Travel blogs that are actually worth reading
If there’s one thing the web is not short of, it’s people blogging about their travels. But how do you sort through the vast fields of chaff to get to the good stuff? Well, these 20 blogs are an excellent place to start.
Twitter: @natgeotraveler
National Geographic Traveler’s blog is arguably the finest in the travel sphere. The excellent mix includes contributions from around the world and collation of interesting titbits that others aren’t picking up on, plus guidance to great travel writing elsewhere on the web and consumer advice.
Twitter: @501places
Andy Jarosz balances the thoughtful and the humorous, mixing debate-starters such as whether you should visit the same country twice and tales from his own travels. The latter always tend to have an unusual slant on them – it’s never “What I did on my holidays”.
Twitter: @insidetravellab
Abigail King is another writer who manages to look beyond the obvious and approach things from a different angle. Her posts are rarely anything less than a quality read.
Twitter: @legalnomads
Jodi Ettenberg is one of the web’s great curators. She’s forever finding things of interest from the obscure corners of cyberspace to share with the world. Her blog is excellent too – ask just about any other travel blogger, and they’ll point to Legal Nomads as a shining best practice example.
Twitter: @wanderingearl
Derek Earl Baron is one of the many permanent nomads travelling the world and writing about it. What sets him apart is occasional advice posts – he’s great at those “Why didn’t I think of that?” tips. His piece on not getting ripped off by taxi drivers is a classic case in point.
Twitter: @umarket
Many personal travel blogs out there have become giant, sprawling, commercialised affairs. Of these, Uncornered Market has managed to keep the quality threshold high. The scope and size of the site is hugely impressive.
Twitter: @heather_poole
Flight attendant Heather Poole combines some of the nerdier flying stuff with some solid gold insider information on how to get on the flight crew’s good side. And, more importantly, get the best plane experience as a result.
Twitter: @nerdseyeview
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. Hawaii, Austria and Seattle are her strong suits destination-wise.
Twitter: @travelfish
More a travel planning with a few interesting blog posts on it to liven things up, Travelfish is the best South-East Asia travel resource on the web. It’s meticulously researched and the blog content is usually pretty enlightening.
Twitter: @gran_tourismo
Lara Dunston and Terence Carter’s blog is almost magazine-like. They travel the world, spending quality time in their chosen spots, attempting to live like the locals. Sections include suggested walking tours, shopping price comparisons and interviews with prominent locals who have something to share about their home city.
Twitter: @atlasobscura
If you’re the type of person that loves delving into oddities whilst abroad, then Atlas Obscura is a hero of the web. It forgoes the obvious attractions in order to put the spotlight on the quirky, weird and often downright silly alternatives.
Twitter: @48houradventure
There’s no shortage of ‘inspiration’ blogs out there, but 48 Hour Adventure goes for useful too. The core of the site is a collection of suggested 48 hour itineraries for various cities around the world. A simple concept that works.
Twitter: @cherilucas
Cheri Lucas combines a few things on her blog; San Francisco life, the digital world and overseas travel, but she has a consistent knack for getting under the skin of cities at street level. One for urban insight lovers.
Twitter: @leifpettersen
Most travel bloggers struggle to do funny. Leif Pettersen is funny. That’s probably all you need to know.
Twitter: @matthewteller
Middle East expert Matthew Teller consistently brings you stories and issues from the Middle East that don’t make the news – managing to show the region in a far more complex, nuanced light in the process.
Twitter: @philinthe_
Another blog that’s superb for illuminating a not-so-well known and even less understood part of the world. Phil Paoletta is travelling slowly around West Africa, drawing attention to its intricacies and problems – whilst teaching people how to draw camels.
Twitter: @rkyrstalli
These often deeply personal tales from the parts of the world scarred by war are treasures – the writing is superb, the topics fascinating and the photography evocative.
Twitter: @foggodyssey
If photos, rather than words, are your thing, then Troy Floyd’s blog should grab you. The most striking pictures tend to be of people and urban life rather than landscapes – but most tell stories.
Twitter: @eatingasia
And if you travel with your stomach rather than your eyes, Eating Asia is practically guaranteed to make you feel hungry. There’s plenty of research, detail and knowledge – often from lesser travelled spots – and the photography is excellent too.
Twitter: @rtwflights
OK. I’m massively biased here as I write for the site, but there’s now a massive collection of destination content up there. It’s great inspiration fodder for trips in the Americas, Asia, Africa – and Australia.
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