The past year has been rough, no doubt about it. But if there’s one group of people who’ve been hit extra hard, it’s those who rely on traveling and tourism for a living. For travel vlogger Louis John Cole, Covid has been an opportunity to further explore his unique lifestyle—a nomadic lifestyle that is.
A travel guru if there ever was one, Cole has amassed two million subscribers on YouTube and another one million on Instagram. Alongside his fiancé, Raya (a travel blogger herself), he shares his life on the road, treating life as a constant adventure.
“As I reflect back over this crazy year, as it comes to an end, the thing I’m most grateful for is having the most amazing, supportive, and incredible woman in my life!” wrote Cole in a recent Instagram post.
His most recent adventure? Heading across the US and then down to Costa Rica with a converted school bus, aptly nicknamed The Happiness Bus. Indeed, happiness seems to be the key to Cole’s way of life, and his enthusiasm is very much contagious.
His advice to other aspiring travel bloggers (and influencers in general)? “Come from a place of being passionate about capturing and sharing moments—not straight from this mentality that [you] want to make money or jump straight into having Instagram as a revenue generator or a business.”
“That’s an added bonus if you can get to that stage,” explained Cole in a chat with Entrepreneur. “But if that’s your initial goal, it could be quite tricky especially if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing. I think the audience can really notice that as well.”
