HOW MUCH MONEY YOU CAN MAKE FROM TRAVEL BLOGGING?

Do you love travelling and sharing your adventures with others? Why not consider hosting your own travel blog? By learning a few fundamentals and putting in some work, it can be quite a rewarding way to make a living. 

Here, we share some essential information about how to make money from a travel blog, or how much money you can make from travel blogging culled from our own experiences and from the collective wisdom of established travel bloggers. Read on if you want to know how to make your passion for travel a serious money earner! 

How much can you earn from a travel blog?

It’s possible to make anywhere from $3000 to $30000 a month from a travel blog. Most earn around $7000 to $10000 per month, but some established travel bloggers can earn up to $50000 monthly or even more.  

Of course, how much you actually earn from your blog depends on how much effort you put into it and how creative you are at monetizing it. One common factor shared by the most successful travel bloggers is that they’ve all established multiple income streams. Take a look at the following table of the some of the most prominent bloggers in the business to see what we mean: 

Blogger/s	Website	Revenues	Site focus	Revenue streams
Caz and Craig Makepeace	yTravelBlog	over 6 figures/year	Family travel	Writing, speaking engagements, social media influencer, mentorship programs
Tim Leffel	Tim Leffel	over 6 figures/year	Travel	Writing, editing, publishing, websites, marketing
Johnny Ward	OneStep4Ward	$30,000/month, $2 million+ total	Travel	Websites, public speaking
Nick Wharton	Goats On The Road	$100,000/year	Travel	Writing, blogging, travel, online entrepreneurship and blogging consultancy
Johnny Africa	Johnny Africa	$12,031 (2019)$17,000 (2021)	Travel	Investments, traditional advertisements, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, travel planning

As you can see, most of the top earners have multiple income streams. Caz and Craig Makepeace also write for other blogs, go on speaking engagements, work as social media influencer, and offer mentorship programs. Tim Leffel has also written several books, runs five websites, and owns a hugely successful marketing firm.

The table below shows the revenues earned by other top travel bloggers: 

Blogger	Website	Revenue
Matt Kepnes	Nomadic Matt	more than $50,000 per month
Johnny Ward	OneStep4Ward.com	$20,000 to $25,000 p/m
Dave & Deb	The Planet D	$15,000 to $20,000 per month
Earl	WanderingEarl.com	$12,000 per month
Monica	The Travel Hack	$10,000 per month
Sharon	Where’s Sharon Family Travel Blog	$10,000 per month
Milou	Explorista.net	$10,000 per month
Jon & Kach	Two Monkeys Travel Group	$10,000 to $15,000 p/m
James	Mantripping	$4000 to $6000 per month
Tim Leffel	Cheapest Destinations Blog	$6500 to $9000 p/m
Brett	Green Global Travel	$5000 to $7000 per month
Yoshke & Vins	The Poor Traveler	$4000 to $6000 per month
Kristin Addis	Be My Travel Muse	$4000 to $5000 per month
Jacob & Esther	Local Adventurer	$6000 per month
Stephanie	TravelBreak	$5000 to $15,000 per month
Christy	Ordinary Traveler	$5000 to $7000 per month
DJ Yabis	Dream Euro Trip	$7000 to $9000 per month
Samantha & Yeison	Mytanfeet	$5000 to $8000 per month
Bethaney	Flashpacker Family	$5000 to $10,000 per month
Jarryd & Alesha	NOMADasaurus	$3500 to $6000 per month
Cory	You Could Travel	$5000 to $8000 per month
Flavio	Guiajando.com	$6000 to $14,000 per month
Bethany	Flashpacker Family	$5000 to $10,000 per month
Sheer	SherSheGoes.com	$7000 to $8000 per month
Amanda	MarocMama.com	$6000 to $10,000 per month
Brian	The Travel Vlogger	$5000 to $8000 per month
Rachel	RachelTravels.com	$5000 per month
Eileen	Crookedflight.com	$3000 to $6000 per month
Yulia	Misstourist.com	$4000 to $5500 per month
Nora	The Professional Hobo	$3000 +

Statistics about travel blogs (For infographic)

• Nearly 60% of travel bloggers manage multiple travel blogs
• More than 80% of travel planning is done online 
• 33% of travelers from the United States get travel information from blogs 
• Most travel blogs are fairly new, having been established from one to four years ago
• Most travel blogs rely mainly on publication and sponsored posts for revenue generation 
• Sponsored posts cost about $200 on average 
• Advertising is a main income earner for more than 94% of all travel blogs 

How do you make money from a travel blog?

A travel blog can be a surprisingly lucrative source of income. Bloggers have different ways of earning money from their travel blogs, but the most profitable ones typically involve the following: 

• Sponsored content. Hosting sponsored content is how most blogs start generating revenue. Bloggers may reach out to different firms (or may be contacted if they have achieved some degree of online clout) and agree to post a review of their brand or product along with a link to the client’s website. The company then pays for the article, usually from $200 to $750 per published piece.

• Affiliate sales. Affiliate sales works on a commission basis instead of being paid for a hosted link. The blog typically hosts a link to a product or service from a particular company. When a reader purchases the product or service via the link, the transaction is tracked and the blog earns a percentage of the sale.

• E-books and product sales. This involves selling e-books or products directly to the blog’s readers.

• Social media and blog management. Bloggers can earn money by managing a company’s blogs or social media channels and creating content for it. 

• In-content ads. This involves hosting relevant ads within the blog’s content. When someone clicks on these ads or purchases a product or service, the company pays you a percentage of the sale. 

• Twitter chats. Travel bloggers may also host the Twitter chat of a company. This arrangement is usually offered to bloggers with a sizable following. The chats typically last for an hour and bloggers are paid about $300 per session.

• Sponsored social shares. This involves sharing a company’s brand or product on your social media channel. Each share pays about $200 depending on the size of your following.

• Brand ambassadorships. This involves using a brand’s product or service continuously, for which you will be paid a monthly salary.

• Press trips. Travel bloggers may be invited by the tourism board or a travel agency in a particular country to visit and write about their experience. Each contract could pay $10,000 or more, not including expenses. Depending on the arrangement, the host may pay for flights, transport, food, travel, and accommodations. 

• Instagram takeovers. This involves taking over the Instagram account of a brand or a tourism organization. Depending on the contract, you may be asked to share your stories or experiences about the company’s product in exchange for a fee. 

These are only some of the potential revenue streams that travel bloggers could establish to earn money from their blogs. They may also enter into agreements with companies and tourism boards to provide a combination of these services or serve another function entirely. 

How do you monetize a travel blog?

The previous section covered the various revenue streams that could generate income for travel bloggers. But how do you actually go about monetizing your blog? Again the strategies vary from site to site and from person to person. But the following strategies have worked well for many bloggers, whether in the travel niche or elsewhere: 

1. Establish goals. Right at the outset, you need to define your goal as a blogger. Are you content with being a hobbyist or do you want to take your blog as far as it can go? If you want your blog to go the distance, it will have to be a self-sufficient, perpetual money-making machine. Once you commit to this path, you will be driven to do everything it takes to achieve your objective. Everything you do from this point on is a means toward attaining your goal.

2. Create a business plan. You need to treat your blog like a business, which means developing a definitive plan. A business plan will help you determine what you need to do to meet your objectives. Just as importantly, it will help keep you on course and motivate you. 

3. Plan your content. Your content is the lifeblood of your blog. That is what will attract new readers and keep existing followers coming back for more. Like the most successful bloggers, you will need to devote a considerable amount of time planning your content. This applies not only to thinking up new topics and destinations, but also figuring out how to monetize the content you come up with. 

4. Get your name out there. The best blogs don’t exist in a vacuum. You need to get your name‒which is essentially your brand‒out there so that people will recognize you and identify you with your content. Make it a habit to attend as many networking events and travel trade shows as possible. They offer many valuable opportunities to get noticed by tourism boards and PR firms so all your work registers on their radar. 

5. Consider further education. There’s always something new to learn about blogging, particularly when your niche is travel. Consider reaching out to a coach or a mentor who has more experience than you. Working with an experienced professional that has been doing this for a long time could shorten the learning curve and prevent you from making costly and time-consuming mistakes. 

6. Build on your strengths. Identify your core strengths and focus and build on them. Everyone has something they’re good at and no one can be the master of everything. Figure out where your talents lie and pour most of your effort into those areas. Doing so will help inspire you and encourage you to stick to your chosen path.

Can you make a living by writing a travel blog? 

You can absolutely make a living by writing a travel blog. The bloggers and their annual incomes listed above is testament to that fact. 

Of course, it will take time and effort to get to the point where you will actually be making decent money from your blog. And it will take considerably more time and hard work to get to the level where you can live comfortably solely off your blogs. But if you are passionate about travel and are savvy enough to develop different revenue streams, financial independence is attainable.  

Is writing a travel blog still a viable career path? 

With so many travel blogs out there, you might be wondering whether it is still a good career option. Is the market too saturated for yet another travel blog? 

The answer is a resounding “No”. 

Even with the number of travel blogs higher than it has ever been, the online audience was also much smaller. And most brands and companies had yet to discover the vast potential of travel blogging and blogging in general. 

Nowadays, people are traveling more than ever and companies have recognized the value of blogging as a marketing and engagement tool. This means that many opportunities exist to monetize travel blogs. 

Of course, there is plenty of competition from other blogs as well. But with so many brands eager to capture the attention of online audiences, there is no shortage of companies to work with, whether as brand partners or advertisers. 

FAQs 

What are the basic steps to becoming a travel blogger?

Anyone can become a travel blogger by posting some travel-related content on a web page. But if you are serious about doing this for the long term, you will need to do the following: 

1. Purchase a domain name
2. Pay for hosting
3. Install WordPress
4. Populate your pages with content 

Does travel blogging require any specific skills? 

Again, anyone with the most basic skills can become a travel blogger. But to excel in your chosen path, it would be helpful to know the following: 

1. Write reasonably well in your chosen language 
2. Learn WordPress or some other blogging platform of your choice 
3. Know the basics of SEO 
4. Learn effective social media marketing practices 
5. Take reasonably good photos 

You don’t necessarily need to have all these skills right off the bat. Many of the most successful bloggers started out with little more than their drive, passion, and rudimentary website building skills. 

The beauty of blogging is that you can learn most of these as you go. There are tons of information sources on the internet today, and you could always get a coach or a mentor who will help you through the process. 

What equipment does a travel blogger need?

At the very least, you should have a laptop, tablet, or a smartphone. You will also want reasonably fast internet connection and a place to work. 

If you want to post videos and photos, consider investing in a camera‒or at least a phone that takes great pictures, an underwater camera, and a drone.

Do travel bloggers travel pay to travel?

One of the perks of being a travel blogger is the many opportunities to travel for free. But that shouldn’t be the main reason for wanting to start a travel blog. Traveling for free often entails having to write a review or feature for the travel board, hotel, or recreational facility paying your airfare and accommodations. This could limit the type of content you produce and prevent you from writing about places you’re truly passionate about. If you want the freedom to blog about anything and everything you want, it would be best to find other ways to pay your travel expenses. 

What’s the difference between a travel influencer and a travel blogger?

As the name implies, ‘influencers’ generally influence readers to patronize a specific product, service, lifestyle, or trend. On the other hand, a blogger’s primary goal is to share information and experiences. 

Of course, there can be some overlap between the two. Influencers can utilize the same methods used by bloggers, and blogs can be very effective influencers. In most cases, however, there is a clear distinction between the two. 

Conclusion

Not only is it possible to earn some money being a travel blogger‒you can actually make a pretty comfortable living doing it. Like everything else worth going after, it will take plenty of time and hard work before you can make your travel blog your sole income earner. But if you can combine your passion for travel with the business sense to establish several revenue streams, being a travel blogger can be a rewarding career in more ways than one.  

Has all this inspired you to pursue your dream of traveling the world and sharing your adventures with your adoring readers? Check out the rest of the site for more valuable information on travel blogging! And feel free to reach out to us for more specific advice or to share your thoughts. We love hearing from aspiring and established travel bloggers! 

Happy trails!