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We’d been back for a few months, struggling to adjust to the grey, wet gloominess of a British winter after an incredible year travelling the world. I was supposed to forget about travel for a few years, focus on my career and our life in Manchester. Yet I was drawn to the Lonely Planet website, and came across Soultravelers3 who had won a LP Travel Blog Award. The family of three have been travelling for over three years and have no plans to stop.
Their website opened my eyes to the possibilities of permanent travel. I had read plenty of travel blogs but the trips all ended after a year. Suddenly I discovered a world of perpetual travellers, digital nomads and location independent professionals. Travel wasn’t temporary for these people, it was a lifestyle. They had all found ways to make a living on the road, so they could travel or live wherever they wanted. The thought of this freedom was intoxicating. There was no going back and our journey to becoming perpetual nomads began.
In the last year the following travel bloggers have been our inspiration. As we take the leap we have faith that if they can do it, so can we. They all travel in different ways – some move around frequently, while others stay in one place for months at a time. What they all share is the freedom to live and work wherever they choose, and they entertain and educate us all by writing about their experiences.
Soultravelers3
It all started here for us with this inspiring digital nomad family. I learnt about Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek, lifestyle design and how to free yourself from work obligations; and read of many other inspiring long term travellers.
Our favourite post: How to Do Extended Travel & Mini-retirements
Follow them on Twitter: @Soultravelers3
Uncornered Market
Audrey and Daniel have been on the road for three years, visiting Asia and Latin America so far. Their method of travelling is similar to what we are aiming for – periods of exploration broken up with weeks or months in one place. We love their interesting travel articles, stunning photos, and street food focus. They have inspired us to one day visit the little visited Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. They also helped us find our apartment in Buenos Aires.
Our favourite post: Guerilla Food Photography: 10 Tips For Taking Great Food Photos
Follow them on Twitter: @umarket
Man Vs Debt
Baker is a lovely guy. His personality shines through on his entertaining blog whether he is writing about selling your crap, paying off debt or doing what you love. He spent the last year travelling, working abroad and even couchsurfing with his wife and baby. We hear so many people use children as an excuse not to travel that it was great to see that it’s possible. We love Baker’s radical transparency where he lists all their stuff and daily details of their finances.
Our favourite post: Travel Hacking for Noobs: How We Save Hundreds on Airfare, Get Free Accommodation, & Make Money while Overseas
Follow him on Twitter: @manvsdebt
Almost Fearless
Christine Gilbert quit her job and sold all her belongings to become a freelance writer and travel the world. She even took her dogs along. Her blog is packed with useful advice for aspiring digital nomads or long term travellers. Subscribe for regular updates and you get a great free ebook on how to redesign your life and travel. Christine has recently had a baby so it’ll be interesting to see how she gets on as a nomadic mother.
Nerdy Nomad
Kirsty has been travelling for two years living off her earnings from websites (and working abroad for years before that). It’s motivating to see that it is possible to make money this way, and we love how openly she shares her monthly earnings. Kirsty often volunteers on her travels and is always on the look out for low cost opportunities. We will definitely be heading to Nicaragua after reading about her time there. Check out her Underground Guide to International Volunteering for lots of useful advice on volunteering independently.
Our favourite post: Free and Cheap Volunteering Opportunities in Nicaragua
Follow her on Twitter: @travoholic
Fluent in 3 Months
Benny speaks eight languages, makes his living as a freelance translator, and moves to a new country every three months to learn the language. His blog posts are always entertaining and are full of incredibly useful language learning tips. We love his positive attitude: anyone can learn a language – no excuses! We’ll be applying some of his techniques as we learn Spanish.
Our favourite post: How to Speak a Language Pretty Well Starting From Scratch in Just Two Months
Follow him on Twitter: @irishpolyglot
Professional Hobo
Nora Dunn sold her successful business in Canada and has been travelling and writing for the past few years. She introduced us to many options for long term travel on a budget especially working in exchange for accommodation. Her experience living in a yurt on a permaculture farm in Hawaii sounded amazing.
Follow her on Twitter: @hobonora
Location Independent Professionals
Lea & Jonathan Woodward created the term location independent, and have lived and worked remotely in destinations such as Panama, Buenos Aires, South Africa and Thailand. They have built a huge network by supporting others to live and work anywhere they choose. Even with a new baby they are continuing their nomadic lifestyle, currently in Turkey. We’ll be taking part in their upcoming 12 Week Challenge to develop our own location independent business.
The Art of Non-Conformity
Chris Guillebeau aims to visit every country in the world within the next four years, and writes about unconventional ideas for remarkable people. His free manifesto A Brief Guide to World Domination is essential reading; and he sells a number of useful guides on subjects such as becoming a frequent flyer master, social media, and making money as an artist.
Our favourite post: 28 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Traveling
Follow him on Twitter:@chrisguillebeau
Nomadic Matt
Matt is a twenty-something vagabond who’s been on the road since 2005. He has built a hugely popular travel blog, makes over $3000 a month from his websites, and shares his secrets is his ebook How to Make Money With Your Travel Blog.
Our favourite post: Everyone Says I’m Running Away
Follow him on Twitter:@nomadicmatt
We’d like to say a big thank you to all these wonderful bloggers who have inspired us and helped us begin our never ending voyage.
Erin & Simon, Hello! What a great list. We have been following your journey and hope our paths will cross some day! Congrats on the success with your app!
Lisa & George
We Said Go Travel
Hi Erin, Excellent blogs, I have been travelling the last four years and I haven’t looked back since.
Excellent list.
Thanks
Fantastic post, found enough info above to keep me busy reading for days and even more importantly some really inspirational individuals, many thanks!
There are some great blogs here. Glad you found it useful. Happy reading!
these travelers are really inspiring …I must confess, we are also dreaming about living locationless and permanently travel but who knows, ‘ll see how is going for you too guys first eh eh
Well so far so good- we’d recommend it. It is harder than just travelling as you have to think about money and work but it’s still MUCH better than working in an office. We want to live in Italy at some point though!
glad it’s all good :-)
totally agree with you! well, living in Italy is now quite expensive even more if you travel around. if you pass by Venice we have to catch up and maybe we could be of help with our little resources
Right! I guess I have got inspired by the same people. Also, a friend of mine who does not have a blog has spent 2 years around South America on a journey by bike, horse, car, bus, hitchhiking…and talking him motivated me a lot.
Keep posting!!
It’s a shame your friend doesn’t have a blog – I’d love to hear about that journey!
I love these lists, thanks! I’ve been meaning to get one up on our site for ages too – but for anyone who’s interested right now, here are some more great folks to check out that I always get a big dose of inspiration and new ideas from:
http://www.legalnomads.com
http://www.nomadderwhere.com
http://www.seanogle.com
http://www.theplanetd.com
I’ll put a write-up about who they are and what they’re about when we get it up on our site, but there’s a heads-up to get you started. :)
Thanks for the tips. I have heard of most of them too and love their blogs. There were so many bloggers to choose from that this time we focused on people who were about to go off on trips, or had recently left. Look forward to reading your post.
Great list! I found a few new people and found articles I haven’t read yet!! Keep up the good work!
What a great list! I`m always suprised I keep finding new people to follow and read their travel stories. They`re all so fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
.-= IsabellesTravel´s last blog ..Favorite Blogger of the week =-.
Great post! I was inspired to be a full time travel blogger by nomdic matt, almost fearless, and uncornered market. I also always love finding out about families that travel! Is encouraging to know it’s completely possible to travel nomatter what.
Excellent list! Thanks!
Glad you liked it Stephen.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..How to Budget for Long Term Travel =-.
Great post and equally great list of bloggers. Hope to see you and some of these digital nomads at TBEX in June.
Thanks Andrew. We’d love to make it to TBEX but we probably won’t be that far north by then.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..How to Budget for Long Term Travel =-.
@Joanna – it is really true that the community is so supportive.
@Cornelius – There are indeed so many amazing travel bloggers out there. We’d love to hear your tips on who we should be reading.
@Nancie – Glad you found some new bloggers to check out.
@Audrey – We have enjoyed following your journey so much. We are loving BA and your great apartment!
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.
We’ve been offline a lot recently in Patagonia and it was such a lovely surprise to come back to “civilization” to see us included in this list. Thank you and I’m so glad that our journey and writing/photography have been an inspiration to others. Enjoy your time and apartment in Buenos Aires :)
Fantastic List.
Some I know, and agree they are inspiring. The others I am off to check out.
Great posts I always love to see who others are reading and inspired by. Unfortunately after building up a travel community online you loose a sense of the fact that there are so many other travel bloggers out there with inspiring stories to tell.
Great list! There are so many fantastic travel blogs in the blogosphere, but I think my favorite part is how supportive everyone in the travel blogging community truly is.
I’m really happy to have made your list. It feels great to know that people are inspired to break free from the ‘normal’ lifestyle and try something a bit different. I know of everyone on this list and have been in touch with most of them. Some great suggestions in the comments to check out too. I’m excited about the travel blogging community and feel like it’s full of fantastic people. Happy travels! Love your site and I plan to stay tuned to where you are. Hoping to cross paths at some point!
Thanks Kirsty – that means a lot coming from you. Its weird – I read so many travel blogs that the nomadic lifestyle seems normal and it’s only when you talk to people back home that you realise it’s not! We look forward to meeting you one day.
“Their website opened my eyes to the possibilities of permanent travel.”
Wow, that really makes me happy! My passion is to let people know that long term travel is easier, cheaper and more rewarding than most people know. (Yes, even families!)
As you probably know, while biking the Danube last August I broke/had surgery/paralyzed my dominant right arm & while it slowly heals 7 months later, I find myself writing a book and a busy blog with one left hand.( One never knows where these travels lead as the NYT’s decided to profile us out of the blue & that led to literary agents wanting us to do a book).
On my challenging days, it’s people like you that find and read us and make their own plans towards freedom, that inspires me to continue and makes my heart sing. Thanks so much for letting us know!
I love how we can all inspire each other! Big cheers to ALL the people on this list and the many people they inspire by living their dreams.
Yes, you CAN do it, come what may, and I have no doubt that you will always be grateful that you did. It will change you, delight you and expand you like nothing else ( as I’m sure you know from your first year, but adding years increases the value!).
Oh & by the way, we actually won TWO Lonely Planet Travel Blog Awards which totally stunned us & so grateful that people still find us from that. We’re into our 4th year of travel now & it just gets better. We’re living proof that one can live large on 23 dollars a day per person, even in Europe & “world schooling” is probably the best possible education for 21st century global citizens. Today’s world traveling digital nomads/permanent travelers are pioneers & I think we will see tons more by the end of the decade.
Hope we can meet up with you some where along the line. “abrazos grandes” from Spain!
.-= soultravelers3´s last blog ..Funniest Kids! Soultravelers3 Family Travel =-.
Thanks so much for your supportive words. Congratulations on the book deal too – that’s really exciting and we look forward to its release. Hopefully our paths will cross one day.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.
Nice! yes inspiring people indeed. including you! :)
Since i started tweetering I met so many great, inspiring people and helped me get through the whole blogging world. and still do.
Thank you all!
Ah, thanks Juno! The blogging world is indeed very supportive.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.
Ohhhh, some new ones for me, too. Can’t wait to “meet” everyone. Great list!
Glad you found some new inspiration here Abby. They are all such great bloggers.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.
Some awesome full time nomads there, and many who have also inspired us to keep on going!
We’re approaching 3 years of location independent professional full time travel together, and no end in sight either. Aside from the fantastic folks above, I’d also add these awesome folks for inspiration:
Our Odyssey – Who are combing some amazing volunteer work in with their going on 5 years of travel.
Where is Ben – Going on 4 years of full time travel, teaching Photoshop as he goes.
.-= Cherie @Technomadia´s last blog ..US Census 2010: Counting Nomads =-.
Oooh, some new people to check out – thanks Cherie! Your journey sounds fantastic too. We hired a campervan on our last trip in Australia and it was such an amazing way to get around. Having a home on wheels might be a good idea for us when we get sick of unpacking/packing!
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.
Sweet – thanks for the mention! I’m honoured to be a source of inspiration, as so many of the other travelers profiled here have been my own sources of inspiration and helped me keep my eye on the ball during tough times.
Cheers!
Thanks to you Nora! Reading your post on how to travel for less than $14,000 a year was a big turning point for us – it really opened our eyes to so many opportunities.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.
I’ll also add my thanks! That’s two of your posts in a row I’m linked to: gotta love the link love :D :D
I’m also in contact with or have met a bunch of the other ones in the list, awesome people as well as amazing bloggers!
Your trip is going to be awesome; when I started mine waaay back in 2003, it was a different world and I didn’t have any others easy to find online to inspire me unfortunately! The travel blogging community is spectacular now though; always with lots of advice and support! Are you on TBEX?
Yeah, it’s a good week for you Benny! It’s so true that the travel blogging community is amazing – that’s what has made us so sure we can do this. I’d love to be able to meet up with some of you guys if our paths cross. I really wished I was in Thailand when all my favourite bloggers seemed to be there at the same time!
I will check out the Travel Blog Exchange.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.
Great post, guys! Some new ones for me. Looking forward to checking them out.
Glad there are some new people on the list for you Joel. I think all of these people have the potential to really inspire anyone.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.
Thanks, guys! I’m stoked I could pass on a little of the inspiration! I get so much from almost everyone on this list as well!
Keep up the great work.
-Baker
Thanks for the comment Baker. You have definitely been a big inspiration and we look forward to following what you get up to next.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..10 Travel Bloggers Who Inspired Us =-.