My ultimate source of inspiration comes straight from the mouths of my fellow travel bloggers. The weak at the knees, excited for life, desire to see all the things kind. All the feels. I know I’m a newbie at this travel blogging gig but nowadays, when I plan my trips, I ferociously search the archives of a few of my favorites who have seen places I could only dream to one day set foot. Instant wanderlust in full effect.
Props to my favourite twins Rosie & Lydia for coining the newest addition to my vocabulary (and featuring me in the first edition!) Blush (v/n): to form a lasting crush on someone based on their blog. We are going to make this word happen.
This is the first in a multiple part series (editions coming soon: expat, couples, sexy men travelers). Some left their jobs to follow their passions, others show you how possible it is to make a steady income at the same time. Yet they all share a similar passion for exploring this miraculous world, and better yet, are fearless females in their twenties(ish) who have already accomplished so much and inspire me to do great things. Take it away ladies!
Travel Blushes: Fearless Females edition. Who are you blushing on?
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1. I am Aileen
Aileen quit her corporate job in the Philippines at 21(!) to travel the world as a self-proclaimed “location-independent professional” — a digital nomad. She’s on a mission to visit every country on a third world passport and proves you don’t need to be rich to make this a reality.
Stuck on where to begin? Her money saving tips to start a life of travel are pure gold. Paired with a comprehensive guide on how to start a travel blog from scratch. Whatever your plans, promise me to throw your fears and doubts to the wayside and refuse to let these excuses not to travel hold you back! Making a big life change is pretty scary. But you know what’s even scarier? Regret.
2. Polka Dot Passport
At just twenty years old, Nicola has set foot on 24 countries and has no plans of stopping any time soon! She was born in Australia and later took her talents to New Zealand. We met at the Sydney travel meetup and I can’t wait to bounce ideas over coffee. This girl is going places!
Nicola shares her tips and tricks to make it big on instagram. With almost 6k followers, she knows her stuff. I fully agree that living as a local is key for immersing yourself in travel. Heading to Europe? Find the most photogenic places you must see for yourself! She has me convinced I must visit Santorini, pronto.
3. Girl vs Globe 
Sabina is another young gun, and at only 21, has lived in four countries! She dishes on everything from food and fashion to parties, and budget travel. Her love for travel stems from a fascination with other people’s lives and getting to know those who call them their home. We share a love of men with quirky accents and weakness for cute animals (men included).
Sabina runs the Girl vs Globe Facebook group, perfect for engaging with fellow wanderlusts! She shares bomb tips on building a facebook following quick. Lacking inspiration? Check out her fab list of post ideas and places you must travel in 2015.
Her storytelling skills are immaculate as she encourages you to grab the reigns to become the main character of your life. Her perspective on the glamour of self-destruction and why she is terrified to visit her dream destinations hit all too close to home. I adore her love letters to cities she’s visited. I fall for cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met.
4. Endlessly Exploring
Kelly is a Melbourne girl (my favourite city) with a similar background in accounting, but a desire to combine her love of social media with a life of travel! I just know Kelly and I would be fast friends in real life. At 21, she’s already hit 25 countries, five continents and five of the 7 Wonders of the World!
I am itching to visit Europe so loved this collaboration on places you must visit. Kelly shared her adventures in Switzerland in my Sonderlust series, and has me itching to hop a plane straight away!
5. Flirting with the Globe
Flirting with the Globe is filled with travel tips for those of us limited to two to four weeks vacation time and forced to “flirt” with destinations. Karisa proves it is possible to travel the world with a full-time job and encourages you not to let your 9-5 hold you back. She helps you make the most of your limited time in a city or country. A career-driven midwesterner, extrovert, and lover of bubbly, I’m convinced Karisa is my spirit animal.
Planning a trip? Browse Karisa’s informative itineraries and roundup of destinations you must visit. A topic I have been researching quite often lately, I got a kick out of her novices guide to travel hacking.
6. The Blonde Abroad
Kiersten is a California native who recently left her career in corporate finance to travel the world and volunteer in developing countries and has since hit 40 countries. She was done following the norms of society whispering for her to go to college, get a job, get married, have kids and live happily ever after. She hopes to inspire you to live a life you love and settle for nothing less than extraordinary.
She covers every angle from female and solo travel to luxury and budget. She’s big on fashion, food, festivals and photos. This girl does it all!
7. Hope Engaged
Katie travels not for the sake of adding stamps to her passport, but to make friendships that open her eyes and heart towards what really matters in life. She’s lived abroad in Italy, Indonesia, and recently Nepal where she worked with her husband to help girls rescued out of sex-trafficking. 40 countries and counting!
Katie proves how possible it is to have the best of both worlds and travel while working 9-5 and has an informative 7 part series on funding your travels. She is another strong advocate for immersing yourself in the culture of the places you visit.
8. Alex in Wanderland
A wandering heart, with a New York State of mind, Alex bought a one way ticket to leave her hometown in 2009 and has spent the last three years (and counting) on the road. From Southeast Asia, to Central and South America, to Europe – her adventures are sure to delight, especially when paired with her stunning photography. She has no end date, no itinerary, and no real backup plan. Just adventure, adrenaline, and a lifetime of globe-trotting daydreams to fulfill.
Alex lays out years one, two and three of her travels, making my feet itch to take a gap year (or three!). I can’t quit clicking around her site, from her quirky confessions to her obsessions and plans for departure, she is one big ball of inspiration!
9. World of Wanderlust
Brooke has been traveling since the age of thirteen and has since turned her love for travel into a full time career with a global audience. Since beginning her blog a couple of years ago she has visited over 50 countries across 6 continents. She is a strong advocate for solo travel and her story shows you just how possible it is to chase your dreams!
I relate to everything Brooke shares from how travel makes you a better person and signs you are a wanderlust stricken soul. She offers prime advice on jobs, saving money, and the best travel websites.
10. Battered Suitcase
Brenna hails from Winnipeg, a city in the Canadian prairies and has since lived in Halifax, Toronto, Copenhagen, Yaroslavl, Edinburgh, Osaka, and travelled to 90 countries. (Most recently my coveted Nicaragua!) She’s settled down in London working on a Master’s in creative writing and has plans to hit Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Tanzania, and Kenya soon.
Brenna’s aim is to inspire you to travel, in whatever way you feel comfortable; in the name of all that travel stands for: new people, new cultures, new landscapes, new food, new outlooks on life. She hits it out of the park with her 10 inevitable truths of travel and why traveling makes us happy.
11. Young Adventuress
Liz is a self-proclaimed wanderer (even has the tattoo to prove it) and it didn’t take long for her to realize that 9 to 5 jobs and cubicles were not for her. She first discovered a love of travel 5 years ago after studying abroad in Salamanca, and backpacking arcross Europe. Since then, she spent a winter in Rome, a spring break in Peru, and a summer in Madrid, and taught English in Spain. Currently she’s shacked up in my favourite country: New Zealand!
I have to giggle at the similarities between life as an expat in New Zealand and Australia. Liz reflects on the importance of finding balance and wrote a 5-start solo traveler’s manifesto I plan to abide by from here on out. Interested in starting a travel blog? Liz has you covered. In need of a laugh? I’m sure you’d agree with things people need to quit doing on airplanes!
12. Vicky Flip Flop Travels
This is the place for those of us looking to make the most of annual leave, weekends, money and friends, by exploring festivals and the world. Vikki believes that with a bit of prioritising you can explore the world while holding down a full-time job, and without breaking the bank. Beyond working in the travel industry for six years, she was featured in Wanderlust Magazine and Huffington Post!
I want to be a full time travel blogger but…. bust those myths! Vikki provides her expertise on making money as a travel blogger, getting a job in social media, and improving your photography.
13. Fearful Adventurer
Torre is a writer who travels, a painter, a photographer, a designer and an illustrator by trade. Proud author of Love with a Chance of Drowning. Girl does it all!
If you’re miserable in your job and your fears are stopping you from taking a leap into the unknown, she encourages you to banish these excuses in pursuit of your passions. Adventurers, artists, travelers, entrepreneurs and dream chasers have one thing in common: they take risks. They’ve cashed in something huge for their passions. They’ve chosen freedom over security. Followed up with what do you do when people don’t support your dreams.
14. Just One Way Ticket
Sabrina is a half German, half Italian and has traveled to more than 50 countries around the globe. Her timeline of events says it all:
2004 – 2008 | Worked as a screen designer, barely remember anything from that time, every day the same…
2008 | Quit job and traveled around the world for 433 days… LOVED IT!
2010 | Came back to Germany. Started to work again. HATED IT!
2010 | Quit job again, got rid of everything I owned. Decided to live the life I want to live. LOVED IT!
2013 | Started this blog. Became homeless. Didn’t decide yet whether I love it or I hate it.
UPDATE 2014: Love it <3 !
A bit of tongue in cheek on being a bad travel blogger (and how to improve!) + rad tips on affording a life of travel. Sab shows how you too can create your dream job in less than a year by doing what you love. A slew of bloggers tell how they plan to travel the rest of their lives. Are you sold?
15. Legal Nomads
Jodi quit her job as a lawyer and has been traveling the world for 6 years, reaching others through food and her stories. She “chases” summer by spending the North American winter in warmer places in the southern hemisphere. (Particularly fond of Vietnam). She appreciates travel for putting life in perspective.
Jodi admits how 5 years of travel has changed her for the better and reflects on what it means to be ‘home’ in a world of in-betweens. She rounds up the best list of travel resources I ever did see and it seems she’s been featured everywhere. I also love her quirky adventures in sleeping instagram series and her practical tips learned from long term travel.
16. Hippie in Heels
Rachel is a small town Ohio girl (like me!) who left a career in nursing to live on the beaches of Goa, India over two years ago. She admits to being a bit of a contradiction: one part dirty hippie, another girlie girl, with a mix of both off-beat places and glamorous travel.
Rachel reflects fondly on life as an expat in India (far different from Australia!) She encourages not to travel with the soul purpose to “find yourself” and doesn’t beleive choosing to travel is a waste of a college degree. I agree with the importance of breaking negative stereotypes of American travelers.
17. No Money, Will Travel
At only 18, Canadian gal, Andrea, is already a rockstar in the travel blogging niche. As a full-time student and part-time dreamer, she proves to the world and herself that you can do anything, even on a young budget. I can’t wait to see what this girl accomplishes in her twenties with as far as she’s already come!
She brings a unique perspective with solo girl guides to cover just about any situation: loneliness, emergencies, hostels, coach surfing and more! Her love letter to cities make me squeal with delight with each read!
18. A Dangerous Business
Amanda grew up in a Christmas tree farm in small town Ohio, and wants to show you that foreign adventures (especially as a solo female) doesn’t need to be lonely or scary. One of the few on this list who didn’t quit her job to travel the world, she is proof you can live a normal life.
Her bucket list is nothing short of epic and lessons learned from travel nothing short of inspiring. Amanda encourages you to do things you are no good at and And news flash, just because it isn’t their dream, doesn’t make it any less valuable.
19. Grease & Glamour
Jinna is a photographer in New York City who firmly believes that there is a reason for everything in life. She is fascinated by the polar opposites that makes life, fashion and culture so interesting and is just as in love with street art as I am. Travel blogging is up there with her top cures for wanderlust when you can’t travel.
Travel has forever changed her life and poses questions to ask yourself if you’re considering quitting to travel the world to start living the life you imagined. She rounds up the cheapest countries to visit, hello Nicaragua at #1! From Jinna’s eyes, these are things you must do before you die.
20. The Everywhereist
Geraldine is full of spunk, quirkiness, sass and always down for a good time! She follows her husband’s job around the world and documents their adventures in a “big, long, curse-filled love letter” to him of sorts.
Up there as one of the most hilarious blogs I’ve ever stumbled across- and all in the name of travel! Pitch me baby one more time, where she disses spammy PR requests had me rolling on the floor. Along with her tips for new bloggers, Ger’s a hoot!
This post took me forever and a day to compile but I hope it provides you with a few new reads. Stay tuned next week for Travel Blushes: Expat Edition.
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