Top 25 Travel Blogs: 2015 Viator Travel Awards

Find out our picks for the Top 25 Travel Blogs of the Year!

Editor’s Note: This post is part of the Viator Travel Awards. an annual awards competition where we – along with our readers, travelers, and fans – select the top things to do and see in each of the major regions we serve, the top things to do in our most popular tour categories, and more.

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Welcome to the 2015 Viator Travel Awards: Travel Blog edition. your annual guide to the Top 25 Travel Blogs You Should Be Reading. We are big fans of travel blogs here at Viator. They can be valuable resources for tips, recommendations, photographs, and inspiration. They are also great places to share your own experiences and adventures.

It can sometimes seem like a new travel blog is launching every minute, which makes it hard to keep track of all the great reading that is out there! This is, of course, not a definitive list of every great travel blog currently out there. Some of our long-time favorites were left off this list in order to recognize new (to us) blogs that we wanted to also share with Viator s readers. We hope you find a new blog or two worth following on this list, and we welcome your suggestions about your favorite travel blogs, too whether it s writing, photography, video, or some other form of expression.

Here, in no particular order, here are our 25 favorite travel blogs.

Please note that we focused only on blogs written mostly by a single traveler or a couple, and which aren’t backed by a larger company or media outlet. For that reason, sites like National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel blog, World Hum, Vagabondish, Fathom Away, and Culture-ist aren’t listed (even though we love them).

Fearful Adventurer

Fearful Adventurer

In 2004, when Torre DeRoche began blogging, she thought no one was reading. Fast-forward to 2013, when her memoir (initially self-published and almost immediately picked up by major publishing houses) was released and optioned for a motion picture. Torre s easy-going style has hooked readers for years she encourages us to face our fears, and we feel emboldened because she s a normal person who faced her own fears. Her book is the tale of sailing across the Pacific Ocean with the man she loved (despite a morbid fear of deep water ), and you can also check out her funny post on the useless horror-story-laden reactions we get when we tell people we re going on crazy adventures .

Geotraveler s Niche

Hecktic Travels

Dalene and Pete Heck, the Canadian couple behind Hecktic Travels, have been on the road since 2009. Their writing is entertaining and insightful and they often tackle difficult topics, like when they witnessed protests by sweat factory workers in Phnom Penh or when they visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Killing Fields in Cambodia. They have literally written the book on housesitting around the world and provide great advice to would-be digital nomads in How We Do It (And Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Us) .

Brendan’s Adventures

Brendan s Adventures

Travel Darkly

Travel Darkly

Both Sophie Collard and Katherine Conlon have a fascination with the macabre (Katherine s dissertation was about 17th century public executions), so starting a blog about visiting sites associated with the darker side of history was a natural fit. Travel Darkly was founded in 2013 to seek out cemeteries, abandoned places, dungeons, haunted buildings, battlefields, and more. The site is still fairly new, but if you ve a morbid curiosity about all things morbid, it s definitely one to watch. For now, you can learn about the first British casualty of World War I, buried in Belgium. or the many plague pits in London that were dug to limit the spread of the 14th century and 17th century plague outbreaks.

Legal Nomads

Jodi Ettenberg has been on the road ever since leaving her legal career in 2008. While she appreciated good food growing up, her travels have intensified her understanding of the importance of – and meaning behind – what we eat. Since being diagnosed with Celiac disease, Jodi has focused even more on food, especially helping people find great meals when they travel, no matter what their dietary needs. We loved her Celiac’s Guide to Northern India and her photo essay from the Mekong markets in Vietnam was mesmerizing. Jodi published her first book (The Food Traveler’s Handbook ) in 2012 and she also runs tours at Jodi Eats Food Walks .

Toque Canoe

Toque Canoe is written by two Canadian travelers, Jen Twyman and Kim Gray, who have been tellies stories about real Canadian travel culture since 2011. In just the past few years, they ve won some awards, including being named the Best Travel Blog by the Canadian Tourism Commission. In addition to the work of both Jen and Kim, Toque Canoe also features guest posts from other Canadian storytellers, as well as excellent photography. Read about Quebec City, a favorite winter vacation spot. in all its icy beauty or hang on for the wild ride that is the Calgary Stampede. Toque Canoe is a must-read for anyone who is planning a Canada trip or simply loves the country.

Turf to Surf

When Tasha Hacker left school, she went to the Russian Far East with the Peace Corps to teach English. She spent seven years after that traveling, teaching English when she needed money, and eventually got her MA in English education. All of that plus a desire to avoid cubicles led her to found a CELTA teacher training school. Tasha and her husband, Ryan Horsnail, operate the school from wherever they happen to be which is usually on their sailboat, Hideaway. someplace warm. Their working life isn t always glamorous. but it does allow them to participate in yacht races and drive across Australia in a camper van. How else would they have found the dog on the tuckerbox ?

The Adventure Freelancer