along with a packing masterclass.

Sub niche: Destination-specific

3. Travel Mexico Solo

Travel Mexico Solo combines a few niches including solo travel. However, its biggest claim-to-fame is being one of the world’s biggest Mexico travel blogs. When it comes to earning income, the site features affiliate links and display ads, along with a few digital products.

4. The Art of Living in Turkey

Also featuring a country-specific focus, The Art of Living in Turkey focuses on long-term (or even permanent) travel in the country.

Topics vary from purchasing a SIM card to popular Turkish TV shows and sayings.

To our (limited) knowledge, we can only see affiliate links on the blog for income.

5. Ottawa Things To Do

Niching down further, Ottawa Things To Do focuses on the Canadian city of Ottawa.

This city-specific blog features affiliate links and display ads with Ezoic to earn income.

Because of its singular focus, there’s a high potential for sponsored content as well.

6. Uncover the Magic

Destination-specific content doesn’t just encompass countries and cities, it can also cover things like Disney travel!

Uncover The Magic is a Disney-focused blog that talks about all things Disney resorts from Anaheim to Tokyo.

Their income is earned primarily via affiliate links.

Niche: Foodie Travel

7. Bacon is Magic

Food is an essential part of travel, especially for foodies.

Bacon is Magic is a food-focused blog that covers the best places to eat around the world, and shares recipes that you can recreate when you’re back home.

The blog features display advertising and affiliate marketing as income earning opportunities.

8. Epicure and Culture

Epicure and Culture features two prominent sub-niches: food and sustainable travel.

You can find everything you need to know about food and drink around the world, along with how to visit countries sustainably.

It features both affiliate links and display ads to earn income.

Sub Niche: Transportation Type

9. Stylish Cruising

Stylish Cruising is a blog focused on as specific transportation style: the cruise.

You can learn everything you need to know about taking a cruise from how much to tip, where to go, and what you can expect.

It earns income through affiliate links that point you in the direction of things that help you book the perfect cruise, and make it better.

10. USA Road Trip Now – NOW RETIRED

Road tripping is another popular way to enjoy travel, and USA Road Trip Now combines destination-specific travel (USA) and transportation (via car).

This blog shares the best road trip destinations and gives advice on how to plan them.

There are no obvious income earning channels on this blog.

11. Cool RVers

Traveling in an RV is a great way to explore, and Cool RVers is a blog that helps RVers keep their travel vehicle in tip-top shape and provides tips for the road.

The site earns income via affiliate links and display advertising.

Sub niche: solo travel

12. A Single Woman Traveling

It’s all in the name with A Single Woman Traveling.

Here you can get tips and tricks for the best gear and destination that will make your solo travel experience top notch.

The site appears to make money from display ads and affiliate marketing.

13. Adventurous Kate

If you’re looking for bigger travel blogs to check out, Adventurous Kate has your back.

This solo travel blog is focused on helping women safely travel the world alone by providing tips, tricks, and destination guides.

The site makes money with affiliate marketing and display advertising.

Niche: Eco-travel

14. Pina Travels

Focusing on responsible travels, Pina Travels provides tips, tricks, and destination guides that help you travel around the world while leaving a smaller impact.

It looks like this eco travel site primarily earns income via affiliate marketing links.

15. Soul Travel Blog

The Soul Travel Blog is all about remembering the magic of the journey.

Focusing on sustainability and experience, it shares destination guides and tips to having a truly soulful journey.

They earn income, via affiliate links along with astro-cartography services.

Sub Niche: Family Travel

16. Let’s Jet Kids

Let’s Jet Kids is all about family fun and traveling.

From road trips to international travel, there are plenty of tips and tricks for family that are looking to take their families on the road.

The site earns money via affiliate marketing.

17. Baby Can Travel

Traveling with babies is a whole different ball game, but Baby Can Travel helps you understand that it’s entirely possible.

Between the right baby gear to keep you and your little co-pilot on the road to where the best baby-friendly destinations are, thus the blog is here to help.

It earns money via affiliate links and display ads.

Sub niche: Digital Nomad / Working Abroad

18. The Digital Nomad Journey

The Digital Nomad Journey tells you exactly what it is right in the title.

This blog is focused on walking people through setting up and living their best life on the road. It shares tips, tricks, and destination guides.

The site earns income via affiliate links, courses, and digital products.

19. Nina Out and About

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve probably heard of my blog, Nina Out & About.

It’s a travel blog focused on expat travel both within Canada and worldwide.

I earn my income via affiliates, display advertising, and digital products.

Sub Niche: Things to Do

20. Tales of a Backpacker

For solo women looking to backpack around the world, Tales of a Backpack is the go-to guide.

It covers everything from being a digital nomad and making money on the road to destination guides.

They make their income via affiliates and display advertising.

21. Fat Girls Hiking

Fat Girls Hiking is a digital guide for plus size hikers.

It’s all about finding the best plus size equipment to hitting the best trails. They earn income via affiliates, display ads, merchandise, and donations.

Note that this does actually spin off into local meet-up groups as well.

22. Girls That Scuba

Who doesn’t love a little underwater action?

Girls That Scuba is a blog all about women who head underwater and dive. Everything from the best destinations to how to learn, this is your go-to guide.

They earn income by display advertising, physical products, group trips, and affiliate income.

Sub niche: Special Interest Travel

22. The Lady Dicks

The Lady Dicks is a blog and podcast about spooky travel. Focusing on haunted history, it shares where you can stay, stories you might (not) want to hear, and the best destinations to check out.

They earn income via affiliate links and partnerships.

23. Traveling With Your Pets

Who wants to leave your best bud behind? Traveling With Your Pets makes sure you don’t have to do that.

It earns money via affiliates and shares everything from how to cruise with your dog to the best travel kennels you can buy.

24. World Heritage Sites

Another history-focused travel guide is World Heritage Sites.

This blog shares tips and tricks for visiting famous UNESCO World Heritage Sites — perfect for anyone who loves to walk through history.

It earns its income via affiliate marketing.

25. Theme Park Blogger

Another niche, special interest travel blog is the Theme Park Blogger.

Like the title indicates, this blog shares everything you need to know about heading to a theme park.

It earns money via display advertising, and likely also affiliate links.

How to Start a Travel Blog

Pick a Niche

You don’t want to just start a “travel blog.”

There’s A LOT of things to cover under that umbrella, and you certainly can’t cover it all.

For the best opportunity to grow your blog as a beginner, I highly recommend niching down.

Remember that you can always expand your niche when you’re ready, but it can be a bit more challenging to rein it in.

I recommend picking something that you’re knowledgeable, interested in, and, if you can, that you have stellar pictures of — Google loves an original photo.

Set Up Your Blog

There’s a bit of technical work that goes into running a blog, luckily it’s all pretty easy.

You need to decide on a blog name, purchase a domain name and get yourself monthly hosting with a company like Lyrical Host.

From there you install a theme (Kadence is my favorite, and you can use it for free!) and start creating stellar content.

Don’t forget to set up an About and Contact page.

Looking to buy a domain name? I recommend Namecheap!

Find Keywords

If you’re starting from zero, you’ll want to find some low competition high volume keywords.

These are keywords that you’ll have a better chance of ranking content for when you’re first starting out.

As a search engine optimization expert, I’ve got a lot of free education out there that you can learn from and get started.

But simply put, I recommend using a program like RankIQ or Keysearch to help you find those perfect words.

Solid keyword research can also help you build a solid outline that covers the content in detail — enough detail for Google to enjoy it.

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Create Content

When it comes to blogging, creating content is what it’s all about.

No content means nothing to rank or monetize, and if you’re not doing that then I’d say it really isn’t all that worth it.

Honestly, blogging is A LOT of work to be a project you do simply for fun.

You want to create content that fully answers whatever query is being searched on Google. Your goal is to make sure that your reader can find anything they need within your piece and don’t have to look elsewhere.

If you’re not a strong writer, I recommend investing in an AI writer to help you out.

Monetize Your Blog

When it comes to earning money from your blog, you need to monetize the content.

Monetizing your content starts with finding the right affiliate programs to work with. You can do this by checking out a network like Travelpayouts or Impact Radius.

Once you find the best programs, you want to insert links in places they work naturally.

Don’t forget to disclose that you’re working with affiliates (you’ll see my disclosure under the title of this post).

Promote! Promote! Promote!

No one can buy anything from you if they don’t know you’re there.

You need people to come to your blog to earn money with it, so it’s important that you get started telling everyone you know.

Pick a social media platform and start building your brand.

Don’t forget to start an email list so you can bring people back!

Do travel bloggers make money?

Yes, you can totally make money travel blogging — I’m living proof of that.

My blog, Nina Out and About makes me over $10,000 per month via a combination of digital product sales, display advertising, and affiliate income. In January 2022, I made over $31k passively this way from that site.

Travel blogging can be a solid way to earn passive(ish, honestly, there’s still a lot of work involved) income that can then be used to fund future travel… if that’s what you’re going for.

I know people roll their eyes when we start talking about earning an income online, but it’s a serious thing that can be done if you’re willing to put the work into it.

Travel bloggers absolutely can make money, and if you’re willing to put the work into it, you might be one of those too!

How much money can you make from a travel blog?

January 2022 travel blog income:

Affiliates = $24,719.80

Digital Products + Email Sponsors = $6,901.74

Mediavine Ads = $1,381.41

(This is all from my one travel blog, not from this SEO site or SEO products related to this site. I made an extra about $150 from my other travel blog too in January.)

How To Make Money With a Travel Blog

Find yourself wondering “should I start a travel blog” and day dreaming about the income you could possibly make… then doubting yourself?

Travel bloggers seriously do make cash, but it’s not necessarily a quick money-making solution.

There’s plenty of opportunity to make money with a travel blog, here’s how most of us do it:

Display Advertising

If you want to be a successful travel blogger, you’ll want to bring in a lot of traffic and monetize with display advertising.

Advertising gets a bit of a bad rap, but realistically it’s why many of the big name bloggers can bring in as much as they do (myself included).

Your goal is to get on a premium ad network like Mediavine or AdThrive. These networks give you the best RPMs that can help you earn the most money, but they’re not easy to get into.

For Mediavine, you’ll need at least 50,000 sessions in the last 30 days, and for AdThrive you’re talking over 100,000 page views.

Affiliate Marketing

You can get started with affiliate marketing as soon as you publish your first post.

Affiliate marketing is when you promote a brands products with tracked links and when your audience clicks through and makes a purchase, you earn a small percentage or fixed amount from the sale.

There are a ton of great affiliate programs within the travel niche.

My favorite network is Travelpayouts that lets you connect with some of the biggest brands in the industry from Viator to BusBud.

But you can find a ton of programs on almost every affiliate network out there.

Digital Products and Courses

From travel packing lists to courses on how to move across the globe, there are plenty of digital products that you can create for your travel blog.

These are a great way to monetize your blog because you make them once and can sell them for as long as you want.

Not to mention that you get a considerably higher payout than you do from affiliates and ad networks (in most cases).

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Merchandise

If you have a bigger brand that people resonate with (or you’re trying to make one), you could consider selling merchandise.

There are plenty of companies that let you create a design and use a print-on-demand model so you don’t have to keep any inventory on hand.

This can be a great way to earn from your audience.

Memberships

If you’ve built a brand that has an engaged audience or group, running a membership might be a stellar idea.

What I like about memberships is that they feature a recurring income that can help you do better financial planning for your business.

Yes, your blog is a business, and having a solid financial plan will make a difference. Memberships are great because you can offer them at a low or high cost (depending on what you’re providing) and you can share as much or little as you want.

Build a community and monetize it, it could be a start of a serious money-making adventure.

This isn’t the best strategy when it comes to travel blogging for beginners, but if you’ve established something it could be a great place to grow.

FAQs:

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Conclusion: Is Starting a Travel Blog Worth It?

I make over $10,000 per month with my travel blog, so I’m the first to tell you that starting a travel blog is seriously worth it.

To be clear: blogging about travel (or blogging of any sort) is a long-term game. You’re not going to earn thousands right out of the gate. But if you’re willing to put the work into it, you can see some serious ROI.

There are plenty of sub niches within the overarching travel category, meaning whatever you’re interested in there’s an audience for you.

Whether you want to talk about your solo travel adventures or share travel tips and tricks for heading out with a toddler, the right keywords and content can help you find the perfect audience.

If you love creating content (particularly written content), can snap a quality photo, and might even be interested in hosting a YouTube channel (totally optional), then travel blogging might be worth it for you.

I’ve seen some great success, and I love sharing tips and tricks for getting there.

That dream life you want, traveling and sharing your adventures, it’s well within your reach as long as you’re willing to put the work in.

Read More About Travel Blogging!

• What is a Travel Blog: Definition & Examples from a 6-Figure Blogger
• 100+ Best Travel Blogs that Accept Guest Posts
• 60 Best Travel Affiliate Programs for Bloggers
• How to Make Money as a Travel Blogger: 15 Ways I Made $30k
• Travelpayouts Review: 6 Figure Travel Blogger Weighs In
• 19 Best Cameras for Travel Blogging & Vlogging
• Travel Blogging Summit Denver 2022 Review & Key Takeaways
• Basic SEO for Travel Bloggers: 19 SEO Tips to Scale to Full-Time Income
• Best Travel Blogging Courses: Which is Worth Your Money?
• 500+ Travel Blog Names: How to Choose a Unique & Memorable Name in Any Niche
• 69 Travel Blog Statistics You Need to Know
• 50+ Best Facebook Groups for Travel Bloggers to Engage and Grow
• 140+ Engaging Travel Blog Post Ideas for Every Niche
• How I Grew My Travel Blog by 45k Pageviews in 6 Weeks
• Niche Site Deep Dive: A DA 13 Travel Blog on Adthrive?
• Travel Blog Audit: Complete Tutorial To Improve Your Website
• This Travel Blogger Got Into Mediavine in 1 Year
• “How Is This Legal?” Travel Blogger Calls Out Google’s Knowledge Graph
• How This Travel Blog is Winning at SEO Post Helpful Content Update

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