She Took the Scenic Route — Now Her Travel Blog Makes $2K/Month
One post, some persistence, and a smart pivot — what travel bloggers are doing differently in 2025.
When Madison Krigbaum launched her travel blog in 2017, she had no strategy, no audience — and no plans to quit her job and travel full-time.
📌 Side Hustle: Travel blogging
💰 Revenue: $2,000/month
🗓️ Started: 2017
Featured Quote:
“It’s not flashy. It’s not fast. But it’s mine. And that makes all the difference.”
“I just knew I loved to write — and I missed traveling so badly after studying abroad,” she said. “The blog started as a creative outlet. Nothing more.”
For years, that’s exactly what it was. She wrote posts no one read, made almost no money, and tried to grow on social media — until she realized she didn’t enjoy any of it.
She didn’t build a massive Instagram following. She didn’t quit her job to backpack full-time.
She just kept publishing — and eventually figured out how to make her blog work for her.
Fast forward to 2025: Madison’s blog, Madison’s Footsteps, now brings in up to $2,000/month. Her secret? It wasn’t a viral moment. It was learning SEO, sticking with it, and publishing the kind of content that people are actually searching for.
In a digital world chasing shortcuts and short-form content, Madison’s story is proof that long-form, long-game blogging still has a place — and can still pay.
Here’s how she did it — and what she’d focus on if she had to start all over today.
I Thought I Wanted to Work in Fashion
Madison learned how to start a blog in the summer of 2017, fresh off a semester abroad in Rome and knee-deep in a brutally unpaid internship in New York City. Her days were long, her bank account was empty, and her mind was still wandering the sun-soaked trattorias and cobblestone streets of Europe.
“I was miserable,” she says. “I spent the whole summer daydreaming about the trips I had taken — and wishing I was anywhere else.”
So she started writing. The blog was called Broke, Wild & Traveling, and at first, it was more diary than digital business. There was no keyword strategy. No SEO plan. “Honestly, I think the only people reading it were me and maybe my mom.”
Still, something about it clicked. Madison had always loved to write, and travel gave her something she wanted to write about. Even though she wasn’t making money — and wouldn’t for years — she kept going.
“I definitely dreamed of monetizing it eventually,” she says. “But I had no idea what that actually meant. You need readers to make money. And I had… none.”
I Blogged for Years With Nothing to Show for It
For a long time, Madison’s Footsteps looked like a lot of other blogs: part-time, passion-fueled, and mostly invisible.
From 2017 through early 2024, she kept posting, experimenting, and hoping something would click. Most months, she earned nothing. Occasionally, she’d make $30. “It wasn’t a business. It was just something I did because I liked it.”
She tried growing on Instagram. That didn’t stick. “I realized I didn’t actually enjoy social media,” she says. “Trying to be an influencer felt fake. It became a chore.”
She also didn’t fully understand SEO — not yet. “I’d taken some courses, but the strategies never really clicked. I was still mostly writing what I felt like writing, without thinking about whether people were actually searching for it.”
The turning point came when she finally invested in a course — one of several blogging courses she’d explored — that taught her how to research keywords, structure her posts, and write content that served both her audience and the algorithm.
But more importantly, she changed her mindset.
“I stopped writing only what I wanted to say, and started focusing on what people were Googling. That’s when things started to shift.”
Related: The Simple Blueprint I’d Use to Make My First $1K Blogging
Why One Great Post Still Beats Going Viral
In January 2025, Madison hit her highest-earning month yet: just under $2K from her blog.
Roughly 80% of that came from affiliate income — mostly through hotel bookings (via Stay22) and tours (via Viator). The rest came from display ads. And while she’s recently started testing digital products and trip consultations, most of her revenue still comes from just a handful of well-performing blog posts.
Her top earner? A guide to traditional Portuguese foods.
“It’s not flashy or viral,” she says. “But it ranks well, gets consistent traffic, and fits perfectly with my affiliate links. That one post brings in more than any other — just because it solves a specific question that a lot of people are searching for.”
What makes that post so effective? It answers a niche question, includes original photos and firsthand insights, and seamlessly links to helpful booking tools. It’s exactly the kind of post Google loves — and readers stick around for.
Other top performers? A 4-day Ireland itinerary featuring a Viator tour to the Cliffs of Moher, and multi-day guides for Lisbon and Dubrovnik — all structured with SEO and affiliate placement in mind.
Madison isn’t chasing dozens of platforms or trying to publish every week. Instead, she’s focused on creating high-leverage content that works long after it’s published.
“One great post, if it ranks well and converts, can earn more than 20 average ones,” she says. “So I stopped trying to post constantly and started trying to post smarter.”
Related: How This RN Turned a Blog into a $2 Million Side Hustle
Travel Blogging in 2025 Is a Whole New Game
Ask anyone in the blogging world and they’ll tell you: things changed in 2023.
Google’s Helpful Content Update — and the wave of algorithm tweaks that followed — decimated traffic for thousands of sites. Entire income streams disappeared overnight. And even now, many bloggers are still trying to recover.
Madison, somehow, wasn’t one of them.
“I knock on wood every time I say this,” she laughs, “but I wasn’t hit that hard. I think it’s because my blog has always been first-person, story-based, and genuinely helpful. I write from my own experience, and I think that’s what Google is prioritizing more now.”
Still, the update was a wake-up call. She no longer believes SEO is enough.
“These days, I’m focused on diversification,” she says. “Pinterest brings in some traffic. Flipboard does, too. I’m building my newsletter list. Because if Google pulls the plug tomorrow, I don’t want to lose everything.”
She’s also more intentional about where she doesn’t spend time. Like Instagram.
“I used to force myself to post. But I didn’t enjoy it, it didn’t bring in traffic, and it just stressed me out. So I stopped.”
Her focus now is simple: Write useful content. Root it in lived experience. And never rely on platforms you can’t control.
So what would she do differently if she had to start all over today? Here’s her no-fluff blueprint for building a profitable blog in 2025.
💡 If I Were Starting a Blog in 2025, Here’s Exactly What I’d Do
- Pick a niche — and stick to it. Don’t start a general travel blog. Focus on one audience and build content silos around their specific search needs.
- Learn SEO before publishing a single post. Understanding search intent from day one will save you years of backtracking.
- Use affiliate tools that run in the background. Stay22 (for hotels) and Viator (for tours) are beginner-friendly and high-converting for travel content.
- Write fewer posts — but make them count. One well-optimized post can bring in more income than 20 passion pieces no one reads.
- Don’t force social media. If you hate Instagram, skip it. Focus on platforms that match your strengths, like SEO, email, or Flipboard.
- Don’t rush to monetize. Build trust and traffic first. Income follows when you solve real problems, not just publish content.
I Want to Empower Women to Travel — and Get Paid Doing It
Madison’s short-term goal is simple: qualify for Mediavine. The ad network requires at least 50,000 sessions per month — and she’s getting close. “It would be a huge jump in income,” she says. “And it’s something I’ve been working toward for a long time.”
But her vision goes far beyond ad revenue.
She’s building out more digital products. Expanding her itinerary planning services — especially for Roatan, a destination she knows inside and out. Growing her email list. Creating a community.
And at the center of it all: solo female travelers.
“As a chronically single woman, I know how scary solo travel can feel at first,” she says. “But once you do it, it’s life-changing. I want more women to feel confident doing it — and maybe even earning from it, too.”
She also believes responsible travel matters more than ever. “The way we used to travel — fast, thoughtless, high-impact tourism — it’s not sustainable anymore,” she says. “I try to create content that helps people travel better. More intentionally. More respectfully.”
For Madison, blogging has never just been about generating passive income. It’s about building something that reflects who she is — and what she wants the travel space to become.
Related: How MissTourist Became a $10K a Month Travel Blog
Slow Growth Still Counts
Madison didn’t build her blog overnight. She didn’t go viral, quit her job, or crack the Instagram algorithm. She just kept writing — and slowly, intentionally, learned how to turn that writing into income.
“I’m still figuring it out,” she says. “But if my story helps someone else take that first step, or stick with their blog a little longer, that’s everything.”
Today, her travel blog brings in up to $2,000 a month. Tomorrow, she hopes it brings in even more — but no matter what, it’s hers.
It’s not flashy. It’s not fast. But it’s mine. And that makes all the difference.
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