How to Travel for FREE as a Travel Blogger
Have you ever wondered how you could travel for free? If there was a way for YOU to provide businesses a service, and in return, you could stay anywhere or do anything without it costing money? This is something I pondered for a long time as I was developing my blog. What I eventually discovered as a travel blogger is, we do in fact have the opportunity to travel for free. This is because we have plenty of services to offer that businesses want.
As a travel blog, we are able to advertise ourselves as media and therefore pitch to businesses to provide them services. These services can include a blog post, social media coverage, live updates, photography, videos, etc. Businesses need this kind of coverage and the fact that you are basically giving it to them for little to no cost is a no brainer to most. Some businesses may even pay you on top of your complimentary accommodations – if your lucky.
Look at it this way: For hotels, there is a very likely chance that room you requested would go to waste if they didn’t give it to you. So, why not make it a win-win for both of you? Same thing for events. That ticket they are giving you may not be used and you can act as a filler while providing them live coverage.
A few people have asked me recently, ” Do I need a large following in order to receive free travel?” The answer is NO.
Below is a quick snapshot of our blog stats as of right now. As you can see, we don’t have a large following compared to most. It’s our content and our determination that helps us get to where we want and it can for you, too.
We’ve recently attended some fantastic events for free: Fast Forward Film Festival, Spirit Tasting Spectacular, and a Craft Beverage Festival. All of these events were great for networking for the blog, but they were also FREE for us to just have fun! We also have a comped trip happening in July 2018.
None of this would have happened if we hadn’t perfected our email pitch. This is what we use to get in contact with the business managers or media specialists. With this pitch we explain who we are and what we do while letting them know what we are looking for from them. This could be a complimentary overnight stay, a free meal, or a ticket to their event. The email pitch is the most important part when finding these opportunities. Without a perfect pitch, businesses will simply overlook you.
UPDATE: Our online course is now being offered exclusively on our Patreon, www.patreon.com/datesinthestates
Become a travel blogger (level 2) member on our Patreon and receive the course available for download! You will also receive tons of other perks as well as exclusive mentorship/coaching from Dates in the States.
To learn more and to stay up to date with us, please join our email list by filling out the form below!
Thanks for reading!
Such a great idea to share your experience and get and get free travel related freebies.. I will have to keep this in mind!
Thank you for reading, Heather! Hope this can help you in the future!
Very cool! I didn’t realize with a smaller following you could travel for free! This gives me the courage to reach out!
Yes! Never be afraid to try. 🙂 Good Luck!
I love that you were open about the fact you don’t have a large following and still get things done. I think so many bloggers worry they’re not big enough and don’t try. The worst that can happen is a no!
Angela recently posted…How to Build a Killer Writing Portfolio, No Experience Required
Thank you Angela! I’m hoping we can inspire other travel bloggers to not be afraid of their numbers and to go for their goals! No one should have to wait to live their dream.
I am so intrigued by this topic! Do you generally go somewhere for one night or more? I look forward to reading your template!
Hi Dawnmarie! We generally only stay a night, but you can certainly request longer stays if you provide more material for them. We will be launching an online course soon, “Email Your Way to Free Travel in 10 Days” in order to teach everyone exactly how we do it while providing our template to land free travel. Thank you for reading!
Thanks for the template! And, congratulations on booking your comped trip in July, very exciting!
Hi Jocelyn! Thank you! We are very excited. This whole process has inspired us to create an online course, “Email Your Way to Free Travel in 10 Days”. Join our email list to stay in the loop for our launch soon.
Wow! I do not do a lot of pitching, because I still feel like my stats are low, but you are showing that it is never to early to start! Very inspiring post!
Melina recently posted…5 Fun Facts About Ruthy – Our Foster Adoptive Story
Thank you Melina! It really is never too early to start. Join our email list so you can stay in the loop for our upcoming online course, “Email Your Way to Free Travel in 10 Days.”
I love your blog name! I am going to share this with my friend who is launching her blog soon.
Hi Terri, thank you for the share! We hope to see you both in our online course that will be launching soon! Join our email list for more information.
I wish we had done this years ago before kids and steady jobs. Looks so much fun. All the great experiences you’ll have. Enjoy!
Monica, you can still do it! Take the kids with you! Fun for the whole family.
Excellent! I’ve been looking at different ways to get comped travel myself so this was helpful information.
Hi Shirley! I’m glad this was helpful. Stay tuned for our online course to learn exactly how to be successful at landing free travel. Join our email list for more information.
Great tips for those how want to travel for free, and I love that you’re expanding your reach and income potential with the online course.
Thank you, Candi! Yes, we are hoping this course will be a hit! We hope you can join us in the class once we launch!
I did not know about this and I LOVE to travel. I signed up to read your email pitch so I can try it out. Can’t wait!
This is so cool! And I love your blog name!
Thank you, Emily! 🙂
This is so cool! Definitely going to try!!
Thanks, Hannah! Be sure to join our email list to hear about our launch first for our new upcoming course!
I love that you guys have relatively low subscriber numbers, cause so do I! 🙂 Looking forward to reviewing your email pitch! Thanks!
Thanks, Amy! We are hoping to increase especially with our new class about to launch. We love to show people that no matter what your numbers are, you can travel for free and be successful.