January 14, 2022
DiscoverCars.com Road Trip Awards
The best of the best travel blogs
The DiscoverCars.com Road Trip awards are a way to recognize travel bloggers that dedicate time and effort to providing up-to-date and engaging content concerning road trips, specifically ones that they have taken.
We are excited to announce the winners of our first edition of the awards — awarding the title of Discover Professional Roadtripper to each of them. The winners are listed in random order along with some information about their blogs provided by them.
We at DiscoverCars.com thank all the entrants and send our congratulations to the winners!
We are excited to announce the winners of our first edition of the awards — awarding the title of Discover Professional Roadtripper to each of them. The winners are listed in random order along with some information about their blogs provided by them.
We at DiscoverCars.com thank all the entrants and send our congratulations to the winners!
Road Trip Award Winners
Professional Roadtrippers
- Lose the Map
- Countries visited: 45
- Years blogging: 5
- Most memorable road trip: A ten-day camper van trip through California, stopping at National Parks, small towns, and abandoned ghost towns throughout the state.
- Motivation to start blogging: I wanted to share how travel had not only challenged me and help me grow, but also wanted to write about how incorrect I found most stereotypes and outside perceptions of people and cultures to be once I actually was on the ground in most destinations.
- Primary audience: 18-35 year old males and females interested in adventures and learning.
- Success factors: The fact that I focus more on retaining my own voice and take on a destination, including trying to convey to readers how it feels to be on the ground in most places, rather than listing top places to visit or doing more "generic" articles along those lines.
- Exploramum
- Countries visited: 74
- Years blogging: 10
- Most memorable road trip: We bought a car in the UK and drove through Europe to Turkey and back up through Eastern Europe back to the UK & sold the car back to the same car yard - 12 months later.
We mainly ventured on back roads, stopping & mixing with locals, enjoying authentic cultural experiences. We met the most amazing people & discovered travel, not tourism. Many are still our friends to this day. - Motivation to start blogging: To motivate single parents that life is t over when you split up with your partner but the start of a new amazing chapter where you can explore the world.
- Primary audience: Interestingly, it's a mix of families, single parents and even retirees.
- Success factors: We chose: 1. the road less travelled - unique destinations and
2. we wanted to help strangers with genuine needs, so 'Random Acts of Kindness' became a huge focus of our travels.
- Countries visited: 41
- Years blogging: 10
- Most memorable road trip: In 2003, my now-husband and I logged about 7,500 miles driving around Australia, including the entire length of the Stuart Highway from Adelaide to Darwin up through the dead center of the country. I wrote about it here.
- Motivation to start blogging: A love of food and travel; wanting to document the world's regional and traditional cuisines; and desire to inspire others to explore in the same way.
- Primary audience: Curious people interested in travel and cuisine who are seeking unpretentious, useful content and off-the-beaten-path, authentic travel/eating experiences.
- Success factors: Our longevity (we've covered a lot of the globe!), consistency, and authenticity. We go in-depth on destinations and are not a typical travel or food blog.
- SMALLCRAZY
- Countries visited: 50+
- Most memorable road trip: Namibia where we drove a camping van all over the country
- Motivation to start blogging: Passion for travel
- Primary audience: 25-39 year old females interested in travel
- Success factors: Trips like this one done using a car booked at DiscoverCars.com
- Sophie's world
- Countries visited: 123
- Years blogging: 15
- Most memorable road trip: I think the road trip in Atlantic Canada with the kids some years ago is the most memorable: - but also the one with friends in Greece during Covid last year.
- Motivation to start blogging: I love travelling and I love writing. Easy!
- Primary audience: 50/50 women and men, age 18 and up, US/UK/Scandinavia/Germany
- Success factors: Sophie's World has both stories (and thoughts) as experienced by the writers (my children and I), as well as useful and interesting/quirky information about the places we visit.
- Vagabond Life
- Countries visited: 30+
- Years blogging: 15
- Most memorable road trip: In 2014, I drove through 11 U.S. states in 11 days, 4200 miles in total.
- Motivation to start blogging: I left my corporate job to become a full time traveler in 2006 and wanted to share the world with my local friends and family, many of whom don't travel internationally.
- Primary audience: Budget travelers and corporate cubicle escapees
- Success factors: Honesty about life on the road and my pitiful attempts at humor
- Mai Travel Site
- Countries visited: 90
- Years blogging: 10
- Most memorable road trip: My ten month trip around the world with my wife has been a lifelong dream which I am to repeat. I visited mostly counties in SEA, but I now want to do a similar one with my son too.
- Motivation to start blogging: I wanted to share my experiences with others, and also keep track of what I do.
- Primary audience: Young adults with and without kids in the 30-45 age range
- Success factors: Visiting both destinations that are easily accessible but also going off the beaten path, in search of adventure.
- Spa Travel Gal
- Countries visited: 25
- Years blogging: 12
- Most memorable road trip: My most memorable road trips taking the north to south route of the Beartooth Highway, a section of U.S. Route 212 in Montana and Wyoming between Red Lodge and the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park, passing over the Beartooth Pass in Wyoming at 10,947 feet (3,337 m) above sea level. It has been called "the most beautiful drive in America," by late CBS correspondent Charles Kuralt. Because of heavy snowfall at the top, the pass is usually open each year only from mid May through mid October, weather conditions permitting. We saw a ton of wildlife, special flora and felt the strong seasonal winds at the peak. Afterwards we stayed overnight in the luxurious historic Lake Yellowstone Hotel without cell or wifi service, which took us back in time when a road trip and disconnecting was the true essence of a vacation in the USA!
- Motivation to start blogging: My mother traveled the world as a grant writer and educator when I was a child. She showed me the joy of exploring out world.
- Primary audience: With my blog and social media, I want to inspire others to explore their world. As Ava Roxanne Stritt @SpaTravelGal, I've been called the most influential person in the world on spa travel and a top authority on luxury and wellness travel. In fact, my fans say I am responsible for transforming the idea of a regular spa day into a full wellness adventure! I believe that spa, travel and skincare experiences are not just a luxury, but they are essential to a healthy body, mind & spirit.
- Success factors: I showcase how to enhance your life with spa, luxury and wellness partners.
- Conquer the World
- Countries visited: 70
- Years blogging: 9
- Most memorable road trip: Alaska to Argentina in 500 days...on a motorcycle
- Motivation to start blogging: Discovering myself and others around the world
- Primary audience: Anyone that likes to travel
- Success factors: The raw organic authentic nature of my content and story telling
- Travel with Kevin and Ruth
- Countries visited: 50
- Years blogging: 14
- Most memorable road trip: From Dawson City to Tuktoyaktuk in northern Canada. 1,800 kms (1,200 miles) of gravel roads in our motorhome!
- Motivation to start blogging: To keep family and friends informed about where we are and what we're doing.
- Primary audience: People age 45-75
- Success factors: Posting new content on a daily basis. And, we actually get out and do stuff.
- The Candy Trail
- Countries visited: 120
- Years blogging: 15
- Most memorable road trip: Too many. But recently across a corner of China in the deserts of Gansu and Tibetan Plateau of Qinghai, amid desolate high-altitude desert, lakes + snow.
- Motivation to start blogging: To record my personal travel experiences.
- Primary audience: Young people 20-45 mostly, slightly more male than female.
- Success factors: I'm a cult blogger; not mainstream. My take is different.
- Travelous World
- Countries visited: 25
- Years blogging: 7
- Most memorable road trip: A road trip in Western Canada
- Motivation to start blogging: Being a storyteller at heart I had so many stories and pictures to share. I found blogging to be the perfect outlet for it
- Primary audience: European and US travel and road trip enthusiasts. Females (60%) and males (40%) between 25-45 years old. They are very active and love the outdoors just as much as the cultural aspects of traveling. They are looking for a deeper understanding of a destination before traveling there and love to share ideas.
- Success factors: My experience in digital marketing and SEO has definitely contributed to the success of the blog. In addition, I was lucky enough to find out what triggered my audience from an early stage. This means that I've been able to build an interactive and tight-knit community that is extremely valuable in this industry.
Aleksandrs Buraks
Head of Growth at DiscoverCars.com
Aleksandrs has over 10 years of experience in marketing with a focus on creating stellar content that provides topical insights using data. Having taken five road trips across Europe and one in the U.S., he is passionate about traveling by car. His favorite countries to visit are Denmark and Thailand. You can find him on Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter.