Travellers who turned wanderlust into lucrative careers

 Travellers who turned wanderlust into lucrative careersAlice Wasley | Presented by Dr. LeWinn'sMonday, July 20, 2015

Lauren Bath: Mt Hutt in New Zealand

It might sound impossibly glamorous, but being paid to travel to far-flung locations is all in a day's work for these Instagram stars.

@laurenepbath

Travel photographer Lauren Bath is credited as being Australia's first professional Instagrammer. In 2013, Gold Coast-based Bath, 34, quit her job as a chef to pursue a career as a social media influencer. Six months after making the jump she was making enough money for her work to be considered a full-time pursuit.

"As soon as I wasn't employed as a chef anymore, my first priority was to start earning, so I worked hard to prove there was value in what I was offering and to justify it," she explains to ninemsn Travel.

© Lauren Bath: Broome in WA

As to what she credits her success, Bath explains she had to work consistently hard. "I don't really believe in a 'big break'", she says. "Usually there are a series of small and medium breaks that put you in the public eye and lead to bigger opportunities, but they do tend to all blur together.

"My earliest big opportunity was an invitation to attend Hamilton Island's first invite-only Instameet near the end of 2012. This was mere months before I quit my job to try and make a living off Instagram."

Bath, who has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, says she has visited around 16 countries. "Surprisingly less than you would think – I tend to visit the same countries again and again."

© Lauren Bath: Vienna, Austria

But the highlight of her enviable career so far? Bath gives that esteemed title to the first time she visited Alberta, Canada. "It was my biggest job to date, my first time that far from home and my first time in the mountains," she says. "I took some of my favourite photography ever, met a new best friend and became hooked on the cold."

The keen-eyed traveller has countless other highlights, including swimming with manta rays in Fiji, photographing brumbies from a helicopter in the Kimberley, skiing in a mall in Dubai and many more.

@tuulavintage

Sydney-based travel and style blogger Jessica Stein (aka Tuula Vintage) found her place among social media royalty by accident. It began in 2010 when she returned from backpacking in Europe, her first solo overseas trip, and started a blog to post her travel photos.

© Jessica Stein: Croatia

The blog later received an injection of her other love, fashion, when she decided to sell some of the clothes she'd picked up travelling to fund another trip. On that European adventure, she updated her travel diaries and posted outfits as she went along. And behold, a blogger was born.

By 2012 she was so influential Teen Vogue named her "Blogger of the moment". Now, the globetrotting style maven has 1.7 million followers on Instagram. The seasoned traveller has a few places she holds dear, telling Iconic Insider: "I utterly adore travelling and always keep Cinque Terre, Croatia, NYC and Rio close to my heart."

© Jessica Stein: Croatia

@alexsydneymagic

Alexander Zhdanov has had an unlikely career path. The 25-year-old Russian blogger started photographing celebrities at the precocious age of 14, before moving on to travel blogging at 18. But just how did he get his start at such a young age?

"Just have a cute smile and a wish to work a lot – easy!" he tells ninemsn Travel. Er, okay. We'll get right on that.

Currently in phase two of his career, he describes himself as a "professional traveller" and has visited 131 countries (and counting). He is also the author of several books about his showbiz experiences and boasts 243,000 followers on Instagram.

© Alexander Zhdanov

Zhdanov's advice to anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps: "Work hard and hear your inner voice."

Now based between Moscow and St. Petersburg, the intrepid Zhdanov lived in Sydney between 2012 and 2013. He has fond memories of his "beloved Sydney" and says, along with St. Petersburg, he loves to be in Bangkok, Orlando, Paris, London and Barcelona, as well as some wilderness areas.