What it’s really like working as a full-time travel influencer

ALEISHA quit her high-pressure job to turn her love of travel into a full-time career, but she says even the dream job has its downsides.

ALEISHA MacAulay might have the best job in the world after turning her love of adventure and photography into a full-time career.

The glamorous Aussie, who describes her age as “30-something”, quit her job in business development and content licensing to travel the world with the love of her life as a travel influencer, she told The Sun.

She now works with brands and shares her pictures with her 44,000 followers on her Instagram account, @eat.shop.travel.

Ms MacAulay, who hails from Sydney, travels with her fiance, Mark, who takes the pictures in which she models, and together they have visited everywhere from Iceland, Tanzania and Belize to Peru, Bonaire and Curacao.

She said: “When I had the opportunity to quit my job and travel full-time I wanted to combine both passions to inspire others to see more of our beautiful world.”

But while it seems like a cushy life, Ms MacAulay says running a popular travel Instagram account is more work than it appears.

“You need to set aside time each day to work on proposals and logistics — projects don’t magically happen, they take hard work and commitment to come to fruition,” she said.

While some tourist boards, brands and hotels pay her for her posts, Ms MacAulay says she only partners with those she feels happy promoting.

“I have been approached by a number of tourism related operators, however, I am extremely protective of my personal brand and the trust my followers have in me — so I turn down a lot of requests for this reason,” she said.

Ms MacAulay claims there has to be “an alignment in quality and aesthetic” for her to work with a brand, adding, “I don’t want my account to be all about the hotels I stay at.”

The jetsetter is discreet about how much she earns per Instagram post, saying, “It really depends on the company and size of the output or commitment.”

As she hasn’t yet completed a year of travel blogging, the annual income is unclear.

In photos Ms MacAulay appears to lead a charmed life, but she claims there can be personal challenges too.

“Finding a good balance between shooting content and enjoying the moment can be hard sometimes,” she said. “It’s important for us to have non-shoot days so we can maintain a level of creativity and feel energised and fresh for the days we are up shooting at 5am.”

For anyone hoping to follow in her footsteps, her advice is to “go with the flow, be adventurous and say yes to everything.”

“You never know the experience you may have or the people you will meet. Above all, stay true to yourself — you are uniquely you and that’s your point of difference,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and is republished with permission.