17 Travel Bloggers You’d Be Crazy Not to Follow in 2016

I have been wanting to write a post like this for a long time so I can share all my favorite travel blogs, ones that I read regularly and follow along on their social media accounts as well. These aren’t necessarily the best or biggest name bloggers (although some are), but they are my favorites that keep me coming back to read more! What better time than the New Year to find some new travel inspiration?

I’ve been blogging at Hippie in Heels for over four years now, and love every second of it. But, if you like my blog then you’ll definitely like these ones, too! If you want to start your own blog, check out this article – you can start one for just $2.95 per month with my step by step guide.

17 travel bloggers to follow in 2016

1. The Blonde Abroad

I love Kiersten’s blog because it’s straight to the point and because it’s part fashion blog. Although, there are some I read for travel stories or an in-depth cultural look into a place, sometimes I just want to know quick information, so instead of reading about each Thai island, I can just read The Ultimate Guide to Island Hopping in Thailand and cut out all the hard work.

2. Alex in Wanderland

I’ve been reading Alex’s blog since I started my own blog, and hers is one that I love to follow along each article because she writes chronologically. I loved reading about her time in Central America and ever since following along with her from country to country there, I’m dying to go. She doesn’t really write top 10 lists or anything, but instead you can read her posts in the form of a story or diary to see where she stayed, what restaurants were the best, and which secluded beach she found. She also takes amazing underwater photos and does detailed festival guides like Burning Man.

3. A Dangerous Business

Wahoo another travel blogger from OHIO! As her homepage says, Amanda is “just a small town Ohio girl trying to see the world”. Sounds familiar. I guess that’s part of the reason I’m really into her blog, but she’s also just a great writer in general. She writes a lot about safety of traveling alone, like this article 7 great places for solo female travel.

4. Heart of a Vagabond

Yara is as real as it gets, and writes from her heart. She left Portugal at 18 and now, 16 years later, she STILL lives on the road. There aren’t a lot of travel bloggers who have traveled like she has. Someone can say, “oh I’ve been to 50 countries…” but to me, going somewhere for a day to count it is silly, while the way she travels is really her lifestyle which is refreshing. She focuses on vegan travel, and even though I’m not into health food or vegan stuff, I still love reading her blog. She writes articles that make you think, like why I can’t be a nomadic girl forever.

5. Paper Crane Stories

I feel like I have a lot in common with Joella. She’s a Brit who was an expat in Beijing for a long time with her American boyfriend; I loved reading about her expat life in China and how closely it compared to mine. They then moved to California recently for a more chilled out beach life, something Ben and I have been thinking about doing in Hawaii. You can start with her post the best and worst things about living in Beijing.

6. Global Gallivanting

Anna is a friend of mine in real life (rare with bloggers!) since she travels in India a lot and we went on a trip to Kerala and NE India together. She’s hilarious! Her writing is so detailed and I’ve seen how much work she puts into helping people with guides on her site. Girl does her research while she’s in a town! She has a series about working abroad which is very helpful for future travelers.

7. Goats on the Road

This Canadian couple is all about teaching you their ways of how to live abroad and have a totally new lifestyle. If I weren’t settled in Goa, I would 100% be using every tip they offer on how to housesit your way around the world. They’ve got it all figured out & give tips along the way. Check out their article housesitting: a new idea, a new lifestyle and then read all the related ones! I weirdly think about the “goats on the road” because I see LITERAL goats on the road, on the regular and have to pick up the babies when I get a chance. haha!

8. Ashley Abroad

Ashley is a another midwestern American girl who has done, well sort of everything: the gap year thing, lived abroad as an Au Pair in Paris for a couple years, moved out West to “settle”, and traveled places like Jordan even though she’s “settled” with a full-time job. She’s kind of all over the place (in a good way) which is what makes her blog so great! Now, she’s chilling out in Colorado and shows how to have a stable job but still find ways to travel. Check out her latest on Jordan, Petra by night.

9. Curiosity Travels

Jessica is a little ball of fire. If I could meet one other travel blogger in person, it’d be her because she looks like she’d be so much fun to chill with! Am I creepy now? A little probably. Sorry Jess. She took some time from her international travels to work as a tour guide in the US which looked like an amazing opportunity: Month 1 tour leading with Peak Adventure travel and she’s off to do it again after a solo stint in Nicaragua.

10. Borders of Adventure

Becky’s blog is extremely unique. She writes about political issues in places she travels, shares interesting history about places and goes where you’d think you couldn’t even travel, especially as a girl on her own. For example, check out this article: Getting inside the former US embassy in Tehran: Den of Espionage. This girl is determined! Love it! (See mom and dad, I’m not that crazy, Becky is).

11. Be My Travel Muse

I love reading Kristin’s posts! She’s down to earth, like this article: What is Living the Dream, Exactly? When Traveling Sucks. She also writes a lot about how to travel the world alone and has even written a e-book which I have downloaded and will tell you all about once I finally read it. She’s so knowledgable about travel, I try not to miss her articles.

12. Colleen Brynn Travels

Maybe the only travel blogger not worried about getting more readers and social media followers, Colleen is true to herself and writes like she’s talking to a friend… with a lot of humor, or sometimes tears. She stayed with me in Goa and met Huck, later she wrote a heartfelt article called Goodbye Huck which I still take the time to read once a month (if you read anything on this whole post, read that article!). She’s one of the good people left in the world and I love especially reading her “I ate___” posts for each place she goes. Check out what she ate in Goa (hint, ALL of the food… she ate everything lol).

13. Girl Vs Globe

Sabina is all about having fun, staying upbeat, and looking cute while she travels. Based in London now, her writing and photos are funky and fun. I love her blog because it’s girly but she’s still going off the beaten path – which is what my blog is all about too. With the amount of great articles on her blog, you’d think she had a content team rolling this stuff out but she’s a one girl team. She was even finishing GRAD school while blogging. Go Sabina! Check out one of her most popular posts how to be the main character of your life.

14. This American Girl

Camille is a hippie chick who hides out in Costa Rica most of the time; she is basically the queen of travel to Costa Rica. Her lifestyle and carefree attitude has gained her MILLIONS of followers & her articles almost always go viral. She writes about life, heartbreak, boyfriends, growing up, being healthy, and always does it with conviction. You can see why people love and relate to her with posts like this: Live Like a Gypsy… Without Going Broke! Yeah, we all want that! She gets her share of people calling her spoiled or “a privileged white girl”, and always replies with something positive like “I hope you can heal from whatever’s making you so angry… thinking of you” … I need to follow her advice on life, because when I get those comments I wanna slap a troll!

15. Wandering Earl

I know I know, finally a boy on the list! Derek travels India a lot and even runs tours here. He’s kind of a travel blogging legend and his name isn’t even Earl. Mysterious, I know. He has been traveling for FIFTEEN YEARS! He shares great information on India, like this one with all his favorite accommodations he’s stayed at over the years.

16. Nomadic Matt

I can’t do a list like this without mentioning the top backpacking blog in the world that is a GREAT resource, especially on budget travel in Europe. Matt is probably the ultimate travel blogger and you probably have already heard of him. I use his website ALL THE TIME for finding guides to places I’m going. Matt actually just opened a hostel in Austin which is too cool for school. He travels to “gap year” places and writes tips you’ll need as a new traveler like how to book a cheap flight, how to find a hostel, and tips on staying on budget. He’s all about budget travel and when I bought my Kindle, his book was one of the first ones under my “recommended” section…. Amazon, how do you know me so well?

17. Adventurous Kate

Kate is a seriously experienced traveler and seems to be always moving. Kate’s hilarious and let’s be honest, I love when crazy shit happens to her because she always tells her readers about it, like that time a company invited her to review a boat trip and the BOAT SUNK LOL! If you’re planning a gap year, I’m sure she will pop up on google when you start searching. After years on the road, she’s taking a bit of a break and chilling out in NYC where she’s been talking about getting an apartment.

So there we have it, loads of travel inspiration in terms of travel bloggers to follow in 2016! Happy New Year! Oh and don’t forget to keep following Hippie in Heels ;)

If you want to start your own travel blog, check out my step by step guide to building a travel blog from scratch. If you are a new blogger, you should start with Bluehost though which is cheaper. It’s just $2.95/mo with this special discount link. The theme of my blog is called Avada from ThemeForest and it’s highly customizable. Nomadic Matt (the top travel blogger) has a course I recommend if you want to be a travel blogger or up your game.

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