I’ve been using this space to document my and Haylea’s raw adventures around the world since 2019. While it started as a passion project to help get my photography out there, this humble blog has opened up a world of opportunities for us.

So here it is. This is my story of how we went from teaching English online in hostel bathrooms– to getting paid to travel the world full-time.

Whether you’re interested in perpetual adventure travel, the digital nomad lifestyle, or what the process of starting a travel blog actually looks like, I’m sure you’ll enjoy my story!

Quick Intro – Life Before Travel

The Early Days

I was born in a small town in rural Sweden called Växjö, a town probably nobody has ever heard of. At the age of seven, my parents immigrated to New South Wales, Australia on student visas, bringing me and my sister along with them.

Over the next few years, we moved around quite a bit. By the time I was ten, I’d been enrolled in four schools but could now speak fluent English. Looking back, I’d say this perpetual movement at a young age had a big impact on me.

My family finally found a base in a small beach town on the Central Coast of New South Wales. What a place to grow up!

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have spent my early teens with a solid group of mates, riding bikes around secluded beaches, cliff jumping, snorkeling, hiking, camping, and generally just loving the outdoors.

Around this time my dad also had the crazy idea to build a 50 ft steel yacht in our backyard, which turned into a family affair for the next decade.

Muay Thai

Around the time I was 14 I rode my bike past a Muay Thai Kickboxing Gym just 5 minutes from my house that I had no idea existed. I decided to give it a try and within one session I was hooked.

I spent the rest of my school years balancing my newfound addiction with school commitments and hanging out with my good friends and girlfriend Haylea, who I met at 16.

As anyone who’s really gotten serious with a sport knows, the balance is hard to keep. I’d train for two hours in the morning before school, and three hours in the evening as I prepared for fights.

My trainers had spent most of their fighting careers in Thailand. So, from day one, I was introduced to a real Thai style of training, where the concept of overtraining doesn’t really exist.

I had my first fight at the age of 15 and this passion carried on for several years.

2015 – Our First Big Backpacking Trip

After finishing school, I continued my love for Muay Thai but I was longing for a real adventure.

As with most people, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, but I got decent grades in school so I decided to enroll in a business degree. I chose this because it seemed like the broadest subject.

Two years in, I was starting to feel a little lost and unfulfilled. Haylea and I decided we’d commit to a year-long “gap year” of backpacking through Europe before wrapping up the last year of university. We figured that by then, we’d kind of have this travel bug out of our system and we’d be content with starting a conventional career.

To save up for this trip, we worked tirelessly, saving every single penny and locking ourselves into an obsessive money-saving mindset. I consider myself very lucky to have had an Australian passport by this stage, which allowed me to earn decent money for hard unskilled manual labor work.

While studying part-time remotely, I managed to secure 50-hour weeks digging trenches for a large-scale Australian telecommunications project in Australia called the “NBN”. On the weekends I’d also do some childminding for extra cash and I was still able to get some decent Muay Thai sessions in every day.

I did this for eight months, without a single dollar of “unnecessary” spending. Haylea also locked hard into the money-saving mode, working equally as hard to reach our savings goal. Safe to say, the hard work paid off. We managed to save enough money for 10 months of backpacking through Europe with just 8 months of work. Australia is the land of opportunity and I’m forever grateful for the hand I was dealt.

Also safe to say, that first backpacking trip didn’t get the travel bug out of our system. In fact, I’d say it ignited in us an undying passion for travel. It was also the first time I picked up a camera for landscape photography, and instantly I was hooked.

From that moment we knew that all we wanted to do was to continue to backpack. But, we also knew that dedicating years of our youth to working and saving money for short-lived moments of freedom was not going to be sustainable in the long term.

But still, I didn’t see any other way.

The Pursuit of Perpetual Travel

We returned to Australia, and I finished my degree while working several jobs in the hopes of saving more money for future trips. I refused to buy a car and cycled everywhere, non-essential spending was reduced to zero and I picked up extra work wherever an opportunity lay, from babysitting to teaching Muay Thai classes, to cleaning gyms to trying my hand at online start-up ventures.

During this period I still managed to fit in several short ultra-low-budget trips to The Philippines and Thailand. I also modified my road bike and rode it across the south island of New Zealand and squeezed in a month-long Muay Thai camp in Bangkok.

It felt great to be back on the road in those fleeting moments.

However, all they really achieved was cementing my longing for a raw, minimalist, and nomadic way of life.

2018 – My First Remote Job

Then, in 2018, after reading books like The Alchemist and The Celestine Prophecy, while working a desk job to save up for another trip, I began to question what the end goal really was for me. I needed a purpose that aligned with my passion for raw travel, minimalist living, and photography. Pretty cliche, I know.

But, I also knew that I didn’t fit into the conventional framework of life and that western ideals didn’t really resonate with me. I guess I can blame spending that on spending the majority of my teenage years in a Muay Thai gym.

I began furiously googling things like “how to make money online”, “how to become a digital nomad” and “how to get digital nomad jobs”.

Most of the answers then just confirmed the little I already knew. To work online in 2018 you need to either convince your current employer or start an online business or eCommerce store. I had already tried starting an online dropshipping business and an online anti-piracy service but they ultimately failed because I wasn’t prepared to dedicate thousands of dollars to something that I wasn’t passionate about.

Then, I found an ad looking for remote online English Teachers. My partner Haylea and I applied immediately and within a week we were offered a contract paying $20 USD per hour to work 12 hours a week on Sunday and Monday afternoons. This seemed too good to be true for us. $20 was easily enough to get us through a day backpacking in South East Asia. We were being paid that per hour, each!

And, when you want something, all the universe conspires to helping you achieve it.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Seeing how easy this was shifted my mentality instantly. I quit my desk job at the time and bought a one-way ticket to Thailand. A few weeks later I found myself training full-time and even fulfilling my bucket list dream of fighting Muay Thai in Thailand.

Related: My Updated Guide to Digital Nomad Jobs

2018 – Getting My Second Remote Job

We stayed in Thailand for several months in 2018. My childhood friend Tom came to live with us on Koh Tao, where we both got our Dive Master certificate together. I also secured a second job as an SEO copywriter earning 3 cents per word, anything to help keep the dream of full-time travel alive.

This company asked me to write some pretty weird articles on some wild topics like “how to build a beehive box”, and “best bear spray for the backcountry”. Either way, I quickly became an online expert on a lot of random topics. But hey, there’s a lesson for you, just because someone sounds confident in an article you read online, doesn’t mean they really know what they’re talking about!

In hindsight, I was getting shafted big time by getting paid only 3 cents per word. However, in all honesty, I would have probably agreed to less than this. Haylea and I were loving the freedom, raw experiences, and challenges that this remote lifestyle permitted.

Most importantly, this job taught me a lot about SEO, a skill that would become very valuable for me once I started my own blog.

This new source of income, combined with Haylea and me teaching English online, meant we could now finance our life on the road from our laptops.

In the second half of 2018, we made our way through South East Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. I began writing about some of the far-flung places we visited but never published anything online.

2019 -Starting We Seek Travel

After hopping around Asia spending roughly $40 USD per day between us, we took a flight to Sri Lanka in January 2019.

We rented two tuk-tuks and drove them across the country with some old friends. This was one of my favorite trips to date.

It was then in a lazy beach town called Hikkaduwa where I quietly hit publish on We Seek Travel. By this time I’d accumulated lots of written content and photos from our adventures already, and finally had a place to publish them.

I started We Seek Travel in hopes of having my own place on the internet where I could showcase my photography, which had grown into a pretty serious hobby for me by then.

By this time, I’d accumulated a bunch of great photos and I wanted to be able to document and share all of the awesome adventures we’d been on.

I also noticed that some of the blog posts I was writing for my copywriting job were showing up among the first results in Google and generating a lot of traffic. Most of these pieces were on topics I had literally zero idea about before being given the assignment. So, I thought I’d take the technical skills I’d learned and apply them to my own project.

I figured, if I was able to rank for topics I didn’t know anything about, then surely I could rank for travel content, which was pretty much my daily life at this stage!

So, I started my blogging life knowing a bit of SEO, but not much else. In the blogging world, this is kind of weird and actually, a bit of a reversed learning curve as SEO is usually one of the last things newbie bloggers master.

Regardless, over the course of the next few months, I finally got my self-hosted WordPress blog in order and started uploading blog posts about our travels through Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal with Haylea and my friend Ryan, as well as a subsequent solo stint through Myanmar.

At this stage, We Seek Travel was generating around 10,000 page views a month. This was pretty much all from Google as I wasn’t using social media that much.

My mindset was always a bit hesitant on the whole social media thing, the last thing I wanted was to become another manufactured influencer. Instead, I tried to focus more on telling stories about the adventure and location rather than shamelessly selling my personality. Google seemed to like this, but social media, not so much.

I also wasn’t earning any money from blogging yet, since I was reluctant to put any ads on my website and I didn’t really know much about affiliate marketing.

To me, it was just exciting that people were seeing my adventures. I started getting emails and comments about how much I’d inspired people to go on similar trips and how much my blog helped them plan their travels. This was and continues to be the biggest motivator for me.

Nevertheless, during this period We Seek Travel was far from a job, more like a side project and I continued to teach English and write random (sometimes fun, but mostly boring) articles for big companies in order to continue living the digital nomad lifestyle.

2019 – Sailing the East Coast of Australia

Remember my family’s boatbuilding project? Well, my dad launched Malaika in 2014 and in 2019 it was finally time for her first major maiden voyage.

My parents had already sailed hundreds of nautical miles north but Haylea and I flew back to Australia to join them for the last three months of the trip to Cairns. To date, this is still one of the most memorable experiences and was the perfect way to celebrate this decade-long family project.

During this time, I started uploading weekly Sailing Log updates on this blog, which documented our adventures on Malaika.

2019 – Back to Asia

Once we’d completed the sailing journey, we flew straight back to South East Asia and backpacked for the last three months of the year through Borneo, Lombok, Komodo, and Northern Thailand.

While we’d spent close to two years in South East Asia at this point, we felt there was just so much more left to see, especially since we tend to travel quite slowly to really do a deep dive into a destination. Additionally, this slow travel pace also allowed me to dedicate some days to writing blog posts on We Seek Travel, while we both still also worked our remote jobs online.

This was also the time when we started working with a few small tour companies and hotels, taking photos for them in exchange for some free boat trips and lodging. This seemed too good to be true at the time for me.

2020 – The Pandemic

After over a year of blogging, We Seek Travel was still only getting around 30,000 page views per month, which is far from impressive after an entire year of working on it. I put this down to avoiding popular topics and just writing about whatever I was interested in. Usually, these were off-the-beaten-path places in Asia and the Indian subcontinent that nobody was really searching for.

Nevertheless, it was certainly getting some attention from a few media outlets who were very interested in sharing our unique adventure travel style.

30,000 monthly hits was also still enough to start earning me a little bit of money for all my effort. So, I decided I would start running some Google Adsense display ads.

Was I excited about having ads on my blog? Definitely not, but to finally be compensated for the hundreds of hours spent in front of my laptop felt good.

During the first few months of 2020, we landed our first big collaboration in New Zealand. We spent two months exploring the South Island with SpaceShip Rentals, who offered us a free van in exchange for publicity on the blog. During these months, We Seek Travel was really starting to take off.

Views were increasing quickly and I was now earning enough from my blog to quit writing articles for other people, I could quit my SEO copyrwriting job! This was massive for me and allowed me to dedicate a lot more time to writing my own posts.

We were stoked to have such a great collaboration with Spaceships and it provided us with the freedom to spend an awesome few months hiking every in the South Island and publishing a lot of blog posts!

Then, when all the pieces looked like they were coming together, the pandemic.

Doubling Down on Travel Blogging During a Pandemic

The pandemic hit, and around April 2020 New Zealand immediately began banning all forms of movement within the country. The entire travel industry shut down overnight, and just like that, blog traffic dropped to as low as 100 page views a day.

We decided to cancel our travel plans for the year and flew to Cairns in Far North Queensland, Australia. We figured this would be the last place a virus would get to.

And we were right. Cairns remained Covid-free for the rest of 2020, and we were able to spend a solid six months hiking and exploring the rainforest and islands of Far North Queensland. I consider myself very lucky that while the rest of the world was struggling with trying to contain a virus, I was still free to keep the adventures rolling.

To add to our fortune, I was also able to get my remote jobs back, which gave me the flexibility to still work on We Seek Travel and keep a small income rolling in while the blog wasn’t generating anything.

While it might have seemed silly in the midst of a pandemic, I made an educated gamble to double down on my blog during this time. I began obsessively self-learning everything there was about SEO, affiliate marketing, page speed, and everything else I could about blogging.

I also published a comprehensive eBook about the Three Passes Trek in Nepal and launched over 100 blog posts in this six-month period, most about all of the hikes, waterfalls, and other adventures in and around Cairns.

Fast forward to late 2020 and Australia was very much isolated from the rest of the world. We had the freedom of movement and as a result, many of my Cairns posts were getting attention from locals, which helped motivate me to continue.

Then, another gamble. We decided to use our rainy-day savings fund left over from our savings back in 2018 to purchase a high-roof, long-wheelbase 2013 Ford Transit Van and convert it into a campervan. We figured that the virus wasn’t about to slow down, and even if it was, Australia’s borders didn’t look anywhere near close to opening to the rest of the world anytime soon.

So, we drove the new van 2,300 kilometers (1420 miles) south to New South Wales, where Haylea’s family was kind enough to let us work on our new covid project. The next three-month period was the longest pause in travel we’d had in over two years, but I continued to document our van build on We Seek Travel.

Today, over 100,000 people have relied on my van-build guide as a resource to build their own off-grid campervan– that’s a lot of vans!

Van Life in Tasmania – 2021

For the first half of 2021, we traveled around the island state of Tasmania in our new off-grid home. We continued to work online while exploring all of the hikes, waterfalls, and hidden gems in Tassie, and posting all of the adventures on We Seek Travel.

In total, I published over 120 blog posts during this six-month period, mostly about hikes and hidden gems in Tasmania. While I wasn’t seeing much traffic due to the ongoing pandemic, I figured once the world returned back to normal, people would begin reading my blog again. I certainly wasn’t complaining about the situation, and I was happy living presently while still dedicating time and energy into growing this blog.

Unfortunately, it seemed that our luck began to run out in the second half of 2021. While the rest of the world began to open up, the virus was finally able to creep through the Aussie iron borders.

We kept a close eye on this, and the timing called for us to try to sell our beloved van and head back overseas where the rest of the world was now opening up.

Momentum is an important thing for me, and I was petrified of being locked down and not being able to move. We made the right moves at the right time to keep our freedom and avoided lockdowns altogether.

After just one day of posting the ad, an awesome lady named Ali decided to buy it from us in hopes of driving it through Australia in 2022.

2021 – Back to International Travel & My First Tourism Board Gig

At the end of 2021, the best place to go with the least restrictions was Mexico, so after selling the van we booked another one-way ticket across the world and hoped for the best.

This was Haylea and I’s first time setting foot on the American continent, and it was super exciting. We were missing our van, but there’s just special about owning only the things you can carry. Unfortunately, most of the places I’d written about so far were still locked down, which meant very little search traffic to my blog, and very little income.

However, at this stage, I had so much content out there, that we were still able to fund our travels through some affiliates. But we kept our $ 50-per-day budget between us.

Initially, the plan was to backpack through Mexico and head down deeper into Central America, documenting some awesome spots along the way. However, things changed quickly when I was offered my first Tourism Board gig in the Seychelles.

I’m forever grateful for this opportunity, as it really kicked things off for me. These islands are traditionally a luxury honeymoon destination. However, with such epic and rugged islands, the board knew there was lots of potential for adventure– they just needed the means to get that out there.

This was my job.

I spent two weeks exploring my ass off in the Seychelles. The board gave me a pretty packed itinerary, but I pretty much doubled it by waking up before the birds and exploring and photographing some of the more off-the-beaten-path places on the islands.

The tourism board couldn’t believe how much I’d covered in just a short two weeks, and gave me an awesome testimonial. Today, they’re still using tons of my content which is transforming a whole new sector of adventure tourism in this island group.

I flew back to Tulum, Mexico, where Haylea and I stayed for a while catching up on blog content. I published over 30 Seychelles adventure guides in just a few weeks.

End of 2021 – I’m now a full-time travel blogger

As I slowly started building a portfolio of successful collaborations with travel brands, tour companies, and brands, my blog really started gaining momentum again.

These were mostly content-creation partnerships in Mexico and the US throughout the last months of the year. I’d get small jobs to photograph their tours and products/services and write honest reviews about them on my blog. I wasn’t getting paid much from these early gigs, but for me, I was just happy to be gaining traction.

Then some good news. Even with the new Omicron variant, Australia was opening up, which meant that some of my biggest areas of coverage were getting hits again.

As I sat there on my sister’s apartment floor in Houston Texas on Christmas, I finally had hit enough monthly sessions (50,000) to apply for Mediavine– the bee’s knees of ad management companies. Ads went live and within just a few days, I went from just scraping by to earning a full-time wage from my blog.

This felt surreal. It’d taken me nearly 3 years of working on what started as a hobby project to finally turn it into a job that could sustain me financially.

2022 – Growing We Seek Travel into an Adventure Travel Business

2022 was a huge year for Haylea and I. The world was opening up quickly, resulting in massive travel demand. All the work I’d put in over the past few years was finally being seen.

By now, companies and tourism boards were really seeing the value we could offer them. We were hired for content creation and promotional campaigns all over the world, from Colombia to Malta.

Every month of 2022 we were flown to a new destination. We went from working in hostel bathrooms for 3 cents per word to being paid to travel by tour companies and tourism boards.

We approached every job with the intent to over-deliver in content and effort. Consequently, after each collaboration brands and boards would give us an excellent testimonial.

However, being more used to slow travel, the year took a bit of a toll on us. We loved the freedom and the amazing places we were being paid to visit, but I did miss the sense of independent travel.

So, in late 2022 I went back to India to complete a mountaineering course I’d been dreaming of for a long time. I lived and trained for a month in the Indian Sikkim Himalayas learning the ins and outs of mountain climbing in one of the most remote regions on earth.

Living in the mountains without access to the internet was a refreshing feeling after a huge year of cycling non-stop adventure with long hours in front of the laptop.

But, after I returned to the land of internet connectivity, I found that my blog sessions were still continuing to grow exponentially, even though I hadn’t touched my blog for over a month. The hundreds of posts I had constantly published since 2018 were still climbing the rankings of Google and being read by more and more people every day.

By now, Hundreds of thousands of people per month were reading about my adventures and my detailed destination guides on We Seek Travel and using them to plan their own travels. This still blows my mind to think about.

This is the power of travel blogging and building a passionate project that can award you a passive income. Yes, it’s taken a lot of work, and there have certainly been more than a few hiccups along the way. However, I’m a firm believer that nothing worth doing is easy.

By valuing freedom and momentum above all else, we’ve built a lifestyle that allows us to continue doing what we love every single day– on our own terms. This is priceless to me and why I think travel blogging is the best job on earth.

Do you want to become a travel blogger? I’ve accumulated everything I’ve learned over the past four years and put it up as a free beginner’s guide to how to start a travel blog. While a lot of bloggers sell this kind of information in a paid course, my guide is completely free and includes everything you need from kicking off a WordPress site to getting started with SEO – go check it out.

Otherwise, make sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook to see my latest adventures and guides. Here’s to another huge year of travel in 2023!

Thanks for reading,

– Olly

The post My Story – How I Travel Full-Time As a Travel Blogger appeared first on We Seek Travel.

Congratulations, you’ve found the most complete and honest guide on how to start a travel blog in 2023. Learn from my mistakes and fast-track your way to becoming a successful travel blogger with these 7 easy steps.

After graduating with a business degree and working in an office for a grand total of 10 months, I knew quickly that a regular 9-5 lifestyle wasn’t for me.

Since then, I’ve been traveling for the past five years living as a digital nomad and travel blogging has been my passion and primary income for the past four years. I started off with no experience with blogging and I’ve learned everything I know from free resources just like this one.

To help other aspiring digital nomads and travelers do the same, I’ve compiled this guide explaining the entire process of how to start a travel blog in just 7 steps.

Table of Contents

• Why Would You Want to Start a Travel Blog?
• Do Travel Bloggers Make Money?
  • Tip: Top-Earning Affiliate Networks For Travel Bloggers
• How To Start a Travel Blog – A Step By Step Guide
  • Blogging Toolkit: 5 Things You’ll Need to Start a Travel Blog
  • 1. Pick a Travel Blog Name & Register It On All Social Media Platforms
  • 2. Purchase a Domain Name For Your New Travel Blog
  • 3. Set Up Your Hosting
  • 4. Install a WordPress Theme and Plugins
  • 5. Start Writing Blog Posts
  • 6. Publish Your First Blog Post & Start Sharing
  • 7. How to Optimize Your Blog For Search Engines (Google)
• Monetizing Your Blog – How to Make Money From a Travel Blog
  • Affiliate Marketing With Travel Blogging – Passive Income
  • Display Advertising – Passive Income
  • Indirect Income From Travel Blogging

Disclaimer: this guide will also go more in-depth than others you'll find online because I want to help you get things right from day one. Starting a travel blog in 2023 is different than it was just three years ago. To be successful, you'll want the latest tools and best practices.

Why Would You Want to Start a Travel Blog?

Before we get started, it's important to evaluate whether or not travel blogging is for you. If you asked most people why they'd want to start a travel blog, 9 times out of 10, you'll get a response back that they want to travel full-time while making money.

It's the ideal lifestyle for so many. While setting up a travel blog is quite easy, building a sustainable travel blogging lifestyle takes a lot of work. In fact, there are loads of other ways to make money on the road. My partner Haylea and I traveled full-time for two years making money off our laptop by working remote jobs before I even hit publish on We Seek Travel.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if earning money while traveling is the only goal and you don't really have a passion for creating or writing, then you have a high chance of failing.

That's because doing this right takes a lot of time, energy, and passion for little to no initial reward.

Do Travel Bloggers Make Money?

That's the first thing people usually ask me. Do you make money by writing travel blogs?

The short answer is yes, the long answer is that it takes a lot of time and work to start seeing your first dollar come through.

Blogging in general is a way to build yourself a passive income. This means you will put in the work today for free in order to earn money in the future. The great part about this is that you can go off-grid for a month if you like and still earn money through the work you have put in a year or even a decade before.

For example, I spent three weeks without touching my laptop while on the Three Passes Trek in the Himalayas and earned a living wage at the same time. The tough part about this is that you might spend hundreds of hours and not see a single dollar for months (or years) down the track.

Recent statistics show that 81% of all blogs created never earned their first $100. Furthermore, only 5% of all bloggers earn a full-time salary from blogging. These statistics account for all blogs. Travel blogs are among the most saturated on the internet. And, therefore standing out in the crowd is even more difficult.

But, that's not to say it's impossible.

I'm among several travel bloggers who make a six-figure, passive wage from doing what I love, and running this blog is now my full-time job. I think it's safe to say this was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

However, to get to this stage I dedicated several hundred hours of blog post writing, blog theme customizing, page speed optimizing, and social sharing– all before I saw my first passive dollar roll in.

I did this because I was passionate about what I was creating and, if I could be paid for it, that would be a bonus, not a priority.

Actually, I was out there traveling and taking photos years before I even considered starting a travel blog. Here's a shot of Haylea and me hitchhiking in Sri Lanka. Even though we don't live off $35 USD per day anymore, we still mostly stick to raw, shoestring travel as a preference.

I know it's a cliche. But, the universe rewards passion and dedication. If you believe in something and you are prepared to put in the hard work, you will be rewarded. If you're interested to learn how to make money from travel blogging, I've included a detailed section on this below.

Tip: Top-Earning Affiliate Networks For Travel Bloggers

Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money from travel blogging. Here are my top-earning partners (you'll want to bookmark them).

• SafetyWing - affordable insurance for nomads
• ShareASale - tonnes of great affiliate programs in one place
• TravelPayouts - earn on referrals from programs like Booking.com, GetYourGuide, and RentalCars in one place

More info below...

How To Start a Travel Blog - A Step By Step Guide

Congratulations, you've gotten through that intense disclaimer. If you're still determined to start a travel blog, then that's absolutely awesome. Let's get it.

Below is a quick summary of the simple steps required to kick-start your travel blog.

1. Pick a blog name and register it on all social platforms
2. Purchase a domain name
3. Set up your hosting
4. Install a theme and plugins
5. Start creating content
6. Publish your travel blog
7. Optimize your travel blog for search engines (Google)

I'll go into detail about the best way to do this below. First, here's step 1.

Blogging Toolkit: 5 Things You'll Need to Start a Travel Blog

This is a very in-depth guide with a lot of recommended resources. If you want to make money from your travel blog, here's what you need.

1. A domain name from Namecheap
2. Hosting: Managed WordPress Hosting by BigScoots
3. Theme: Kadence (free) or Trellis (premium)
4. SEO tool: RANKIQ
5. Plugin: Yoast SEO

1. Pick a Travel Blog Name & Register It On All Social Media Platforms

As you might guess, picking a travel blog name is the first step in starting a travel blog. This can be a bit difficult and once you've picked one, you're stuck with it.

However, the name of your travel blog isn't really that important. For example, you don't need to have "travel" in your name but you can if you wish. Choose something that you want to represent your brand and that you feel represents your readers' interests.

A general rule of thumb is to pick something recognizable, simple, and relevant. Pick something that means something to you. Of course, you'll need to check if the name isn't taken.

So, the first step is to...

Check if the domain name is available and also if it's available on all social platforms. The domain registrar you choose doesn't really matter, that's why I use NameCheap for this blog and others as they offer the cheapest website domains.

Once you've got it, go ahead and register your social media accounts on the major platforms including:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Youtube
• Pinterest

If you think social media will be a big part of your marketing strategy, I'd go ahead and register it on absolutely everything– it doesn't take much time and you'll be glad you did.

I like to promote my photography on Instagram but don't really enjoy marketing my personality, which is kind of essential if you want to be successful on these platforms. Luckily for me, platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok don't really drive that much traffic to your travel blog, since they are designed to keep users engaged with their apps.

In fact, you might be surprised to find out that Pinterest is generally the most effective social platform for bloggers. The second is Facebook. Remember, travel bloggers don't have to be social media influencers.

Defining Your Blog's Audience (Target Audience)

Defining your target audience is a very important thing in the blogging space. I know that a lot of bloggers don't like to refer to this as choosing a "niche" because they're afraid of making their readers feel like a customer.

But, the fact is if you are starting a travel blog, you are offering a product to an already saturated market, whether you like it or not. If you really want to do this as a lifestyle, it's best to get clued into strategizing early, and that means thinking like a business– even if you don't like to think of your blog as one yet.

So, how do I define my travel blog audience?

What you're looking for is a way that makes your content stand out from the crowd. Generic audiences are incredibly competitive so it's best to focus on what you are good at and more importantly, what you enjoy writing about.

Get out your pen and paper, and write down the answers to these questions.

• What kind of content do I enjoy writing about?
• What makes my style of content different?
• Is there an audience that is interested in this content?
• What can my content offer my readers?
• Are there already other travel bloggers offering the same thing? - Okay, then can I do it better?

This process should be one of the first steps in your own list of how to start a travel blog. In fact, start thinking about it before you choose your name.

The answers to these questions will form the basis of your humble travel blog beginnings.

Remember, don't try to find readers for your content, write for your readers. You can do this by writing about things that you know you'd want to read yourself.

2. Purchase a Domain Name For Your New Travel Blog

Alright, you've decided on the direction for your blog, you've narrowed down a name for it, and you've registered all of your social accounts. Let's actually start creating your new travel blog! The first step is registering your domain name.

A domain name is your URL in your browser. For example www.weseektravel.com.

You have to pay for this, but it's really cheap, usually about $7-$15 per year. I recommend using NameCheap because they usually have the cheapest rates and everything is really beginner-friendly.

I actually started off with Bluehost because they offered a free domain name. But, I ended up migrating my domain name to NameCheap in the second year because the rates were just way cheaper for the same service.

This will be a reoccurring theme in this guide to how to start a travel blog– learn from my mistakes.

Anyways, go ahead and sign up on NameCheap, pay the fee, and, congratulations, you've got your travel blog domain name!

About The Fabled "Self-Hosted WordPress Blog"

This is the part of this guide where I tell you that what you want to do is create a WordPress.org blog. There are dozens of other alternatives like Squarespace, Wix, and other branded site builders.

However, a self-hosted WordPress blog is the holy grail of blogging and is actually cheaper as well. There's a reason why 40% of the internet is built on this platform.

The beginner steps I'm outlining here are a good order to follow to get your new travel blog started right, so more on this below.

3. Set Up Your Hosting

The next step in this travel blog beginner guide is to set up your hosting.

Don't worry it's not as complicated or scary as it sounds. Think of building a travel blog like building a house.

The first step is to get an empty block of land with an address. Well, you've already got that now, it's your domain name.

Next, you're going to have to build your structural foundations. This is your hosting (also referred to as your server).

Types of Web Hosting For Travel Bloggers

Hosting providers run servers, where all of your data is stored and delivered to the internet, accessible via your specific domain name (address).

The thing is, all hosting servers aren't built equally. Since the success of a travel blog relies heavily on receiving organic traffic from search engines like Google, you'll want your server as fast as possible. That's because Google is trying to build a faster internet, and will therefore recommend websites that are faster thanks to its Core Web Vitals updates.

In short, fast blogs show up more on google than slower ones. You also want a reliable server with high up-time (99%+), so your blog is always available to readers.

So, start off right. Save yourself time and money by choosing wisely. There are four types of web hosting, which I'll cover in more detail below.

1. Shared Hosting
2. Managed WordPress Hosting
3. Cloud Hosting
4. Dedicated Hosting

2023 Update: The quick answer is that I use BigScoots managed WordPress hosting because they handle all the technical aspects for me. I recently changed over from Cloudways since their support was not as strong when you need it. If you're serious about starting a killer blog in 2023, this is the hosting you want and isn't too expensive.

Below is a good summary for fast, affordable hosts to get your new travel blog on its feet quicker.

1. Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the best for small travel blogs and websites with low traffic.

Pros: The cheapest option is usually $2.50 - $15 per month.

Cons: Your website is shared with up to 50 other websites on a single server, which means your website will be slower and also impacted by spikes in traffic on other websites that live on the same server as yours.

The best shared hosting plans are offered by companies like Siteground, Bluehost and A2 hosting.

2. Managed WordPress Hosting - the best option for new bloggers

WordPress hosting is a hosting service that specializes in WordPress blogs. Their system is set up to cater to WordPress websites and all of the technical aspects of installing and managing your WordPress installation are done by the hosting provider.

Pros: easiest to set up, costs only $5 - $40 per month.

Cons: Most of them are on "shared servers" meaning big spikes in traffic from other sites will impact the performance of your site as well.

I used Siteground managed WordPress hosting when I started out. However, since then I've swapped to BigScoots hosting, which is by far the best WordPress hosting you can find these days.

3. Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting allows you to have your own website server on the cloud.

Pros: This is much faster than shared hosting and you won't need to worry about having other websites slowing down your performance. Also easy to scale as your new travel blog grows and typically allows you to run multiple websites on your own cloud server.

Cons: pricier, ranging from $10-$1000 per month. Also, is more difficult to set up, and requires some server management knowledge.

If you're starting a travel blog and you're willing to learn a little bit of the basics when it comes to servers, a good option is managed WordPress cloud hosting by Cloudways.

4. Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting means you will have your own physical server somewhere in a physical location.

Pros: This offers the best performance and control.

Cons: Pricey, usually $100+ per month and overkill for most travel blogs.

If you're starting a new travel blog, you won't need dedicated hosting. Look at managed WordPress hosting or cloud hosting instead.

Choosing Web Hosting For Your New Travel Blog

If you're just starting out as a travel blogger, I recommend either shared managed WordPress hosting with Siteground for $4.99 a month. Or, if you're serious about your travel blogging journey, then the BigScoots Real Managed Hosting plan is a bit pricier but hands-down a better experience.

Tip: You can always start off on a cheap hosting plan and update to a more rigid one later down the track once you begin generating traffic. Most hosting providers will transfer your site for free.

A great tip is to choose a server location (during the signup process) that is close to where you think the majority of your readers will be located.

For example, if you are going to publish a lot of travel content about South East Asia, choose a server location in Singapore. If you're going to blog about travel in the USA, choose a server in Ohio. This makes loading time for your readers much faster by reducing latency.

Both of my recommended providers are quite easy to set up. Simply follow the steps and if you run into any trouble, hit up their support. There are also many instructional videos for beginners to help install and optimize WordPress (find the posts from your host) so the process is quite straightforward.

Link Your Domain Name To Your New Hosting

Alright, now we're really getting the ball rolling on starting this new travel blog. You've got yourself an address (domain name) and your structural foundations (hosting)– let's bring them together!

What you want to do is go to NameCheap (or your domain registrar if you chose another one) and go to DNS settings. This is found in your Account Dashboard area under your Domain List tab on the left. Click "manage" on your domain name.

Scroll down to "NameServers" and select Namecheap Basic DNS. Now, your hosting plan will have provided you with the nameservers to use here. Otherwise, you'll find it in your dashboard section when you log into your hosting plan.

Enter the nameservers provided by your hosting plan and click save. Basically, this has told everyone visiting "yourtravelblog.com" to load the data on your web hosting server. This process can take a few hours to complete, so just be patient.

Don't Forget to Enable Your SSL Certificate (If Necessary)

What you will also want to do is install a free SSL certificate for your domain name. Right now, look up on your browser next to the URL on this page. See that little lock symbol? That means that this website is secure and authorized with an SSL certificate (this means the website has "https://" in front of the URL, instead of "http://").

But, don't worry too much about what this means if this is getting a bit technical for you, just make sure you install one. These days, most Managed WordPress hosting services will do this automatically.

If you choose BigScoots, they'll do this for you. Other shared plans or Cloud servers, you'll need to google their guides on how to install your certificate.

4. Install a WordPress Theme and Plugins

We're now halfway through this guide on how to start a travel blog and you've already got your blog live on the internet.

Go check it out, if you've done it right, check by typing in your domain name in your browser. Your new travel blog should pop up as a generic WordPress website, ready for you to customize and start publishing content on.

Tip: Picking a Premium Theme (Personalized Blog Layout)

The next step is choosing a theme. Think of this as the facade of your house. This will dictate how your blog looks and feels.

When I started my travel blog I made the mistake of just choosing a cheap theme that I thought looked great.

Unfortunately, I had to change my entire website layout after I'd already published 300 articles because my theme wasn't being updated and was getting slower and slower.

Want a unique theme? I'd recommend checking themes on Envato Market (also called ThemeForest) and choosing one that has lots of great reviews, prioritizes load speed, and is frequently updated.

Recommended WordPress Themes for Travel Blogging

If you're serious about travel blogging, I typically don't recommend a free theme. Trust me on this, it's a much better idea to buy a quality premium theme and don't look back. You often only have to pay once and then get access to updates forever.

High-quality premium WordPress themes usually cost between $40 to $250 for a once-off-payment.

If you really want to keep costs down, then the only free theme that I'd recommend anybody to use is Kadence. While I don't use this, I have used it on other sites and it is possible to get fast and responsive layouts if you stick to the very basic blocks.

Otherwise, the fastest and best paid WordPress themes for blogs are:

• GeneratePress
• Kadence - with Kadence blocks plugin (use Gutenberg, not Elementor)
• Trellis (best for Mediavine publishers) - this is what I use now, although I paid a developer to customize it and make it 100% unique (not necessary when starting)

Again, in the modern world of blogging, you want your website to be as fast as possible. This helps you show up on google and offers a better experience for your readers.

A good quality theme will be really lightweight and will offer customization options to make your travel blog unique. My strategy is to avoid picking a theme with all the bells and whistles and instead keep things as simple as possible to focus on my content.

Did you know that 40% of mobile users abandon a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load?

Installing Your New Theme

When you purchase a theme, you'll get a download link with a .zip folder. Every good theme will have a detailed guide on how to install it but generally, it's quite easy.

Here's how you do it.

Log into your WordPress dashboard, which is usually found under "yourtravelblog.com/wp-admin/". Here is where you manage your WordPress blog, write blog posts, install plugins and do everything you need to do that impacts the front-end side of your site (what visitors see).

On the left panel, go to Appearance > Themes.

Once here, click Add New and upload the .zip file that came with your theme purchase.

All good themes will also come with a child theme. Basically, this allows you to make custom changes to your layout that aren't affected by theme updates.

After you upload your theme, upload the child.zip folder as well, then activate your child theme.

Now, Customize Your Theme

Next, it's a good idea to install a Starter Template for your theme.

All themes are highly customizable but it's difficult to start customizing without any inspiration. A Starter Template has pre-populated content, sample articles, and pages that are already tweaked for the theme you have purchased.

Installing these will depend on which theme you choose, but every good theme will have a detailed walkthrough on how to activate a starter template.

Once you've chosen a layout you like, let's start customizing your new travel blog!

Again, on your WordPress Dashboard (available at yoursite.com/wp-admin/), go to Appearance > Customize.

Start going through the options and make some site-wide changes like colors, fonts, image sizes, etc.

A general rule of thumb is to go easy on the customization and keep things simple. Here are some tips to make your travel blog as fast and user-friendly as possible:

• Choose your brand colors and stick with them throughout your website. Choose high-contrast colors, for example, black or dark-grey text on a white background. This makes it easier to read and won't give you problems with Google later down the track.
  
• Choose two font types only, one for your body and one for your text. Every single font on your website has to be loaded manually every time someone visits your website, increasing page load time. Choose fonts that are large and easy to read. Alternatively, skip custom fonts altogether to make things even faster by using "inherit", which loads the default font on the user's device.
  
• Prioritize mobile-view. All quality WordPress themes are "responsive". This means that all the content you create will automatically be shown and scaled to the device the reader is using (i.e mobile, desktop, or tablet). However, when you're customizing your travel blog layout, try to prioritize mobile view, since around 75% of visitors will be using a phone.
  
  Do this by clicking the little mobile icon on the bottom of the Customize screen. Try to make changes that look good on mobile and also work well on the desktop and tablet views.

Install WordPress Plugins

When you're happy with your layout, the next step in starting a travel blog is installing plugins. You can do this

These are simple little apps that install on your WordPress site. They can help you accomplish anything from preventing spam comments, optimizing your site speed, or adding useful features like relevant posts or customized content in your blog posts.

However, before you start installing everything, be warned.

A general rule of thumb when it comes to plugins is to keep it simple. Yes, it's a reoccurring theme in this beginner travel blog guide but trust me, I've learned from my mistakes. The more plugins you install, the more problems you're likely to encounter with conflicts and slowing down your website. Only install what you think is necessary.

Not sure what you need? Here are some necessary plugins that I believe every travel blog should install when starting out.

• Yoast SEO - helps you create content that will rank on Google
• A caching/optimization plugin - this makes your website faster. The best is WPRocket but if you pick BigScoots hosting, they offer their own premium plugin.
• Image optimization plugin - compresses your images to make websites faster. I don't use this as I only upload already optimized photos using custom settings in Adobe Lightroom to save server space. But, it'll be useful for those who don't know what they're doing. A good one is ShortPixel.

Tip: avoid using "Page Builders" like Elementor. WordPress has its own native page builder named Gutenberg, which is much faster and more reliable. If you see a theme that requires a custom page builder, avoid it.

That's it. That's all you'll really need to start an awesome travel blog. All of these plugins are free besides WPRocket, but you can use free caching alternatives like W3 Total Cache or the free caching plugin that comes with your host if they offer it.

Once you get the ball rolling and start requiring premium features, you can upgrade the plugins you love. But, when you first start off travel blogging, the free plugins will suffice.

5. Start Writing Blog Posts

See, starting a travel blog is easy! This is most of the technical stuff out of the way.

Okay, this blog post might seem a little more complicated than the other beginner guides out there but I'm leaving nothing out so that you can start a successful blog, not just launch one!

The next step is to start creating awesome content. I bet you've already got some great blog post ideas and stories to tell. Head over to your WordPress dashboard again and on the left side, click Posts, then Add New.

WordPress uses the new Gutenberg block editor by default. This is really easy to use as you can just add headings, images, and text into your post with the click of a button– no coding required!

On the right side of your screen, you'll see the settings tab. Here you can customize each block or change settings for your post. You'll want to add things like a featured image, a category, and tags.

Understanding Categories & Tags

Categories and tags are a WordPress tool that helps viewers navigate to similar content across your website.

I use a simple category layout on my travel blog with destinations by country. In the tags, I include specifics about the post.

For example, it might be a waterfall hike in Cebu, Philippines. So, I'd use a category of the Philippines. My tags would be broader themes like "waterfalls" and "hiking".

It's totally up to you how you'd like to structure your navigation but try to keep it simple, organized, and relevant to your content. Remember, Gooogle likes structure.

Having a hundred different tags isn't going to help you with SEO. In fact, Google doesn't like "thin content". Try to focus on generating as much content around a topic or destination as possible. However, there's no cheating Google, the only strategy that works is creating content that is a great experience for human readers.

6. Publish Your First Blog Post & Start Sharing

Once you've got a few great posts that you want to get out there, hit publish and start sharing them. Hit up all your social platforms and let everyone know that you've just started a travel blog!

Congratulations, you've done it, you're now a travel blogger.

Tip: Once you get the ball rolling, you can track your success by setting up Google Analytics. This is a way to monitor traffic across your travel blog and specific blog posts. This is a free service that tracks page views across the web, including from social media channels and Google search.

Establishing Blog Posting Strategies That Work - A Beginner's Guide to SEO

The easy part is done and now the real work begins. There are many different strategies for becoming successful with blogging.

Here's what you should be doing:

• Choose the right keywords
• Understand search intent
• Content Clustering
• Establishing Authority

1. Choosing the Right Keywords as a beginner Travel Blogger

However, what I see a lot of new travel bloggers do is publish their first posts aiming for really competitive keywords.

For example, you might not want to try to rank for "Things to do in Australia" or "Europe Itinerary" in your first posts. You simply won't show up on the first page.

Instead, you will want to try to rank for smaller keywords first, then try to rank for the big stuff.

Here's why:

• One of the biggest ranking factors is backlinks. The more links you have to your travel blog, the more "authority" you have in google rankings. This takes time and the more content you have that gets seen, the higher the chances are that people are going to link to your posts.
• Content needs to be relevant. It takes time for Google's algorithm to determine what your blog is all about. I try to write as comprehensively as I can about each destination that I visit to provide my readers with the most comprehensive guides, and to show Google that I know a lot about these destinations.

This is why I recommend so many new bloggers to use RankIQ. They offer hand-picked travel keywords for destinations all over the world, which takes the guesswork out of what you should be writing about.

2. Understand Search Intent

At the end of the day, Google exists PRIMARILY to recommend the best pieces of information that satisfy the query typed into its search bar– this is called Search Intent. The company spends millions, if not billions of dollars developing the best algorithms to sort and rank the 50 billion websites that exist on Google to suit every single search phrase.

Understanding this means understanding your job as a travel blogger. Think, what does a HUMAN want when searching these "keywords"? This should be your foundation for SEO and is the first step you consider when planning your blog post outlines.

3. Content Clustering

My strategy has always been to consider content as king.

The way I see it, the more valuable content I can create, the more visitors I'll get.

I publish a lot of "smaller" and more specific blog posts and guides about certain destinations or activities. Then, I create large cornerstone posts that summarize all of my smaller posts and link them all together.

For example, I've published 36 separate blog posts on some of my favorite hikes in Cairns, Australia. Then, I wrote a mega-post of all the best hikes in Cairns, linking to every single individual post, and every smaller post links back to the cornerstone post. This is now a huge cluster of information related to hiking in Cairns– google loves it.

Effectively, I write many articles around a specific topic and spread it out as a content web. Then, visitors arrive at my travel blog through many different search terms on Google and Pinterest. There's no additional cost for advertising, and I don't need to spend a lot of time on social media.

4. Establishing Authority

Best of all, Google increasingly sees me as an authority on a certain destination since I've written a lot of great content around it. Naturally, these articles also get links from other bloggers and big websites who notice the detail I put into the articles– and so, the authority grows!

Getting other sites to link to yours grows your Domain Authority, much like the most cited research papers represent the most authoritative information in research journals.

Links will build naturally if you create great content. But a good way to boost your rankings is to share your content as much as possible.

Avoid excessive direct link swapping and paying for backlinks at all costs as Google penalizes this under spam (unnatural link building).

Other Strategies

On the flip side, some travel bloggers don't consider content clusters and choose to write maybe 20-30 great blog posts and then spend the rest of their time marketing them on social media or even using detrimental black hat SEO strategies like manipulative link-building.

I'd prefer the long-term route and the one recommended by Google itself.

However, at the end of the day, it's a good idea to find out what works for you. And, more importantly, do it in a way that you enjoy!

What About Page Speed?

I also touched on this earlier but this is a good one to get right from day one.

I recommend reading a lot of articles about how you can optimize your new travel blog to be as fast as possible so Google prioritizes your posts over old, slow websites.

Kinsta has the most comprehensive guide I've ever found.

A quick and free speed boost you can use after you've got your travel blog started is to use a CDN.

Using a CDN like Cloudflare (free) can dramatically increase your website speed and in my opinion, is essential for a successful travel blog in 2023. Basically, a CDN, or content delivery network, will reduce delays in loading time by reducing the physical distance between your server and your readers.

You can set this up in a few clicks when first launching your travel blog, or once it's already live.

It works on top of all of your other optimizations and therefore it is very easy to set up and can be done after you've customized your theme.

Monetizing Your Blog - How to Make Money From a Travel Blog

Remember when I said that you won't start making money straight away?

Well, it's true. In saying that, if you plan to make a living from your blog as I do, there are a few things you can focus on from day one to set you up for monetization.

There are many different ways to make money from travel blogging. The top three are:

• Joining an affiliate program
• Display advertising
• Indirect income

Below I'll go into a bit more detail on each of these so that you can implement these strategies on your own travel blog.

Affiliate Marketing With Travel Blogging - Passive Income

Basically, bloggers can partner with travel companies that they use themselves.

Join up for their affiliate programs and start recommending things like the accommodation you stay in and tours and experiences you go on. If a visitor clicks one of those links and ends up booking or making an order, you'll get a small commission of the sale. It's a win-win because it also doesn't cost anything for the visitor, they pay the same as if they were going to visit the website directly.

It's really easy to set up but you'll want to have some good-quality content before you apply to become a partner.

My most successful affiliate partners are:

• TravelPayouts - a dashboard with programs like Booking.com to GetYourGuide in one place
• SafetyWing - the best-earning travel insurance affiliate
• ShareaSale - tonnes of great travel brands available on one dashboard

Remember, try to be as honest and helpful as possible, recommending only products or services that you use yourself. The currency of blogging is trust.

Display Advertising - Passive Income

It took me roughly two years to start serving ads on my travel blog.

The thing is, nobody likes them.

However, serving ads in my content allows me to make a living and keeps me on the road. With that said, I honestly wouldn't bother serving ads until you have at least 25,000 monthly sessions. That's because you won't have enough traffic to get into a reputable ad management service like Mediavine.

Instead, you'll be stuck with Adsense and some less-than-par alternatives. For me at least, the money you receive from these sources are not worth clogging your website with ads.

Indirect Income From Travel Blogging

Some of the money you can make from a travel blog doesn't actually come directly from your blog. Instead, your blog can be used as advertising for your services.

For example, I have a Media Kit page where companies often reach out to me for photography services or to license content that I've created. This isn't passive income but it's also great to do paid jobs every now and then.

I've also got a Print Store on here where readers purchase fine art prints.

You'll also notice many other bloggers selling online courses and other digital products and using their travel blogs to promote it organically.

Good Luck With Your New Travel Blog!

I really hope that this comprehensive guide on how to start a travel blog has been useful to you. If you decide that this is a lifestyle that you want to pursue, then go chase it with all you have!

If you have any questions that I didn't cover in this guide to starting a travel blog, leave a comment below or reach out to me personally. I'd love to help other people who are wanting to become travel bloggers or content creators!

The post How to Start a Travel Blog In 7 Easy Steps (2023 Beginner’s Guide) appeared first on We Seek Travel.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always slaved away at a job that I hated with the aim to save as much money as possible. Upon reaching the savings goals, I’d finally be able to live a carefree nomadic lifestyle. But of course, this was only temporary and I always knew that the funds would eventually dry up.

Sound familiar? Most people that I meet on the road take a similar approach. However, there is an increasing amount of people that have beaten the system and are now traveling full-time.

In this article, I hope to help those feeling unfulfilled by the high costs and the low rewards of a conventional nine-to-five. I want to spread this wonderful way of life to as many people as possible and in order to do that, I want to share with you my personal account of how I started off with online work and how you can do the same in 2023.

Update 2023: I first published this article in 2019 and I’m very grateful to say that I’m still living the digital nomad lifestyle. I first packed my bags for full-time travel in 2018 and haven’t looked back since. After the 2020 pandemic, remote work has exploded, and travel is back stronger than ever. So, pursuing a digital nomad job is still definitely a viable option and perhaps more attractive than ever!

I’ll continue to update this article every year to ensure it’s still useful for everyone looking to live a digital nomad lifestyle.

First: How Do Digital Nomads Make Money?

In 2023, there are tonnes of ways to make money online. Below are some of the most common approaches, but I will dive a bit deeper into the best methods below.

Active income methods are ways that Digital Nomads can earn an income directly from the hours that they work, much like a conventional job. Popular pathways include:

• Find a remote role - either convince your current employer or find a role that can be done from anywhere
• Freelance work - often a great starting point if you have a unique skill that can be completed remotely
• Side gigs - use tools like Fiverr or similar to do many small 'gig' jobs online like copywriting, spreadsheet work, translations, resumé help etc.
• E-commerce & dropshipping stores - requires a lot of time, commitment, and investment
• Build a brand or app - a very difficult path but can be extremely rewarding
• Online tutoring & teaching - Get an online TEFL certificate and teach English online. This is how I got started with online work.

Passive income methods are ways to earn a long-term, sustainable income from something that you build online. Examples include:

• Build a monetized blog - one of the best ways to make money as a digital nomad
• Start a YouTube channel - requires much more work and time than a monetized blog
• Create an online course - one of the best ways to earn money online, but will require expertise in an industry, as well as a large follower base
• Publish an ebook - write and publish an eBook on Amazon Kindle Direct

How to Become a Digital Nomad by Getting Your First Online Job

In today's economy, getting a reliable online job isn't as hard as you might expect. Even when I first started in 2018, I considered it a distant dream but was shocked at how easy it was even then.

Again, let me reiterate that although it might seem more attractive for many to start off by creating a brand or eCommerce business, this is actually a much more difficult venture.

Trust me, I've been there. I've failed multiple times.

I spent a lot of time and money in these sorts of ventures and I found that to get things running the way I wanted them, it just needed too much money. Money that I wanted to spend traveling. The universe rewards passion and starting a business just to make money is almost never going to work out.

But even with passion, the main problem with starting your own business is that it takes time and money to set up. Although the rewards are greater in the long term, this route definitely won't get you on the road any time soon.

For that reason, if you are like me and just want to fast-track your way to becoming a digital nomad, then I recommend looking for purely remote online work and then chasing any entrepreneurial dreams after that.

Let me tell you how to do that.

Best Websites to Find Online Work

Here is a very comprehensive list of websites that you can use now to find remote positions and fast-track your way to becoming a digital nomad.

1. Flexjobs - find companies offering remote positions
2. Upwork - huge database of remote job listings
3. Outsourcely - connecting startups with digital nomads
4. DailyRemote - smaller remote job board
5. Remote4U - find remote chat operator positions
6. Remote Ok - another small but good job board for remote positions
7. We Work Remotely - good board for skills like design, programming etc.
8. FindASync - niche job board for companies that use asynchronous communication
9. Pangian - one of the fastest-growing remote work communities
10. Just Remote - good board for customer service, PA, or writing jobs
11. Remotive - tech roles, writing jobs etc.
12. Indeed.com - filter by remote
13. Working Nomads - everything from data-entry to remote managerial positions
14. Crossover - smaller database
15. Talent - search for remote
16. Dynamite Jobs - work from home and remote job board
17. 100Telecommute Jobs - remote job board
18. Remote Jobs - remote job board

This is quite a large list, with tens of thousands of online jobs available. In my experience, the best sources out of these are Flexjobs and Upwork.

What are the Best REAL Digital Nomad Jobs for Beginners?

I guess beginner isn't the right word. We've all had a job before, the only difference with digital nomad jobs is that you are able to work from your computer while traveling.

As you've seen, there are thousands of online opportunities out there. You just have to know where to look. Below I'll introduce some options that got me started as a digital nomad. This is a similar path that many are taking because it's reliable and consistent, and will hopefully get you on the plane quicker, even if you don't have any "remote skills".

1. Teaching English Online

My first online role and probably one of the best digital nomad jobs for beginners is online ESL Teaching.

You've probably met plenty of people backpacking that do this to support their travels. This is because there is such a large demand for native English-speaking online teachers. If you read my story below, this is exactly how I became a digital nomad!

When I started, the best company to work for was DaDa. They were a Chinese company that employs thousands of English-speaking teachers and has over ten thousand students. This company jump-started my digital nomad work and used to offer up to $24 USD per hour to work your own schedule.

We traveled for 2 years solely on English teaching income and in the process hiked in the Himalayas, became a certified dive master, sailed the east coast of Australia, bused around India, lived in a van in New Zealand, drove a Tuk-Tuk around Sri Lanka and had plenty of time for volunteering while backpacking through The Philippines, Borneo and many other places in Asia.

How to get An Online Teaching job in 2023

The truth is, while it's no longer as easy as it used to be, teaching English online is still one of the most common ways people start off with remote work.

Generally speaking, most companies are looking for:

• Identification
• Resume
• Working towards or completed TESOL / TEFL Course*
• Some sort of teaching experience (tutoring is enough)
• At least a high school level education
• Be a native English Speaker
• A laptop

For online English teaching, you will need a 120-hour TESOL/TEFL certificate. One of the best-regarded and cost-effective ways to get your English teaching certificate is to do it online with MyTEFL. I highly recommend this online course because it is cost-effective and recognized everywhere as being high-quality.

The Best Online English Teaching Companies for Digital Nomads in 2023

As mentioned, the company that I used to work for is no longer operating. However, the best place to look for online English teaching and tutoring is now:

• EnglishHunt - Korean students
• EF English First - Russian and Indonesian students
• TwoSigmas - international
• Engoo - Japanese students
• Preply - international

Update: Unfortunately, due to recent regulatory changes in China, teaching English is now not as straightforward as it used to be but still a viable way to secure a relatively easy online job.

What it's like Teaching Online While Traveling Full Time

Teaching English online is one of the easiest digital nomad jobs. It's also really easy to learn and quite fun once you get going.

Because you develop your own fixed timetable, you will receive a fixed income each week. This is essentially the same as a regular job - you just don't need to commute to an office and can work from a hostel, hotel or restaurant.

Teaching online requires nothing more than a laptop and a headset. I used to teach students from 4-14 years old. The in-house teaching application was similar to Skype, with both your and the student's webcam visible. There was no need for extensive lesson planning or creation as all of the teaching material is supplied and tailored to your student.

These days, there are several different options depending on the company. Some require 1-on-1 teaching, while others expect you to teach an entire class. The age groups also vary depending on the company.

2. Freelance Writing Jobs for Digital Nomads

My second job as a digital nomad was to write articles for an SEO company. These are essentially just articles designed to rank highly on search engines. They can range from product reviews to quick DIY guides to basic "mini-essays" on a popular topic.

However, there are also loads of basic copywriting jobs available as well. Having SEO knowledge helps a lot though since most publications are looking for writers who know how to rank on google. The great part is, that almost anyone can learn it over the course of a few weeks.

SEO knowledge is a great tool to have for those looking for how to become a digital nomad since it's nowhere near as technical as coding or other software jobs!

There are several companies out there that require content writers. The company I worked for is quite small and no longer exists.

How to Get a Writing, SEO, or Copywriting job

With the increasing cost of your clicks, well-optimized content is getting more and more valuable. As a result, there are loads of companies looking for people to write content for them. Even with tools like ChatGPT out there, companies still prefer real, human-written content to connect with their customers.

The only thing you need to get one of these digital nomad jobs is a knack for writing and a basic understanding of SEO. If you've written articles for university or school, these are great for a starting portfolio.

I also recommend finding and completing online courses on Udemy. I always check this site for new courses since sometimes there are crazy deals to up-skill your remote employability. I've even found some free ones that have helped me out massively with this blog!

3. Blogging

Blogging isn't exactly a job that you're hired for, but a really good avenue to building a reliable, passive income. I started this blog in 2019 and now make a multiple six-figure income passively from this site.

I've written a comprehensive guide to starting a travel blog, which will also be helpful for other niches as well.

How to Earn Money from a Blog

Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money from blogging. As an example, here are my top-earning partners in the travel space.

• SafetyWing - affordable insurance for nomads
• ShareASale - tonnes of great affiliate programs in one place
• TravelPayouts - earn on referrals from programs like Booking.com, GetYourGuide, and RentalCars in one place

4. Other Digital Nomad Jobs & "Remote Skils"

Of course, there are tonnes of other remote jobs out there. However, some skills tend to be more "remote-friendly" than others. Here are some great skills that you can pursue if you are looking to build a remote work lifestyle.

• Recruiting
• Web Development
• SEO
• Marketing
• Business Development
• Remote Customer Service
• Accounting & Finance
• Data Analytics
• Web and Graphic Design
• Engineer
• Data entry/spreadsheet work

Even if you don't have any of the skills for the jobs that I have mentioned, there's no time like today to put in the work to become a digital nomad. Again, online courses are more highly-regarded than ever.

How to Deal with Money, Pay, and Taxes as a Digital Nomad

When first starting off with an online or remote job, it might be confusing as to how you deal with money. Rest assured, this is not much more complicated than a regular income in your home country.

However, one of the most important things is avoiding transaction costs. These are fees and conversation rates that quickly diminish your already stretched income.

So, get rid of your expensive phone plan. Cancel your unnecessary monthly subscriptions and combine your insurances under a single "travel cover".

How to get Paid Remotely

The best way to get paid from an online company is using Wise (formerly Transferwise). This is a company and mobile app that physically sets up a bank account in your name anywhere in the world. You can then get paid in any currency, including US Dollars, Chinese Yuan and British Pounds.

The best part is, that you can exchange between currencies at the best rates and for a fee of around $1 per transaction. This is by far the best and most effective way to handle pay and money as a digital nomad. It's also completely legal and secure.

Update 2023: I still use Wise for all of my income and payments. It's by far the cheapest and best way to handle money when traveling and earning money outside of your traditional banking country. They now even offer debit cards so you can spend local currency anywhere in the world pretty much for free.

Digital Nomad Insurance

Digital nomad living is all about minimalism and reducing costs and outgoings. Thankfully, it's possible to cut pretty much all of the insurances you might be used to and just revert to one single cover for health, travel, and personal belongings.

That's because the two insurers I'm suggesting have single plans that cover it all– talk about a life hack!

Depending on your lifestyle, digital nomads can either choose an adventure travel insurer like World Nomads, or a digital nomad-specific insurance policy like SafetyWing.

As of 2021, SafteyWing offers a new "Remote Health" policy plan, which is one of the most comprehensive and cost-effective health insurances for those living life on the road and working digital nomad jobs.

I've used both throughout the years and have written a comprehensive comparison guide which you can find here.

Otherwise, enter in some quick details and get a quote for each below:

Internet for Digital Nomads

Internet connectivity largely dictates where you can go as a digital nomad. In saying that, you'd be surprised at just how easy it is to get a decent connection anywhere in the world.

I always just buy a local sim card wherever I go and use the 4G (LTE) hotspot from my phone to my laptop. I always buy prepaid plans with a decent amount of data. I've been doing this for five years now and when I was teaching, I never missed a class, even in the desert of India and remote islands in The Philippines.

However, I always use the Speedtest app when planning a place to stay. You can also check LTE coverage maps for the telecom provider you've chosen to see the area to look for when you need to book a room to work.

I then use Booking.com and search the location for hotels and hostels using their map feature, cross-referenced with the telecom provider's coverage map. This has yet to fail me but there were a few times when cafes were the only option to work in some regions.

Essential Gear for Digital Nomads

When starting off as a digital nomad I wouldn't say you need much more than a decent laptop and a phone to hotspot off. I've been using a Macbook Pro for several years now and I love it.

I've got a dedicated "shop" on this blog that lists all of the electronics, travel gear, and photography gear that I use. But, for digital nomad work, here are some of the things that I couldn't do without:

• International GaN Charger: New technology that enables fast charging of laptops, camera batteries, phones, etc in a tiny form-factor
• A good backpack: I go with a high-end 75L Osprey since it's pretty much my house and can use it for hiking and travel
• Packing cubes: Essential for organising my very few possessions
• Pacsafe retractasafe lock: Small, lightweight retractable cable lock for securing my belongings in a dorm or hotel room
• Microfiber towel: A travel essential
• Geopress water purifier: No more plastic bottle waste. I've used it to get fresh drinking water from Indian cities to backcountry trails

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Related: Finding the Best Water Bottle Filter for Travel

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Digital nomad jobs and taxes

The tax situation will vary from country to country. Even though I don't live there, Australia still expects me to pay income tax on any remote or foreign income. Most digital nomad jobs consider you to be a freelancer, even those with fixed schedules and working hours.

Due to this fact, you will most likely need to keep track of your income and declare it in your home country. I can't advise too much on taxes as it just varies too greatly. But, if you're just starting out on becoming a digital nomad, then I wouldn't worry too much. That's because most of your earnings are going to be reduced greatly, often falling below taxation thresholds.

The beauty of it is that your costs and outgoings will also reduce dramatically since you won't be paying off a mortgage, car, insurances, phone bills etc.

Financial freedom is easier than you think.

What It's Like Living as a Digital Nomad

Update 2023: This section was written well over four years ago but I've left it here as a good insight into what life on the road was like when first starting out. It's sure been a journey, and it's just getting better. For all of you looking for how to become a digital nomad to embrace the world of travel and freedom.

For me, it's coming up to a year of full-time travel. So far it definitely feels like the kind of lifestyle that I want to pursue for a long time.

Evidently, when first starting out with digital nomad jobs, you don't earn a lot of money. However, it definitely is doable in areas where your dollar goes further like in South East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or Central/South America.

Photography and writing are my passions. Digital nomad jobs and the overall backpacker lifestyle allow me to pursue this without the stress of diminishing travel funds.

In my opinion, working digital nomad jobs is a more rewarding and balanced life. I spend most of my days exploring jungles, temples, beaches, and waterfalls. I consider work as a necessary side component of life, rather than the be-all and end-all that is the 9-5.

In the meantime, I now have time to focus on my own project; We Seek Travel, and get as many travel and landscape photography opportunities as possible. Ultimately, I'd love to fully support myself on a digital nomad lifestyle without the need for an occupation (more on this later). However, for now, sticking to digital nomad jobs and remote work is essential in keeping me on the road.

Time breakdown: In total, I'd say that I currently spend about 15% of my time awake working, 15% on my blog, and the rest on enjoying travel and taking photos. In contrast, when I was working a full-time job, the split was more like 65% working, 10% commuting, and 25% for enjoying life.

Tips for Saving Money While Traveling

With online digital nomad jobs, It's entirely possible to not only fund your travel but save money at the same time. When I first started remote work, I was sure to limit my work hours to fund my needs.

I didn't want to find myself working all day every day. But, sometimes it was necessary to save a little bit more for flights, cameras, or a broken laptop.

Volunteer

There are thousands of opportunities to volunteer your time while traveling. Not only will you be giving back to the countries that have given you so much, but you will also often be rewarded with free food and accommodation for your time.

Since these are the biggest, and sometimes only costs when it comes to travel, you will essentially be able to save all of your online income while volunteering.

The goal is to volunteer in the morning or day and work digital nomad jobs in the afternoon or night. The beauty of this is that it benefits everybody. The communities you are helping get much-needed support while you can have a rewarding experience and save money at the same time.

A great volunteering organization with projects around the world is All Hands and Hearts. Check them out.

House & Pet Sitting

One of the best ways to cut costs and actually earn some extra money while traveling and first starting off as a digital nomad is to sign up for house & pet sitting.

Basically, loads of people all over the world are looking to travel but first need someone to take care of their house or pets while they are away. For those looking to become digital nomads, this is a perfect niche to fill, especially when first getting started.

The best globally recognized service is Trusted House Sitters. They get loads of requests and you are able to publish an account whereby people in your area can request you to sit for them! You will need to sign up and pay a yearly fee to become a registered sitter. However, you will easily reclaim this money within a week of paid house sitting (not to mention the free accommodation).

The best part about this is that you basically get free accommodation and continue to work online as a digital nomad to save and earn loads more money!

Increase your working hours

Whether you're teaching online, writing, or coding, it's usually pretty easy to pick up some extra workloads. The companies and jobs I've listed above are usually pretty happy to have you working more hours.

The great thing about this is that it acts as a pause from travel. Take a couple of weeks on a tropical beach or among the rice paddies to stop moving around and just work. You'll be surprised at how much you can save when you're not spending money.

Budget

This goes without saying. Full-time travel can be extremely cheap. It can also drain your funds fast. Typically, I spend under $10 a day on food and always try to sleep for under $15 a night.

Sometimes, adventures, transport, and other things will cost more. However, these are essential for the travel experience and can't be avoided.

What can be avoided, or put better, limited, are nights out. This is probably one of the biggest money drainers there is for backpackers. Although I'm not a stranger to a beer or two, I do this as a lifestyle rather than an escape from real life. Therefore I try to limit big nights out and definitely don't party every day.

In saying this, if you find yourself in Myanmar (Burma), you can find bars that sell pints for 850 kyats ($0.56 USD).

Escaping Occupation and Starting Entrepreneurship

For many, the digital nomad dream means escaping a job completely and running things on your own time. While remote freelancing gives you way more freedom than a conventional job, it's still working for someone else.

That's why many decide to take the dropshipping or eCommerce route to begin with. Like I said earlier, this is fantastic if you have the time and money to set things up. Usually, however, it takes months (or years) before you see your first dollar come through.

While running your own business is definitely the most rewarding way to live, it definitely isn't easy to get there. That's why in this guide I've detailed ways to quickly and easily get you living on the road.

Starting Out as a Digital Nomad: My Story

When first looking to chase online work, it can inevitably be a little hard trying to find a place to start.

For most, it's not exactly as easy as having a digital nomad job fall onto your lap. For me, it took several years of ultra-low-budget travel, nervously watching my dwindling funds until I realized I needed to pursue online work to sustain my travels.

Cementing My Passion for Travel

I started off as a naive backpacker on my first year-long trip around Europe in 2015.

To save up for this trip, I worked tirelessly, saving every single penny and locking myself into an obsessive money-saving mindset. I consider myself very lucky to have an Australian passport, which allowed me to earn decent money for unskilled manual labor work.

I managed to secure 50-hour weeks digging trenches for a large-scale Australian telecommunications project called the "NBN". On the weekends I'd also do some childminding for extra cash.

Safe to say, the hard work paid off and that first trip ignited in me an undying passion for travel. But, I knew that dedicating years of my youth to working and saving money for short-lived moments of freedom was not going to be sustainable in the long term.

But still, I didn't see any other way. I returned to Australia, and finished my degree while working several jobs full-time in the hopes of saving more money for future trips. I refused to buy a car and cycled everywhere, non-essential spending was reduced to zero and I picked up extra work wherever an opportunity lay, from babysitting to teaching Muay Thai classes to cleaning gyms to trying my hand at start-up ventures.

Escaping The Cycle of Saving and Landing My First Digital Nomad Job

During the period following my first big backpacking trip in Europe to the moment I packed my bags for good, I still managed to fit in several short ultra-low-budget trips to The Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand. It felt great to be back on the road in those fleeting moments. However, all they really achieved was cementing my longing for a raw, minimalist, and nomadic way of life.

Then, in 2018, after reading books like The Alchemist and The Celestine Prophecy, I began to question what the end goal really was for me. I needed a purpose that aligned with my passion for raw travel, minimalist living, and photography. What was my personal legend? I knew that I didn't fit into the conventional framework of life and western ideals didn't resonate with me.

I began furiously googling things like "how to make money online", "how to become a digital nomad" and "how to get digital nomad jobs".

Most of the answers then just confirmed the little I already knew. To work online you need to either convince your current employer or start an online business or eCommerce store. I had already tried starting an online dropshipping business and an online anti-piracy service but they ultimately failed because I wasn't prepared to dedicate thousands of dollars to something that I wasn't passionate about.

Then, I found an ad looking for remote online English Teachers. My partner Haylea and I applied immediately and within a week we were offered a contract paying $20 USD per hour to work 12 hours a week on Sunday and Monday afternoons. This seemed too good to be true for us. $20 was easily enough to get us through a day backpacking in South East Asia. We were each being paid that per hour!

And, when you want something, all the universe conspires to helping you achieve it.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Seeing how easy this was shifted my mentality instantly. I quit my stable desk job and bought a one-way ticket to Thailand. A few weeks later I found myself training full-time and even fulfilling my bucket list dream of fighting Muay Thai in Thailand.

Update 2023: Looking back now I guess I always knew that the digital nomad lifestyle was the only real answer for me. I'm still living full-time on the road and have since worked several digital nomad jobs. This blog was the answer to my calling for purpose and it continues to fuel my passion for travel.

My strategy

My goal was always to fund continuous travel. When I achieved it in about a month of searching, I was shocked at how easy it was to achieve. Moving forward, I'd love to be able to be fully independent of external sources of income and completely focus on this blog.

I consider digital nomad jobs an essential step, and entrepreneurship and ventures to be next.

As I mentioned earlier, travel, photography, and writing are my passions. It seems natural then to understand why I started a travel blog. While I definitely didn't start WeSeekTravel to make money, it's a project that I'm personally passionate about and if it can allow me to fulfill my dreams of full-time independent travel then I'm going to give it my all.

Update 2023: My dreams of traveling full-time from photography and blogging are now a reality. This blog is now my largest source of income and it continues to grow every month. I still have the same passion for raw, budget, and adventure travel and still typically still live off less than $50 per day, no longer by necessity but by choice.

The post Digital Nomad Jobs – 2023 Guide to Making Money Online While Traveling appeared first on We Seek Travel.