Before I started my own adventure travel blog 10-years ago, I was inspired to explore the world after reading other people’s travel blogs online. Travel blogs are a wonderful source for cool ideas & advice if you’re planning a trip!
Below you’ll find some of my favorite travel blogs, plus many more I’ve discovered over the years. I hope you enjoy the variety of travel stories, photography, and videos these travel bloggers publishing from around the world!
What makes a great travel blog? Well, it’s going to be subjective. Everyone will have their own opinions. And that’s ok.
Personally, my favorite blogs about travel blend a difficult-to-achieve combination of good writing, great photography, helpful advice, and smart web design.
They might not all be the most popular blogs, but they get me excited to discover and learn about new places.
So in no particular order, below you’ll find my favorite travel blogs for 2021. Follow them if you’d like to escape from reality for a while during your work break — and maybe get inspired for your next trip in the process!
1. Maptia Travel Blog
Maptia is a collaborative project with a diverse group of photographers, writers, adventurers, and conservationists, who bring their readers a world of inspiring and thought-provoking stories. They are a volunteer-run travel blog spending hundreds of hours over the past 4 years to self-publish impactful travel stories in an independent, ad-free environment.
2. Roads & Kingdoms
Roads & Kingdoms’ message is simple: the more you know, the better you travel. R&K use talented local journalists, deep storytelling, and the good things in life —- food, music, booze — to inform and inspire about destinations around the globe. Winners of a 2018 Primetime Emmy, a 2019 National Magazine Award and the 2017 James Beard Publication of the Year award.
3. Notes From The Road
By road, by kayak, by seaplane and most of all on foot, Erik Gauger tackles the themes of city and country in the modern world on his blog Notes From The Road. Erik shares “the messy truth of travel, told by a regular guy.” His photography and writing are some of the best I’ve seen online from an independent travel blog. You’ll get lost for hours reading his stories.
4. Uncornered Market
Originally from the United States, Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott are the husband-and-wife storytelling team behind Uncornered Market. Through their stories, and speaking about sustainable tourism, they are creating a movement of travelers who live at the intersection of adventure, deep travel, and life experiences. More than 90 countries later, they are still going… and still married.
5. Atlas & Boots
Atlas & Boots is an outdoor travel blog covering thrilling activities in far-flung places be it swimming with whales in Tonga or trekking volcanoes in Vanuatu. Although Peter Watson and Kia Abdullah started on opposite ends of the outdoor spectrum, over the years they drew each other towards the middle; to what they describe as outdoorsy-ish.
6. Wandering Earl
In 1999, Derek left the United States for a three-month, post-graduation trip to Asia. The idea was to backpack around Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and then return home. However that adventure is still going on today. It’s now been over 18 years of nonstop travel and Derek has visited 100+ countries, sharing his experiences & thoughts on a wonderful travel blog called Wandering Earl.
7. Nomadic Matt
Growing up in Boston, Matt didn’t take his first overseas trip until he was 23, but he is certainly making up for it now. As a New York Times best-selling author of How to Travel the World on $50 a Day and founder of one of the biggest travel blogs online, Nomadic Matt has helped millions of people to travel more with his useful tips and advice. I’ve been reading his blog for years!
8. I Am Aileen
Aileen Adalid is a Filipina travel blogger behind the cool site I Am Aileen. Along with a wonderful design and great photos, she shares helpful tips from her travels around the world, as well as advice for becoming a digital nomad (she sells custom gear on Amazon). I particularly love her content from Japan and Antarctica.
9. Anywhere We Roam
Mark and Paul are always looking for answers. Whether discussing politics with locals in a city bar, understanding unusual rock formations in spectacular scenery or working out the meaning of life in an obscure gallery in the middle east. Their questions drive their passion for independent travel and invoke their curiosity to see the world through the eyes of locals — and sharing it with you.
10. Bucketlistly Travel Blog
With over 65+ countries knocked off his own bucket list, Pete is an inspiration, traveling for 7 years, going from one country to another while working on BucketListly Blog and many other business ventures. He is a travel filmmaker, a photographer, a digital nomad, a design freelancer, and a solo traveler, telling his travel stories through a combination of award-winning travel videos, gorgeous photography, and immersive writing all in one.
