If you’re sitting at home desperately in need of some travel inspiration, why not check out these awesome YouTube travel channels!? From motorbiking the world to eating every weird food that a country has to offer, each one of these travel YouTubers is exploring our amazing planet in a unique and interesting way! Which YouTuber will inspire your next adventure?
Do you have a favourite travel vlogger to add to this list? Get in touch in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!
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Here’s 17 of the Best Travel YouTubers!
1. The Budgeteers
As the name suggests, this Youtube channel is all about travelling on a shoestring, which makes it great inspiration for budget backpackers! Being one of the cheapest regions in the world, it’s no surprise that Southeast Asia features a lot in their videos; from biking the Mae Hong Son Loop to sampling street food in Kuala Lumpur. Each episode is around 30 minutes in length, making The Budgeteers more like a TV show than a YouTube channel.
The channel was created by a group of three travel buddies; Paddy from the UK, Thijs from Belgium and Lina from Colombia. Every show has flawless production quality, great visuals and the style of presentation is fun, lighthearted and always entertaining. This is our top choice for a laid-back Sunday afternoon of travel inspiration! Here’s one of our favourite Youtube videos from the Budgeteers team…
Update – Since the pandemic, Paddy Doyle, who is permanently based in Thailand, has set up his own independent YouTube channel where he is exploring every single one of Thailand’s 77 provinces on his Honda Dream! For anyone planning a trip to Thailand and wanting to step off the beaten track and visit unknown places in the country, Paddy’s videos are a must-watch!
2. Karl Watson
British traveller Karl is the host of this excellent Youtube travel documentary channel that’s all about independent backpacking and adventure. His presentation style is entertaining and down to earth as he takes viewers on a journey through almost every continent on the planet!
Most of his videos are over 30 minutes long, so the viewer is able to fully delve into a place rather than just sampling the stereotypical top ten highlights. Don’t miss his complete documentary series, HK2NY where Karl takes the viewer on a 13-episode journey backpacking all the way from Hong Kong to New York.
From motorbiking in Vietnam to road tripping in New Zealand and tackling Everest Base Camp, Karl’s YouTube videos will have you desperate to pull on that backpack and set off on your own adventure. In his more recent videos, Karl has been exploring Europe and his home country of the UK whilst giving tips to travellers on how to explore the continent on a budget. Here’s a short taster of Karl’s fun documentary style vlogs that we love so much…
3. Kara and Nate
With almost 1000 travel vlogs uploaded and almost three million Youtube subscribers, these two travel YouTubers have really hit the big time! Fun-loving American couple Kara and Nate, originally from Nashville Tennessee, have spent the last four years travelling to over 100 countries on all seven continents. From sleeping in an aquarium one night to a $10,000 US penthouse suite the next, try not to die of jealousy at the awesome career lifestyle this entrepreneurial couple has created for themselves.
While the recent pandemic sent Kara and Nate back to their home continent of the US, that didn’t stop them from having adventures… In 2020, they bought their first home together – a converted van – and set off on a road trip across the States! The couple has been documenting the highs and the lows of ‘van life’ in their latest videos from surviving minus temperatures to having their plans changed again and again by COVID-19 restrictions.
Through all the challenges and setbacks, they always manage to keep a smile on their faces. Here’s a taster (pun intended) of why Kara and Nate have become so successful…
4. Grrrltraveler
A one-woman film crew as she calls herself, Christine takes viewers on a journey to explore the world of travel, food and culture. This Youtube channel is particularly great for solo female travellers who are in need of some motivation and confidence to hit the road! (We particularly like her attention to detail when it comes to trying a variety of 7-11 snacks in each country that she visits!)
Christine isn’t afraid to show her emotions and tell viewers about the less glamorous side of travel as she delves into topics such as depression, travel burnout and getting sick whilst abroad. Check out her video on the challenges that solo travellers face to get an idea of her honest and raw presentation style.
5. Drew Binsky
Drew Binsky is an American traveller and Youtube documentary maker whose channel is a little bit different from the average travel Youtube show. Drew regularly delves into contemporary political issues such as human rights abuses, gay and transgender acceptance and religious and racial stereotypes. He is also not afraid to put the lens on his own nationality as he asks people from the different countries that he visits what their perception of America is. Maybe it’s this angle that has earned him a whopping three million subscribers over the years!?
His channel frequently features special celebrity guests such as Wim Hof (AKA The Ice Man), Lexie Alford, who holds the record for the youngest person to travel to every country and film producer, Erik Anders Lang. As well as celebrating the cultures of the countries he has visited, Drew’s main message is that travel widens your perspective of the world… In October 2021, after setting foot in Saudi Arabia, Drew achieved his goal of travelling to every single country on the planet – 197/197! Here’s an example of one of his videos and why we love his unique take on travel philosophy…
6. charlycheer
Charly is a plant-based, polyamorous, lifestyle and travel blogger who lived and taught English in Vietnam for over a year. For anyone thinking of uprooting their homelife and getting a travel job in Asia, her videos will give you a great insight into the highs and lows of being an ex-pat. More recently, Charly had a complete change of lifestyle and bought a 1978 vintage RV to tour her home country of the US. She also just started a new job as a flight attendant, so we have yet to see what new places that will lead her to…
In her videos, Charly consistently delves into less discussed, but very important topics such as how race can affect your chances of getting a job in different countries and getting hit on whilst on the road. She also talks about what it’s like to travel and live abroad with anxiety. She’s a fun vlogger with a unique and charming style who manages to find the extraordinary in the ordinary no matter where her life takes her… Here’s one of our favourite videos from Vietnam!
7. The Endless Adventure
Eric and Allison are the couple behind the Endless Adventure, a Youtube channel dedicated to travelling forever and never going home! They have spent the past five years travelling around the globe seeking new adventures and trying new foods… Like many travel vloggers in recent years, their latest adventure has been to buy a vintage RV and renovate it. From Europe to South America, Eric and Allison aim to inspire people everywhere to hit the road! They upload new YouTube videos every single week which means their channel is chock-full of up to date content for you to get your teeth into.
8. Backpacking Bananas
Christianne is a backpacker from the UK who shares tips and recommendations about budget travel via her increasingly popular Youtube channel. Her videos mostly cover European, South American and Southeast Asian travel and there are a fair amount of videos to help newbie backpackers with packing, budget planning and travel gear tips. In her more recent videos, Christianne has been exploring all that Thailand has to offer since it opened up to tourists in 2022 following the pandemic restrictions.
The entrepreneurial chica also has a website full of online travel resources and a clothing line! Christianne is definitely one to follow if you’re a solo female backpacker looking for inspiration. She also discusses the realities of travelling and working online as a digital nomad.
9. Best Ever Food Review Show
This is where the line between YouTube channels and professional travel TV shows are blurred. Adventurous American host, Sonny, is somewhat of an Internet celebrity and he certainly deserves the fame. After just one episode, the Best Ever Food Review Show will have you hooked as Sonny samples weird, wonderful (and sometimes dangerous!) foods from around the world – such as sea penis and pufferfish!
In each episode (usually around 20 minutes long), Sonny explores different cultures, meets charismatic local people and samples some pretty unusual dishes. (Vegetarians need not subscribe.) Sonny has been living in Asia for over 10 years and currently resides in Vietnam.
10. Homemade Wanderlust
This is a YouTube channel dedicated to backpacking in the American sense of the word… That’s hiking to us Brits. Created by an American adventurer, Dixie, the channel began when she documented her hiking on the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.
Since then she’s hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail and the Camino de Santiago. Her channel includes plenty of thru-hiking tips as well as backpack and gear reviews. She even made a full-length documentary with her sister Montana about their Camino de Santiago hike which you can watch on her channel. For hiking enthusiasts, Homemade Wanderlust has some great tips that may just prevent you from getting yourself into a sticky situation when out in the wilderness!
11. Mark Wiens
We first met Mark in Bangkok (where he currently lives) around 10 years ago when his YouTube channel was only just beginning! Since then, he’s made thousands of videos and gained millions more followers through his fun and fascinating documentary style. Join Mark as he goes in search of some of the most delicious food on the planet and shares excellent travel tips along the way.
Mark’s humble and down to earth style and the way he connects with the local people he meets make his videos fun and easy to watch and each one is sure to get your stomach rumbling! Mark calls himself a ‘full-time eater’ and believes ‘food is the reason you should travel’. We have to admit that we agree!
12. Avelovinit
Patricia Averilla (AKA Avelovinit) is a popular female travel vlogger originally from the Philippines. She has tons of videos to help you plan your travels to the Philippines, as well as plenty of other countries in Europe, South America and Southeast Asia.
Patricia’s videos will help you with every aspect of trip planning from what to pack in your backpack to itineraries and house hunting abroad (for those long-term travellers). Ave is currently travelling, working and finding long-term abodes around the Philippines with her Norwegian fiancé Martin. She has some great tips for backpackers wanting to plan a trip to the Philippines this year!
13. Fearless & Far
As a kid, I was a huge fan of the BBC TV program, Tribe, with British presenter Bruce Parry. I loved Bruce’s sense of adventure, fearlessness and ability to adapt to unusual cultures and wild places. This YouTube channel by Canadian adventurer, Mike Corey, is the closest thing I’ve found to that kind of untamed documentary series. This is no ordinary travel YouTube channel. Mike is a true explorer who endeavours to explore some of the most remote places on Earth and get to know indigenous peoples whose lives are very different from our own.
On his channel, you’ll find him hunting with tribes in Africa, exploring an abandoned mausoleum in Romania, partying with the Venezualan airforce, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with a watermelon (don’t ask!) and much more. His main goal is to step out of his comfort zone, again and again, to help the viewer to conquer their own fears surrounding travel and life. He is now based in Mexico City and travels to off the beaten track places frequently.
14. North and Left a Bit
Two buddies and motorcycle enthusiasts decided to film their 17,000-kilometre overland adventure from Sydney, Australia to London, England. Expect down to earth humour, epic scenery and travel mishaps from the pair as they navigate their Suzuki DR650s across all kinds of terrain in all kinds of weather. Their style is unpolished which is a refreshing change from the super edited and glossy footage of many professional travel vloggers.
Their footage of Pakistan is particularly breathtaking as they travel over the stunning Karakoram Highway and into Northern Pakistan. Their adventure is real, raw and like all epic journeys, includes a few mishaps along the way – like the time they got lost in Kyrgyzstan – which they reckon is the best thing they ever did! This channel might just inspire you to plan your own two-wheeled adventure.
15. Eva zu Beck
Wow. This inspirational travel YouTuber is one seriously badass chica who isn’t afraid to camp alone in the woods, go horse trekking across Mongolia ALONE, live by herself full-time in a 4X4 or poop in the wilderness! You won’t find any comparisons of the top ten coffee shops in Chiang Mai on this YouTube channel, this is pure and rugged adventure!
So what’s Eva’s story? Well, after living the corporate life in a start-up between London and Brussels, Eva hit rock bottom and decided to completely change her life. She left her flat, ended her marriage, set off travelling and bought a second-hand camera to film her adventures. The rest is history! From visiting Afghanistan as a solo female traveller to living with a Bedouin family in the deserts of Oman to surviving on a remote island off Yemen during the Coronavirus pandemic, Eva’s vlogs will blow your mind!
Hot travel vlogger gossip – Eva is actually now in a relationship with Mike Corey of the previously mentioned YouTube channel, Fearless & Far!
16. Itchy Boots
Another fearless female that has ridden over 100,000 kilometres around the world on a motorbike and is still going… meet intrepid Dutch adventurer, Noraly! Riding through deserts, mountains and jungles, over abandoned railway bridges, across dodgy borders and remote landscapes, this YouTube channel is full of seriously epic scenery from Asia, Europe, Africa, South America and beyond…
Her videos are organised into different series and she is currently filming series six in South America where she is riding on a Honda CRF300L from Patagonia all the way to Alaska!
Whilst on the road, she publishes videos three times a week so there is plenty of content here to chew on! Viewers get to see the country from the handlebars of Noraly’s bike as she whizzes through towns, villages and countryside chatting with locals along the way!
17. Wheels to Wander
And finally, we’ll end our list with this lovely Dutch couple, Maudi and Eric, who has been cycling around the world on their bicycles for the past few years and making videos along the way! Unlike some of the other YouTubers, this down to earth twosome doesn’t try to glamourise the places they visit and prefer to tell a genuine story, warts and all. Their videos are more of a documentation of their personal journey rather than the ‘must-do things’ in each location they visit.
You’ll find videos from Europe and Asia with bikepacking gear tips thrown in along the way. Maudi and Eric are currently taking a break from bicycle touring but there’s already plenty of inspiration on their channel to get your teeth into and we hope they will plan another trip soon!
Have you discovered any other awesome YouTube travel channels that we should know about? Let us know in the comments below!
Nikki Scott | Founder & Editor
Nikki is the founding editor of South East Asia Backpacker and The Backpacker Network. In her early twenties, she left her home in the North of England on a solo backpacking adventure and never returned! After six months on the road, she founded a print magazine that became legendary on the Banana Pancake Trail. The rest is history.
Out of your 17 Youtubers only four are in the top 100 most subscribed travel vlogs
The vloggers people are actually watching are baldandbankrupt, Haraldbaldr, kurt Caz etc. Any guesses why they were left out?