We’ve been living the (un)glamorous travel blogger life for just around half a year now. Beautiful hotel suites, VIP events, free champagne, sponsored clothes, and complimentary couple massages are just some of the perks that we have experienced as travel bloggers. HOWEVER, there is a very real and very UNglamorous side to being a travel blogger aswell. And we are gonna spill the deets! To make this even more real, we have chosen to only include unedited photos from our phones. Let’s begin.
We are ALWAYS going somewhere
This might seem like a phrase that cool business types say to seem important. But we are truly living the nomad life. Like Karoline literally has three weeks at home in Copenhagen from 1st of August until Christmas Eve. And we are actually planning to travel just after the Christmas holidays again, haha! And while it does sound fancy and cool, it can honestly be so exhausting, stressful and a big puzzle of dates, accommodations, partners, laundry and transportation. Because when we are traveling we are working. We are not vacationing. The last time we had a vacation together was 1 year ago in Greece… And at that point, we were actually also updating our blog and Instagram. But just as a hobby.
Our surroundings always change
Being travel bloggers, we stay at a new accommodation circa every other day. This means that we are able to have some routines, while some routines are thrown out the window. Like we are able to get up at the same hour every day and eat breakfast. But where we get up and eat breakfast is always changing. Therefore it can be really challenging for us to create some good stable routines that make every day less energy-sucking. Furthermore, we never know where or what we are eating for lunch or dinner, who we are meeting later, or how we are spending our days. We are always googling what the best options are for us at the specific locations.
Packing is a mess
Packing – especially on road trips is a mess. When you pack and unpack every other day, you slowly, but steadily, go insane. There are t-shirts, dirty laundry, food and camera gear everywhere! Sometimes you can even be so lucky, that your sunscreen will explode and there will be stains everywhere on your clothes. Or in Karoline’s case, there will be peanut butter everywhere. And at one point all your clothes will just become moisty. It happens every. single. time.
Laundry is a big issue!
Another thing you might not think could be a problem is laundry. Currently, we have been on the road for 14 days. I(Karoline) know that Rasmus has brought 5 pairs of underwear. I have not seen him wash once. Do. The. Math… Lucky me. To be honest, we could just google the nearest laundry shop. But we just don’t have the energy or the time. So there really are only two options: To use the super expensive hotel laundry service or to hand wash in the hotel rooms. And being the super cheap money-hustling travel bloggers that we are, we, of course, choose option B: hand wash!
No food routine
You know how annoyed and uninspired you feel when you always cook and eat the same three dishes every single week? Well, we would kill to cook our three favorite dishes: red curry, Mexican tortilla wraps, and smoothie bowls every week. We have no food routine whatsoever if you disregard all the snacks we bring along. And especially for me(Karoline), this is super exhausting. Being a vegan on the road can be so challenging, and a lot of the time I have to compromise and choose vegetarian meals or be satisfied with a salad consisting of only leafy greens – like I did yesterday. Sometimes, too often, I feel so unsatisfied that I just want to cry off frustration. It really affects my mood. And almost on all our travels, I end up losing about 2 kgs, because I don’t get enough nutrients. It sucks.
No fitness routine
Trying to have a stable fitness routine can also be a huge challenge as travel bloggers. We rarely stay at places that have a gym, so we really have to use our imagination to get our sweat on. Rasmus just boycotts all gym exercise when we are traveling. Of course, we have a super active daily schedule, so he doesn’t suffer that much. I(Karoline) go running and do yoga in our hotel rooms. The yoga thing isn’t always convenient since I have to carry the gear around with me. And sometimes we stay in super small rooms that can’t really fit a yoga practice. Last night I was practicing headstands and I fell into the wall. Ouch. The running is okay, but damn it would feel great to just run the same path once in a while. And I miss a running buddy that can motivate and push me. We just really miss a good old gym, where we know the staff, know the facilities and have a routine.
Online relationships
The thing that might suck the most is that we always miss our friends and family. When we are always on the road, we aren’t able to see them on a regular basis. And often we will have to satisfy with a phone call, skype or some text messages. It can be a challenge to have good, close relationships with people when you just aren’t there for the small everyday moments. Like: what did you do today, what did you have for lunch, was it good? (obvs. Karoline the insane foodie asking). Last year we even spend Christmas in Vietnam, and it was so sad. We missed our families so much, and skyping with them just made it so much worse.
We hope this could shed some very real light upon what it entails to be a travel blogger! All being said, we LOVE our job! But it was actually really nice to write, and get some frustrations out, haha! Always let us know if you have any questions.
