20 Instagram Accounts Travel Lovers Still Hunt For Inspiration

Most of us love to travel more than our calendars allow. Between trips, Instagram still works as a pocket window: people upload coastlines, markets, trail dust, and city light from corners we may never reach this year. Skip the cliché checklist posts if you want; follow accounts that actually show place—weather, texture, people, and the small awkward beauty of being elsewhere.

Below are twenty Instagram accounts that travel lovers have long used as a discovery feed. Handles are preserved from the original roundup. Follower counts change constantly, so none are listed here—look up each profile if you want current scale. Think of this as a curated starting shelf, not a ranking contest.

1. National Geographic — natgeo

National Geographic remains the institutional heavyweight: documentary photography, wildlife, culture, and field reporting dressed as a feed. For travel lovers it is less “where to brunch” and more “why this landscape matters.” Expect craft, caption context, and a reminder that photography can still teach.

2. Michael Mayer — _mihi

Michael Mayer’s work leans atmospheric—travel frames that feel observed rather than staged for a product tag. Follow for composition and mood: quiet streets, weather, and the kind of light that makes you want to pack a smaller bag and leave earlier.

3. Simon Falvo — 1step2theleft

Simon Falvo’s handle hints at the point of view: one step off the obvious tourist mark. The feed rewards people who like travel photography with personality—angles that feel walked rather than drone-dropped from a brochure.

4. JD Andrews — earthxplorer

Earthxplorer lives up to the name with wide-world curiosity. Landscapes and exploratory energy dominate. If your travel itch is geographic—new terrain, big horizons, the urge to see “what else is out there”—this is a classic follow from the early travel-Instagram era.

5. Foster Huntington — fosterhunting

Foster Huntington built a reputation around vans, coasts, and a loose American road mythology that still influences how people romanticize travel. Expect lifestyle photography with dirt under the nails: surf culture, vehicles, and the aesthetic of leaving on purpose.

6. Dalene & Pete Heck — hecktictravels

Hecktic Travels is a couple’s long-running travel diary energy—places visited, stories shared, the practical romance of making a life out of motion. Useful if you like seeing destinations through two complementary eyes rather than a single influencer persona.

7. Jewelszee — jewelszee_

Jewelszee’s feed sits in the personal-travel lane: style, place, and the visual diary habit that made Instagram feel intimate before every post looked like an ad. Follow for color, outfit-in-context shots, and city wandering vibes.

8. John O’Nolan — johnonolan

John O’Nolan is better known to many for building Ghost, but his Instagram has long served travel lovers who like clean photography and thoughtful framing. Expect design-minded eyes applied to place—less chaos, more intentional seeing.

9. Mike Corey — kickthegrind

Kick the Grind channels adventure travel: trails, remote edges, and the physical side of getting somewhere worth photographing. If your travel fantasy includes sweat, elevation, and stories that start with a map rather than a hotel lobby, this account fits.

10. Kirsten Alana — kirstenalana

Kirsten Alana’s travel photography has a polished, editorial warmth—destinations presented with care for light and lifestyle. Strong follow for people who plan trips visually and want inspiration that still feels human rather than purely stock.

11. Kiss My Spatula — kissmyspatula

Travel and food overlap constantly; Kiss My Spatula leans into that delicious border. Markets, meals, and place-through-taste make it a smart follow when you believe the best souvenir is what you ate on a side street at dusk.

12. Jodi Ettenberg — legalnomads

Legal Nomads (Jodi Ettenberg) became essential for travelers who care about food, health constraints, and honest reporting from the road. The Instagram side complements a writing career built on curiosity and caution—great for people who travel with dietary needs or simply love culinary geography.

13. Murad Osmann — muradosmann

Murad Osmann’s “Follow Me To” series made leading-hand silhouettes a global visual meme. Whatever you think of the format’s imitators, the original project turned couple travel into a graphic signature: one person guiding another into a landmark’s light. Still a landmark account in travel Instagram history.

14. Mustafa Seven — mustafaseven

Mustafa Seven’s photography often carries street pulse and city electricity—travel as urban immersion. Follow for motion, faces, and the feeling of being inside a place rather than posing in front of it.

15. Pauly Vella — paulyvella

Pauly Vella’s feed rewards fans of adventurous lifestyle photography—sun, water, travel energy, and the kind of frames that make Monday feel optional. Useful when you want wanderlust without a lecture.

16. Ryan Gargiulo — pausethemoment

Pause the Moment is a name that describes a method: catch the still second inside motion. Travel photography here is about timing and feeling—good for followers who prefer evocative singles over checklist grids of “top ten attractions.”

17. Katja Presnal — skimbaco

Skimbaco (Katja Presnal) blends travel, style, and Scandinavian-tinged taste. The Florence frame below is the kind of soft city romance her audience shows up for: architecture, light, and a sense that wandering is the itinerary.

18. Travel With Winter — travelwithwinter

Travel With Winter brings a personal travel-diary voice—places visited, seasons felt, the ongoing project of seeing the world with someone (or something) named Winter in the story. Follow for approachable wanderlust rather than corporate destination marketing.

19. Wonderful Places — wonderful_places

Wonderful Places does what the handle promises: a stream of locations that look almost unreal until you remember Earth keeps producing them. Ideal as a pure inspiration account when you want geography porn without a single creator’s personal brand dominating every caption.

20. Liz Carlson — youngadventuress

Liz Carlson’s Young Adventuress brand grew from New Zealand roots into a wider travel storytelling practice—adventurous, feminine, and place-proud. The New Zealand image below matches the spirit: green scale, open air, and the invitation to go farther than the airport postcard.

How to use a travel follow list

Twenty accounts is enough to overload a feed if you treat every post as a homework assignment. Mute what bores you. Save locations that genuinely fit your next budget and season. Notice which photographers teach you to see—foreground interest, patient light, respect for people in frame—and which simply sell a lifestyle you cannot afford and would not enjoy.

Instagram will always mix ads, trends, and recycled vistas. The value of a list like this is historical and practical at once: these are names and handles that helped define how travelers used the app when it still felt like a discovery tool. Start with two or three that match your taste—documentary, food, road life, adventure, or city streets—and let the algorithm introduce the rest only after you have trained it with intention.

When you finally do leave home, put the phone down long enough to earn your own frames. The best travel accounts make you want the world; the best trips remind you that no feed replaces arrival.