They’re lean. They’re mean. They’ve been blogging since they were 17. Okay, maybe that last bit isn’t true for all of them, but one thing’s for sure: they've been in the blogging biz for quite some time, making them some of the most influential, knowledgeable and talented bloggers out there. Here are Teletext’s picks for the Best Blogging Veteran of 2020.

All of the nominees are fantastic, but there can only be one winner! Whoever is chosen by our expert panel will go on to be nominated to run for the British Travel Awards’ Best Blogger Award, sponsored by Teletext Holidays.

A Luxury Travel Blog

Blogger Name: Paul Johnson

Blog URL: www.aluxurytravelblog.com

Why Should I Win?

A Luxury Travel Blog has been leading the way in the luxury travel blogging industry for the past 15 years, receiving extensive media recognition in the process plus a number of high profile awards, including the Best Travel Influencer Award from WIRED magazine. I have 30 years' experience working in the travel industry and A Luxury Travel Blog was the first of its kind back in 2005 when travel blogging was very much in its infancy; since its inception all those years ago, the blog has attracted more than 800 different writers and published over 11,000 articles, maintaining its position as the world's leading luxury travel blog.

My Proudest Achievements Over the Past Year

It has been an unprecedented year but I have been proud of my involvement in supporting the industry during what is proving to be a very difficult time for many, establishing a leading travel industry support group on Facebook which saw more than 15,000 industry colleagues join in its first two weeks! (https://www.facebook.com/groups/travelindustrysupport/). Pre-pandemic, I was also shortlisted for 'Blogger of the Year' by TravMedia as well as in the Online Influence Awards from Vuelio, in addition to being a speaker at PATA Travel Mart in Kazakhstan and the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

 

A Lady in London

Blogger Name: Julie Falconer

Blog URL: www.aladyinlondon.com

Why Should I Win?

Founded in 2007, A Lady in London is a pioneering travel blog and has been one of the world's top travel blogs for 13 years. It's been named one of the top 50 blogs in the UK by Vuelio for several years running, and is currently ranked #27.

I’ve been interviewed by and shared my recommendations with The New York Times, Time Out, Metro, Travel + Leisure, the Evening Standard, Cosmopolitan, and other leading travel and lifestyle publications.

Instagram has added me to its Suggested Users List, which highlights the top photographers on Instagram, Esquire has listed me as one of Instagram’s 20 Coolest Travel Photographers, Harper’s Bazaar has featured me as one of its 17 Must-Follow Travel Accounts on Instagram, the Mail Online has featured me as an Instagram account that will inspire you to travel the world, Stylist has listed me as one of the most wanderlust-worthy women to follow on Instagram, and BuzzFeed has named me the top female travel Instagrammer.

Pinterest has also included my content in The Pinterest 100: Top Trends for the Year.

I have been interviewed on the BBC, Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio, BBC Radio London, the Mail Online, Cleo Magazine in Australia, and other major international media outlets. I have also featured in a book called Read This if You Want to Be Instagram Famous.

My Proudest Achievements Over the Past Year

I've been blogging since 2002 and in the last year I've had some unique achievements with my blog.

Late last year I launched a co-branded tote bag with To Home From London, a company that makes cool London souvenirs. They sold the bag at their shops in Camden Market and St Pancras, as well as all of London's main Christmas markets. This year we launched another tote bag and a whole line of co-branded mugs and other products. They're all for sale in Camden Market, Buck Street Market, and online. You can see the range here: https://tohomefromlondon.com/collections/a-lady-in-london. You can read the full story here: https://www.aladyinlondon.com/2020/07/a-lady-in-london-products.html.

Additionally, in conjunction with Traverse Events, I launched How to Crush it on Instagram, an online course. It helps people take their Instagram strategy to a professional level and build an engaged audience. It was the first masterclass Traverse launched, and has been a success so far. You can see the course listing here: https://www.traverse-masterclasses.com/courses/how-to-crush-it-on-instagram.

These product launches are my proudest achievements of the last year.

 

Make Time To See The World

Blogger Name: Vicki Garside

Blog URL: www.maketimetoseetheworld.com

Why Should I Win?

It blows my mind to think that MakeTimeToSeeTheWorld has been 'alive' since 2015, and that my lifelong love of travel (and the industry!) has allowed me to turn my little corner of the interweb into a successful full-time business - which has remained so even in the midst of a global pandemic. And while you may be reading this thinking you've suitcases older than my travel blog and that 5 years isn't really enough time to be considered a veteran of any industry, I genuinely believe that the travel blogging industry is unique.

We live in a digital age dominated by unforgiving algorithms, where the rules of the game can change every day. In order to stay at the top, not only do you have to wear multiple hats at once - writer, photographer, social media manager, contract negotiator, SEO whizz, web designer, community manager, team leader etc. - but you also have to actively travel and be creative to ensure you are meeting the basic needs of your audience. All this is in addition to supporting and cheering on others in the community and while I'm not a big public speaker, I do get a huge amount of joy from sharing my knowledge with others (via small group meetups, Facebook forums, press trips and even WhatsApp!).

Having been in the industry for 5 years I've seen countless blogs come and go, more algorithm changes that I care to count, and 'best practices' change more often than that. To run a successful travel blog I have needed to adapt to these adjustments, be open to change, keep learning, and ultimately just keep pushing myself to run the best travel blog that I can. I believe this outlook along with the content I create is what has seen me included in multiple 'best travel blogger' lists over the years - and hopefully many more to come. I'm in this for the long haul and I can't wait to see what the future has in store.

My Proudest Achievement Over the Past Year

My proudest moment in 2020 was actually being able to take 3 months 'off' to go on my dream trip overlanding through East Africa - funded entirely by the blog - where I camped (and I'm not a camper); although it was cut short when I had to make a dash for the border as the world started to close down in March.

 

Emily Luxton Travels

Blogger Name: Emily Luxton

Blog URL: www.emilyluxton.co.uk

Why Should I Win?

I've had my blog for 8 years and have become known as one of the top travel bloggers in the UK. I like to think I've achieved the title of "blogging veteran" by now! My blog is all about solo female travel, especially for women like me who maybe aren't quite as fearless or "strong" as the "solo traveller" stereotype seems to suggest you need to be. I try to show that anyone can travel - normal women, even big fraidy cats like me, can do it. And that you don't need to be a skinny, perfect-looking Insta-model in a twirly dress to do it, either! I'm trying to empower women to get out, challenge themselves, test their limits, and discover exactly how much they can achieve! 

My Proudest Achievements Over the Past Year

Maintaining close to last year's average traffic throughout the last few months of lockdown by sharing old posts and stories, and pivoting into new content such as quizzes to help people enjoy their time at home! It's been hard to promote solo adventures while the country has been on lockdown, but I'm about to start a new solo-camping series (as of today!) to show that it's still possible to push yourself out of your comfort zone without leaving the country. 

 

Her Favourite Food & Travel

Blogger Name: Snita Pandora

Blog URL: www.herfavfood.com

Why Should I Win?

This year I’ll be celebrating 10 years of my blog, which I set up even before Instagram was created!

I built my blog on a desire to share my passion and experiences of eating out, at home and abroad, with my friends and family. Over the years my website has grown it’s readership and I’ve constantly adapted it to the changing times and trends. This has involved adopting a wider range of social media tools, publishing a range of content and continuously engaging my followers with fresh and innovative content.

I’ve always managed my blog alongside a full-time job and have enjoyed using it as a funnel for my creativity and experimentation. What excites me most about my blog is its potential. Even though I have been working on it for a decade, I still have a host of new ideas and opportunities for it. In this way I am constantly refreshing, updating and revitalising my website and I have so much more to offer.

Seeing the progress I have made with my blog over the past 10 years, both visually and content-wise, makes me proud of what I have achieved.

I believe the dedication I have shown to my blog and sharing quality content with my followers over the past decade, combined with my constant willingness to learn, adapt and innovate, makes me a strong candidate to win the category of veteran blogger.

My Proudest Achievement Over the Past Year

My proudest achievement this year has been the quick and responsive way I adapted my content to lockdown in a way that would support the industries that were struggling. The lack of travel opportunities combined with the closed hospitality industry meant I had to open my blog to other avenues - but I still wanted to support the industry that I had promoted for so long. 

I started to share and promote restaurants that shifted to delivering takeaways, food producers who were providing an alternative option to supermarkets, and hotels and accommodation that provide safe staycation opportunities.  

In this way I continued to support the industry during one of their toughest times in recent history when they need promotion the most, and I continue to work with them during these uncertain times.  

 

Along Dusty Roads

Blogger Names: Andrew and Emily

Blog URL: www.alongdustyroads.com

Why Should We Win?

We created our blog back in 2014 (first hitting publish from a windowless sweatbox room in Guatemala) because we wanted to help people travel more and travel better.

We felt that sharing our experiences, our perspectives, our mistakes, and our advice would contribute a little bit to making the travel experience better for some people, and better in the long run for some of the people and places we all visit along the way. We also wanted travellers to use what we write and what we photograph as a handbook to craft their own memories and adventures out on the road and to write their own stories.

Many journeys and many years may have passed since we started our travel blog, but our founding principle of helping people travel more and travel better still underpins every single thing we do here on Along Dusty Roads; we believe we deserve to win this category as we have stayed true to that ethos as we have grown, rather than compromising it to grow. 

Responsible, slow, and sustainable travel are hugely important to us and, in the last six years, we've been fortunate to learn a lot of lessons and evolve our way of thinking about what it really means to be a 'good traveller'. Across our blog, we do our best to raise awareness about simple practices and habit changes, which we believe all travellers should follow wherever they go.

Because, for us, being a considerate, responsible traveller always results in better travel experiences. And it's a responsibility that's shared between us all. 

Our Proudest Achievements Over the Past Year

2020, the year that travel stopped for many of us, has presented a number of challenges for us as a blog and as travellers. Therefore, staying afloat and viable in this landscape, without compromising our founding principle, is genuinely our proudest achievement of the past year. 

Additionally, we are particularly proud of a collaboration between ourselves and the Swedish Tourism Board last year, which put us outside of our comfort zone in creating video content. Video is something we have attempted to incorporate into more of our work, and we were genuinely delighted with the way it turned out.

We are also very proud that we have continued to maintain a 60% ratio of personal/self-funded travels vs paid campaigns in the past year. In the world of travel blogging it is very easy to lose trust with your audience and forget your roots if you only travel when paid to do so. 

 

Inside the Travel Lab

Blogger Name: Abigail King

Blog URL: www.insidethetravellab.com

Why Should I Win?

The story of Inside the Travel Lab began over 12 years ago, making it a golden oldie by any modern day definition. Back in the day, it was all about the writing. I’m not even sure that Facebook was around, and Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok were mere twinkles in the eyes of the schoolchildren who went on to invent them.

Through multiple surgeries, starting a family and the sixteen-week lockdown of the COVID pandemic, Inside the Travel Lab has carried on experimenting.

We’ve travelled to the innermost areas of the Amazon, the heights of the Atlas Mountains, the deep blue of marine reefs and the kitchens of the greatest chefs. Our community loves luxury with an ethical approach, with the details of the experience are always more important than the price tag.

My Proudest Achievements Over the Past Year

So, what’s been the proudest moment of the last year? Speaking with NASA in Helsinki about the importance of sustainable tourism? Or starting my souvenir challenge from my bathroom in the midst of lockdown?

It’s hard to say. Because it’s both the serious and important issues and the light-hearted moments of connection with people across the world that make blogging what it is. And a passion to follow into the next decade and beyond…

 

Global Grasshopper

Blogger Name: Becky Moore

Blog URL: www.globalgrasshopper.com

Why Should I Win?

I would love to win the Best Blogging Veteran category as I’ve been running my blog for over 10 years now and I’ve consistently adapted and changed the site not only to keep relevant and gain new followers and rankings but to always improve on what we’re doing so we stand out from the crowd - definitely not an easy task in an increasingly overcrowded space!

We’re constantly thinking of new ways to present useful and aspirational travel content in the most beautiful and creative ways possible - for example, we began producing cinematic-style video content co-created with the award winning videographer we have on our team (examples here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mr0n102M18&t=3s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YqiNASMsZM). We’ve also recently added a dog-friendly travel section to cater for the increasing demand from people who want to travel with their beloved pets. 

My Proudest Achievements Over the Past Year

Some of my proudest achievements over the last year include winning UK Travel Blog of Year at the Vuelio Awards, gaining mentions in Forbes, USA Today, Business Insider, Entrepreneur and Time Magazine and being asked to appear on the BBC and a Channel 5 travel show. Also gaining more followers and rankings and increasing our traffic to 300,000 views a month (pre COVID). 

 

Travel Dave

Blogger Name: David Brett

Blog URL: www.traveldave.co.uk

Why Should I Win?

This December will mark my 15th year of travel blogging, which I have been doing since 2005. The Best Blogging Veteran award would mark this occasion nicely. 

My Proudest Achievement Over the Past Year

My proudest achievement would have to be attending the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan. It was an amazing atmosphere and Japan was an incredible host. 

 

The Globetrotter Guys

Blogger Names: Sion and Ben Walton-Guest

Blog URL: www.theglobetrotterguys.com

Why Should We Win?

We are Sion and Ben, a married couple from the UK, and we have been running the LGBTQ+ travel blog ‘The Globetrotter Guys’ for the past 3 years. There is so much more to consider when it comes to travelling as an LGBTQ+ person, most of all from a safety perspective, and we have worked hard and passionately to create a blog that provides the resources and advice to help LGBTQ+ travellers break down barriers and see more of the world as safely as possible. We have consistently grown over the past few years and consider ourselves to now be two of the main UK-based LGBTQ+ travel bloggers which is why we have put ourselves forward for this category.

Our Proudest Achievements Over the Past Year

Our proudest achievements this year have been taking part in virtual Pride events. We have been lucky enough to be speakers for Skyscanner for their virtual Pride this year and we also spoke on the future of LGBTQ+ travel on a virtual event for the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) – knowing our opinions were valued and being considered experts in the field felt like a great achievement.

We also received the following feedback from the Diversity and Inclusion lead at Skyscanner, which also made us feel proud: “Sion and Ben were amazing to work with. They were reliable, super quick to reply and very professional. They brought creative ideas and incredibly valuable insight to their panel regarding LGBTQ+ representation in travel. They were well prepared ahead of the event and spoke with confidence and expertise on the day. I would not hesitate to work with them again or recommend them to anyone else looking for LGBTQ+ industry experts to speak at their event.”