The Best Adventure Travel Blogs Right Now
In the last few years a ton of people started travel blogging – some, to put it nicely, offering more quality content than others. So you don’t have to sort through thousands of adventure travel blogs on Google, we’ve highlighted a few that are genuinely deserving of your attention. Whether you are a hardcore backcountry adrenaline junkie, a cautious city dweller who just tries their best to get out in nature whenever you can, want to World School your kids, or travel the world with your partner and learn how to not be at each other’s throats after two weeks, there’s sure to be an adventure blog here for everyone.
11 Popular Adventure Travel Blogs to Inspire Your Future #TravelGoals
1) The Planet D
The Canadian couple behind The Planet D, Dave and Deb, live by the motto “Adventure is for Everyone.” They don’t believe that you have to be an uber-athlete, adrenaline junkie or ultra-rich to be an adventurer, you just need the desire to achieve something more. They both used to work long hours on feature films and television but left that world to travel to over 115 countries on all 7 continents and become a leading source of detailed city guides, personal travel tips, and inspiring stories. It all started when they signed up in 2008 for the Tour d’Afrique, the world’s longest cycling race, which was an experience that sparked the idea that travel could be a way of life for them, not just a vacation.
2) The Adventure Junkies
Polished and very wide-reaching in its information, The Adventure Junkies blog wants its readers to “be safe, confident and prepared in the outdoors.” Its mission is to make the outdoors accessible to everyone in order to inspire people to value, understand and protect the planet’s ecosystems. The blog not only promotes quality e-books but also offers digital magazine issues called ReWild and a community platform called Summit where you can interact with other adventure junkies. The content is organized into sections such as “Climb,” “Paddle,” “Snow,” or “Hike,” so you can easily find posts related to your specific outdoor interests.
3) O. Christine
As a Bronx-born Afro Latina with Lupus, Olivia Christine Perez knows what it feels like to burn out and wish for an escape, or to be unsure of how to start life anew after hardship. Her goal with O. Christine is to remind her readers that they can create a life they love despite their personal circumstances or challenges. She found joy and whole-body wellness in travel and believes that everyone deserves to explore, relax, connect with the outdoors, and live well.
4) Off Yonder
It’s been heartwarming to see Cameron Martindell morph over the past few years from hardcore adventurer and gear-reviewer to inspiring family travel guy. His passion for and connection to the natural world is conveyed in a very authentic way, and even though he has experienced some of the most epic adventures on earth, he never comes across as pretentious about it. His blog, Off Yonder, is set up cleanly, organized first by continent and then with sections like “Earth,” “Snow,” “Water,” and “Air.” For those of you with kids whose idea of a fun family vacation is backcountry camping, whitewater rafting, climbing, or skiing with your kiddos as opposed to a week at Disneyland, this is a must-read blog.
5) McCool Travel
When your actual last name is McCool, you better live up to the hype. He does. Charles is like a mix between fun, dorky dad and crazy uncle who has seen and done it all. His specialty is U.S. road trips and the Gulf Coast, although his blog, McCool Travel, includes international content as well. His main goal is to show travelers how to increase travel happiness and reduce stress on every trip. What’s to love about his blog is that he is very down-to-earth and brutally honest. He tells it like it is without sugar coating anything, so when he is excited about something you can trust that it’s not just because he is being sponsored by someone.
6) Outdoorsy Diva
Lauren Gay is the Outdoorsy Diva and she wants to knock down stereotypes that POC don’t go hiking, fishing, paddling, camping or skydiving. She’s a mom who lives in Florida and following her blog makes you realize that there is no excuse – gender, color of skin, kids – that should stop you from fully diving into outdoor adventure. She also is quite the foodie and her Instagram feed is where she shares must-try foods from around the globe.
7) Nomadic Boys
This is one of the most highly-respected and prominent blogs inspiring gay travelers to safely get out into the world and adventure. Stefan and Sebastien, the couple behind Nomadic Boys, quit their jobs in 2014 and have been traveling the globe together since. Their mission is to show gay travelers that they can openly visit more countries than they may have thought possible, and through their own first-hand accounts they help their readers plan a safe trip no matter how they personally identify. While they have a heavy focus on culinary trips, they do devote a section of their blog to adventure travel.
8) Good Nature Travel
Good Nature Travel is the blog behind Natural Habitat Adventures, the world’s first 100-percent carbon-neutral travel company that focuses on seeing the world’s most incredible natural places with minimal impact. NatHab is also the official conservation travel partner of the World Wildlife Fund. Their overall informational and trustworthy blog is jam-packed with the latest conservation news from around the world, eco-conscious travel trips, fascinating reads on the natural world, and more. If you care about the fate of the planet and love learning, this blog is for you.
9) World Rider
Ever feel like ditching everything to take off around the world on a motorcycle? Allan Karl did just that. He used to be immersed in the corporate world as a creative, tech, and communications consultant, but had enough in 2005 and left on a solo, three-year motorcycle journey which he has since written a book about: Forks A Quest for Culture Cuisine and Connection
. He is big on sharing logistics on World Rider and also does a great podcast. He is passionate about supporting UNESCO World Heritage, and a portion of proceeds from his book and DVD go to that cause. He also holds online auctions at the end of a trip for his usable gear and donates those proceeds to UNESCO, as well.
10) Adventure in You
Tom and Anna make you wish you were real life friends with them, instead of making you cringe like a number of self-absorbed blogger couples out there. They met years ago while backpacking and have since traveled the world together. What could have easily turned into “check out our amazingly Instagrammable life and be super jealous of us!” content has instead been lovingly crafted into a humble, inspiring blog that transparently shows the realities of being a travel blogger. The Adventure in You blog is largely focused on genuinely helping the reader achieve their travel dreams instead of Tom and Anna just shoving their own adventures down your throat.
11) Rory Moulton
Rory has 20 years of experience as a travel, news and business journalist and has founded/co-founded several travel media companies. He has led hiking, kayaking, surfing and climbing trips around the world as an adventure tour guide, but his biggest adventure yet was taking off from his Colorado home with his wife and son to dive deep into traveling Europe. His blog focuses hard on experiential, not checklist, travel. Forget the tourist traps – Rory Moulton will show you how to have a much more authentic, memorable time in Europe no matter what your budget is. He has self-published six books, maintains a newsletter that you will actually look forward to every month, and even offers private travel consultation.
An earlier version of this article was published in 2013. It was updated with new information and republished November 2020.
Photos courtesy of: The Planet D; Adventure Junkies; Olivia Christine Perez; Cameron Martindell/Off Yonder; Charles McCool; Outdoorsy Diva; Nomadic Boys; Ben Wallis/NatHab; Allan Karl/WorldRider; Adventure in You; Rory Moulton
*PLEASE NOTE THAT SOME OF THE LINKS ABOVE ARE AFFILIATE LINKS, AND OARS WILL EARN A SMALL COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE AFTER CLICKING THROUGH THE LINK.
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