How to Come Up with the Best Travel Blog Names in 2024 (Step-by-Step Guide, Tips, Ideas, & Examples)

by Blogging Tips3 comments

You’re probably reading this article because you decided to take the big step in learning how to start a travel blogand that’s awesome! …But of course, you’re temporarily stumped because you seem to be in need of ideas for travel blog names.

In fact, you might be one of those people who have been keeping a certain name in mind… only to find out that someone else had already taken that same clever title for their blog!

Now don’t worry and don’t be discouraged. There are still a LOT of ways to come up with creative or kickass blog names that will resonate with you. And while we’re in that line of thought, it also helps to note that there are actually a lot of other factors that you have to keep in mind because this blog name will set the direction of your domain, your branding, your identity, and yes: your business.

Even if you can technically change your travel website’s name at a later time, it’s an action that you must avoid especially if you have already gained some traffic or authority, AND if you don’t want to waste time, effort, or money! In other words, you must be sure of your choice; BUT the good news is: your travel blog’s name doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be right for you.

Your travel blog’s name doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be the right fit for you.

…It’s turning into such a daunting task, isn’t it? But don’t fret because you’re not alone in this. I’m here to help. After all, I’ve gone through this same dilemma far too many times — not only when I was thinking of travel blog names for this site but also for the other number of websites and businesses that I have built — and boy, have I learned!

That being said, yes, I still feel a tinge of regret for naming my site as it is now; but I do have this *funny* lifelong goal of making ‘Aileen’ a well-known name worldwide that is NOT, in any way, related to the famous murderer, Aileen Wuornos. So far, I’m succeeding because I’m 2nd on the list of Google’s top results. Yay!

Without further ado, let me help guide you through this naming process so that you WON’T make the mistakes that I’ve made.

5 Steps for Choosing a Travel Blog Name

STEP 1: Find your target audience and specific niche

Find Blog's Niche with Blue Ocean Strategy

Photo by: Shutterstock

No matter if you’ve already thought of this or not, it’s absolutely important to refine your travel blog’s niche in order to establish your unique branding. Truth be told, this is the very first step that you need to take when learning how to start a blog because it will naturally help narrow down your choice of words as you come up with ideas for travel blog names.

You might be thinking, “well, isn’t the topic of travel already specific enough?Nope, not really. Travel is a broad industry and it has so many subtopics (that are even further broken down into more subtopics), and it is important that you find that particular segment that will help set you apart from the crowd. Besides, you can’t just establish yourself as an authority for travel tips because people will trust bigger names more such as that of Lonely Planet. So yes, you really need to build yourself first from the ground up in a niche that plays to your favor so that you can gradually gain traction and make a name for yourself.

So in case you haven’t done this part yet (as per my beginner’s blogging guide), the first thing that you need to do is to adopt this new concept called the Blue Ocean Strategy. It is a definitive process that will help you be in a ‘blue ocean’ rather than a ‘red ocean’.


RED OCEAN

  • In an existing saturated niche with lots of competition
  • Exists in a broad spectrum
  • Slow growth and tries to capture existing demand

“A blog about traveling in a van”

BLUE OCEAN

  • In a new market with little to no competition
  • Exists in a specific spectrum
  • Stands out and captures new demand

“A blog about traveling in a van on a budget for families in the USA”


As you can see, if you’re in a ‘blue ocean’, there is a deeper potential for you to achieve rapid growth because you are targeting a distinct market space that is untainted by competition yet still filled with a lot of opportunities. To be able to arrive at your very own blue ocean, you can take out a pen and paper and start writing down some topics or styles of travel that you’re interested in — or are good at.

With all those ideas laid out before you, you can now follow these 3 steps to narrow down your blue ocean:

  1. First, find a broad or common theme that you want to tackle or find a solution to in your travel blog
    (a target market: e.g. people looking to travel in a van)
  2. Find a subset of that theme or target market that you want to specialize in
    (a niche: e.g. families in the USA looking to travel in a van on a budget)
  3. This last step isn’t usually done by most but it helps to imagine the kind of ideal individual that you want to “serve” so that you have a clearer idea of the audience you want to target. To find this special profile, simply imagine an individual with clear characteristics that you want to cater to as dependent on the niche you picked from step #2
    (the ideal client/reader/audience: a parent in the USA looking to bring the whole family to travel or live in a van indefinitely yet sustainably on a budget in order to avoid high house rental or mortgage costs, and maybe even find a way to make a living while doing it such as through remote travel work)
    .

It might also help to ask yourself these additional questions in order to find the answer to the above steps:

  • What is a pressing need that travel readers often seek?
  • What top travel problem do I want to address?
  • What reader demographic will I resonate with the most?
  • How can my blog offer unique solutions to those problems?
  • What unique perspectives can I apply for my blog to separate myself from the rest in the same niche?
  • What is my vision or my end-goal that I hope to achieve with this travel blog?
    .

I hope it’s also apparent enough that these questions will help shape the overall branding of your website — which your travel blog name is a part of!

So now that we’ve found that sweet blue ocean that your blog will be positioned in, it will serve as a guiding light now as we proceed to step #2 that lists out the different ways that you can come up with your travel blog name.

STEP 2: Brainstorm travel blog names

Brainstorm Blog Name Ideas

Photo by: Shutterstock

Don’t fret if you aren’t creative enough with blog names because the truth is: you can be! You just need a little push or inspiration and I’m sure that the pointers in this section will help you out. But before I start listing out some methods, let me take this moment to ask you this: what tone or voice would you like your blog to have? Do you want it to be fun, casual, and light? Or more mature, professional, and serious?

Once you get that sorted out, enjoy to your heart’s content the number of formulas, methods, tips, and tricks below that will aid you when thinking of potential travel blog names. Don’t hold yourself back — just list out every possible name you can think of (no matter how silly or plain it is) and we’ll do the last checks as we move forward to the next steps.

– – –

Descriptive

It doesn’t hurt to be simply straightforward with your travel blog name by describing what it is or what you want to do. As a guide, these two simple ‘formulas’ have been tried and tested to work:

Travel Blog Name = (your target audience / niche topic / keyword) + (your blog’s end goal / mission / vision)
~ Example: Working Holiday Experts = (young people seeking working holiday opportunities) + (to make readers as experts)

Travel Blog Name = (your target audience / niche topic / keyword) + (the type of person that you are)
~ Example: Hiking Tyrant = (trails and hiking activities) + (undefined by rules and prefers to take charge and find something different)

– – –

Thesaurus

Remember how this nifty book helped you with your college essays and assignments? Well, a thesaurus can help you come up with interesting travel blog names too! Some examples of words that you can use as dependent on the type of target market you want are as follows…

Adventure Travel = daredevil, epic, feat, legendary, unreal, vagabond, voyager

Budget Travel = bargain, cheap, frugal, on the rims, practical, prudent, thrifty

Couple Travel = duo, deuce, dyad, match, mated, twain, twosome, yoke

Family Travel = clan, dynasty, folk, forebears, kith and kin, progeny, tribe

Foodie Travel = bite, chow, cuisine, fare, grub, munch, nibble, slop, vittles

Luxury Travel = deluxe, frill, lavish, opulence, ritzy, splendor, sumptuous, upscale

Solo Travel = by oneself, lone, only, peerless, sole, solitary, stag, unaided

Sustainable Travel = bosky, clean, eco, green, meaningful, puerile, verdant

Volunteer Travel = bolster, enlist, proffer, relief, serve, support

– – –

Abbreviation or Acronym

This isn’t quite a popular way to come up with a travel blog name, but if you have the right combination of letters (that you can even partner with an extra word), it can turn out to be a hit that’s short yet sweet!

Example: LDN Diaries (London Diaries)

– – –

Adapt a Popular Title or Quote

There are a lot of short and catchy sayings, quotes, idioms, or titles (of books, songs, movies, etc.) that you can try to make use of, especially since they already have strong ‘recall’ in everyone’s minds. To use this, simply swap one of the words with your own blog keyword!

Example: “Every Breath You Take” = Every Flight You Take

– – –

Alliteration

Alliteration is when words that start with the same letter or even the same sound are used repeatedly in a phrase or sentence (sometimes, they are even called tongue twisters). The beauty of this kind of style is the flowing rhythm or sound that they make for your brand name — and if I may add a tip, don’t use more than 3 words!

Examples:
Everything Everywhere
Johnny Jet
Savouring Simplicity
Thrifty Traveler

– – –

Foreign

Do you happen to like a certain word in your native language or dialect? As long as it’s easy to pronounce and spell, don’t shy away from using it!

If you can only speak English, you can make use of Google Translate for ideas; after all, using a foreign word (and even mixing it with English or another foreign word, especially if they collectively sound good) can be a great way to brand your blog.

Need more inspiration for names?

Check out these top 50 foreign and unusual travel words!

– – –

Fun

If you want to apply a casual and warm tone to your travel blog, coming up with a fun travel blog name can do the trick! Some style examples that you can adopt are as follows:

  • Puns and Humor: Nomadasaurus, Will Fly for Food, Girl Eat World
  • Slang: Wanna Travel, Gimme Them Points
  • Drop a Vowel: Trip Hackr, Flight Hustlr
  • Made-Up Words: Brand names like Uber is a made-up word. Feel free to use Wordoid to come up with words like this; but do also check if the word might have some other meaning in other languages and you can use the site Word Safety for that.

– – –

Juxtaposition or Oxymoron

Oxymorons are a figure of speech wherein two opposite or contradictory words are joined together; whereas juxtapositions are similar but rather involves placing two or more words or things side by side to show contrast or to compare. What both of these concepts basically mean is that you could come up with a unique blog name if you put two seemingly unrelated words together.

Examples:
Alone Together
Working Vacation
Flight Ninja

– – –

Name or Nickname

If you love your name as I do, why not use it as one of your ideas for travel blog names? Some people have gone as far as to use their whole name, while others have used a nickname or even a pseudonym. This works best for personal branding and it even gives you the flexibility to expand your blog’s scope or niche if you happen to desire a rebrand in the future. Nevertheless, just take note that if you want to sell your website or if you want to expand and take on additional writers, it might be hard to do so since the domain is associated with you as a sole personality.

Examples:
I am Aileen
Adventurous Kate
Nomadic Matt
Alex in Wanderland
Gone with The Wynns

– – –

Portmanteau

A portmanteau is a blend of two or more words (or even part of words) that expresses the combined meaning of those words. A typical example is ‘brunch’ which is the combination of the words breakfast and lunch. If you want some added help or tools for this, try out websites like NameMesh or Word Combiner.

Examples:
Listverse (list + universe)
Flightary (flight + documentary)

– – –

Prefixes or Suffixes

Prefixes are groups of letters added to the start of a word to change their meaning or function (e.g. auto-, anti-, hyper-, mono-, sub-, trans-) — alternatively, suffixes are added to the end (e.g. -able, -eer, -ious, -ism, -ity, -ness). There are a lot of examples for each of these two and a quick Google search will show you a complete list.

Examples:
Autowander
Travelette
Wanderous

STEP 3: Screen brainstormed blog name ideas

Screen Travel Blog Names

Photo by: Shutterstock

At this point, you probably have several ideas for travel blog names that are written out — BUT, before we proceed, it is vital that you go through these last checks in order to filter out the travel blog names that won’t be making the cut, as well as to ensure that you are choosing only the appropriate ‘candidate’ names.

  • Is it related to travel? This is totally up to you as per the kind of tone or branding that you want your blog to have, but for as much as possible, try to incorporate a travel-related keyword into your title to give your readers an instant idea about the niche you’re in. Additionally, if you do this step, it will help you rank better on Google’s search algorithm given that it will be more SEO*-friendly; however, try to avoid words like adventurous, backpacker, global, journey, nomad or wander because they are already used a LOT by other travel bloggers especially big influencers like Adventurous Kate, Nomadic Matt, and Wandering Earl. I say this because you want people to recall YOU when they think of your travel blog name, so if you go for a name that goes like ‘Nomadic YourName’, you’ll make other people think of Nomadic Matt instead of your site and this will be detrimental to your branding since you are putting yourself in direct competition with these big authorities.
    .

*What is SEO? It’s short for ‘Search Engine Optimization’ and it’s an important aspect that every website owner should know of when learning how to start a travel blog. After all, knowledge of SEO will help increase the number of visitors on your site, as well as its visibility on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.
.

If you want to learn more about this, you can go to Moz or SearchEngineLand given that they offer great FREE courses for SEO beginners like you! For more comprehensive courses, check Udemy.

  • Is it easy and short? The easier it is to say and remember, the better it will be! You wouldn’t want your readers to take too much of their time typing out your travel blog name, nor do you want to give them a hard time. As a start, ensure that you follow these tips:
    • Avoid hyphens or numerical numbers because you risk people typing them out wrongly when they spread your blog’s name by word of mouth.
    • Avoid homonyms or words that have different meanings but pronounced/spelled the same way since it could be quite confusing for readers. There are two types of this:
      • Homophones or words that sound the same but spelled differently (e.g. bytes = bites)
      • Homographs or words that have the same spelling but do not necessarily sound the same
    • Avoid words that are not easily recognized or spelled by others, even more so if you are going to use words that are not in English (unless of course, you want to focus on audiences in your home country). To check this, you can do a phone test to check if your friend (or better yet, an elderly) can spell your travel blog name correctly after they hear it over the phone. If they’re having a hard time spelling out your blog’s title, you’ll know you’re picking the wrong name.
    • Ask a friend’s opinion. This doesn’t mean that you need their approval to use the name you thought of, but another person’s opinion (especially someone who knows you) can provide valuable insight about your choices.
    • Say the name out loud. If it ever makes you feel awkward, then there might be a reason why it made you feel that way. Remember that this is the name that you will be introducing to others in the future, so make sure it’s something you’re not embarrassed about.
      .
  • Is it timeless or evergreen? Your travel blog name will be your brand forever, so don’t tie yourself with a current trend or situation that’s bound to fade away or go outdated. Don’t also box yourself to a name that might be too restricting in the future, especially if you want to expand your niche. Some example scenarios to portray my point…
    • If you don’t intend to travel as a backpacker forever, don’t choose a name that will suggest that, or you’ll find it harder to score with bigger luxurious hotels in the future.
    • Using trendy words like yolo (you only live once) might be cool now, but will it feel tacky to you in years to come?
    • Don’t come up with something like ‘365 Days of Travel’ if you plan to keep your travel blog for more than a year
    • Don’t use ‘Teenage Traveler’ unless you want to perpetually target teenage travelers as a niche. After all, well… you are going to get old. Of course, it can still be charming down that road, but it’s up to you.
    • Consider that if you put ‘The Philippine Nomad’, readers might think that you’re just concentrated on the Philippines; unless that’s what your travel blog really is about.
      .
  • Is it a good domain URL? For example, if you pick a name like “Speed of Art” if it’s squished up as a website URL it will look like: www.speedofart.com — now, you wouldn’t want that, would you?
    .
  • Is it already existing or trademarked? Try Googling your travel blog name ideas. Use quotation marks (“your blog name”) to see if this exact phrase has already been used on another site, or if it’s related to some shady website or branding. If you’re in the USA and you’re planning to register your blog as a business in the future, it’s a good idea to check if your name is trademarked. You can check this by going to USPTO.

STEP 4: Check domain URL availability

Domain Availability Checkter Tool

Photo by: Shutterstock

You now have a list of narrowed down travel blog names — and that’s great!
Now, it’s time to check their availability as domains*.

What is a domain? A domain name is the unique ‘address’ of your blog on the internet. This is your URL. For instance, this blog’s domain name is iAmAileen.com and it will remain to be my unique identifier for as long as I continue to pay an annual fee.
.

Yes, a FEE. To be able to get these .com names, you would have to pay — rest assured, if you follow my how to start a travel blog guide, you’ll get your domain name for FREE!

To check if your travel blog name idea is still up for grabs as a domain, go to Bluehost to check.

…Chances are, most if not all of the names on your list are already taken; however, don’t give up just yet! Go back again to step #2 and brainstorm for more names. Rack your brain for other alternatives, variations, or ways to alter the name since they might be available as domains if you just change the order or spelling. Don’t hold back either in surveying your competition in order to get more ideas.

On the other hand, if one of your suggestions is available and it’s a name that you LOVE to have — hold your horses! Don’t get too excited just yet.

  • Is it a .com domain URL? A lot of newbie bloggers are tempted to buy domains that end with .photography, .life, .recipes or any other TLD (top-level domain or extensions). While it may seem attractive to buy a domain that represents what you want your blog to be, it is ALWAYS imperative that you pick a .com domain as your main URL. It’s a lot more authoritative and search engine-friendly; not to mention that a lot of people are just so used to typing .com. But okay, if you really want that .life domain, you can do that BUT as an additional domain that you would redirect to your .com so that it still remains to be the main domain of your travel blog.
  • TIP: If you have the extra money, try to purchase extra domains of your blog name under other popular TLD extensions like .co, .info, .net and .org. This is just an added safety measure that I’ve been doing ever since I heard about a story from a web developer friend that I had wherein her client wanted to buy her website’s .co and .net domain variant, but someone already bought them. In the end, they asked her for an exorbitant amount of money just to transfer the domains to her! This is definitely a special case, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.
  • Is it available as a username on social media? Go to this website called as KnowEm and check if the name is available across all social media websites. For as much as possible, you should NOT be forced to use dots (.), hyphens (-) or extra words (‘the’, ‘we are’, etc.) to secure your name on those platforms, most especially if it’s a social media channel that you want to be most prominent in (e.g. Instagram). Don’t be like me who is now forced to use @i_am_aileen on Instagram, just because someone beat me to the @iamaileen username — and I kid you not, it’s hard to type all those underscores and it even takes a while to dictate to others my username… However, if this is truly the name that you want and you don’t mind the extra special characters, then it’s totally fine to proceed to the last step below…

STEP 5: Buy the domain and park social media usernames

Buy Travel Blog Domain and Hosting with Bluehost

Photo by: Shutterstock

As I’ve mentioned in step #4, Bluehost can easily secure the domain name that you desire.

For a complete and comprehensive guide on how to proceed from this step up until the set up of your blog’s website, you should refer to my guide about how to build a blog.

Lastly, go to each social media channel that you want to target, sign up, and ‘park’ your username so that others won’t be able to grab it.

…and yes, that’s it! You have now secured your travel blog name!

Travel Blog Name Ideas

NEW IDEAS

  • Backpackerology
  • Beach to Mountain
  • Binge Wanderer
  • Budget Soloist
  • Bustling Traveler
  • Coveted Flights
  • Date Trips
  • Daily Wanderings
  • Endless Flights
  • Everlost
  • Every Flight She Takes
  • Flightary
  • Forever Jetlag
  • Green Gadabout
  • Hikes and Bikes
  • Island Seeker
  • Lux Family Travel
  • Our Gap Year
  • Pack Fly Hike
  • Packed Travels
  • Pocketful of Points
  • Solo Cruises
  • Surf and Tour
  • Together in NYC
  • Train Journeyer
  • Travelers in the Room
  • Travelers’ Redemption
  • Trip Effect
  • Willingly Lost
  • Wonderous Traveler

EXISTING EXAMPLES

  • Adventure Junkies
  • Against the Compass
  • Alex in Wanderland
  • Along Dusty Roads
  • Anywhere We Roam
  • Atlas & Boots
  • Backpacker Banter
  • Dan Flying Solo
  • Expert Vagabond
  • Hand Luggage Only
  • Just One Way Ticket
  • Lavin Was Here
  • Lost with Purpose
  • Never Ending Footsteps
  • Nomadic Matt
  • Notes from the Road
  • One Mile at a Time
  • Roads & Kingdoms
  • Runaway Brit
  • Salt in Our Hair
  • Savvy Backpacker
  • The Travel Episodes
  • Travel Loving Family
  • Wandering Earl
  • What a Trip
  • Who Needs Maps
  • Where is Next
  • Wild Junket
  • Will Fly for Food
  • World of Wanderlust

Travel Blog Name Generators & Tools

  • Wordoid – This site is great for coming up with unique and catchy made-up words in any language. You can even control the length of the letters whilst immediately seeing if the domain is available or not.
  • Panabee – This is one of the most blog name generators where you can input one or two words to describe your site and then it will present every available option. It also shows if the name is available on some social media platforms.
  • Smart WP – This is a great tool that offers alternative domains that are readily available as per the keyword you input.
  • Name Mesh – This is great to use if you have several keywords in mind. Just enter the words and it will generate results in different categories.
  • Word Combiner – This site combines up to 4 words into one unique word, great for when you want to come up with portmanteau travel blog names.
  • Naming Tools – This is a helpful site for crosschecking a word that might mean negatively in other languages.

FAQ on Travel Blog Names

Can I set up my travel blog if I don’t have a name yet?

Yes, definitely! If you follow my blogging guide and sign up with Bluehost, you can start building your website even if you don’t have a name yet.

Can I buy a domain name even if it is not a .com address?

I highly suggest that you go for a .com address because it’s a lot more authoritative and search engine-friendly — not to mention that a lot of people are just so used to typing .com.

But what if I really want to get this .life address domain for my travel blog’s name?

If you really want that .life domain, you can go ahead and purchase it, BUT only as an additional domain. Meaning that you should redirect it to your .com domain address so that the .com still remains to be the main domain of your travel blog. (“Redirect” — did that sound complicated? Don’t worry! Just chat with Bluehost‘s customer service team and they’ll be happy to do it for you.)

I found a blog name I like but it says that it’s already taken as a domain, is there a way for me to get it still?

Some websites like Godaddy can act as ‘brokers’ wherein they will contact the owner of that domain that you like and then negotiate with them on your behalf (they will get a commission if the negotiation turns out to be successful). This is clearly a costly process but if you really want a certain name for your blog’s branding, it doesn’t hurt to give it a try. Just take note that in most cases, the original site owner might refuse to sell their domain, and the fees you paid with the broker are often non-refundable.

• • •

Travel Blog Names

Overall

I hope that all of the tips that I’ve shared here about coming up with travel blog names will prove to be helpful.

Just remember that you don’t have to rush! Take your time for this especially because your site’s name is going to be very important in the long run. All in all, I’m just so glad you’re taking the steps to start your own blog. Feel free to share the final name that you ended up using in the comment box below!

See the top must-haves you’ll need in travel blogging for beginners. Otherwise, you can check here for the rest of my top blogging tips.

• • •

Have you seen my latest vlog?

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About Me

About Aileen : Sidebar

Hey there! I am Aileen Adalid.
At 21, I quit my corporate job in the Philippines to pursue my dreams. Today, I am a successful digital nomad (online entrepreneur, travel writer, & vlogger) living a sustainable travel lifestyle.

My mission? To show you how it is absolutely possible to create a life of travel no matter the odds — and I will help you achieve that through my detailed travel hacks, guides, resources, tips, and MORE!

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3 Comments

  1. Jaganath Barman

    I appreciate these suggestions! Thank You So Much.

    Reply
    • Aileen Adalid

      I hope it helps! :)

      Reply
  2. Ryan K Biddulph

    Good job Aileen. We want to become clear on our ideal reader to pick a name benefiting these folks. I chose Blogging From Paradise to blog for people who want to blog while circling the globe. I cover some travel themed posts but mostly blogging tips stuff. Bloggers easily understand how they can blog from paradise, too, by following my tips generously, patiently and persistently.

    Ryan

    Reply

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