The rise of the travel influencer has expanded our appetite for global wanderlust. Professional content creators, their dreamy images, can’t stop watching videos, and insider journeys to the world’s best destinations have the power to inspire our travel plans and leave us wanting more.
It’s thanks to these creative explorers with their well-honed points of view offering us a virtual window to the world in all its rich history and culture that travel is top of mind once more. Here are 18 travel influencers we love, shaping the way we see and experience the world.
Melissa Lau
Why we love her: Melissa Lau of Wanderful Traveler is here for others providing travel tips, guides, and inspiration so that you can plan your next trip and discover products that are perfect for you. Back in 2016 she courageously bought a one-way ticket around the world to immerse herself in new cultures, to fulfill a long-held travel dream. Since then, Melissa has traveled to over 50 countries, always taking note of the least-expected experiences and finding ways to educate her followers on different destinations and cultures.
Follow her Adventures: YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok
Aggie Lal
Why we love her: Polish-born and LA-based creative Aggie Lal wears many hats within the travel industry. She became known for her stunning Instagram feed, featuring some of the world’s most stunning hotels and restaurants. She is also the host of a Polish television show, designer of an eco-conscious bathing suit line, and co-creator of a travel-themed card game called WHEN. Aggie is constantly on the go, if you’re looking for wanderlust inspiration look no further.
Follow her Adventures: Instagram, Youtube, Podcast
Oneika Raymond
Why we love her: Oneika Raymond is a big personality with tons of travel clout under her belt. She too wears many hats in the industry but is best known as an influencer, journalist, keynote speaker and the host of Travel Channel’s One Bag and You’re Out and Big City, Little Budget. When she’s not traveling the world for Travel Channel, she’s also an on-air correspondent for NBC New York and CTV Canada covering the travel beat. Oneika is based in New York City but her adventures have taken her to over 115 countries across 6 continents.
Follow her Adventures:YouTube, Instagram, Facebook
Joycelyn Linh
Why we love her: One of the most engaging and stylized aesthetics on Instagram is by New York City-based creative Joycelyn Linh (Jlinhh). From her beautiful homemade matcha lattes to her adventures in places like Japan, Qatar and Cappadocia she seamlessly blends lifestyle and travel content to perfection. Her Youtube videos serve as one part cinematic gem, one part informative travel guide suitable to help you plan your next adventure.
Follow her Adventures:Youtube, Instagram
Jack Morris
Why we love him: British-born photographer Jack Morris aka “doyoutravel” is the biggest social media influencer in the travel space. For years he was completely nomadic, constantly popping up in new cities all over the globe and creating content along the way. He eventually created a home base in Bali, Indonesia, and his distinct photography style and editing techniques have become the gold standard for content creators around the world. With just one photo from Jack, a small waterfall in Bali can go from relatively unknown to a viral social media photo spot.
Follow his adventure:Instagram, Youtube
Naomi Louwerens
Why we love her: Passionate about photography, authenticity, and affordable luxury, Naomi Louwerens of Authentic Chic Travel and Lifestyle aims to share her travel experiences in the most honest way possible. Inspiring others through storytelling, Naomi has been able to connect with like-minded travelers looking to share their stories and travel tips. After trying the route of backpacking, she realized you can still find unique and off the beaten path destinations even while staying at luxurious accommodations for less than you would expect. Her goal: give advice based on her real experiences and opinions.
Follow her Adventures: Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok
Melissa Teng
Why we love her: Melissa Teng is a Seattle-based creative best known for her gorgeous travel and lifestyle content. Her Instagram account is chock full of reels and photography filled with romantic florals, mood lighting, and pastels. She’s providing the perfect travel inspiration for the luxury traveler seeking idealized photo-worthy adventures.
Follow her Adventures:Facebook, YouTube, Instagram
Suze and Paul Renner
Why we love them: London-based Suze and Paul Renner are the powerhouse couple behind the website Luxury Columnist. Their social media and website content showcases the luxurious side of destinations all over the globe. We love how they are consistently unearthing hidden gem restaurants and experiences everywhere they go. Their Instagram offers a healthy dose of wanderlust while their website nails down the essentials of when to go, where to stay, and of course what to eat.
Follow their Adventures: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest
Wasfia Nazreen
Why we love her: Wasfia Nazreen is one of the most inspiring adventurers and explorers on this list. She is the only Bangladeshi and the first Bengali in the world to climb the Seven Summits. The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of every continent, so yes that means she took on Everest and lived to tell the tale. She is also the only woman in the world to have simultaneously held the titles of National Geographic Explorer & Adventurer, two of the greatest honors in travel. While we love her adventurous spirit and her dedication to mountaineering, we also love her commitment to social causes and giving back to the women of Bangladesh through her nonprofit, The Ösel Foundation.
Follow her Adventures:Facebook, Instagram
Yaya and Lloyd
Why we love them: Travel is joyful and British content creators Yaya and Lloyd have become masters of sharing that joy with their audience. From their funny and engaging Tik Tok content to the detailed trip itineraries on their website Hand Luggage Only you can feel the couple’s passion for discovering new places. They also wrote a book called Hand Luggage Only: Great Britain sharing their insider tips on Britain’s top travel destinations.
Follow their Adventures: Tiktok, YouTube, Instagram
Penelope Bielckus
Why we love her: Known as The Flyaway Girl, Penelope Bielckus is a British traveler living in Gibraltar who speaks English, German, and a little bit of Spanish. Providing her best advice and tricks for traveling, Penelope aims to help others travel on a budget while still seeing as much as they can in every location. While she’s been to 60 countries around the world, she still needs to visit three in Europe in order to complete the continent.
Follow her adventure:Instagram
Laura Reid
Why we love her: Stylish Canadian photographer, podcaster, and videographer Laura Reid became most well known for her viral snaps of tropical destinations throughout Southeast Asia. Since then she has covered much of the globe sharing her top travel and beauty tips via her youtube channel. More recently she has started a podcast with her boyfriend Peter where they interview travel industry experts like Hailey Dascovich on interesting topics like traveling through Pakistan as a solo female traveler.
Follow her adventures: Instagram, Youtube, Podcast
Uwern Jong
Why we love him: Uwern Jong might as well be crowned king of LGBTQ luxury travel. A British Asian entrepreneur, journalist, editor, and inclusive-tourism advocate, his long-running magazine OutThere has dominated the space for over a decade sweeping awards categories in both the LGBTQ and mainstream luxury travel industries. OutThere’s 2018 win for Travel Media’s Consumer Publication of the Year cemented the publication and Uwern’s reputation as one to watch. While he shies away from both the influencer and editor titles in favor of Experientialist in Chief, Uwern is undeniably influential.
Follow his adventure:Instagram
Tara Whiteman
Why we love her: A creative from Sydney, Australia, Tara of Tara Milk Tea documents her daily lifestyle as well as the most exciting people, places, and food around the world. Tara is unique in that she matches her hair and fashion to the colors of the destinations she visits curating a color-coordinated social media feed that makes us dream of traveling. With a focus on luxury, she’s partnered with clients including Tiffany and Co., Jurlique, and Dior and continues to grow her digital audience to over 1.4 million.
Follow her adventure:Instagram
Nathan Fluellen
Why we love him: Nathan Fluellen has been traveling the world since 2004. The host of Amazon Prime World Wide Nate, his adventures have taken him to 50 countries and 6 continents where he’s explored some of the planet’s most exciting corners. Whether he’s running with the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, or swimming with jellyfish in Palau he’s showing us how to live a life full of exploration.
Follow his adventure:Instagram, Podcast
Whitney and Megan Bacon-Evans
Why we love them: Whitney and Megan are the lesbian couple behind What Wegan Did Next. With nearly 7 million views on YouTube, they take their audience with them through all of life’s joys and challenges of life exploring the globe. The couple has been documenting their travel adventures since 2009 when they were a long-distance couple living separate lives in Hawaii and the UK. Today they live in England as a happily married couple showcasing their lives online as a means of inspiration to LGBTQ women around the world.
Follow their Adventures:Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube
Kasia Dietz
Why we love her: After over 10 years of life in New York City, American Kasia Dietz of Love in the City of Light packed her bags and took a journey to 32 countries in just over a year. With her palette fulfilled, she returned home to New York, fell in love, and then left yet again for Paris where she’s been living for the past eleven years with her Italian husband. Continuing to travel all over the world writing about amazing destinations, fashion, lifestyle, and food Kasia has also developed her own line of handbags and continues to contribute to top travel publications like Travel Curator and Conde Nast Traveler around the world, specifically sharing all of her Paris secrets.
Follow her adventure: Instagram, Facebook
Jessica van Dop DeJesus
Why we love her: Jessica van Dop DeJesus is a travel media specialist with a focus on food and attainable luxury travel. Her website The Dining Traveler is a go-to resource for foodie travelers around the world. Jessica has traveled to more than 50 countries and lived in 6. We absolutely love her Youtube cooking series, showing us how to bring our favorite travel recipes to life. After many years of traveling, she still considers her home of Puerto Rico to be her favorite place on earth, publishing her book The Dining Traveler’s Guide to Puerto Rico.
Follow her adventure: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook
Meagan Morrison
Why we love her: In order to manifest her dream of traveling and illustrating the world through the lens of art and fashion, artist and illustrator Meagan created Travel Write Draw where she showcases her unique artistic style. Meagan has worked on many projects from painting wine labels for the Ritz-Carlton’s Steven Kent wine bottles to partnering with Dior for their reopening of Bergdorf Goodman’s handbag floor where she painted customers live when they bought a bag. Meagan continues to explore and express her love of travel through her use of bright colors and unique artistic style paying tribute to the contrast of different destinations and their architecture, natural beauty, and styles.
Follow her adventure: Instagram, Facebook
