The Travelista

About Me

The Travelista is an award-winning UK blog about luxury travel and stylish living. Created by Jess Gibson in March 2013, The Travelista is now regarded as one of the most influential and established travel blogs in The UK. With a loyal and engaged audience of travel and style lovers, the blog has consecutively been listed as a Top 10 Luxury Travel Blog by Vuelio between 2015-2018.

Packed with city guides, stylish hotel reviews and travel shortlists, The Travelista aims to inspire your own trips and arm you with honest and trusted recommendations.  The recent re-design welcomes a new ‘stylish living’ theme to the blog, so as well as Jess’ worldwide adventures, you can also expect to see more content about her life at home in Yorkshire.

Featured in: The 30 Best Travel Instagram Accounts to Follow in 2018 by the Evening Standard

Listed in: The Top 10 Luxury Travel Blog by Vuelio from 2015-2018

Winner of: Highly Commended Travel Blog at the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2014

Editor's Letter

Hi guys! Welcome to The Travelista. My name is Jess Gibson and I am the Founder and Editor of The Travelista. I’m 28 years old and live in Leeds with my boyfriend Scott. After graduating with a 2.1 in Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, I started my career as an Editorial Assistant and later moved into various Digital Content roles. I created The Travelista in March 2013 and ran it alongside my full time job for 4 years. In July 2016 I made the leap to become a full time blogger and have never looked back.

As a blogger and content creator I wear many hats, but The Travelista was born from a passion for writing and travel. Creating The Travelista has transformed my life in ways I could have never imagined and it continues to evolve every day. The Travelista is an intrinsic part of my identity and I am so honoured that I get to share my life with a community of people who love travel just as much as me.

Thank you for taking the time to find out a little bit about me. I hope you enjoy this corner of the Internet and that my blog inspires you to dream big and travel in style.

Jess x

Comments

  1. Oh wow, Jess! I am so impressed by the amount of travelling you do. It was great meeting you yesterday and I am glad I’ve discovered your blog. Your trip to Tanzania sounds lie our dream holiday!

  4. Dear Jess,

    I really liked your story and how you ended up putting your dream together with this blog. Its people like you who give inspiration to others for making it big. I think most of us are too scared to leave our 9-5 jobs and just go for it!

    You have to have this believe in your self and only then you can make it big, like you did. I really have all the respect for you as an individual and would like to see you succeed more.

    Best of luck!

    Cheers,
    Zeb

  5. Hi TheTravelista!! I am so hopeful more now than ever that writing and traveling for living, both things that I love, is possible because of your blogging adventures. I know you have many people asking you for help, but if you can point me in the right direction to start with this particular field I would be so grateful! Thank you in advance. You are awesome!

    • Hi Nina, Thanks so much for your sweet comment. I do write and travel for a living, but it’s not all glamorous press trips. Lots of hours are spent in the office, chained to a desk like any other job. I don’t mean to send out an unrealistic message that people can travel around the world and get paid for it, even if that’s how it looks sometimes. If you want to get into travel writing, setting up a blog is the best place to start. It allows you to publish your work immediately and get your name out there. Try to build a following and a community and once you have this set up it demonstrates a pro active side to you and a passion for travel writing. If you go into any content / copywriting / journalistic job in the travel industry, an established travel blog would put you in great stead. Wishing you all the best in your career and your ventures 🙂 Can’t wait to see what you create!

      Jess x

    • So glad to hear you enjoy my blog – it’s comment’s like yours that make it all worthwhile. Thanks so much and hope you keep on reading 🙂

      Jess, The Travelista x

  10. It does inspire me! I’m a very visual person (the curse of having a short attention span) so all the bright beautiful photos really got my attention!

    Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. It can be so daunting first starting out!

    I would definitely love to keep in touch, please let me know if you’re ever in Sydney!

    Chrissy x

  11. Jess, you are pretty much living my dream life!

    As an aspiring travel writer/blogger I’m ecstatic I’ve come across your blog 🙂 I’m currently in the process of saving and planning a RTW trip and hope to long term travel for as long as possible.

    Can’t wait to follow your journey!

    Chrissy
    Sydney, Australia
    x

    • Hi Chrissy! Thank you for your lovely comment. I’m so glad you like my blog and hope it inspires you for your RTW trip. I’ve just checked out your blog and think its a great start. I read you worry you don’t have enough blog worthy material but remember travel blogging can include past present and future travels – you could even include dream destinations! Believe in yourself and have confidence In your writing because it’s great! Keep up the good work. let’s stay in touch 🙂

      Jess, The Travelista x

  13. Hello. Thank you for following my Blog. Yours is top-notch; very informative. Thanks again. Ray.

    • Thanks for your comment Ray! Your blog is great too, I love your photos of Pulteney Bridge in Bath. My sister goes to University there, what a wonderful city! I shall be looking out for more. 🙂 Jess – The Travelista x

Follow on Instagram

  • Getting out of the house with a baby really does feel like a military operation. I can’t even begin to list how much stuff I have to pack! Sometimes my anxiety and the pressure to remember everything is too overwhelming, so we just stay at home instead. I realised I’ve been doing this a bit too much lately and started to feel some serious cabin fever, so I recruited the help of my Mum to take Theo out for an afternoon at @lotherton Hall. It felt amazing to take Theo out in just a vest and leggings, not worrying if he’d be too cold. We showed him lots of wildlife and animals which he was fascinated. He picked his first leaf and felt the grass between his toes. Then we went for a long pram walk around the gardens which were blooming (just like him). We can’t wait for more summer time adventures in the wild 🍃🌸 #14WeeksCorrected #PreemiePower
  • The hardest blog post I’ve ever had to write. My premature birth story is now live on the blog. I’m sharing this to help other women who have experienced premature labour, #PPROM or #PTSD. Link in bio. #PrematurityIs 💕
  • Our boy wonder is 6 months old! 💥 It feels so crazy to say that as he’s only meant to be 3 months (#12weekscorrected). These past 6 months have without a doubt been the hardest and most life-changing months of my whole life, but during this time I’ve found a strength in me I never knew I had. Theo’s prematurity has has a big impact on my mental health in the form of health anxiety and PTSD, but I’m working with my therapist to manage it. This week Theo was discharged from Neonatal outreach and his nurse said he’s officially thriving! He’s chunking up by the day and I feel like I’m finally starting to relax into this motherhood thing. He amazes us every day. Mamas, when did you start to relax into motherhood and truly begin to enjoy your baby? 🌿💫 #MaternalMentalHealth #Theodorable
  • The Travelista is back in business! 🌟 I’m currently on my own version of maternity leave, but as I’m self employed and work from home the boundaries are so much more blurred compared to a regular maternity leave. This is such a precious time with Theo. I want to dedicate all my time to him (especially after all we’ve been through), but I also don’t want to abandon the business I’ve worked so hard to build. Finding time for both is tough and it can feel l like I’m pulling myself in two directions. I often envy the mums who can mentally ‘check out’ of their job for 9-12 months knowing someone else is doing the job in their place. Luckily self employed mamas are officially allowed a number of ‘Keeping in Touch’ days, so for my first one I planned a full day of meetings around Leeds. It felt so nice to actually just get up, do my hair and make up and feel professional again. My mum looked after Theo then they both came to meet me after my last meeting of the day at @thorpeparkhotel. It was the best feeling ever seeing Theo at the end of the day and it was a real confidence boost to know that brands still want to work with me on campaigns in this new and different chapter of my life. The future of my blog and the direction it is going really excites me and I can’t wait to share more adventures with you when Theo is a bit bigger. For now we’re staying local and I’m looking forward to our first baby-free night away at @thegrandyork next month. Self-employed Mums, do you have any tips on how to balance your business and your baby during maternity leave? I’m currently loving content and advice from @thenestingcoach 💪🏼👶🏼#MaternalMentalHealthWeek #WorkingMama
  • “Sometimes the most ordinary things can be extraordinary, when done with the right people” ✨ Thanks to my gals who came from London and the Lake District to meet Theo this weekend. They took me out for Aperol Spritz, made me laugh til my sides hurt and made me feel a little more like myself again 🌟
  • When you realise your baby needs a sun hat for the first time but all you’ve got is a hand-me-down 3 sizes too big 🤣 Sorry son, you pulled it off. We’ll get you another one soon. Happy Easter everyone 🐥🌿

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