Before “digital nomad” became a common phrase and remote work opened the world to millions, there were couples who took the leap and built a life around travel. They left behind traditional routines, packed their bags, and proved that exploring the world didn’t have to be limited to annual leave and short holidays.
These OG couple travel bloggers were among the pioneers who showed that travel could become a career, a business and a lifestyle. Through storytelling, photography and honest accounts of life on the road, they inspired countless travellers to dream bigger and imagine a different way of living.
In Part 2 of our OG Travel Bloggers series, we celebrate the couples who proved travel could be more than a holiday. It could become home.
OG Couple Travel Bloggers
To be travelling this long without killing each other is a miracle in itself. Much love for these guys who kept the kindle going as long as their writing. If you want to read about my love life, you can read Dating After Divorce: My First Date In 20 Years or Yes, I’m a Christian Dating a Muslim.
HoneyTrek
Mike & Anne
I’ve met Mike & Anne many times; they are the sweetest couple, and if you ever get a chance to gate-crash their epic honeymoon, do so!
Blog: HoneyTrek
Website: https://www.HoneyTrek.com
Started travel blogging: 2011
Are you still actively travel blogging?
YES!
What keeps you blogging after all these years?
Hearing from folks that our post made their trip even better.
Helping people get off the tourist track and truly connect with a destination, the wildlife, and the locals who live there!
How many countries have you visited?
91 since we left home in January of 2012.
Favourite destination you’ve ever visited?
Any town or region that gets zero results when you search it on Instagram
One place still on your bucket list?
Central Asia
Biggest change you’ve seen in travel blogging since you started?
Over the last two years, we’ve seen well-researched, first-person travel content get co-opted as AI results. Good journalism is getting buried, and people are trusting AI’s advice over those who’ve done on-the-ground research. It’s pretty frightening for travel bloggers and the world in general.
Favourite blog post you’ve ever written:
Best Memories from 4,000 Days on the Road. It’s all about the kindness of strangers and the good in the world that keeps us going. (Though we’ve been on the road 5,344 days now, I guess we should update that blog lol….plenty more travel magic has happened since then – from hitchhiking Angola to Amerindian homestays in Guyana.
Carry-on only or checked luggage?
Carry on
Window or aisle seat?
Window
Did Covid make a difference to the blog?
No
Does AI make a difference to the blog?
Advertising and affiliate sales have never been a large portion of our revenue, so AI taking away pageviews doesn’t affect us as much.
One piece of advice for someone starting today?
Only become a travel writer if you love travel AND writing more than you love money. If you love money/material goods/creature comforts more than either travel or writing, this is probably not a career for you. That said, if you truly love travel and writing, you will find more success than any amount of money could ever buy!
Goats On The Road
Nick & Dariece
Blog: Goats On The Road
Website: https://www.goatsontheroad.com/
Started travel blogging: 2012
Are you still actively travel blogging?
Yes, we’re still running Goats! Even though AI has really changed the game, and we have multiple businesses running, Goats On The Road has always been the constant.
What keeps you blogging after all these years?
There are numerous reasons that we’ve kept Goats On The Road running. The first being our audience and readers – so many of them have been a part of our journey since the beginning!
We love sharing our advice and inspiration on the blog – I really love writing. Of course, it’s a business, so we’re still blogging for the income as well…
How many countries have you visited?
I’m one up on Nick! I’ve been to 85 and he’s been to 84
Favourite destination you’ve ever visited?
It’s impossible to list my favourite destination. New Zealand for hiking, Indonesia for beaches, Italy for food, India for culture shock, Greece is a top one as it has a mix of everything.
One place still on your bucket list?
Rwanda
Biggest change you’ve seen in travel blogging since you started?
Things change yearly with blogging. Maybe it didn’t change so fast at first, but there started to be constant Google updates which really hit bloggers – even ones doing everything “right” (ourselves included). Apart from that, there are a lot of new blogs starting, and AI has definitely affected traffic to the website – as it gives people answers without them needing to click over to our websites. I think there’s still a lot of opportunity in terms of sponsors and press trips.
Favourite blog post you’ve ever written:
10 Ways We’ve Paid For Our Life of Travel (+How You Can Too!)
Carry-on only or checked luggage?
Carry on
Window or aisle seat?
Aisle
Did Covid make a difference to the blog?
COVID was an interesting time for Goats On The Road. Initially, everything tanked – about 50%. No one was searching for travel, of course, and we also lost a huge affiliate partner. But our site is about 50/50 travel and ways to make money online. So that half of the blog started to pick up and we doubled down on that content. In the end, we actually faired pretty well all things considered.
Does AI make a difference to the blog?
AI makes a massive difference these days – negatively and positively. Of course, with Google, we’re not getting as much traffic because of the AI answer box, but also people are just searching differently – using ChatGPT and video content. On a positive side, we’re able to complete so many tasks, way faster than we could’ve before. We don’t write with AI on Goats, but it’s definitely a great assistant to come up with ideas, go over my content and edit/tighten it up. Not to mention, AI can do all the interlinking, adding photos…all the stuff that isn’t the creative part.
One piece of advice for someone starting today?
If you’re wanting to start a travel blog today, I’d suggest combining it with the full personal brand. The full social media ecosystem, and collecting emails as soon as you can. I’d also recommend having your own digital product or service that you can offer to your audience so you’re not relying so heavily on ads and affiliates for income.
Justin Plus Lauren
Lauren & Justin
Blog: Justin Plus Lauren
Website: https://justinpluslauren.com/
Started travel blogging: May 2013
Are you still actively travel blogging?
Yes
What keeps you blogging after all these years?
Simply put, I love blogging! I love sharing my travels through storytelling and my photography. I’ve spent the past 13+ years writing my blog, and I can’t wait to keep writing it. It contains some of the best moments of my life, the travels that I share with my husband, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. I’m also a full-time travel blogger and content creator, so blogging is a big part of my job.
However, even if I didn’t make money from it, I would continue to write my blog just for the love of it.
How many countries have you visited?
I don’t really count countries because I tend to visit some of the same ones over and over again, but it’s around 50 countries.
Favourite destination you’ve ever visited?
A tie between Japan and Scotland
One place still on your bucket list?
Galapagos Islands
Biggest change you’ve seen in travel blogging since you started?
Nowadays, it’s almost expected that we capture content in multiple formats. Photos, video for YouTube, vertical video for Instagram and TikTok. It’s a bit more difficult and time consuming to be a “content creator” in a way because I’m now creating content for the blog, Instagram (photos + video), TikTok, YouTube, and the list goes on.
Favourite blog post you’ve ever written:
It’s an oldie, but a goodie, how I nearly escaped death in Kenya being chased down by a buffalo! (It wouldn’t have been so great had I not survived, obviously)
Carry-on only or checked luggage?
Checked
Window or aisle seat?
Aisle
Did Covid make a difference to the blog?
During Covid, I pivoted and focused way more on local travel in Ontario, Canada. I was already writing about local travel, but I wrote exclusively about it. I also started a second blog called Ontario Hiking, all about hiking in Ontario, Canada. I managed to grow a big community around the hiking blog and even hosted a few group trips from it! Nowadays, I’m back to mainly writing my travel blog, though I still do write here and there for the hiking blog and my hiking community is still very active and growing.
Does AI make a difference to the blog?
I don’t use AI in my blog at all. It’s annoying that AI is actively stealing content from my blog and I think that most bloggers have felt the negative impacts of that. I’m hopeful that people will still crave a human connection and will look for real, human opinions and advice about travel, for which I will always share my own firsthand experiences on my blog.
One piece of advice for someone starting today?
I always tell people to just get started. If you’re starting a travel blog, write about some recent trips you’ve taken. It doesn’t need to be perfect. You’ll become a better writer, photographer, videographer, etc. as time goes on. You don’t need to be a full time worldwide traveler either. When I first started, I only took a couple of trips a year while working a full time job, and then I wrote about day trips and weekend trips close to home. By the end of 2018, I made travel blogging my full time job and never looked back. You never know where your dreams and passions will take you, and I’m so happy that I took the leap into full time travel blogging (it really has changed my life!).
OG Travel Bloggers
Love discovering the stories behind the original travel bloggers? Continue exploring the OG Travel Bloggers series:
- OG Travel Bloggers Still Going: The Original Travel Bloggers Who Built An Industry
- OG Family Travel Bloggers: The Original Family Travel Bloggers Who Changed Travel With Kids
More OG Travel Bloggers Series Coming Soon
From destination experts and travel photographers to solo travellers and adventure bloggers, we’re celebrating the creators who helped shape the travel industry.
Explore With Erin Wrap Up: The OG Couple Travels who built a life around travel
The OG couple travel bloggers featured here helped redefine what was possible. They showed that a relationship, a laptop and a passion for exploring the world could become the foundation for a completely different kind of life.
Long before travel influencers filled our feeds, these couples were building communities, creating businesses and sharing the realities of life on the road. Their stories helped pave the way for the travel creators who followed.
As the travel blogging industry continues to evolve, their influence remains. These are the couples who proved that travel wasn’t just somewhere you went. It could be the way you lived.
