Travel blogger spotlight: Kach and Jonathan, Two Monkeys Travel

Two Monkeys Travel has been one of the leading travel blogs since its launch in 2014. Written by Kach and Jonathan Howe, the blog contains extensive travel advice for countries across the world. We caught up with the pair to find out how their blog has evolved to mirror their lifestyle changes, the best places in the world and the greatest PR collaboration they’ve ever worked on. 

How do you describe what you do to other people?
It all depends on how much we feel like explaining! ‘Travel blogging’ always invites a list of questions about how it’s possible to make money doing it. We don’t mind that at all but sometimes we’re just giving our brains a break from work talk for a few hours. On the other hand, it’s usually simpler to say, ‘online marketing and social media management!’

How do different social channels work with your blog?
Facebook and Instagram work the best for us, with Twitter and Pinterest close behind. Facebook and Instagram have the highest engagement for us, most likely because they allow the best balance of photos and descriptive text to explain where we have been and what we have been doing. We have always had the best connection with our readers through our personal stories and experiences.

Do you think travel blogging will be your job forever?
It’s hard to say exactly what it will become in the future, but we know that it has to be able to evolve with us as our lifestyle changes. We tend to change our lifestyle around on a regular basis anyway, having been expats, backpackers, English teachers, live-aboard sailors and now back to being expats in Europe. We do seem to be edging further towards ‘settling down’ year-by-year, so we’ll just have to see what happens there!

Where’s the best place for street food in the world?
We’d have to say Vietnam, although we’re clearly biased having lived there! We love the fact that no matter which street you walk down, there is always something interesting to eat and it rarely costs more than several pounds!

Which country has the friendliest locals?
It’s just not possible to pick one, because every place we go we meet amazing people and they seem to be happier and friendlier than the last!

What’s your favourite mode of transport?
We have two favourites, sailing and motorbike. We just sold our own sailboat after living aboard for two years so we are now on the lookout for a new motorbike. Since we’re now based in Montenegro, we’re in the perfect place to explore Europe at a slower pace and then maybe some more adventurous bike trips to countries in Central Asia.

Do you accept press releases?
We don’t have a fixed rule as such. If something is relevant, useful and interesting for our readers, then we’ll consider sharing it with them.

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
There have been so many great ones but of course, our favourite project is still our expedition cruise to Antarctica with Hurtigruten! In general, though, we love working with brands and PRs who match our own travel style and of course the type of travel our readers are looking for. This tends to be a blend of luxury and adventure travel, with the luxury being in the accommodation and the adventure being in the activities. We still love to be outside hiking, horseback riding, cycling and motorbiking, but we also love to collapse into a fancy hotel at the end of the day!

What advice would you give to PRs/brands reaching out to you?
After an initial email, we love to talk directly on the phone or even in person if it’s possible. We find that it really helps to get to know each other and what everyone needs and expectations are on all sides. Once we have that kind of relationship then everything else falls into place very easily.

We also really like working with the same brands more than once, because once we’ve built a rapport with a company on one successful campaign, there is always so much more we can do together, and this demonstrates a greater level of brand trust to our readers.

What other blogs do you read?
It’s a shame to admit that we really don’t have time to follow any other blogs out there on a regular basis! Of course, if we need to know something then we search online like everyone else and we most likely end up finding what we need in a blog of some kind.