One of the great things about travel and living abroad is the sense of community everywhere you go. Fellow travelers and expats, particularly, in my experience, women, love to help one another out. The Internet gets a bad rap (rightfully so, I admit) for being a hellhole sometimes, but in this list of online resources for travel in 2020, I’m showcasing the Internet’s good side.
Exhibit A: Paris
When I arrived in Paris last year to work as an au pair, a previous au pair who was still living in the city reached out even before I arrived to invite me to grab coffee. When I joined a great writing group in Paris, I was struggling with depression like it was a toxic on-again, off-again relationship. Despite my yoyoing ability to be extroverted at each meeting, just by managing to show up I was rewarded with friendliness and kindness. When I signed up for the Mont Saint Michel Half Marathon and accidentally booked a hostel in a town several kilometers from the start, the well-traveled hostel owner contacted her French friend who was registered for the same race, and I was able to hitch a ride.
Now living in Strasbourg
I’ve been welcomed into the folds of a bubbly and dynamic expat group that formed as a spin-off from one of the many expat get-togethers that are organized in a useful Facebook group for those living in Stras.
It’s all women in the group and each person has her own unique set of circumstances that landed her here. They’re also very driven and fiery, elements that I didn’t realize I was missing in my life until recently. Since meeting them, they’ve unknowingly become a source of inspiration and affirmation of my choices to come to Strasbourg and have made the settling in process immeasurably smoother.
I wanted to detail a bit about what the year-plus has given me in terms of experiences and friendships because I want readers to get an idea of what all the “living abroad” hype is about
The fact is, three years ago I had no networks like the ones I do now. Three years ago, my social media feeds were much narrower than they are now, my awareness of just how big the world is and just how creatively ambitious I could be limited by a combination of simple ignorance and the fact that social media resources for travel and living abroad were just beginning to bud.
But my, how they’ve burst into bloom
If you’re interested in traveling/curious to know learn more about traveling/living abroad but maybe aren’t quite ready to book a ticket, then this resource is for you. I’ve compiled a starting point of resources for you to follow, like, and subscribe to so that you can open your windows a bit wider and let in some of that fabulous wanderlust breeze. Without further ado…
Here is my list of online resources to shift your focus to travel in 2020
Inspirational Instagram Accounts
Young Adventuress
“American in New Zealand. Cynical but kind. Nature frother & #birdnerd. Friend of kākāpō and the girl with the whales ? it’s all on my blog.”
I’ve been following Liz Carlson since before I went to my 2016 study abroad in New Zealand. She’s real, she’s hardworking, and she’s one of the titans of the travel blogging industry because eventually she’ll probably go down in history as one of its founders. Nowhere is this growth illustrated as publicly as her Insta, which with my own eyes I’ve seen go from a few thousand followers to the over 200k it has now.
Airbnb
With the company set to release an IPO in the coming year, this is the page to follow if you want cozy inspiration for homey places to stay around the world. The company also celebrated its 500,000,000th Airbnb host recently, so you could say they have a decent listing of places to stay. Personally, I prefer them for slower travel so that I can really appreciate the unique space I’m staying in.
Passion Passport
“We live to tell impactful stories about travel.
Tag #passionpassport & #passionpassportvideo .”
From such a chill Insta bio, you’d never guess that they have over 1 million followers. But they do, and rightfully so.
Adventurous Love Stories
“Rad photographers capturing love in crazy beautiful ways. ? || Follow, tag, and use the hashtag #adventurouslovestories to be featured! ✨ “
Sometimes too grossly adorable, but can’t seem to stop following them.
Destinationless Travel
Love the idea of traveling around the world with your partner? Dan and Bailey are an Aussie/Canadian couple posting incredible photos of their international voyages. Their content to date has been mostly travel inspo and continues with their most recent post about planning a honeymoon in Banff and Lake Louise.
Spirited Pursuit
“Living on the road & sharing stories of the journey.
Currently ⌲ Mauritius”
I don’t even know where Mauritius is but that’s one of the things that stands out about this account: how truly off-the-beaten-track the featured destinations are.
27kmcontigo
If you’re interested in traveling to a Spanish-speaking country, a daily dose of Spanish can only bolster your resolve to go! This account features travel inspo from an adorable traveling family of three.
Wanderlust Us
“The blog was started in June 2015…After saying ‘I do’ in November 2016 Daniel and Niki made it their priority to start up the blog again, and have now amassed a following of over 60,000 followers across all of their blogging channels.”
Currently, the couple is expecting their first child and just finished a babymoon, so family-oriented couples interested in traveling can find a lot of inspiration here.
Nomadasaurus
An Aussie couple who have been on the road for 11 years. One unique thing about their page is that their account is very focused on travel images, not so much cute relationship ones. They also provide detailed information about each place they visit in each caption.
Useful Facebook Pages
Founded in December 2015 by Haley Woods, this group has been around for less than four years and boasts nearly 900,000 members. As in, almost ONE MILLION. It’s a space for women and individuals who identify as women to share everything, from travel tips to inspirational photos to stories of perseverance in the face of adversity. More often than not, the stories shared involve all three elements.
Since its inception as a simple Facebook page offering a safe space for women to exchange travel tips, the page has expanded to a website and offers international meets ups around the world, additionally offering planned GLT trips that allow members to meet and travel together in a group setting.
A simple “like” for this Facebook page opens doors to brilliantly written pieces of travel journalism. I especially love this page because it details things to do in places that I’d never heard of or didn’t know were an option, making for a really personalized reading experience. Also, the emphasis on history and culture as endemic to a well-rounded travel experience is emphasized without sounding preachy; a deep knowledge for history and culture is necessary to write the articles BBC travel posts, which then deepens our own thoughts about travel and subsequent travel plans.
They’ve helpfully summarized themselves just as I would. Straight from their Facebook page: “Matador connects like-minded travelers from all over the world. We share stories, adventures, and cultural insight through words, photos, and video. We recognize that travel, above all else, is about people, and we honor the many different perspectives and ways of living that exist.”
Recently released: A travel app that helps orchestrate meeting people for simple get-togethers while on your travels. Looks like it could be a great option for solo travelers.
Their site is also available in Spanish!
With a community of 55k strong, you won’t want for useful advice and inspiration. If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of making the leap to online work or creating your own remote business, this is a great way to wade into the waters and see what it’s all about. Founded by Milou, a Dutch entrepreneur who runs two travel websites (one in English, one in Dutch), her aim is to facilitate conversations and resources for anyone interested in traveling/living abroad while working remotely.
Founded by Condé Nast Travel, the moderators of this page founded in June 2017 run a tight ship for their 140k+ members. They also have a simple statement of purpose for their page that encourages thousands of posts and comments a day. Women Who Travel Is: “…a place where all self-identifying female travel lovers can join in conversation about what it means to travel as a woman today.”
Female Solo Travel | Women Group Travel | Girls Who Travel -GoWonder®
Created in June 2015, this page welcomes over 140k women persons or persons identifying as women. Their mission as stated on their Facebook page: “Welcome to the GoWonder Family of 145,000+ female #Wonders. We are a community of women from all over the world who love to travel and who are actively building their dream life. Whether it’s overcoming personal barriers, quitting a bad job, or finding love. You will find answers here.”
Bloggers I admire and respect
Goats on the Road
A really cool Canadian couple who have established themselves in the niche of helping other people build their dream blogs and find inspiration in their travel posts. I personally bought my own Bluehost web hosting subscription through them and credit their video series for beginner bloggers with giving me the confidence to go for it and launch my own proper blog.
**Note** I’ve included an affiliate link above, so if you’re inspired to purchase a domain space for your very own website, I’ll receive a small commission that will go straight back into funding this site so I can continue making resources like this one 🙂
Nomadic Matt
He recently released a book and settled down in Austin, Texas but will always be one of the founding individuals of the budget travel craze.
Ashley Abroad
I first came across Ashley’s blog when I was looking for resources to learn about being an au pair in Paris. To this day, her article on “How to Become an Au Pair” that was published in 2013 remains at the top of the search results when you’re desperately trying to find a life raft among French paperwork.
To date, she’s traveled to 45 countries. She’s detailed, informative, and an extremely experienced traveler with a no-nonsense Midwestern style I especially appreciate.
Polkadotpassport
This entrepreneur is a 24-year-old Kiwi and, to put it mildly, has already built herself an empire. The photography, travel tips, and vision for her brand are exquisite.
Adventurous Kate
In 2010, she quit her job intending to travel for six months and then ended up making a job of it and visiting over 80 countries. And it’s all on her blog. I love her funky set-up (it’s much busier than other site layouts, but I like it) and her straightforward writing style.
The Blog Abroad
Glo is, simply put, an amazingly mature and wise presence. She really speaks to my personal outlook on travel and write with a funny bite that’s 100% authentic.
In her own words, taken from her About Me page: “For those who don’t know me personally, there’s still time to bail, I just want to welcome you into my world. I’m not your everyday travel blogger… There’s an unequivocal education to travel that I try to encourage others to learn about, and my mission and the ultimate goal is to make you, the reader, want to jump out of your seat and hop on the next flight out to anywhere.”
World on a Whim
Verbose and refreshing in her writing style, Jennifer is an American blogger who has been a part of my social media feeds for a while. I enjoy her Internet presence and her photos are gorgeous.
Vloggers I follow
Not Even French
Rosie is a Kiwi from Auckland who moved to Paris and ended up marrying a Frenchman. Though she’s recently moved back to New Zealand, her 106k followers testify to the usefulness of her videos. I watched them before moving to France, but they also just offer a fascinating insight into the life of an expat.
Patricia B
She has YouTube channels in French and English, but whichever language you watch her in, she’s wonderful. Having met the love of her life the first day of her study abroad years ago, she ended up moving back to France, starting a family and a YouTube channel, where she is a vraiment storyteller and commentator on all things pertaining to her life abroad.
Useful websites
Skyscanner
Helps you find the cheapest flights for your dates.
Google flights
I use them more often than Skyscanner just out of habit, but my user experience with both has been the same.
Nerdwallet
Before moving to France over a year ago, I found a Nerdwallet article that helped me decide on the credit card I now have (and love) today. I’ve included an updated link for your reference, but I personally use the Capital One Venture Card because it has no international fees, a huge point bonus if you spend a certain amount in the first three months of signing up (the holidays are coming, might as well earn points you can use to travel for free later!), and it’s sleek and makes me feel fancy.
World Nomads
Did you ever consider that it might be a good idea to get travel insurance? Me either, until everyone I talked to told me I was insane and stupid. The name-calling didn’t bother me, but the fact that I didn’t know about this important resource did. Look into it, weigh the risks, and see if it’s for you. (Spoiler: it probably is, especially if you’re interested in backpacking.)
I used them when I lived on a remote estancia in Argentina for two months and there were definitely times I was consciously grateful knowing I had them if anything happened.
Whew, some starting point, huh?
I hope this post has proved useful in some capacity! As you can see, there are many points of entry into the world of traveling and living abroad. If you’re even the slightest bit interested in the great unknown that is traveling, the best way to stick your toe in the water is by starting to follow and engage with accounts on social media. Like I said earlier, one of my favorite things about travelers is the value ascribed to being helpful and kind. If you have an interest in seeing more of the world, there will always be someone prepared to encourage you to do so.
Thoughts, comments, concerns? Let me know in the comments!
