{"id":22252,"date":"2016-09-08T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localadventurer.com\/?p=22252"},"modified":"2023-04-08T18:15:50","modified_gmt":"2023-04-09T01:15:50","slug":"how-to-travel-for-a-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/localadventurer.com\/how-to-travel-for-a-living\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Travel Blog and How to Travel for a Living"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Every time we meet someone new, one of the first questions we get asked is how we get to travel so much, and how we make a living from it. Do we have a trust fund? Are we retired early? (Honestly, even our folks don’t even know what we’re doing half the time). This post has been a long time coming, but I never quite knew how to organize my thoughts or how to even pack it all into one post. The short version is that you grow an audience and then you work with brands, but we know that it’s a lot more complex and that it’s easier said than done. Yes, we want to encourage you to follow your dreams, but Jacob always likes to say “follow your dreams responsibly<\/em><\/strong>“. Instead of sharing empty words and photos of inspiration and telling you to take that leap of faith, hopefully, these will be great practical tips to help you learn more about the industry and whether it’s the right path for you.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"How<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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This post may contain affiliate links, where we receive a small commission on sales of the products that are linked at no additional cost to you. All opinions are always our own. Read our full disclosure<\/a>\u00a0for more info. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Local Adventurer possible.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Last Updated: May 5, 2019 \/\/ First Published: September 8, 2016<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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HOW TO TRAVEL FOR A LIVING<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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1. Save Save Save (at least 6 months of living expenses)!<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Our dream was to make travel blogging full time a reality, but to be responsible, we decided that we should have a backup plan in case things don’t work out. Prior to this, Jacob worked a corporate job for 5 years, and I was a wedding photographer. Through that, we were able to save up enough for one year’s worth of living expenses (rent + food + gas + etc). That’s being very conservative, and you could make it work with 6 months worth of living expenses. The logic behind saving 6 months is that once you reach a point where you decide to pursue it full time, you’ll have a buffer for the transition period where your income can be supplemented with your savings. For us, the first 3 years was a learning curve, and we were able to rely on our savings for the bad months.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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2. Start Small<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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You don’t have to quit your day job to start travel blogging. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars up front on design either.<\/p>

There will be a point where it requires your full attention and when you can start investing more into your blog. Don’t let any of these things keep you from starting.<\/p>

Start small, keep it simple, and continue improving upon it. Once you start seeing steady growth and you’re comfortable with your savings, you can eventually transition into a full-timer. Also, if we really needed the money, we’d pick up random freelance gigs. We took it slowly and in steps. I started blogging in 2010, started thinking of it more as a business in 2013, and Jacob finally joined me full time in 2015.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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3. Simplify Your Lifestyle<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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There’s a lot of luxuries we gave up early on when we started travel blogging. These luxuries are wants versus needs and are different for each person since we all value \/ prioritize different things. For us, we sold one of our cars and became a one car household. We lowered our individual spending allowance to $50 a month (Unlike Jacob, I tend to like gravitate towards more expensive things, so I’d have to let that allowance rollover several months. Quality over quantity, right?).<\/p>

I started creating a capsule wardrobe<\/a> and stopped shopping for clothes. We loved eating out and had to dial it down to once a week or to sharing meals (good thing American portions tend to be huge). What’s something you could give up to travel more?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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4. Travel to Affordable Destinations or Travel Locally<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Traveling is not cheap, but some destinations are easier to afford than others. Southeast Asia is a popular destination among travel bloggers because you get the most bang for your buck. Check out the best value destinations for 2016<\/a> and the Cheapest Places to Travel for Each Month of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>

You also don’t need to travel far at all. That’s what this blog is all about – traveling locally! There are 52 weekends a year, and you can always take a quick weekend or day trip or even find adventure every day right where you are<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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5. Grow Your Audience<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We all wish that if you build it, they will come, but in this case, it’s good to see if you have an audience before making any big moves. There are plenty of different strategies for each social platform. There are plenty of blogs who are focused on growing your audience and do it much better like Smart Passive Income<\/a> and By Regina<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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5. Grow Your Audience<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We all wish that if you build it, they will come, but in this case, it’s good to see if you have an audience before making any big moves. There are plenty of different strategies for each social platform. There are plenty of blogs who are focused on growing your audience and do it much better like Smart Passive Income<\/a> and By Regina<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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6. Work with Brands<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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This needs to be an entirely different post of its own (which we are also working on), but we’re going to try to sum it up here. We have a mix of brands reaching out to us and us reaching out to them. Jacob uses a lot of his B2B experience from his previous management job. He ends up doing a lot of cold calling and networking to get his foot in the door with the right person. Sometimes it’s as easy as looking them up on the website, other times you have to keep digging. If you are reaching out to a brand, chances are they are a much more natural fit than brands that are reaching out to you. If you do, make sure you are ready to pitch them a great idea and don’t forget to send them your media kit.<\/p>

If you’re just starting out, the easiest way to get connected to brands and start working with them is through networks. Here are a few examples, each with different benefits:<\/p>