Influencers who leave well paid, essential jobs to travel the world/ make content

[Paramedia]

I seem to have been flooded with new accounts of white women in their 30’s/ 40’s who all seem to have similar stories of leaving teaching, medicine, corporate jobs, law to travel and create ‘content’ either with or without children whilst travelling.
Obviously I am a bit jealous, but I wonder why now? Ten years ago, people would be happy to have a two week holiday and then come back to work. Was that because there was no other ‘easy’ option such as influencing or that we were just happier in our jobs?
I wonder if it’s a mindset, I always hear ‘do what makes you happy’ and wonder ‘but we can’t all do that, all of the time?’. Someone has to be doing the watching, someone has to be working in those sectors and seeking the escapism that those accounts offer? So how do they, ‘the creators’, know that they will be the ones who make it, that their accounts will be the ones people engage with. Or are there enough people that all of the similar accounts can all be successful based on views alone?

All the careers you mentioned aren't known for being family friendly.

In the past, mother's who feels pushed out of the workforce became SAHM. Nowadays why wouldn't you take a punt at monetising that?!

When this all started I was rolling my eyes and thought I'd never be interested however I do now like to watch YouTube videos of people reviewing all kinds of things, I definitely like watching people review restaurants and hotels and all kinds of travel as it gives a really good detailed review on something you're interested in or doing and it helps having video to see if properly. Written reviews are ridiculous now, sure you want to buy a kettle and someone will write that it matches their kitchen 🙄

I guess whatever you're interested in and like influencers can help and if they can earn a decent wage and give up their job to do something they really like, then great, I'm not 100% sure on how the payments work but I've definitely changed my mind re influencers and feel there is a lot of helpful information in many of their videos.

Is that a joke / because all the teachers I know can afford to go part time in their 50s

I know a couple of people who’ve set out to become “influencers” after being encouraged to leave their jobs by their employers… They spin it as “I’m a former X” but they don’t mention that it wasn’t by choice.

In both cases they had an inheritance to fall back on, and to the best of my knowledge neither has any “pension planning” in place. One of them I know for sure doesn’t own anything beyond her clothes etc and has no savings, despite having worked a good job for about 25 years. She rents her house and lives day to day using the inheritance, but for her videos her philosophy is “fake it till you make it”, so there’s a lot of “content” at fancy-looking places, but they’re just the sort of places anyone could visit, but spun as “mystery mansions” etc.

I don’t think either of them is happy or doing well, to be honest.

@Edictfromno10i think about this too. I'm following a few families who have sold up everything they own, house, car, all possessions to travel around the world and homeschool their kids ( often using online stuff) and i just wonder about how they will slot back into work, school etc after the 2 years away.

I've just retired after teaching full time for 30 years and my pension is a third of what I earned.

Ooooh can you share your handle please?

One of the Travel Youtubers I watch earns $78,000 a year from Youtube's advertising alone - and that is only 25% of the income he makes from his channel. It's not something I'd do but I can see why people do it.

Because actually people do sometimes make a living from YouTube videos.
I think it's quite brave in many ways. If someone has no responsibilities then why not. I have seen some really cool channels.

I have often suspected, as with people who 'quit the day job to write a best seller', that many of these are supported by family money/trust funds/income from elsewhere. Success breeds success so, just as most writers have to pretend to be making loads of money and selling masses of books whilst quietly despairing in the background and relying on a high earning partner to cover the bills, these influencers aren't living quite the high life they like to portray.

I agree with this.

People who say they 'have a great job' now or who 'love that this is their job' are not working or earning in anything like the way the rest of us mean when we talk about jobs and earnings.

And a lot of the families doing it are exploiting their kids. Being filmed all the time, doing everything you do, including close ups of you eating or opening your stocking on Christmas day, only being allowed to run on the beach if you do it towards the sunset, in a line, holding hands and wearing matching clothes.....etc etc means you are monetising your children's privacy and childhood when they can't consent. We have laws against minors working but these influencers essentially tie their dc into working 24/7.

None of it is sustainable or long term and I would question how desirable or enjoyable it is. I find holidays and travelling with dc quite stressful and am very glad I don't have to pack 3 or 4 times to get the right camera shots and reels and angles....

Its actually quite hard work. I know a male influencer and the whole family are employed (adults) by thier account. It takes a lot of time to continually be creative with ideas, find locations, and negotiate with products, get the timing right etc. They also do work with companies on how to use tiktok from their experience as tgey recognise how fickle it is so they need to branch out

It is saturated and there will be loads of accounts that dont take off and some of it will be sheer good luck that they do. But some of it is also hard work and strategy to keep succesful over a sustained period.

There's a lot of snobbery about being an influencer. I really enjoy people's content on Insta and TikTok and, in fact, those are the only media outlets that, if your algorithm is as it should be, centers women who look and sound like your average woman, who don't focus on men, who are funny and sparky and clever. There is absolutely nothing wrong with women seeking out those voices on those platforms.
I really admire the people who make a success of being a social media content creator. They have something that's compelling to watch. It's not an easy life, though, and even if I did have the talent, I wouldn't choose to do it- you're sharing your whole life and making yourself vulnerable.

Surely this market is well and truly saturated? How many of these influencers can it sustain?

People used to buy physical magazines with regular writers telling them about stuff. Now that this isn't really a thing anymore, "influencers" enable you to see the reviews and opinions of people in areas you want. The advertising money used to go to the like of Rupert Murdoch owning these media empires now it goes straight to the writers.

I don't think it is any different to people giving up careers to become "writers".

Whether you like it or not, influencers are doing a job. They're presenters and sellers.

People poo poo it, but accept the salesman is a "proper" job and accept that shows need presenters...

No idea why people think less of the people who choose to do this work.

I'd hate to see Linda the former nurse, teacher what not in the fancy locations. Influencers put me right off, always so shallow and shabby.

It only takes a tweak of the algorithm and suddenly their reach drops. Though I follow a couple of YouTubers etc I am not on it all the time and regularly cull who I follow as my interests change or their stuff becomes repetitive or the competition is better. I have no loyalty 😂

But hasn't there always been this view about people who do something 'different'? I know when I was young, I wanted to act, and all I heard was how so few people make it, how insecure it is, etc. I didn't do it in the end and I wonder how many people chucked their dreams out of the window in favour of the conservative, sensible life they were told they 'should' want?

I know one, very successful influencer. She doesn’t have to work, so travelled on her own money and started making videos about her travels over 10 years ago.
She is a fully-qualified photographer and videographer, though, so those videos were really good and now she gets to travel for free, as many travel companies ask her to join their (very expensive) “experience“ trips in exchange for a video of these.
So now, that’s what she does all the time - it does help coming from a rich background though!

They also accept that tv presenter and magazine writers are jobs which are pretty similar.

Jeez I know! A look at Mrs Hinch’s instagram makes me cringe inside out. Reel after reel of people going out to buy her “range” from HB, basically a load of Made in China stuff with her “emblem”/name on it - loads of people showing their homes all done to look exactly the same.

I mean I’m all for getting inspiration from Pinterest etc, but to just go out and copy everything is beyond me.

Stacey Solomon is the same - cheap tat in her Asda range with pictures of her ducks and dogs on stuff. I can’t imagine ever waking up and thinking “right, I want cups with SS’s dog on them and ornaments of her ducks”.

Ok so I know if it makes folk happy, it’s up to them what they spend their money on. But the promotion of rampant over consumerism and knowing most of it will end up in landfill when the next “must have range” comes out does annoy me. People are already posting online that they bought Hinch stuff and it’s faulty (leaking diffusers, picture frames falling apart etc) so you know it’s really poor quality stuff that’s not built to last.

I really hope these influencer type “jobs” start drying up in 2026!

I think for the people who have made a decent income out of it well done to them. But I also don’t think it will last forever and they must need to keep up with the changing times. Sometimes I look at accounts and wonder why they are trying so hard to make money in an embarrassing way because of the content. I worry for younger generations thinking that what influencers portray is real. Having been abroad and seen a young girl making her younger her brother take too many photos of her beach poses in my personal space on a beach and the boat trip where the 40 year olds had multiple outfit changes and photo opportunities. I’m in this age range myself and would rather just enjoy my life and not have to fake it for others to like/comment.

It's a very popular medium that attracts a lot of viewers and money and has done for many years.

When you say you "don't understand", would you like to learn more about how it works, or do you just think "not understanding" is a status symbol?

This

They rarely earn enough from influencing in order to support themselves. Usually they use their savings or rent their property back home. It's a type pf sabbatical, as somebody mentioned above. They are back after 2-3 years and cannot find a job on the same level that they've left and then it's hard and they need to sell up, even the whole families with kids. Basically, it doesn't end so well sometimes.