With more than 20 countries visited and 171,000 followers on Instagram, the Gracioseros Paula Hernández and Borja Rodríguez have managed to carve a niche for themselves in the world of travel influencers thanks to their project @unviajede2.
The young people, aged 27 and 29, have traveled to countries such as India, Maldives, Vietnam, Madagascar or Turkey, among others. "Dream" destinations that they pay for with the income they receive from collaborations with brands, the filters they create, the affiliate link on the blog, as well as advertising, but also with their own savings, since to this day they have not managed to live entirely from this.
On their profile they not only publish photos and videos of their trips, but they also seek that closeness with their followers by giving them advice and showing them naturally the problems they face every day.
Their beginnings in Ireland and how they left "everything" behind
The starting point was a trip to Switzerland during their university years in Madrid, where Paula studied nursing and Borja marketing and advertising. "The first official trip was to Switzerland, we went for only three days, but that's where our desire to travel even more was awakened, but it wasn't until we moved to Dublin, when we finished studying and started backpacking," explains Paula.
In 2017, they decided to launch themselves into the world of social media to share their adventures, so they created a joint Instagram profile that would lead them to develop a travel blog a year later, and that's how unviajede2 was born.
"We had always liked photography and many people always asked us for travel tips and we thought what better way to help others than by creating a blog," explains Paula. "I had no idea what this was like, I didn't even like taking pictures of myself, but now we are very happy to be able to dedicate ourselves to this."
After their trip to Tanzania and Madagascar in 2018, they both decided it was time to pursue their dream of traveling without a return ticket, so they saved for a whole year to, in 2019, leave Dublin and start a trip around the world. Since then they have traveled for long periods, especially in Southeast Asia, although not as much as they would like due to the outbreak of the pandemic.
An increasingly competitive sector
"There is more and more competition, more people want to make a living from this and it is more complicated to grow if you go it alone like us, most end up looking for representation agencies," explains Paula. "Also, many brands are not interested in you being here, there and everywhere, because they feel that everything is up in the air."
Therefore, both Paula and Borja seek to give added value to their content, where the basis is "naturalness and closeness". "I know that sometimes social media doesn't fully reflect the life behind it, but I do think we have been 100% transparent with our content," they emphasize.
In addition, the young woman also explains that she always tries to show herself as she is, despite not having a normative body. "On social media, people always try to maintain the perfect body. I have always been clear that I am the way I am and I am not going to alter anything about my body, I am "curvy", and in the end that can also inspire many people," says Paula. "I show a body that many people try to hide, but it is true that things are getting better and better."
"You give up a lot of things with this job"
However, this "perfect" life that is seen daily on Instagram does not always reflect reality, being a travel influencer also has a dark side.
"Many people tell me that they want to be like us and travel the world, it has its good side, yes, but you give up a lot of things with this job that people find it hard to understand or are simply unaware of," insists the young woman. Paula explains that this type of life has led her to have to give up living near her family and a stable life, as well as working hours that allow her to disconnect.
"We don't have a fixed monthly salary, we have to always be planning our next destination, so we spend the day writing to brands, in the end it's a lot of headaches because you don't disconnect," she adds. "Not to mention the time it takes to create content, think of ideas, create, take photos or videos and edit."
But both emphasize that this type of life still has many more positive aspects, since in the end travel ends up changing you as a person. "Traveling has opened our minds, because in the end you are in contact with other travelers in your situation and with very diverse local people," says the Graciosera.
"Having to go home is not a failure"
In addition, the young woman says that they themselves have experienced complicated situations, such as when the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
"We had been in India for two and a half months and when we were about to enter Sri Lanka, Covid arrived," she explains. "We spent more than two months in quarantine in Malaysia because we refused to return to Spain. It was a trip too well thought out to break it all up."
Both admit that it was a difficult decision, because they felt they were "going backwards", but in the end, Paula and Borja ended up returning to the Canary Islands and took the opportunity to return to their old jobs and save for the next adventure. "Going home is not a failure," insists the Graciosera. "Going home is not bad, you take the opportunity to see family and friends."
"It's a risky job, unless you go with a lot of savings or with the intention of traveling for a few months and returning, if you are going to travel without a return ticket you have to be prepared for the risk, as happened to us with the pandemic."
Therefore, Paula recommends always having a plan b, as in her case nursing, to avoid "frustrations or disappointments", as well as having a lot of patience. "In the end, the best thing is to let yourself go and go with an open mind that these things can happen."
Now they "value La Graciosa more"
The Gracioseros confess to being "in love" with their island, although they had not valued it enough until now. "We have an incredible island."
"We always said that we wanted to leave La Graciosa, but now, with the passage of time and with all the traveling we have done, we have a different vision of the island," explains Paula. "It has a lot of quality of life and tranquility, always with the sea nearby. We have been to many countries, but the best beaches and the cleanest waters are here."
"We think that we are not going to live here because it doesn't quite provide us with everything we need, but hey, never say never, we always say that we are not going to come back and we end up coming back," she says. "Maybe when we are older we will end up here, you never know."
The future of unviajede2
In the long term, the couple's intention is to move to Australia or New Zealand, but they admit that they are not at that point yet. "For now we want to travel in September, we will go to Asia for a month and a half, specifically to Bali, but then we will return to Spain because we want to focus on creating our brand," Paula anticipates.
The young woman explains that they want to give "an opportunity" to unviajede2, creating a brand with its own identity and, for that, they have to have Spain as a base. "We want to go beyond social media, we want to have something of our own," she adds.
"I also want to continue working as a nurse, so the idea is to be with this for a while and then go back to the hospital at some point, what I don't know is where I will end up," says Paula.
"At the moment everything is up in the air," she adds. In any case, both are clear that their future is traveling the world. "Traveling is the best thing there is."
