2020 has come, maybe not with a bang as a lot of us may have hoped, but the world goes on and as such I have decided to extend this most beautiful travel blogs list even further with 6 new travel blogs to check out, bringing it to 20, a perfect number for the 2020 year. Without further ado, let's check out all the beautiful travel blogs out there.
As some of you may know, I have been in the design industry for the past 10 years working as a freelance designer in various companies while also running this blog. In fact, the majority of my income is mostly from my design freelance work over at The Pete Design.
I value well-designed products and today, I want to dive down into the design of travel blogs and featured the best design travel blogs out there that take storytelling to the next level and hopefully inspire you to create an awesome travel blog of your own.
Tips: Did you know that you can start a travel blog for as low as 3 USD per month? If you are looking to start a travel blog and are looking to save some cost, I highly recommend you check out Hostgator.
10 Best Adventure Backpacking Blogs To Follow In 2021
Looking for the best adventure and backpacking blogs to follow? Check out:
10 Best Adventure Backpacking Blogs To Follow In 2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The State Of Design
In The Travel Blogging Industry
Great Design Excellent Storytelling
The Best Design Travel Blogs In 2021
1. The Travel Episodes
2. Anywhere We Roam
3. Maptia
4. IFLY Magazine
5. Another Escape
6. Indie Traveller
7. Rojo Cangrejo
8. Cookiesound Is Traveling
9. RICE / POTATO
10. Salt In Our Hair
11. 12 HRS
12. Jungles In Paris
13. I Am Aileen
14. Camels Chocolate
15. Along Dusty Roads
16. Expert Vagabond
17. Sidetracked Magazine
18. Classe Touriste
19. Our Wild Abandon
20. Asiyami Gold
It's Time To Start Your Own Travel Blog
Further Reading For Inspiration
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4. IFLY Magazine
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The State Of Design
In The Travel Blogging Industry
Travel blogs nowadays are starting to look all the same, with generic off-the-shelf templates, difficult navigation, way too many unnecessary pop-ups and don't get me started on scroll hijacking (why do people do this?).
I believe it is because creating websites have become more accessible and blogs can be easily built with automated tools, allowing bloggers to focus more on writing, marketing, and SEO.
This is all good for beginners but when these blogs grow, most bloggers forgot about design and instead doubled down on SEO and marketing, sometimes sacrificing user experience for profit. Their identities are diluted over time and hence why most of the travel blogs you see nowadays feel similar to one another.
Great Design Excellent Storytelling
To promote great design in the travel industry, I have decided to scour the internet in search for the best travel blogs out there that have great user experience, excellent storytelling, and websites that pushed the envelope of what travel blogs can be.
The Best Design Travel Blogs In 2021
1. The Travel Episodes
What I love about it: The Travel Episodes does not just take storytelling to the next level with their writings but also with video clips, sound effects, and photography. It's like reading a futuristic storybook that teleported you to the place.
For example, the Hitchhiking through Pakistan entry, when you first landed on the page, you are already feeling the tense atmosphere of the video playing in the background, and the more you read through easily-digestible paragraphs, the more you want to see how it all went down. The Travel Episodes blog takes travel blogging into the realm of short stories like no other travel blogs I have seen.
2. Anywhere We Roam
What I love about it: Anywhere We Roam may seem like a typical clean and minimal travel blog but this UK-based travel blog runs by Paul and Mark is a great example of how photos speaks a thousand words.
The layout of the travel blog merely serves as a white canvas to emphasize the atmospheric and immersive photography that Anywhere We Roam is a master at. Their photography and writings are top-notch and has the ability to transport you to the location in question.
A great example of this can be seen on articles like Impressions of Havana - A story from the streets where the duo takes you through the street of Havana exploring its culture and vibe through atmospheric photography and immersive writing that will make you feel like you are there yourself.
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3. Maptia
Maptia Website
What I love about it: As you know, I am a sucker for a well-designed website and one of the travel platform that have always been on my radar is Maptia, a platform for travelers and explorers to document and capture the world around them.
Maptia has not been updating as regularly as I had hope for but even then, the design they had come up with years ago is timeless and still stand as one of the best well-designed travel websites out there.
Its focus on world-changing photography accompanying the travel stories written by those who have lived their lives to the fullest is the sole reason why Maptia deserve a spot on this list.
The Gathering of Giants travel story by Tony Wu is an excellent example of Maptia's superior content that you can't get from any where else. Seeing the extremely detailed photos and reading the well-written story on this article is as close as you can get to being near these beautiful stunning whales.
4. IFLY Magazine
IFLY Magazine
What I love about it: I first discovered about IFLY Magazine when I flew with KLM to Europe in 2018 and as they often send out newsletters to their fliers featuring several locations for them to travel to next, they introduced me to IFLY.
IFLY Magazine is an online travel magazine operated by the Dutch Airlines, KLM, that combines the professionally shot photographs you often come to expect from travel magazines on an airplane, the use of interactive media such as sound and videos, and travel tips and tricks that are universally useful to all types of travelers.
A great example of how IFLY excels at storytelling is in "The Wales Way" article. The article highlights a road trip itinerary that take us through the beautiful sceneries of Wales.
The moment you arrive on that page, you will see a full-screen video of drones flying around Wales together with many full-page photos of mountains and castles of Wales. If that doesn't create the best first impression for a travel website, I do not know what is.
5. Another Escape
What I love about it: With producing high-quality outdoor lifestyle content in mind, Another Escape blog hit the nail in the head with their online magazine website that features engaging and authentic travel stories and stunning photography of the outdoors around the world.
Another Escape's design shines the best when you are viewing travel stories like "The Road Taken" where the article follows a couple who traded their city lives to live lives on the road. Its white space and simple design of the website make ways for the engaging travel story and photography to surface and shine on its own.
There is a saying in the design community that goes something like this: "Good design is invisible" and I think this is exactly the case for the minimal and clean design of Another Escape's blog. The website's design of Another Escape gets out of your way and allow you to enjoy the wonderful stories of the outdoor world in solitude.
6. Indie Traveller
Indie Traveller Website
A crisp and clean colorful layout, water-colored headlines, a well-organized structure, and a ton of well-written travel guides, Indie Traveller is an excellent example of a travel blog that maintain its unique identity without sacrificing the usefulness of the content.
What I love about it: Indie Traveller is run by Marek Bron since 2012 and what I like most about the design is its play on the color palette, mixing contrast and subtle colors together in a way that made the travel blog stands out from the rest.
The layout is also uniquely framed and organized in a way that the moment you arrive on his blog, you know that he isn't using any generic Wordpress theme, which is a first impression that is hard to come by these days.
His content and writings are also the highlight of the travel blog. An article like "Where To Go Backpacking: Key Routes Around the World" is a great example of how organized and structured the content on Indie Traveller is.
The short paragraphs, a ton of white space, and the display of those unique diagrams and photos together with the pastel-like color palette, makes reading Indie Traveller such a blast which is something I can't say for many other generic travel blogs out there.
7. Rojo Cangrejo
What I love about it: This is a travel blog I selected purely of its artistic-style because the content is in Spanish but the design language of this blog is one of the most unique design I have seen on a travel blog.
Rojo Cangrejo design consisted of a lot blocks and lines laid out in a minimal way while relying on contrasty colors like turquoise and stunning photography to catch your attention and it works.
Marta, the writer behind Roko Cangrejo is also an excellent photographer who are able to capture the little intimate moments we often experience while traveling. Her article about Shapening Knives in the Japanese Town of Sakai is a great example of that. If you are looking for a uniquely designed travel blog, checking out Rojo Cangrejo is a no-brainer.
8. Cookiesound Is Traveling
What I love about it: Cookiesound is probably one of the most badass mother-daughter travel duos in the travel blog industry. The travel blog is run by Nisa and Ulli Maier, a mother-daughter travel photography team who travel to off-the-beaten-path places while sharing exciting travel stories through writing and travel photography in a real, honest and sometimes sarcastic way.
Their journey began with a twelve-month-long road trip on a 4x4 through Africa. If that doesn't make you want to hear their stories, I don't know what would.
Their travel blog design is also one of the cleanest you will find out there. Since they are photographers, their travel blog design reflects the importance of storytelling through visual with clean typography and massive photos to tickle your wanderlust.
I really love their photography and it is something I aspire to be as a travel photographer. Their photography often reflects travel as it should be, rough and tumble, while showing a more human part of life in the places they visited. To me, that is one of the most powerful ways of telling travel stories.
Here's a great example of their storytelling mastery: Travelling On The Infamous Iron Ore Train In Mauritania. Their crisp photography and their witty writings keep their experience real and down to earth which many can relate. Travel is tough, and it's not all flowers and sunshine like what you would see on Instagram. Check them out and let me know what you think of Cookiesound.com.
9. RICE / POTATO
RICE / POTATO Travel Blog
Next up, we have a Bangkok-based travel duo from Taiwan and the Netherlands who run a travel blog that wants to break out from the usual trope of travel content like top 10 things to do in Bangkok. Let me introduce to you, Etty and Chris from RICE / POTATO.
What I love about it: RICE / POTATO is one stunning travel blog, so much so that the moment you see their travel blog, you know immediately how important design is to them. It's all in the details they put on their travel blog, from the quirky color scheme of pastel blue and orange to the carefully laid-out image composition of each article.
A great example of a how their unique take on design helps emphasize their content is on their "9 Thai handicrafts you’ll actually want to buy" article where, with their elaborately designed header image that grabs your attention immediately, each item in the list is also accompanied with minimal yet colorful images with enough amount of text to get you interested.
10. Salt In Our Hair
Salt in Our Hair About Page
What I love about it: Salt in Our Hair is a fun and colorful take on travel blog design that I rarely see in the travel industry. Nick and Hannah combined their top-notch photography with a well-designed layout, fun typography and deliver them at extreme efficiency.
And by efficiency, I mean their travel blog is really fast, which is very important for a travel blog since most of our audience are often on their phones reading the blog.
One of the many problems I often have with travel blogs is that they are often slow to load due to how unoptimized their travel blogs are, may it be the overkill photo sizes, poorly designed mobile layout, or bad server, etc.
That is not the case of Salt in Our Hair though. Google PageSpeed score of the blog clocks in at 90, which is higher than most travel blogs out there. They really did a great job here at creating a beautiful travel blog without sacrificing performance.
11. 12 HRS
2. 12 HRS
What I love about it: 12 HRS has a concept they stick to that I really like. You guess it, it's the "12 Hours in" series that provides not just a detail guide on how to spend your limited time in a city, but also the guides are clearly divided into hours with phenomenal typography and stunning photography. Imagine a high-quality magazine but on the web.
12. Jungles In Paris
3. Jungles in Paris
What I love about it: Jungles in Paris takes travel storytelling into a deeper level away from the usual topics travel blogs like to write and more in the territory of a deeper understanding of countries' cultures and traditions. It's a breath of fresh air to read stories about "The Amazon Most Endangered Hunters" than another guide to a city or a country.
13. I Am Aileen
4. I am Aileen
What I love about it: Aileen is one of my favorite travel bloggers. She writes her travel articles from a perspective of a third-world country passport holder (like me) and she shares her story with amazingly thorough detail, pastel-colored photography and easily digestible list.
The aesthetic of her articles just screams how much attention she paid to design. Plus, her articles are always accompanied by a stunning cover photo with on-point typography.
A great example of her unique aesthetic can be seen on her "DIY Trip Hong Kong Itinerary: 5 Days (More Or Less) W/ Macau Day Trip" article.
14. Camels Chocolate
What I love about it: Camels Chocolate is one of the most colorful travel blogs out there. Kristin, the owner of the blog, really paid a lot of attention to her blog's design from the on-point color scheme to the aesthetic of her photography.
Every element of the landing page works in harmony with her content. Articles like "Real-Life Narnia: A Guide to Jasper" also put focused on photography, making it feels like we are traveling with her.
15. Along Dusty Roads
6. Along Dusty Roads
What I love about it: Along Dusty Roads authors, Andrew and Emily are one of the best travel photographers in the travel blogging game. All of their articles are accompanied by abundant information and stunning photographs that will inspire anyone to visit the place.
Their article about The Forgotten Animals of Bolivia has not just amazing photography but also a clean design that put the focus on the content first and foremost and is easily digestible. I remember reading their blogs extensively when I was traveling in Colombia and Ecuador.
16. Expert Vagabond
7. Expert Vagabond
What I love about it: If I want to plan something adventurous, I always visit Expert Vagabond. Mathew is a great adventure photographer and an excellent writer. His travel blog is designed for optimum information consumption with a simple layout, clean and content-centric.
Expert Vagabond never failed me at getting the concise information quickly without sacrificing the ability to dive deeper into a place if I wanted to. His article about Hawaii is a great example of his excellent writing and inspiring photography.
17. Sidetracked Magazine
8. Sidetracked Magazine
What I love about it: Sidetracked travel blog is a great example of a travel blog that excels at everything from unique adventure stories to a beautiful layout that doesn't dilute the content.
An article like "Paragliding off the Alaskan Mountain Range" shows off their ways of getting first-hand stories from adventurers and accompany it with adventure photography in between to give you the sense of scale. You will feel the rush of adrenaline by just reading through their articles.
18. Classe Touriste
9. Classe Touriste
What I love about it: Classe Touriste takes you off the beaten path further than most travel blogs do. The travel blog is designed to almost feel like you are reading a newspaper full of adventure stories with big typography, photography in a grid and clean layout.
For example, Classe Touriste will take you to places like North Korea and convince you to do the same with their absolutely stunning photography.
19. Our Wild Abandon
10. Our Wild Abandon
What I love about it: Our Wild Abandon is a creative and quirky travel blog by the duo Kyla and Jill with stories that will make you want to run away with them and do long road trips around the world forever. It's like On the Road book by Jack Kerouac envisioned in the 21st century and split into smaller stories for internet consumption.
Their layout design, for example on their Yosemite story, is almost invisible, making ways for the stories and photography to shine and take over.
20. Asiyami Gold
Asiyami Gold Travel Blog
What I love about it: Asiyami Gold is a travel blog run by Asiyami Gold who focuses on blending stunning photography with design and travel in a way that felt professional, yet personal.
Her photography is almost as if it came straight out of a travel and fashion magazine. The muted color scheme, sharp detail and old-school grain effect give her content a unique blend between magazine-like fashion and travel that you don't often find on a travel blog.
Instead of having a travel blog design competing for the attention, the design of her travel blog stayed aside with a minimal black white design allowing her unique style of photography to stand out front and center.
To me, that is a great design choice right there. Asiyami Gold travel blog design is functional yet it stays out of the way and let the content shine on its own. This strike of balance is not easy to accomplish, yet her travel blog was able to do it.
It's Time To Start Your Own Travel Blog
A computer on a table with a phone next to it at an open air cafe in Thailand
Feeling inspired? Want to start a travel blog of your own? Wordpress is still one of the best ways to start for most but in order to do that, you will have to first find a hosting company.
A hosting is simply a rented storage (server) that stores all your website data from the Wordpress program to all the content of your travel blog including images, text, etc. With this rented hosting server, you can serve (get it?) your website to literally anyone in the world 24/7.
The hosting server is basically the foundation of which your travel blog will be built on so picking the right one at the beginning of your journey will save you a ton of headaches along the line, trust me.
If you are starting out and do not have a lot of budget, the cheapest option and a great place to start is either SiteGround or Hostgator. They are beginner-friendly, very affordable starting at less than 3 USD, easy to install Wordpress, and you will have the option to scale up whenever you want.
Since you are starting out, I recommend you go with Hostgator's Shared Hatchling Plan which cost only 2.75 USD per month or if you want something more plug and play with Wordpress, SiteGround's Wordpress StartUp Hosting Plan which starts as low as 5 USD per month is also a great option too. From there, you can scale these packages up to meet the growing demand of your travel blog.
That said, if you are looking for the very best option no matter the cost, I highly recommend you go with BigScoots instead. A lot of big names in the blogging world use them and they are well-known for their top-notch customer service.
BigScoots's Starter Plan is a great place to start. It is a little pricier than SiteGround and Hostgator but the customer service is much better and you will have the reassurance that your travel blog is in good hands.
With the hosting sorted out, you now have a living, breathing (not literally), travel blog that you can shape however you like, and all that is left for you to do is create kick-ass travel content for all.
And there you have it, the top 20 travel blogs I believe have the best design out there. What do you think of the list? If you have any recommendation or you want me to add to the list, please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments below.
Further Reading For Inspiration
Looking for more articles to help inspire you to travel more? Here is a collection of articles you might like:
Hiking to the Everest Base Camp is one of the most memorable epic moments of my life. Here's a long-read piece about my experiences hiking the Everest Base Camp: On My Way To Everest Base Camp.
Ever wonder what it is like to travel the world on a third-world passport? Check out: Traveling The World On A Third World Passport.
Here's why I always celebrate turning a year older with a hike: Climbing Kilimanjaro On My 33rd Birthday.
Are you currently planning a trip around the world and are looking for cheap countries to visit? Here are the 10 Cheapest Countries to Visit in the World.
Traveling in Europe can be cheap, really cheap. These are the 8 Cheap European Countries to Visit.
For adventurers and backpackers out there, here are the 10 Best Adventure and Backpacking Blogs You Should Follow.
I truly believe we need more Asian representatives in the English-speaking travel blogging industry, especially for blogs about Asia. Here are the Top 10 Kick-Ass Asian Travel Bloggers To Follow.
Did you know that you can travel without leaving your couch? Here are the 8 Great Travel Books You Should Read.
For the best travel videos to inspire you to travel even further, here are the 20 Most Creative Travel Videos of All Time.
If you are looking for travel vloggers to follow on Youtube that aren't cringeworthy, check out: 10 Best Travel Vloggers to Follow On Youtube.
The best way to improve your photography skills is to learn from the best. Here are the 10 Best Photography Youtube Channels to Follow.
A photo is worth a thousand words. Here are the 25 Most Beautiful Travel Photos I Ever Took From Around The World.
Ever wonder what it is like to be a travel blogger during COVID-19? Check out: Being A Travel Blogger During COVID-19 - What Is It Like?
Stuck at home and not sure what to do? Here are the 10 Best Things to Do When You Are Bored in Lockdown.
Wondering where you should go after COVID? Here are the 8 Best Places to Visit After COVID-19.
Are you fully vaccinated? Are you looking for a country you can travel to where you don't have to quarantine? We've got that covered! Check out: 27 Countries That Are Open to Vaccinated Travelers.
Can't travel internationally for the time being? How about traveling in your own country? Here are the 7 Reasons Why You Should Travel in Your Own Country.
To find the most inspirational travel quotes and captions to go with your photos on your Instagram, check out 20 Best Travel Quotes and Captions for Instagram.
We often hear bad stories about locals from travelers but what about the other way around? Here are some of the Notorious Stories Of Terrible Backpackers.
If you lost your bag while you travel, here is how to deal with the situation: My Bag Was Stolen In Germany.
Have you ever felt you do not belong in a place you are born in? Read this: Where Is Home? - My Quest In Search Of Where I Belong.
People often preach about how important it is to live in the moment but sometimes, that may not be such a good idea. Here is The Problem With Living In The Moment.
Solo traveling is not for everyone and even though I love it to death, it is not always flowers and sunshine for solo travelers. Here are the 10 Things I Hate Most When Traveling Solo.
Travel friends come and go but that may not be such a bad thing. Here is why you should embrace your travel friends: A Life Of Brief Encounters.
Hiking is life. Here's why: One Year Of Incredible Discomfort - 10 Things I've Learned From Climbing Mountains.
Here's why having no plan is the best plan: Magical Things Happen When You Have Nothing To Do - The Art Of Doing Nothing.
Is life getting you down? Here's why you can't always blame life for everything: Life Doesn't Suck. We Are Just Suck At Living It.
Want to know why I chose to travel alone? Read this: We Travel Alone, NOT To Be Alone.
For meaningful solo trip, you need to share it with someone. Here is why Happiness Is Only Real When Shared.
Traveling is no longer for the rich. Here is why: "People Think I'm Rich".
The Himalayan Mountain is one hell of a teacher. Here are the 7 Life Lessons The Himalayas Taught Me.
Want to travel alone but scared that you might get bored out of your mind? Here is How To Enjoy Yourself And Have Fun While Traveling Alone.
Want to start traveling solo also? Here is What It's Like to Travel Alone.
Here is a simple story on how I started traveling: F*ck It, I'll Do This Alone.
For more inspiring articles like this, visit my Inspiration page.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
More Inspiration Articles
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Looking for more inspirational articles? You will find plenty more articles under our Inspiration section.
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34 COMMENTS
Clarice3 years ago
5/5~ I liked the 5 blogs/websites you recommended. Thank you! I will keep on checking them from now on for new content. The other 5 is blah. Just like the rest of other travel blogs that share travel guides not travel stories. Again, thanks for the list!
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Clarice3 years ago
5/5~ I liked the 5 blogs/websites you recommended. Thank you! I will keep on checking them from now on for new content. The other 5 is blah. Just like the rest of other travel blogs that share travel guides not travel stories. Again, thanks for the list!
Hi Clarice,
Thank you for the comments. I try to balance out stories and information hence why you see quite a mix between them. I'm glad you like the list. :)
Reply
Jenny3 years ago
Have checked a few travel blogs mentioned here, they had some amazing content for all travel enthusiasts. Thanks Pete for sharing this list. Really useful!
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Jenny3 years ago
Have checked a few travel blogs mentioned here, they had some amazing content for all travel enthusiasts. Thanks Pete for sharing this list. Really useful!
Thanks for the comments Jenny! :)
Reply
jhon willams3 years ago
Hi! It would be amazing if you could add my blog Temples and Treehouses to this list? It’s so interesting to see, thank you!
Reply
Kayla Manoe3 years ago
What a great list Pete! Some of my favs are listed and I also discovered some new ones! Thanks for the inspo!
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Kayla Manoe3 years ago
What a great list Pete! Some of my favs are listed and I also discovered some new ones! Thanks for the inspo!
Thank you for the comments, Kayla. Glad you enjoyed the post! :)
Reply
Ole3 years ago
Hi Pete, good job! I really like your blog it inspires me a lot.
Might send my blog to get your point of view in the future.
Thanks!
Reply
I Am Kyia 2 years ago
These travel blogs are awesome and cover a range of travel styles. I've been excitedly following I Am Aileen and Expert Vagabond for at least 2 years now which is cool. I'm really digging the Camels Chocolate site too, thanks.
Question Pete, would you mind taking a quick look at my site and providing some advice or suggestions? I realize you are busy so if there was a consultation fee, I'm okay with that too. Thanks :-)
Reply
Karen 2 years ago
I was looking for inspirations for my blog and your post was SO helpful. But honestly, my favourite one was YOURS! What a beautiful layout, I saw your other websites as well and you're really good! Congrats :)
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to I Am Kyia 2 years ago
These travel blogs are awesome and cover a range of travel styles. I've been excitedly following I Am Aileen and Expert Vagabond for at least 2 years now which is cool. I'm really digging the Camels Chocolate site too, thanks.
Question Pete, would you mind taking a quick look at my site and providing some advice or suggestions? I realize you are busy so if there was a consultation fee, I'm okay with that too. Thanks :-)
Thank you, Kyia! They are definitely the OG of travel blogging :) Haha, I don't think I am qualified to give suggestions on design as my blog is still in need of some upgrade myself ??
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Karen 2 years ago
I was looking for inspirations for my blog and your post was SO helpful. But honestly, my favourite one was YOURS! What a beautiful layout, I saw your other websites as well and you're really good! Congrats :)
Hey Karen! Thank you for such a kind word! I do try my best to put design as a priority but they are mostly still in progress. :) I'm glad you like my websites ☺️
Reply
Cate2 years ago
This was such a great post! Like every other millennial, I want to start a travel blog, but I've definitely not been impressed with most of the blogs I've seen. Do you have any suggestions on website builders that emphasize design? The Squarespace and Wix templates are fine, but not that great.
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Cate2 years ago
This was such a great post! Like every other millennial, I want to start a travel blog, but I've definitely not been impressed with most of the blogs I've seen. Do you have any suggestions on website builders that emphasize design? The Squarespace and Wix templates are fine, but not that great.
I believe the best way to start a travel blog is to go with Wordpress as they have large community of support and the platform give you much more control over Squarespace or Wix in terms of flexibility which you will later need, especially when it comes to optimizing your travel blog to Google so if you are starting, I would recommend you go with Wordpress, buy a nice theme, and learn the ropes through trial and error from there. :)
Reply
Olly Gaspar2 years ago
Epic list of blogs. Honestly though in terms of design and speed optimization you've got it nailed hands down dude.
Reply
James 1 year ago
Yours is about 100 times better looking and we both know it!
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Olly Gaspar 1 year ago
Epic list of blogs. Honestly though in terms of design and speed optimization you've got it nailed hands down dude.
Haha, thank you so much! As you can see, I care deeply about designs and that's why I decided it is important to have a roundup article to celebrate good design practice in the travel industry :) I hope you enjoyed all these beautiful websites!
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to James 1 year ago
Yours is about 100 times better looking and we both know it!
Haha, thank you so much James! If I am going to write an article about best travel blog designs, I have to share that I care deeply about the topic and hence why I pay attention to my blog's design :D
Reply
Marek Bron 1 year ago
Hi Pete! Kind of you to mention my blog Indie Traveller. I've actually been an admirer of your destination guides and blog layout for a while. Everything is just amazingly well presented. Keep up the great work! :)
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Marek Bron 1 year ago
Hi Pete! Kind of you to mention my blog Indie Traveller. I've actually been an admirer of your destination guides and blog layout for a while. Everything is just amazingly well presented. Keep up the great work! :)
Thank you for the comment Marek and no problem at all. I am always on a lookout for great travel blog design which our industry desperately need. :)
And thank you for the kind words. Blog design is an ongoing process and there is always things for me to adjust over time haha. Also, it looks like many travel blogs are using this covid downtime to redesign their websites so it will be interesting to see more of these great blog designs out in the wild in the coming months. :)
Reply
Chad Zimmerman 1 year ago
Hi Pete...I'm about to start a blog (Autre Route) and cannot thank you enuf for this article. Frankly, I've seen too many surface travel and lifestyle blogs that have left me wanting and disappointed. The idea of storytelling is more than exciting!!
Reply
Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Chad Zimmerman 1 year ago
Hi Pete...I'm about to start a blog (Autre Route) and cannot thank you enuf for this article. Frankly, I've seen too many surface travel and lifestyle blogs that have left me wanting and disappointed. The idea of storytelling is more than exciting!!
Hey Chad,
Thank you for the comment! I believe everyone started out wanting to tell the story but a lot of things can sway us away. I hope you will get a chance to make your travel story heard!
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Vicky 1 year ago
This selection is gold!!
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Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Vicky 1 year ago
This selection is gold!!
Thank you! :)
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Bradley replying to Pete Rojwongsuriya10 months ago
Haha, thank you so much James! If I am going to write an article about best travel blog designs, I have to share that I care deeply about the topic and hence why I pay attention to my blog's design :D
Hey Pete!
How do you still get your site to load so fast, despite looking so good! We struggle with the trade-off between picture quality and speed :)
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Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Bradley10 months ago
Hey Pete!
How do you still get your site to load so fast, despite looking so good! We struggle with the trade-off between picture quality and speed :)
Thank you Bradley!
I built my site by myself from the ground up without themes or plugins so I am able to slim down unused parts keeping the site delivery snappy. :)
I also use Cloudflare with Argo turned on to help with the worldwide delivery for all my assets which I think help the most so maybe you can look into that :) I hope this helps!
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Bradley replying to Pete Rojwongsuriya10 months ago
Thank you Bradley!
I built my site by myself from the ground up without themes or plugins so I am able to slim down unused parts keeping the site delivery snappy. :)
I also use Cloudflare with Argo turned on to help with the worldwide delivery for all my assets which I think help the most so maybe you can look into that :) I hope this helps!
Well you've done an awesome job! Do you mind telling me how did you build it? :)
Our website is similar, it's not built through Wordpress so there are no plugins or themes, it is also built from the ground up through Webflow.
Just looked into Cloudflare, that's cool! Our hosting is already very good through Webflow, and is managed through Amazon web servers with a global CDN. But wondering if there are natural limitations with Webflow that limit us in how fast we can overcome certain issues. If you're interested our blog is Dream Big, Travel Far.
Currently in the process of redesigning and rebuilding it :)
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Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Bradley10 months ago
Well you've done an awesome job! Do you mind telling me how did you build it? :)
Our website is similar, it's not built through Wordpress so there are no plugins or themes, it is also built from the ground up through Webflow.
Just looked into Cloudflare, that's cool! Our hosting is already very good through Webflow, and is managed through Amazon web servers with a global CDN. But wondering if there are natural limitations with Webflow that limit us in how fast we can overcome certain issues. If you're interested our blog is Dream Big, Travel Far.
Currently in the process of redesigning and rebuilding it :)
Thank you! Well certainly. I first separate all the non-critical codes like jQuery and other functions that aren't being used above the fold into a different JS file and only leave critical codes to be loaded on page load. And then I run the non-critical code when the page is being interacted for the first time. That way, the page loads extremely fast on first load.
And as you can see, all heavy media on the page are being lazy loaded, plus they are all optimized to the maximum and all have 2 versions, one for desktop and one for mobile so that we only load the larger images on larger screens.
With the backend, I have one internal cache on the server which cache the page when it is first visited and then I have Cloudflare cache which cache pages on the CDN closer to the user. That way, my server will rarely get hit by actual request as the 2 caches catch most of them hence why it is so fast. :)
Cloudflare Argo really help for me as it uses CF private network to route around the world and avoid a more congested route using their AI. It's pretty good but it can get quite expensive the more you grow. Right now, it is still manageable.
Since I am both the designer and the coder of the site, I have almost full control of it and through many experiments, I found these techniques to be much of help when it comes to speed. I hope this helps you in your new redesign!
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ZUBAIDAH BINTI MOHAMAD ISA9 months ago
Hi, Thank you so much for sharing such great information. Do you have any suggestion for great travel blogs for senior people age 50s and above?
Thank you
Zubaidah
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Amina Kate8 months ago
I was looking for inspirations for my blog, and your post was SO helpful. I have read another blog related to this which is also very informative. You can read blog by clicking on it Los Angeles
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Todd A Hinkel5 months ago
I believe it is because creating websites have become more accessible and blogs can be easily built with automated tools, allowing bloggers to focus more on writing, marketing, and SEO.
This is all good for beginners but when these blogs grow, most bloggers forgot about design and instead doubled down on SEO and marketing, sometimes sacrificing user experience for profit. Their identities are diluted over time and hence why most of the travel blogs you see nowadays feel similar to one another.
Funny, I just spent 45 minutes trying to read this particular blog as it dances back and forth and up and down as the advertisements try to sync into place. Than the popup. Annoying as hell. But, I like the content you presented. I will not allow that type of advertisement on my blog to come. That's my take away, although I did find some inspiration from your top 20.
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Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Todd A Hinkel5 months ago
I believe it is because creating websites have become more accessible and blogs can be easily built with automated tools, allowing bloggers to focus more on writing, marketing, and SEO.
This is all good for beginners but when these blogs grow, most bloggers forgot about design and instead doubled down on SEO and marketing, sometimes sacrificing user experience for profit. Their identities are diluted over time and hence why most of the travel blogs you see nowadays feel similar to one another.
Funny, I just spent 45 minutes trying to read this particular blog as it dances back and forth and up and down as the advertisements try to sync into place. Than the popup. Annoying as hell. But, I like the content you presented. I will not allow that type of advertisement on my blog to come. That's my take away, although I did find some inspiration from your top 20.
Hey Todd,
You are right, if we are living in a perfect world, I would rid my blog of these real-time bidding advertisements but unfortunately, that's how the ad tech nowadays works and it is one of main ways for us content creators to keep our content free and for all so at the end of the day, it all comes down to balancing this fact with user experience and I hope the ads weren't too troublesome for the content you get here. :)
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Myrna4 months ago
Hi Pete, wow, amazing videos!
Do you still recommend Wordpress for similar blogs? I am a journalist but no coding experience. Is it worth learning to be able to build high quality design into a Wordpress template? Thanks!
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Pete Rojwongsuriya replying to Myrna3 months ago
Hi Pete, wow, amazing videos!
Do you still recommend Wordpress for similar blogs? I am a journalist but no coding experience. Is it worth learning to be able to build high quality design into a Wordpress template? Thanks!
If you don't know coding, I still think Wordpress is the best option for you so you can focus on writing and when the time comes, you can easily hire someone to create a unique theme for you. There will be more designers who specialized in wordpress theming than any other platforms out there.
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