Imagine a life where you get to travel, earn enough to live, and enjoy doing what you love.
Samantha Wei and Yeison Kim are based in Costa Rica and earn a living from blogging about their adventures. Their blog now generates a healthy income averaging more than $5,000 each month in revenue.
Recently their travels took them to Drake Bay and Cano Island on the Osa Peninsula.
“Cano Island has some of the best diving and snorkeling in Costa Rica,” says Samantha. “We had a blast swimming in the crystal clear water, chasing fish, and swimming alongside sea-turtles.”
Naturally, they used the opportunity to write and make videos about the fun they were having for their website. The blog allows Samantha and Yeison to travel extensively throughout Costa Rica writing about each adventure. Whether it is white-water rafting in Guanacaste or zip-lining through the rain forest—the couple’s mission is to have fun.
“In addition to traveling all over Costa Rica, blogging has given us the opportunity to visit Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Panama,” says Samantha.
Samantha from Washington State and Yeison from Costa Rica met on their travels and decided to start a blog with the intention of building a travel-writing business.
“The blog started as an online journal, but we knew it was possible to make a living from it,” says Samantha.
Being self-employed allows them freedom to work their own hours, at their own pace. Samantha writes the majority of the content, but she only has to do that three times a week…and she can do it from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Yeison takes care of the website, ensuring the blog runs optimally. In addition, he edits videos and looks after the business side of things.
In just three years the blog has built up a following of more than 80,000 page views each month. This traffic allows the couple to monetize the blog with advertising, through Google AdSense, and affiliate marketing, promoting travel services—such as hotels and car rentals—and products available on Amazon.
Samantha and Yeison write about each country they visit. Whether it is shopping in Panama City…enjoying the markets in the Philippines…or viewing colonial architecture in Nicaragua, they share their experiences with their readers.
Having a popular blog means the majority of their travel costs are paid by hotels and tours wishing to be profiled or reviewed. They even got an all-expenses paid trip to Thailand to speak at a gathering of travel bloggers, writers, and travel industry professionals.
There are many reasons to start a blog. Some start one to keep family and friends informed of their travels and some start one to fund travel or some part of living abroad. Samantha and Yeison prove that you can grow a blog to provide a great income and to create opportunities for free travel and experiences.