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How to Monetize a Travel Blog
Are you wondering how to monetize a travel blog?
These are the best ways to make money with a travel blog!
In addition to Blogging Her Way, I have started THREE successful blogs in the travel niche, including one I later sold for multiple five figures.
Travel is something I’m passionate about — at the time of writing this post, I’ve been to more than 50 countries and spent several years traveling full-time.
So I wanted to share my tips for how to make money with a travel blog based on my own experience of over five years of travel blogging.
I’ve tried most of the ideas on this list personally, so I know what works.
I also have several other travel blogging guides you can check out:
- How to Start a Travel Blog and Make Money Blogging
- 6 Profitable Travel Blog Niche Ideas
- Travel Blog Names: Ideas and Examples
- 50 Blog Post Ideas for Travel Bloggers
- 10 Travel Blogging Tips to Help You Succeed
If you haven’t already started your own travel blog, you may want to check out these guides to get started. Otherwise, let’s get into it!
How Much Do Travel Bloggers Make?
One of the top questions is probably how much travel bloggers make.
I can’t tell you how many people assume that all travel blogs are just a silly little hobby and don’t make any money and that travel bloggers must actually be getting all their money to travel the world from a trust fund instead.
As much as I wish that were true, it’s sadly not the case.
Travel blogging can be very lucrative if you do it correctly, and I’ll get into all the ways that you can monetize a travel blog in the next section.
But first I wanted to share some sample incomes from travel bloggers.
These are taken from my big list of blog income reports, which includes bloggers from every niche. Some bloggers share their income online, which is very helpful for getting an idea of how much you can earn (and ways to make money.)
In one month, these travel bloggers earned…
- Sunshine Seeker: $1,123
- Desk to Dirtbag: $1,724
- Ashley Abroad:$2,122
- Eternal Expat: $2,501
- Wherever Writer: $3,575
- Amy Fillinger: $4,223
- Trekkn: $5,000
- Practical Wanderlust: $5,421
- Globetrotter GP: $5,733
- The Atlas Heart: $6,598
- Valerie & Valise: $7,839
- Living the Dream RTW: $9,129
- A Dangerous Business: $9,229
- Fun Life Crisis: $10,455
- Helene in Between: $15,755
- Two Wandering Soles: $16,389
- Adventure in You: $19,233
- Local Adventurer: $23,001
- Travel Mexico Solo: $23,786
- It’s a Lovely Life: $147,833
This is just a small sample of travel bloggers who publicly share income reports (which is definitely not most of them.) As you can see, the amounts vary.
You can make an extra $1,000 a month from your travel blog, or you can earn over a million dollars per year, or you can fall somewhere in between. There are many travel bloggers out there who earn a full-time income from their blogs.
Let’s get into the best ways to monetize a travel blog!
1. Display Ads
One of the simplest ways to monetize your travel blog is with display ads.
If you’ve ever been to a website before and seen ads as you’re scrolling, or ads that pop up at the bottom or top of the page, that’s what I’m talking about.
As a blogger, you can join an ad network that will place these ads on your site for you and pay you based on how many impressions they get.
This is known as your RPM (revenue per 1,000 visitors.) If you have 100,000 monthly pageviews and an average RPM of $35 (it fluctuates based on various factors), you could expect to earn $3,500 in a month from ads on your blog.
I love ads because they are truly passive income.
You are getting paid simply by having people read your blog content. The more traffic your blog gets, the more money you can make from ads.
2. Affiliate Marketing
Another one of the best ways to make money is affiliate marketing.
There are TONS of great affiliate marketing opportunities for travel bloggers, and this is another one of my favorite ways to monetize my own blogs.
What exactly is affiliate marketing? Basically, it’s an arrangement where you can link to products on your blog using a unique affiliate link and earn a percentage commission whenever someone makes a purchase using your link.
One of the most popular affiliate programs is the Amazon affiliate program.
As a travel blogger, you can link to travel gear, packing essentials, luggage, travel-related gifts, and so on through the Amazon affiliate program.
That’s just one example though. There are also affiliate programs out there that allow you to earn commission for travel-related purchases like hotels, tours, travel insurance, and even flights! The options are practically endless.
I have a ton of travel-related affiliate programs you can join on this list.
3. Paid Press Trips
One way that travel bloggers can make money that is pretty unique to the travel niche is paid press trips. This is literally getting paid to travel!
Press trips are typically arranged by PR agencies, tourism boards, or destination marketing organizations. All your expenses will be covered, but this isn’t a free vacation. If you’re invited on a press trip, you’ll be expected to provide coverage and specific deliverables on your blog and social media channels.
You’ll also have a busy schedule to stick to. However, press trips are a really awesome experience and a cool way to make money as a travel blogger.
While some press trips are unpaid, it’s becoming more common for travel bloggers on a press trip to receive a daily stipend or a flat-rate payment.
4. Sponsored Posts
Another way to make money with a travel blog is through sponsored posts.
I’ve worked with a number of travel brands on all of my travel blogs to create sponsored content, specifically sponsored blog posts.
It’s also very common for travel brands to pay for sponsored posts on social media such as Instagram or TikTok, or to sponsor your email newsletter.
This is a great way to work with travel brands and make money. The larger an audience you have, the more money you can charge for sponsored posts.
For example, I charge $300 for a blog post on my relatively small travel blog.
But some of the larger travel bloggers and travel influencers out there are able to charge thousands of dollars for a sponsored post or other sponsored content.
4. Digital Products
One of my favorite ways to make money blogging is with digital products.
This is so much easier than selling physical products because you don’t have to worry about inventory, shipping, or returns. Digital products have a very high profit margin and are delivered to your buyer automatically.
Some examples of travel-related digital products you can create include:
- Printable travel planner
- Digital travel guides
- Online course teaching a specific skill (such as how to improve your travel photography or how to start a life of full-time RVing)
- Photo editing presets
- Travel-related ebook (about a topic like travel hacking for beginners or how you can quit your job and travel the world for a year)
- Budgeting spreadsheet for travel
These are just a few examples of digital products you can create.
I personally sold a printable travel planner on one of my blogs for $3.99. Although it was a low-priced product, I made a lot of sales each month!
5. Sell Your Photography
Photography is an important element of being a travel blogger.
Yes, you can always use stock photos on your blog if you need to — but having your own high-quality original travel photos is always better.
If you’re particularly talented at photography, you can even earn some extra money by selling your travel photos on your own blog or through other platforms.
Some travel bloggers have a digital shop on their own website where they sell prints of their best photos. (You can use a print-on-demand service for this so you don’t have to handle the logistics of the orders yourself.)
Another option is licensing your photos to a stock photo website. You can get paid a percentage commission each time someone uses one of your photos.
6. Freelance Writing
In addition to being a travel blogger, I’m also a freelance travel writer.
Freelance writing is a great way to supplement the income you earn from your own blog by getting paid to write for other bloggers or travel websites.
You can use your own blog as a live portfolio of your work to demonstrate your writing skills to potential clients. Having your own blog can also give you an edge over other writers who don’t have their work published anywhere.
As a travel writer, you may write blog posts, articles, newsletters, or other types of written content for your clients in the travel industry.
You can expect to be paid by the world or sometimes for a flat rate. I personally earn an average rate of $50 per hour from freelance travel writing.
7. Run Your Own Tours
A really cool way to monetize your travel blog is by running your own tours.
This is something I have seen more and more travel bloggers and travel influencers doing over the last few years. I’ve even been on a trip like this myself!
If you are more of a personality-based travel blogger, especially one with a niche focus, this is a great way to make money and travel for free!
Companies like TrovaTrip allow you to host a group trip. You are more of the “host” (not an actual tour guide), and the company can connect you with a local tour guide to actually lead the trip, plus they handle many of the logistics.
You can also run your own tours independently.
In order to make money from this, you will want to price your trips so that you cover your own expenses plus make an additional profit.
8. Offer a Service
I mentioned freelance travel writing above, but there are other services you can offer as a travel blogger to make money from your expertise!
Here are some examples of services you can offer as a travel blogger:
- Provide travel planning services
- Offer travel coaching (charge for a 60-minute session where someone can “pick your brain” on any travel-related topic you have expertise in, such as moving abroad, living in an RV full-time, planning a trip to Disney World, etc.)
- Become a virtual assistant for travel bloggers
Once again, you can use your own blog as a portfolio of your work and a way to advertise to potential clients about the services that you offer.
How Long Does It Take to Make Money from a Travel Blog?
Are you wondering how long it takes to make money blogging?
I have a whole article about how long it takes to make money from a blog, but the short answer is it depends. (I know, annoying answer!)
But it really does depend on a lot of factors.
As a new travel blogger, your top priority should be growing your traffic because this is how you’ll make the most money from ads, affiliate links, and so on.
With around 10,000 monthly pageviews, you can expect to earn at least a couple hundred dollars a month from your travel blog. But 50,000 monthly pageviews is the number I would target because this is when you can get accepted to Mediavine, a premium ad network, and start seeing some real growth.
It’s possible to get to this point in one year with consistent effort and dedicated focus on your blog, but it really does differ for everyone.
How to Monetize a Travel Blog
I hope these tips for how to monetize a travel blog were helpful to you!
Travel blogging is a great way to make money while sharing your passion for traveling and your own unique travel expertise with the world.
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