Online platforms like YouTube and Instagram are highly favoured when it comes to finding travel content. Offering a generous portfolio of content creators each with their own travel style and niche, it can be difficult to gauge whether a creator's advice and tips are reliable. Using my own experience of trawling the internet for different creators and travel bloggers, here are my recommendations.
Solo female backpacker and YouTube content creator Christianne Risman, more notably known as ‘Backpacking Bananas’, has amassed over 180,000 subscribers on YouTube, where she shares all her best top tips and tricks for fellow backpackers planning their next adventure.
For individuals eager to get out and meet people whilst travelling, but don’t want to go at it alone, Risman has hosted a range of group trips, recent ones included a two-week journey through Pakistan, and a scuba diving retreat in the Thai islands, notorious for great diving in the Andaman Sea.
Assembling a plan and route for a trip away can be daunting as time and budget are factors weighing heavily on how you spend your time away. ‘The Broke Backpacker’, a website run by a team of travel-crazy friends share extensive tips, tricks and information ranging from the best transport links to offering useful words for travellers to pick up, depending on the language. The website also suggests different routes to follow on your adventure, depending on your time constraints, offering tips for all travellers.
If you and your partner are planning an adventure together, finding content creators who travel as a couple is a good way to stay informed about different countries' and cultures' rules on travelling as a pair. ‘Along Dusty Roads’, is a travel blog run by couple Emily & Andrew, who share their best tips and advice for couples (and singles!) who want to hit the road together.
Relatively new to the travel content-creating scene is Kate, owner of the Instagram account ’Masked Travels’, which started during the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing the best tips on COVID-affected travel.
Two years on Kate has quit her job in the city and works fully online for a range of travel companies, as well as her own Instagram account which has over 10,000 followers, where you can find in-depth, valuable tips and advice for travellers. Kate is also a solo female traveller, who has taken on the likes of Mexico and Colombia alone, showing other travellers how easy it is to make friends the moment you set foot off the plane.
For those of you with sea legs and a keen appreciation for sailing, ‘UnTide’ is an account which has platforms on multiple sites including Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube as well as their own blog.
Hailing all the way from Cornwall, boat skipper Max has documented his nautical escapades on board the Elixir, which has sailed from sleepy Portsmouth across the Atlantic, Caribbean, and into the Pacific Ocean. Whilst sailing around the world Max picks up fellow travellers keen to sail and help out on board what can only be described as a floating hostel.
With a variety of different social media platforms at your disposal, you’ll be in good hands when planning your next trip.