How to Start A Travel Blog (+ actually grow it) in 11 Steps

Travelers are storytellers. Your experiences are just begging to be turned into epic content. And believe it or not, people want to hear from you. You have a unique voice and somebody somewhere is waiting for you — because only you and your unique blend of experiences truly resonates with them.

Besides, what’s better than turning your passion for adventure into an epic, money-making, fulfilling personal brand?

So if you’ve ever thought about blogging and content creation, you’re in the right place! This is my ultimate guide on how to start a travel blog.

I share everything you need to know and exactly what I’m doing to grow mine (even with AI, even with Google disruptions and even with video dominating everything).

Now let’s do this freaking thing!

Table of Contents Show

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Should I Start A Travel Blog in 2025?

Of course, I think you should start a travel blog.

It’s an epic entry point into the creator economy and an awesome way to start building your personal brand online — which is one of the strongest modern assets to have.

Personal brand and creator-led micro businesses (i.e., the creator economy) is projected for massive growth, reaching half a trillion dollars by 2027. And the coolest part? It’s definitely not too late to start.

Technically, we’re just getting started!

So these are a few of my favorite reasons to start a travel blog:

• Travel more

• Build an audience

• Make money online

• Learn in-demand skills

• Turn your passion into profit

• Network with amazing people

• Build something you’re proud of

• Actually help people travel better

• Tap into professional opportunities

• Tap into the growing creator economy

• Blogging is therapeutic — self development, really

How to Start A Travel Blog (and actually grow it)

1. Choose a Narrow Travel Niche

The travel niche isn’t too saturated — unless you’re going after travel in general.

For example, solo travel in Thailand for females is niche. But just solo travel isn’t.

If you want to actually grow a travel blog today (and stand a real chance at ranking and building a brand), then you need to get more specific and choose a narrower niche. Here’s are a few tips to do that:

• Focus on a specific location

• Write for a specific audience subset

• Leverage your unique expertise or layer in your passions

2. Find 100 Keywords

Keywords are like gas for your blog. And when you’re in the early stages of starting a blog, they act as strong signals that your niche selection has real demand.

So in preparation of launching your blog, aim to find at least 100 travel keywords in your travel sub-niche. This will give you plenty of topics to write about (while ensuring there are enough keywords in your chosen niche).

Here are some tips for doing good keyword research:

• Use AI for initial brainstorming

• Use Google to find exact-match phrases

• Build topic clusters to establish niche authority (more on this later)

• Aim for long-tail keywords with less competition and more specific targeting

• Don’t ignore competitive keywords if they make sense for your blog — these build authority

You can read my full keyword research strategy here.

But for inspiration, here are 20 keywords related to the healthy travel niche (feel free to steal these!):

• 20 Free Travel Keywords

  MSV = monthly search volume

  KD = keyword difficult (<10 indicates an easy ranking score)

  1. “how to travel with a yoga mat” (30 MSV; 1 KD)

  2. “yoga travel gear” (10 MSV; n/a KD)

  3. “travelers wellness app” (20 MSV; 4 KD)

  4. “yoga retreat for beginners” (150 MSV; 4 KD)

  5. “yoga retreat caribbean” (50 MSV; 1 KD)

  6. “how to stay fit on vacation” (60 MSV; 6 KD)

  7. “food to pack for hotel stay” (10 MSV; 0 KD)

  8. “overeating on vacation” (10 MSV; 1 KD)

  9. “vacation eating” (20 MSV; 5 KD)

  10. “best gym for travelers” (80 MSV; 1 KD)

  11. “backpacking exercises” (40 MSV; 1 KD)

  12. “car exercises for long trips” (40 MSV; 4 KD)

  13. “exercise equipment for traveling” (20 MSV; 2 KD)

  14. “can you bring fruit on a plane” (900 MSV; 0 KD)

  15. “road trip snacks non refrigerated” (200 MSV; 2 KD)

  16. “vegan travel destinations” (10 MSV; 1 KD)

  17. “can you bring cookies on a plane” (200 MSV; 3 KD)

  18. “best sandwiches for long flights” (40 MSV; 1 KD)

  19. “healthy holiday travel” (60 MSV; 0 KD)

  20. “best foods to pack for international travel” (10 MSV; 3 KD)

3. Launch Your Website

If you want to start a travel blog, you’ll need a website. So now’s the time to choose a platform, add your branding, buy a domain and go live.

Personally I use Squarespace for all of my blogs. It’s super intuitive, has powerful SEO, plenty of customizations and an amazing community of creators and resources. Plus, everything (from domain management to email) is under one roof.

Squarespace takes care of the technical stuff (like site backups, plugin updates and hosting) so I can focus on the creative things that I actually want to do (like making content and growing my dang brand).

For me, building a blog is a fun and creative process. But don’t worry about getting things perfect — your design and branding will evolve and improve over time.

For now, just focus on the main stuff:

• Buy a custom domain

• Include your core pages

• Add your branding and unique style

• Set up your professional email address

• Connect to Google Search Console and Google Analytics (GA4)

• Start writing and publishing your first blogs

Explore more:
➤ Why Squarespace?
➤ Key Traits of a Great Blog
➤ Squarespace Customization 101
➤ Squarespace for Blogging (full guide)

4. Create a Content Strategy

A content strategy is how you plan, publish and promote your blog content. It’s a crucial part of building a successful blog and generating sustainable traffic.

My content strategy (like many other bloggers) is built around topic clusters, which are groups of related topics that interlink to each other and establish singular authority within your niche.

For example, let’s say your niche is Thailand for solo travelers. So, one of your main pillar pages could be The Ultimate Thailand Travel Guide for Solo Travelers.

Then, you could write a bunch of related posts to support that pillar page, which would build real SEO authority for your blog. Here’s an example of a small topic cluster for this pillar page example:

• What to Pack for Thailand: The Ultimate Checklist

• How to Backpack in Thailand for First-Timers

• 30 Key Tips for Traveling in Thailand

• 12 Best Places to Stay in Thailand for Solo Travelers

• Is Thailand Worth It? 24 Reasons You Need to Book Your Ticket Now

• 11 Best Cities You Must See in Thailand (besides Bangkok!)

Explore more:
➤ Steal My Content Strategy

5. Write Rank-Worthy Posts

You could have the perfect niche and the perfect content plan, but if your content sucks, then your blog won’t grow (or even rank).

To grow a travel blog (any blog), you need high-quality, optimized content.

So here are some quick tips for how to write rank-worthy, high-quality travel blog posts:

• Have good blog UX

• Follow SEO best practices

• Use your first-hand experiences and insights

• Collaborate with other creators (e.g., get quotes to add in your posts)

6. Publish Regularly

“Blogging is a long game. So think in years, not in months.”

Having just one great post won’t do much for you. Even ten epic posts isn’t enough. To truly grow a blog, you need to have a lot of content.

And having a long-term mindset with a consistent publishing schedule is one the best strategies for this.

So here are some key tips for publishing regularly (and actually sticking to your schedule):

• Create a content calendar that makes sense for you

• Aim to publish at least one post per week

• Set realistic goals and expectations

• Use a blogging workflow

Explore more:
➤ How Many Blog Posts Before Launch
➤ How Long Does it Take to Grow a Blog

7. Collect Emails

An email list is the ultimate asset for a creator or business. It’s an audience you “own” and a direct line of communication with people who know, like and trust you.

This is the art of building real connections and relationships with your audience. And it makes selling stuff way easier.

Currently, I use Beehiiv for this blog and Kit (previously ConvertKit) for my creator site. I like Kit better because you can set up (visual) email automation sequences for free — Beehiiv makes you pay for this jazz (lame).

You can start collecting emails straight away or you may wait until you clarify your brand vision and audience.

But here are some tips for when you’re ready:

• Add pop-ups on your site

• Add email form widgets in your posts

• Offer an easy-win as a free lead magnet

• Communicate a clear purpose and benefit of joining your newsletter

8. Read the Data — Optimize

As you grow and publish more content, you’ll notice that some posts perform and rank better than others. This is important data.

So here’s what to do with this information:

Double down on what’s working — fix what isn’t.

For example, this blog started as a self development, lifestyle personal blog. But one day, I decided to post an article about Tokyo. And it ended up ranking really well and had some of my highest engagement rates.

It’s still one of my top-performing posts.

So I leaned into this data by expanding my travel content. Now, I’m a travel-lifestyle site. I also analyzed my blog post structure so I could replicate the UX and increase the engagement metrics on other posts.

Data is information about how to improve and grow your blog and brand. This is how you optimize.

9. Update Old Posts

Sometimes, updating old posts is better than publishing new ones.

As you grow your blog, older articles become outdated and need refreshing — especially as your brand and writing improve! I like to update my blogs at least once a year (prioritizing pillar pages and high-performing posts). But there are other reasons to freshen things up:

• Better optimize old blog posts

• Maintain your top performing posts

• Keep your content fresh and your blog active

• Boost rankings of posts stuck on page two of Google

10. Get Social

Traffic diversification is a big part of modern blogging and SEO. Because relying on a single source of traffic (cough cough, Google) no longer does the trick. Well, it’s just harder and more risky.

So if you’re looking to grow your travel blog into a legit brand, adding some social media to your content strategy is a smart move. You may just start with blogging, but eventually expanding onto other platforms will boost your reach and help you grow more sustainably.

This isn’t groundbreaking information, but the best platforms for travel bloggers are:

• Pinterest

• TikTok for short videos

• YouTube for long-form videos

• Instagram for photos and short videos

Explore more:
➤ Blogging / Vlogging / Social Media

11. Monetize

You can start monetizing your travel blog early on — but the exciting (job replacing) income usually takes time to build. So remember to stay patient and set realistic expectations and goals.

Here are some of the most common ways to monetize your travel blog:

• Ads

• Selling courses

• Sponsored posts

• Affiliate marketing

• Selling your own products

• Coaching or selling services

Later ✌️

Starting a travel blog is an investment in yourself and your future. You learn in-demand skills, get to help other travelers and share your story. But best of all, you get to make money, build a legacy and join the creator economy.

There are no negatives.

So, is travel blogging worth it? Absolutely. I can’t recommend it enough!

So join me and start sharing your adventure with awesome, quality content. Become — as Dan Koe puts it — a value creator.

I’ll see you out there.

Travel Blog FAQs

• How often do travel bloggers travel?

  This is hard to answer. Some travel regularly, and some maybe never at all. It depends on things like a blog’s sub niche, the content, the audience and a blogger’s goals. But keep in mind that you can always become a part-time traveler (full-time isn’t for everyone).

• Can you start a travel blog without traveling?

  Totally! It may not surprise you, but many (probably most) major blogs outsource their writing. Often, the writer that’s hired hasn't actually had any firsthand experience with the topic — it’s just great research and writing skills.

  In my work, I’ve seen multiple local travel sites hire writers from all over the world to write on topics and places they may or may not have ever visited before.

  So you can start a travel blog without traveling — especially if you focus on a niche that doesn’t require hands-on travel (such as travel planning or budgeting). Eventually though, adding some personal experiences is smart.

• Do travel bloggers still make money?

  Definitely! In fact, the travel niche is one of the most profitable niches out there. Besides, any blog can be profitable if you pull the right levels and have the right strategy. You can monetize your travel blog in lots of ways, including:

  • Affiliate marketing

  • Brand partnerships

  • Sponsored posts

  • Memberships

  • Gated content

  • Selling digital products

  • Selling services

  • Ad revenue

• Isn’t the travel niche too saturated?

  The general travel niche, sure. But there are endless pockets and sub-niches to go after. So no, the travel isn’t too saturated — especially if you have stand-out blogs that are optimized and have a solid content strategy.

• How much does it cost to start a travel blog?

  You can start a travel blog for next to nothing. Technically, if you went started with social media, you can get going for free.

  If you decide to use Squarespace (like I do), then you’ll need to sign up for at least their basic plan, which starts at just $25/month (first year of email is free, but you’ll need to buy a domain too for around $15-20). IMO, it’s totally worth it and super cheap for building a business (which is essentially what you’re doing).

• What do I need to start a travel blog?

  Not much! Here’s everything you need to start (and grow) a travel blog:

  • A website

  • Content

  • A plan

  • A social media account

  • Email automation software

  You can add extra stuff as you grow (like keyword research tools or AI subscriptions), but you really don’t need much to launch your travel creator brand. So go make stuff!

Want More? Nice. Here’s More.