Some people strive for getting the best education, find a fulfilling job, advance a down-payment for a house and live happily ever after with their families and friends. Others are restless. Somehow, settling down in the same office, practicing the same routine doesn’t float their boats, but their dreams and expectations are fueled by the great unknown, a longing for the new and the strange , a thirst for discovery. They are called sometimes irresponsible, as many left their jobs and their comfortable homes and left to meet the horizon, while sometimes, they are called by their real name: globetrotters.
They travel around the world relentlessly, reaching corners of the planet others just read about, spending their days gathering memories and sharing them to the ones that stood behind. Travel blogging is not the Internet newest ideas, but one of the most fascinating and popular ones. And these people, driven by what we call wanderlust, are kind enough to share their travel adventures, their advice, their teachings and their memories with us.
In time, some of these travel bloggers met even online success and now their stories and their journeys are followed by thousands of people, and who knows… maybe we can invite them someday for a coffee in the city we live in, or maybe we will meet them half way, as globetrotting will be the next big thing in the travel industry.
Recently, a study published by Trip Advisor focusing on the next year’s travel trends shows that long distance trips are the long distance dream, and by 2015 this dream of exploring the world will become true for more and more people. Remember that this isn’t a Top Best type of post, but rather a gathering of friends and fellow adventurers, much like our other list of the 50 best food bloggers in the world. And now, let’s meet them!
1. Caz and Craig Makepeace
Their Story
Just as they say, when your last name is Makepeace, you can’t be other than a friendly bunch! Caz and Craig are both Australians and they have travel and adventure rushing through their veins. At first, they traveled solo, then they met up and traveled some more. Then, they got married and had two beautiful daughters who are now reliable team members of their adventure. Caz and Craig lived in five countries, visited more than forty and started blogging about their adventures only three years ago, even if their globetrotting experience started sometime in the late nineties. Reading their posts makes one feel alive, curious, passionate about discovery and feeling that specific itch to pack some bags and start their own personal journey.
The Blog
In 2010, Caz and Craig started Y Travel Blog in order to share their experience, advice, travel tips and tricks and personal insights for everybody to benefit from. From travel destinations to incredible places for eating, drinking and having fun, from family travel planning tips to accommodation facilities all over the world, their traveling blog is a delight for every tourist out there.
Blog Metrics
These two (or better say, four, as the girls are a constant and important part of the Makepeace adventure) run a successful blog, followed by a countless number of people.
PR – 4
DA – 55
Alexa Rank – 20086
Fans and Followers: a happy bunch indeed, counting 12,227 people liking the adventurers’ Facebook page and 22,767 people just waiting for their tweets. You can also find them on Pinterest and Google+ if you want to become a part of their family.
Getting in touch with Caz and Craig
They don’t accept guest posting, but you can easily subscribe to their daily blog updates. Most importantly, they love to chat and share experience and they clearly state that if you find them in your area, feel free to meet them up for a drink.
Their Philosophy
“We believe that life is about creating great memories and making it a story to tell, and we do that through travel.”
2. Gary Arndt
If you thought that traveling since 1997 and taking the kids along was a little too much, let’s meet the next globetrotter and before continuing, you should be warned that a hint of jealousy might strike upon you after finding out where this man has been traveling for the past six years.
His story
Gary sold his house in 2007 and went for an extended trip around the world, only to become six years later one of the most followed and loved globetrotters the Internet has ever met. You can find out on his website the places he’s seen, the things he’s done and the future trips he’s planning, but we spoke of jealousy before, so let’s see at least some of his adventures: Gary swam with great white sharks in South Africa, with whale sharks in Australia and jellyfish in Palau. But if you think he’s only in water extreme sports and adventures, you should read his adventures as an accidental tourist caught in the middle of a political protest in Thailand or how he felt while spending the Thai New Year’s party in Bangkok.
The Blog
Gary had a personal website since the dawn of Internet, but Everything Everywhere is the place where he shares his adventures, documents his travels and invites us to see with our own eyes (through his camera lenses) the wonders of the world he is discovering. The Where I’ve Been section of his blog should be every globetrotter’s guide in taking trips and learning tricks, while anybody interested can download for free Gary’s e-book of his 100 Favorite Travel Photos and travel updates. What is great about his blog is that he keeps his readers hooked to his adventures, as he daily updates his status. When this post was written, Gary was in Dublin, but who knows where his steps will guide him by the time you read this article.
Blog Metrics
Gary doesn’t have only terrific experiences around the world but also a catchy style of story telling, an impressive collection of pictures and an ever – growing desire to see more, feel more, get involved in newer situations. And so do his readers.
PR – 5
DA – 64
Alexa Rank – 37098
Fans and Followers: Gary is a generous man letting everybody follow his around – the – globe stories. You can become his 22,981 subscriber, his 101,978 Facebook follower or count yourself among the 124K Twitter buddies just waiting for a new update, story, opinion, photo or travel tips from Gary.
Getting in touch with Gary
You don’t know where he is until he tells you, but luckily, he updates his current location on a regular basis. His plans for 2014 include a 2 months stay in each visited city, so if he happens to be around your area, he can be reached by e-mail or you just can leave him a message via a social platform of choice.
His Philosophy
“Since I started traveling, I have probably done and seen more than I have in the rest of my life combined.”
3. Derek Earl Baron
A permanent nomad. And what a nomad he is!
His Story
If you read his About section you can’t do anything else but remain in a complete state of awe and admiration: back in 1999, young Earl decided to treat himself with a post – graduation present involving a three months trip to Southeast Asia. He’s still making that trip and it doesn’t look even close to finish. He worked almost every place he traveled to, he visited over 80 countries (fast approach to 90) and he doesn’t regret for a second the choice of spending his youth on the road.
The Blog
Wandering Earl is about Earl’s stories, but what distinguish this blog from many others are Earl’s tips and tricks to become a globetrotter and a safe one too. His advice posts are absolutely fantastic – catchy writing style, one-on-one experience sharing, humor and solid information. He also provides his readers with a Getting Started page that teaches them how to travel the world a lot with little money and if you’d like to meet him and see the world through his eyes, you can become a part of his adventure by taking part to one of his small group tours he offers once a few months in some of his favorite destinations.
Blog Metrics
Wandering Earl was listed by NineMsn Australia among the top 20 best travel blogs, especially because Earl’s tips on how to manage in different countries and situations.
PR – 4
DA – 54
Alexa Rank – 46848
Fans and Followers: With over 9,800 Facebook fans and around 10,400 Twitter followers, Earl can’t ever consider himself a lonely traveler. More to that, his blog was featured in the New York Times, BBC, The Huffington Post and the National Geographic Traveler. But it’s not the fame that drives Earl around the world…
Getting in touch with Earl
You can receive by mail his blog updates if you subscribe, or you can contact him by mail, but given the fact that it seems that everybody is writing him, you should give the man some time to answer (around five business days).
His Philosophy
As we said, it’s not the fame that guides Earl’s steps, but his insatiable desire to know the world as it is. In his own words, “I don’t travel to simply check countries off a list. In fact, as a permanent nomad, I have little interest in the actual sights that a particular destination may offer, instead preferring to focus on the human interactions and lessons learned along the way.”
4. Kate McCulley
One of the most famous twenty – something solo (well… not anymore!) female globetrotters, the girl is unstoppable when it comes to traveling towards her next big adventure.
Her Story
Kate’s story is not much different than the guys’ backgrounds. After investing in an online marketing career for four years, while secretly dreaming of wandering the world, Kate decided she deserved a six months trip to Southeast Asia. Just like Earl, she got hooked and spent the next two years traveling around more than 40 countries. She is very young and featured by Wanderlust and Lipstick as one of the most interesting 20-something female globetrotters and bloggers of the Y generation.
The Blog
Besides the travel tips and tricks Kate openly offers her readers and besides the fabulous descriptions of the destinations she took so far, Adventurous Kate has a little bit of special added to it: Kate is indeed adventurous and you might believe at a first glance she exaggerates some of her stories. But no, they are well documented and they really happened, so if you want to find out how can a woman survive getting naked to take a bath in Istanbul or end up as an extra cast for a German movie, check out her adventures, fully detailed with spicy and juicy comments.
Blog Metrics
Kate is a sensation a a woman traveler, an adventurer and a resourceful blogger. Her past career in online marketing seems to pay off.
PR – 4
DA – 56
Alexa Rank – 30245
Fans and Followers: 9,680 people like Adventurous Kate and if you double that sum you’ll get her Twitter buddies (17,346). You can subscribe to her updates and newsletter by e – mail and become one of the traveling partners she writes for every day. Gentlemen, the bad news is that Kate already found her fiance and travel partner, but she is still friendly and nice with everybody who contacts her.
Getting in touch with Kate
You can use any of the social media platforms and the e-mail to reach Kate. She personally answers her e-mails and if you are interested in becoming her travel partner, she offers quite a comprehensive PR and Media Kit on her site.
Her Philosophy
“Life’s too short to have regrets. That’s why I like to live the most interesting life possible by traveling the world on my own and saying yes to just about anything.”
5. Nellie Huang and Alberto Molero
Their Story
Each of them had the heart of a globetrotter and each of them fed on big adventurous trips to new worlds and exciting escapades. She originates from Singapore and he originates from Spain. They both graduated Engineering. And the Universe conspired for them to meet, as such two wanderlusters couldn’t have stayed apart. They met in a student program in Miami in 2003 and from that point on, they become a couple and two insatiable travelers. One of their story’s main highlights is that they started their journey by quitting their jobs to volunteer in Tanzania, an experience that changed their lives: they became professional travelers, combining their chosen lifestyle with a way of financially supporting their goals and wishes.
The Blog
Wild Junket was built in 2008 and making the best use of their skills, Nellie and Alberto became the proud owners of one of the most successful travel resources on the Internet. They do freelance work for magazines and journals and they are proud members of iAmbassador program, and the International Travel Writers Alliance. Their blog expanded into a magazine and focuses on detailed trip advices, professional travel photography and adventurous personal stories. They are the globetrotters by excellence and if you’re curious on how they manage to accomplish their dreams (and yours), you can delight yourself with travel impressions taken from 72 countries and 500 cities on 7 continents.
Blog Metrics
Indeed one of the best traveling stories out there, the blog has tens of thousands of unique visitors daily, just as The Expeditioner noticed when building the top travel sites list but it’s more to the Wild Junket than that.
PR – 5
DA – 52
Alexa Rank – 79045
Fans and Followers: These guys don’t feel alone either in their trips, as they have over 6,300 Facebook friends, while Nellie alone gathers over 35,700 followers on Twitter. The last statistics showed an average number of 94,000 unique site visitors, not to mention that their writings and photo albums are also very well known to those who follow National Geographic Intelligent Travel, CNN, BBC Travel, Travel+Leisure Asia, Wend, Women Adventure Magazine, Food&Travel, International Lifestyle, TNT Magazine, Explorer and World Travel Guides, among others.
Getting in touch with Nellie and Alberto
You can contact them by e-mail, social media, LinkedIn and Twitter for asking them questions or advice. They also provide those interested with an advertise and PR kit you’ll have to ask details for.
Their Philosophy
”We work more hours now than we have ever done in our past lives, and it wasn’t easy to get where we are today, but we’re extremely thankful for this fulfilling life. Here’s to more decades of traveling ahead of us!”
6. Pam Mandel
A different breed of globetrotter.
Her Story
In her own words, she gets her bills paid by freelance technical writing and editing and in between projects, you can find her and her husband traveling some place or road tripping with their car, although their main headquarters is based in Seattle. Not that they care much about the city, as they live quite far from the madding crowd. She is an awesome writer (her portfolio and her recommendations don’t leave any room for doubt) and her specialty is telling stories about travel, hence her blog, described by NineMsn as follows: “Pam Mandel’s blog is most notable for plain good writing. It’s not so much about where or what she’s writing about, but the way she tells the story.” But let’s take a peak…
The Blog
Nerd’s Eye View is a combination of travel stories and artistic photography the couple holds very dear. It also provides the readers with an extensive category debating gear (from shoes to laptops so you have plenty to choose from). If you happen to share Pam’s passion for the ukulele, the blog offers pertinent answers to those questions too. Regarding destinations, there are few things that these two adventurers don’t know about Seattle, Austria and Hawaii, but don’t get yourself fooled: Pam is writing for such a large number of specialized travel magazines and blogs, it would be necessary to write a separate article to include and describe them.
Blog Metrics
People love Pam’s storytelling and writing skills and this is obvious from the metrics
PR – 4
DA – 51
Alexa Rank – 231845
Fans and Followers: Let’s just say that Pam’s over 17,000 Twitter followers and the 1,500 Google + connections are definitely watching her posts, not only on her blog but also on Lonely Planet, The Daily Traveler, Skye and World Hum, to name a few.
Getting in touch with Pam
Although she is very fond of communicating with people and getting new freelance jobs, she is quite direct regarding advertising on her site. Her PR policy is visible and available to anyone interested in the matter. She can be contacted by mail and social media and she’s always open to giving people advice about traveling and the ukulele.
Her Philosophy
“I love to write stories about travel – from local field trips to big adventures – with my whole heart. That’s why I have this blog.”
7. Niall Doherty
Your Irish vagabond at your service!
His Story
An Irish with a passion for basketball, Niall was happy to live his homeland for the colorful New Orleans, where he got a job and happily lived there for… three years. It isn’t clear if it was then and there when he faced and ruminated about the concept of rabblement – his personal nemesis, but the certain fact is that he gave up the status quo and left for a four – years journey without flying around the world – a journey that didn’t end yet and which started from Ireland, carried him through Europe, Middle East, Nepal, India and Thailand. His manifesto regarding rabblement is an exquisite piece of writing and personal views over the world, people and life and if you get to read his About section, you will definitely enjoy (and even sign for) his vision.
The Blog
He managed to build and develop his personal blog N Doherty a few years back and met success along the way. He is constantly giving people good advice, traveling tips and tricks, while the book he is offering for free Disrupting The Rabblement has one of the most honest blurbs you’ve seen lately: “Niall Doherty speaks the truth with a refreshing lack of bullshit.” And this is taken from Amazon, just so you know. The concept of living one’s life in no fear, in following dreams and in speaking your mind freely, in making acts of (sometimes stupid) courage and trash down the comfort zone for a taste of pure life is not new, but the Irish vagabond has a tone of voice and a writing style that makes you close this computer and start packing.
Blog Metrics
Well, he’s been followed…
PR – 3
DA – 50
Alexa Rank – 228155
Fans and Followers: nobody feels alone with 3,156 subscribers, 3,120 Twitter followers and over 1,500 Facebook fans. More than that, he has been featured on a high number of authority travel journals and publications, while his refreshing views on the world he’s roaming are very appreciated by other bloggers and interested parties.
Getting in touch with Niall
He’d love to hear from you via e-mail or his Facebook page.
His Philosophy
If we didn’t mention it enough, try reading his book and his manifest against rabblement. You’ll understand why it’s important if you hear his motto: “Think for yourself, face your fears, live your dreams, piss off some zombies!”
8. Marcello Arrambide
Yet another breed of globetrotter, this time with a soft spot of the unheard and mysterious territories.
His Story
Marcello happens to be a very young traveler and a day trader in the stock market who found that working in a bank didn’t suited his appetite for the unknown. So still having a sharp business – focused mind, he decided that he could still have a job and see the wonders of the world. He succeeded, as he visited around 80 countries on all 7 continents, while living for a period of time in 12 countries across 5 continents. We said he has a soft spot for the mysterious and the unknown, as he takes pride in seeing countries and territories very little known or visited by the regular tourist. He can tell you a lot of stories about South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Suriname, Madagascar and Antarctica, while his Southern American adventures are a delight for every wanderer out there.
The Blog
The Wandering Trader is a blog about Marcello’s adventures in the wide world and his serious teachings about day trading and making money. In an interview for Just One Way Ticket he expressed his desire of settling down for a few months in Medellin, Colombia, and set up a training center to teach the locals how to improve their quality of life by learning on how to successfully trade. You can also find on his blog a lot of How To’s, photos and an extensive tips and tricks category.
Blog Metrics
Someday, Marcello wants to turn his travel blog into a successful, sustainable online business, but he doesn’t do bad now either:
PR – 4
DA – 50
Alexa Rank – 91763
Fans and Followers: the Wandering Trader has almost 100,000 Facebook fans and almost 44,000 Twitter followers, which is not bad at all for such a young person, not to mention an average of 87,000 of unique visitors.
Getting in touch with Marcello
You have a wide variety of choices, from the contact form on his site to the social media platform. If you want to reach him for business matters, his Advertise page contains pretty much all the details one needs to know.
His Philosophy
“I started to travel around the world because I wanted a life of freedom. To be able to experience new things at a moment’s notice and work from anywhere in the world.”
9. Traci, Matt, The Boy and The Girl – The GoBIG Suppa Family
You should meet these ones in person…
Their Story
Where can we start from? Let’s see: Traci, the head of the family, traveled a lot as a child, together with her family. And she has seen quite a lot. Although she remembers resenting being dragged around one country to another in her early years, the travel virus (or bug as she calls it) stood with her forever. In the mean time, she got married and she had children, and if you read the About section you will not only burst in laughing tears, but you’ll also applaud these guys for their traveling adventures. What do they mean by “going BIG?” Apparently, they have a very soft spot for large, huge, oversize touristic attractions: building, historical and archeological sites, theme parks, zoos, objectives, you name it. If it’s enormous, they’re there.
The Blog
David Elliot nominated the family behind the blog Go Big or Go Home as one of the top 13 travel bloggers of 2013. The reason is more than sustained by the facts: the guys are fantastic at storytelling, traveling, writing impressions and actually visiting everything that’s big. And Traci’s writing style is formidable. Well, she is an experienced writer, so add her career in the market to her insatiable desire of dragging her family to …whatever site is large enough for her tastes and you will find yourself hooked, reading her most recent posts religiously.
Blog Metrics
You can’t help yourself but love them, even if it’s hard to meet them in person, and considering their blog metrics, many people feel the same way.
PR – 4
DA – 64
Alexa Rank – 782468
Fans and Followers: The real number of this family’s members includes also the over 1,500 Facebook fans and over 3,000 Twitter followers, and we didn’t count Pinterest and Google + and they are willing to expand the family even more! Watch what’s coming!
Getting in touch with the BIG Family
Easiest thing on the planet: contact Traci by e-mail or reach them through their social media platforms. They are willing to take you under their big wing as a guest blogger, provided you offer them good stories and can live with a personalized T-Shirt as a form of compensation. Also, if you can lure them out of the house by proposing them to visit a BIG attraction, they’re probably going to come your way.
Their (Traci’s) Philosophy
“For me, there’s more to it than just adding to my list. This is what I see when I drag my family to we visit these sites and attractions:
- The older, historic places tell me what was exciting for the traveler in a simpler time. Size, not necessarily speed, was a measurement of greatness, and it made tourists take notice.
- The claim or status of a “world’s largest” means a little attention, and the potential to draw customers. For struggling destinations or small tourist businesses, these quirky attractions can ensure economic survival.
- Someone created and built these places. This work may represent their finest hour; their 15 minutes of fame. They deserve some homage.”
10. Ryan Gargiulo and Liz
Another man, another travel bug determining him to live life at the fullest
His Story
Ryan worked in the IT industry for a significant amount of time, until the microbe spiked the traveling fever. Together with Liz they turned into an adventurous couple who wouldn’t give freedom of roaming the world for any type of cubicle and if you check their Destinations list you will find that they didn’t hold back to jumping the adrenaline train and embark in all sorts of journeys, some a bit crazy, but all of them spectacular. While working as a freelancer, Ryan, together with Liz enjoy their young lives seeing countries and continents, taking photos and videos and blogging about them with a passion. It all started in 2008 for him and it doesn’t look by far as it intends to end.
The Blog
Ryan wanted his life to mean something and not just to pass by him. He built up Pause The Moment and he left for a non-conformist, non-standardized life. He succeeded. The blog speaks about the couple’s adventures and while they are taking the necessary moments to rest, they write articles and create video tutorials for everyone to benefit from their experience of traveling cheap, safe, entertaining, to be ready for everything and know what to expect. Their traveling guides earned them a lot of fans and fellow adventurers and it’s a real pleasure to read their reviews, their tips and tricks and their advice on how to dream and live just the way we want to.
Blog Metrics
PR – 4
DA – 45
Alexa Rank – 91241
Fans and Followers: It’s no wonder why the guys are writing so many good articles, their over 6,000 Facebook followers need to enjoy their adventures one way or the other, not to mention the 12,600 Twitter followers that wait with their hearts beating Ryan’s latest updates.
Getting in touch with Ryan and Liz
They have a direct e-mail reaching their inbox and while you’re there, you can check their Work with Us page if you mean serious business, as the guys have an awesome portfolio and good advertising opportunities for companies and brands.
Their Philosophy
“We have no interest in being that old couple in their 80′s shuffling off of a tour bus in Italy with our matching canes in hand. We’ve met far too many people that have pushed their dreams of traveling the world aside in order to follow in the steps of conformity, also known as “what you’re supposed to do” when you grow up.”