Travel Blog Income Breakdown: How Much Do Travel Bloggers Really Make?
If you are thinking blogging is dead, think again! Travel bloggers are still growing their income and traffic while scaling their blogging businesses.
Yes, this doesn’t mean it’s a perfect world: the blogging industry at large is shifting — and big-time.
AI is suddenly upon us and changing the game; Google constantly releases a Core Update, and the world feels a little chaotic. (Just turn on the news, and you’ll feel all but despair.)
From my experience as someone who’s been blogging since 2013, and has been a full-time travel blogger since 2020 (yes, that very year), I’ve seen travel bloggers realistically making up to $10,000+ per month from ad revenue and affiliate income alone — depending on traffic, monetization strategy, and niche.
Most beginners earn little to nothing in their first year — that’s normal. You have to put in the elbow grease to get a shiny car!
Established bloggers (1 year+) diversify income beyond affiliates and ads, eventually into digital products, group trips, subscriptions, freelance gigs, and more. It’s all about how you want to build your blogging ecosystem.
How Much Do Travel Bloggers Make? Breakdown of My Travel Blogging Income
Let’s give the ways a travel blogger makes money a closer look:
- Affiliate marketing*
- Display ads*
- Digital products (e.g., maps, itineraries, guides)
- Photography licensing
- Paid brand deals (e.g., social media content, paid blog ads)
- Freelancing/services (e.g., travel writing beyond the blog)
- Group trips, retreats
- Coaching, courses, and more!
*Affiliates and ads are the core of a travel blogger’s PASSIVE income streams, but there are other ways to monetize with a blog and a brand.
There’s no “single paycheck” reality from travel blogging, which can make some risk-averse folks a little uneasy. I get it!
Personally, I have about 7 active income streams linked to my travel blogging business: ads, affiliates, paid partnerships, speaking engagements, private coaching, online course sales, and other digital product sales (e-books, workbooks, etc).
Real Travel Blog Income Estimates
I’ve been in this industry long enough to know there’s no “one size fits all” here.
Income and traffic are EXTREMELY variable and subject to each individual blogger and business. I’ve known bloggers with 50,000 monthly pageviews earning less than $500/month, and bloggers with 10,000 monthly sessions earning $2,000/month.
Traffic and income are not as closely aligned as most people think. However, I’ve pulled and averaged together the students in my Bootstrap Blogging Course, and have come up with the following estimates (ads + affiliates ONLY):
Beginner (0–10K sessions):
- $0–$1,000/month
- Mostly affiliates
Intermediate (10K–50K sessions):
- $1,000–$5,000/month
- Affiliates + ads ramping up
Advanced (50K–100K+ sessions):
- $5,000–$10,000+/month
- Strong affiliates + ads + affiliates
- Digital products + brand deals
- Group trips or other paid engagements
My Personal Blog Income Breakdown
My primary travel blog, with an average of 100,000 monthly pageviews, currently earns around:
- ~$6,500–$8,000/mo in affiliates (40%)
- ~$1,700–$2,500/mo with ads (10–15%)
On top of that, here are my average % splits on annual business income:
- 30% course sales / digital products
- 20% paid brand deals
- 10–15% private coaching + retreats
- 10% additional income from small niche blogs
What Actually Impacts Passive Travel Blog Income
The thing is, you really only need a strong affiliate strategy + ads to earn a full-time income from travel blogging (annual ~$60k+).
But to reach a six-figure blogging business, I’ve found that diversifying into digital products and community has been a game-changer.
If you are more socially inclined, you can engage more in group trips and brand deals. I love the passive nature of just blogging behind my laptop and monetizing from getting very intentional with my affiliate and ad strategy, personally.
This allows me more free time to build out more wealth-building opportunities: speaking at travel blogging conferences, releasing (and updating) my online blogging course, selling digital products (e.g., my Clarity Workbook), starting a podcast, and more.
How Long Does It Take to Make Money From Travel Blogging?
Gosh, this question is always a hot one! 😂
Honestly, if you take one whole year of publishing every day (at least 5x a week), there’s no way you WOULDN’T be able to reach $10,000 months. Easy. But! Publishing every day is actually VERY hard.
Momentum with blogging, for me, builds over time. Especially if you are intentional and stick with it.
Here’s a recap of what to realistically expect — again, based on my experience! This can vary:
- Year 1: Learning + $1k-2k
- Year 2: Traction to $5-7k months
- Year 3+: Scaling to six figures!
If you take your travel blog seriously, you can grow quickly.
Case in point: my Nomad in Japan niche blog grew to $1,000 in affiliate income with <35 posts, 7 of which were the heavier money-makers. You can listen to my podcast episode on my niche travel blog case study here.
How to Increase Your Blog Income Faster
The reality is, there are no shortcuts to growing your travel blog’s income. You just need to put in the work.
- Write high-intent affiliate posts (e.g., tours, activities, hotel guides, itineraries)
- Build content clusters (make your case for strong SEO + EEAT)
- Diversify income, while focusing deeply on one income stream at a time
I try to release as many resources as possible to help you scale your travel blog with purpose and profit: newsletters, podcasts, free trainings, and more! However, if you feel you need more direct guidance + community support, you’ll want to level up with us inside Bootstrap Blogging. ✨
Have any questions about a travel blogger’s income? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below! 💚
