15 Great Instagram Travel Accounts to Follow
Do you have cabin fever right now? If you are in the Midwest of the United States, there is a good chance you are ‘over’ winter right now. Staring out my window looking at 18” of snow that is piled up in my backyard, makes me want to jump on a plane and get to warmer weather right now! If you can’t quite get away just yet, check out these travel blogs to get some inspiration for your next getaway! We have scoured the internet to find some different Instagram travel accounts you can start to follow to start planning your next trip! Each account offers you gorgeous pictures and travel tips you can’t get just anywhere! Runaway with me as we explore these travel sites!
Jack Morris has been travelling the world since 2012 and his partner Lauren joined him in 2016. Jack did not know what he wanted to do when he grew up and started his travel journey with just his backpack and now, he is ‘settling down’ if you can call it that by building a house in Bali. Jack takes amazing pictures on all of his travels and when he is at a resort it is usually sponsored because of his vast following of 2.7 million followers on Instagram. He started this journey just for himself, and obviously we all want to live vicariously through Jack, to read more about Jack and his adventures, check out this Q&A about him.
Alex Strohl grew up in France and has since called Montana, USA home. If your dream is to become a travelling photographer following Alex is a great start. He also offers an online class on how to start your photography business and grow it. He is a professional photographer and through his travels has worked with great companies like Canon, Apple, Microsoft, HP, Google, Facebook, Land Rover and he also teaches ordinary people the art of taking some breathtaking pictures. His photography tells the story and gives his 2 million followers a glimpse into the raw nature he visits with his life partner Andrea Dabene.
Another photographer that is introducing the world to his followers of nearly 60 thousand on Instagram, who is traveling the world and hanging out of helicopters to grab the most insane shots. His income from his travels comes from his prints that he sells and that are available online. His works is categorized to help you find that perfect image to whisk you away in your mind or help you build your next dream vacation.
Gigi, Georgia Hopkins, escaped corporate life in Sydney, AU over 5 years ago and has built her following up to 46 thousand on Instagram. She has found excitement and adventures out of her suitcase and believes that if she can inspire someone to take on their next adventure, it is all worth it! She provides city guides to help those travelers make the most of their vacations and she sells her prints from her travels here.
Murad and Nataly Osmann travel the world and began posting videos of their adventures in 2016 on Youtube which currently has 58 thousand followers. Based out of Russia much of their content is in Russian, but you can get some in English. The style of their video posts shows some amazing cinematography, giving a different perspective for each of their destinations.
With a huge following on Instagram of over 12 million, there really isn’t much about the pair behind the camera, but they take breathtaking shots to showcase some of the most beautiful places on earth. They offer their prints for sale on their site and also collaborate with other photographers offering their collections for sale on their site as well.
Carolyn is a freelance photographer and writer who jumped ship from her day to day life after a drunken night with her significant other and the next day they took a one way trip to India with just their backpacks. While most of us can’t imagine jumping ship just like that, which seems contradictory to the name the SLOW traveler, the decision was made abruptly but the time spent at each destination seem to linger every time, which is where the namesake came from. Photography was merely an interest but turned profitable when being in the ‘right/wrong’ place at ‘right/wrong’ time during an earthquake in Nepal and some of her pictures where purchased. She has since commissioned some other photography work and one small piece has led to many more commissioned work. She attributes learning how to use Instagram, with 225 thousand followers, to changing her life. If you read any of her posts, her personality shines through and if you don’t laugh every once in a while, you might be made of stone.
Silvia Lawrence has 72 thousand Instagram followers, she started her travel journey after graduating and spending a couple years working abroad to find out that she was completely miserable. Some people go to therapy, some people just keep going even with they know they are unhappy, but Silvia instead bought a giant back pack and hit the road less traveled. She claims that after she has visited over 80 countries, she has finally found a place to call home, Norway. She earns her income by blogging, which still seems like a farfetched idea for some, but others know the world is their oyster and they can begin their writing at any stage of their lives!
If you can’t just up and vanish from your current life, sometimes things take a little planning and that’s where the Wyld family comes in. They are a family of four travelling full time, while they do have jobs when they are not traveling. They blog about their travels breaking it down by destination, where to eat, sleep and travel tips. If you are thinking of traveling with children, check out their destinations to see if they have already mapped out some travel plans that you can steal! Vacations don’t pay for themselves, but when you can get some sponsors on your travel blog because you have over 30 thousand followers it can certainly take care of some of the financial burden of your dream vacations!
Another couple that is caught the travel bug and sold everything in their San Francisco apartment to begin their journey. They have a YouTube channel vlogging their daily adventures. What’s really awesome besides the relatability of the couple themselves is the transparency they have with their followers ‘adventurers’. They shared how they sold everything and how with freelance work how their finances are handled. Most people assume that you have to have all the money to travel the world upfront, but if you are a freelancer you know there are times of ups and downs financially and you just roll with it. Their YouTube following is higher than their Instagram following, which is just shy of 24 thousand followers.
Anna and Trevor are the delightful travellers with over 51 thousand followers on Instagram and almost 15 thousand subscribers on their YouTube channel. They are both web designers who quit their full time jobs to travel the world and work for themselves. They travelled like many of us do, for fun, but in 2016 they sold their home in Canada and downsized their accommodations to be able to fit as much travel into their lives as possible. They blog and vlog about their adventures and this has led to brand sponsorship, sponsored posts and attending press trips.
Live the adventure run by Giles Cowan and Louis Cole have formed a coop of like-minded people to showcase their travel adventures. They have over 109 thousand Instagram followers and with their total compiled digital reach they have 5.1 million subscribers on YouTube. They work with some incredible travelers who are living their dreams, whether is living out of a van or a road trip across Europe. Their blog brings all types of travelers together to get travel information.
If you are looking for something a little different, travel bloggers Holly & Greg focus is on frugality. Finding ways to travel the world and spending little to no money on it. As a family of 4 they have been travelling a least 1 week a month. While being inundated with questions about how they pull it off they decided to take their travel adventures to the next level and offer an online course on just how they did it. They went from working together at a funeral home to travelling the world and doing it mostly with the use of credit card points. They both began freelance writing in 2011 and eventually quit their full time jobs haven’t looked back since.
Em Frederick has just under 20 thousand followers and while her pictures are picturesque her writing is spontaneous and entertaining. Giving a whole different side to following travel blogs. She gives a glimpse into some of the grueling tasks it takes to get those amazing shots! Her humor and honesty are simply the best! “Almost barfed from sprinting up this sandy hillside to catch the sunset…” Classic!
Katie and Ben are from Minnesota, or as they say Minnesoooota. They are sharing their travel hacks with just about 15 thousand Instagram followers and anyone who reads their free e-book, 21 Brilliant Travel Hacks. Don’t worry it’s only 30 pages, so you don’t have to commit to hundreds of pages to learn how to travel on a budget!
You should feel inspired to quit your day job, pack a bag and hit the road right now! But seriously most people do tend to do a bit of planning when it comes to starting a vacation that could last the rest of your life, but the planning part doesn’t have to suck. Take it from any of these travelers that living on the edge of your seat can be just as exciting with or without a plan. One thing that all of these IG accounts have in common, is they want to inspire you, and they want you to live your life to its fullest and will share how they are living out their dreams! #muchlovetoall #lifewithoutborders
