Jet-Setting Elite

Written by Hailey Pitcher | Designed by Sofia Marin | Photographed by Avani Mitra

The Overarching Façade and Profitability of the Travel Blogger

Traveling: it’s on nearly every bucket list and many people have nickels and pennies stacked in a jar, just waiting to be spent on a luxurious trip to the Maldives or the Swiss Alps. We scroll on Instagram and Twitter, envying travel bloggers who are sponsored to live the dreams of so many. We sit back and compare ourselves to what color the water is, what kind of wine they’re having, and what smiling faces we see plastered on our feed. What would you think if you were told it was all a facade? That travel blogging is simply virtual eye-candy intended to profit off the travel insecurity of ordinary people, while these bloggers live a carefree life of luxury abroad?

Travel blogging can be dwindled down to one simple trade: profitability, for both the blogger and the brand (or even a country). While the general public may want to assume that travel bloggers have the best intentions when showcasing their grandiose adventures abroad, most of the time it’s an economic deal on display.

Essentially, the sky’s the limit when it comes to the annual earnings of travel bloggers. Well-established bloggers may make $10,000 a month, strictly off social media revenue, which doesn’t even include sponsorships or tourist deals. Travel bloggers can also broaden to freelance writing and content creation, such as vlogs. While there is no denying that there is genuine work that goes into running a travel blog, the bloggers themselves rarely acknowledge how much privilege they must have held before their blogging journey in order to sustain this lifestyle. Many travel bloggers do not blatantly disclose the beginning of their careers; they usually just expand on their passion for travel and how glad they are that they could turn it into a career.

Lauren, more frequently known as @gypsea_lust on her social media, is originally from Northern NSW Australia. According to her online blog, she is selftaught in photography, which propelled her into a passion for travel photography. Alongside her blog, she runs Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts. She is currently based in Bali, Indonesia. Her comments under her posts all ask how she has turned such a dream into a job. She simply states “just practice and get creative,” and seals the advice with a smiley face. Amid all the questions asked, Lauren never dives deeper into her self-taught photography journey and how her career as a jetsetter, and overall influencer, came to be.

Tara Whiteman (@taramilktea) is a self-coined creative from Sydney, Australia. She studied design at the University of New South Wales, all while being able to jet around the world and work on management projects with clients. She has also worked with high-end brands, such as Tiffany and Co. While it is impressive that Whiteman has balanced her career and higher education, it is extremely privileged that she was able to do so. The cost of higher education, matched with the price of traveling, and all tagged along with the time management of full-time clientele, is not an accurate reflection of ordinary life for a working-class individual. She regularly flexes her luxurious stays at sponsored AirBnB’s and dining at expensive Michelin star restaurants.

A large aspect of traveling is to absorb all the beauty and culture a country has to offer. However, travel bloggers make themselves the focal point of their posts, not the country they are in. In the background, you may see gorgeous mountaintops and glistening waterfalls, but covering the scenery is an ad. These promotional posts take away from the true sanctity of a learning experience when traveling abroad, and turn it into a consumerism trap. Travel blogging has a seen-to-be-seen aspect, in which the scenery is not the highlight of the snapshot; the blogger and/or the product is. It completely demolishes all assumed meaning and appreciation behind the post.

Mainstream travel blogger, model, and overall content creator, Jay Alvarrez (@jayalvarrez), rose to fame in late 2017 through his jaw-dropping travel shots, occasionally captured with his ex-girlfriend, Instagram model Alexis Ren. His shots are often full of risk; they include bungee jumping, helicopter rides, and daring underwater adventures. Originally from Oahu, Hawaii, Alvarrez has frequently claimed that he has had a deep appreciation for nature and traveling his whole life. However, his adventurous and eye-catching feed rarely expresses appreciation for the countries he travels to. Many of his posts simply have a brand tagged with an emoji in the caption, or it’s a video compilation of him skydiving, but never any mention of where he is or his actual experience traveling. It’s simply a brand deal and a luxury flex.

There are social media accounts that shine light upon the culture and beauty of a country. Simply take BU’s study abroad Instagram account, @ buabroad. Although still a promotional account for Boston University’s study abroad program, the account still highlights the culture of the countries offered in the program. The account participates in #FeaturedFridays, in which they expand on an element in a country’s culture each month. For example, in the month of February, posts described the meaning of hairstyles in different global cultures, such as braids in Mexican cultures. The account also features student anecdotes of their experiences abroad, not only through immersion in the study abroad program, but immersion in their experience within a country.

@seemyparis on Instagram is a team of eight Parisian photographers, bringing the enchantment of Paris to ordinary people scrolling through social media. The photography displays breathtaking monuments, buildings, and comforting Parisian stone roads. It presents a side of Paris you would not usually see flexed in travel blogs and mainstream media. The account also highlights Parisian life, with cafes, street seller booths, and store recommendations through comment sections. It’s an account that appreciates the beauty of the city, while describing the local living experience through a shared comment section.

@travelandleisure on Instagram is also a travel blog, but not with advertisements and a face to the blog. It is a blog that provides travel tips to those looking to fulfill their wanderlust. The account has guides to everything abroad, from AirBnBs to hacks to get better sleep when traveling. The account posts scenic pictures from around the world, along with story highlight reels of photography and tips from different continents. Travel and Leisure’s online blog has multiple browsing categories, even publishing news on celebrity travels, businesses abroad, and COVID restrictions to further feed and inform wanderlust-ing readers.

Promotional travel blogging is plaguing the genuine intentions of common people to travel abroad. While some may think bloggers are posting to share advice and share their experiences in the beautiful places abroad, they rarely have these intentions. Travel blogging is a cash flow and sponsored career, one that is nearly untouchable for a common working-class individual. When travel is taken off the profitability pedestal and its presence on social media becomes elements of storytelling and appreciation of a culture, we gain much more knowledge and awareness of the sanctity of the world around us.