Traveling and having a job used to be incompatible since work requires you to stay put, spend hours in an office and wait until your company allows you to take a vacation. But with the amazing growth of technology in the last few years, more people are traveling, using available resources to generate money which in turn fund their trips to various destinations. One of these resources is the "travel blog" where they narrate their experiences in a particular country, offer tips to their readers and post pictures of their trips. The blogger who calls himself Nomadic Matt, for example, earns $3000 from advertisement and merchandise he sells through the site. Another Matt, Matt Harding recently starred in a Visa TV commercial.

Some of these bloggers have become celebrities in their own right, with hundreds of thousands of followers in social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Companies and sponsors reach out to them, offering money, goods and services in exchange for a coverage. Other enterprising travelers stamp their logos or images of their faces on T-shirts and mugs.

Though traveling has become a lucrative venture for some, travel bloggers are largely motivated not by the money (it is still not significant compared to what can be earned in a corporate career) but by the enthusiasm for life which has made them hit the road in the first place. We list down the 10 most fascinating travel blogs in the Internet today:

Down The Road (www.downtheroad.org)

In 2002, American couple Tim and Cindie Travis quit their 8 to 5 day job, sold almost all their properties and left their ancestral house in Arizona to explore the world using their rickety bicycles. They have never looked back. Called “Down the Road,” the couple’s blog contains their travel stories, some videos and photos narrating their experiences in places such as North, Central and South America; Asia; Australia; and New Zealand. They update the blog on a regular basis which web surfers and their fellow travelers gulp with delight. They were also able to write books on their meanderings and the delight of being in the great outdoors.

Nomadic Matt (nomadicmatt.com)

Aside from his blog posts that can oftentimes be quirky, irreverent and down-pat funny, Nomadic Matt also posts helpful tips to travelers such as what travel credit card to bring, how to choose a backpack and what has been mentioned earlier, how one can monetize the travel blog. Calling himself a “twenty-something vagabond who has been on the road regularly since 2005,” this Boston-native also encourages his readers to send him questions related to travel which he will answer on the site. This kind of accessibility has endeared him to many: it’s no wonder that Nomadic Matt is one of the most read travel blogs in the world.

Adventure Girl (adventuregirl.com)

Possibly the most famous blond in the world of travel blogs, Adventure Girl is Stefanie Michaels whose expertise in jaunting in key destinations in the world has made her a media celebrity. TV shows regularly guest her, asking for tips which range anywhere from “sleeping in an Ice Hotel in Reykjavik, Iceland” to “swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas.” Her Twitter page is some kind of a phenomenon: she has over 1.3 million followers. Quick to make use of her fame, Stephanie has turned Adventure Girl into a veritable brand, selling all sorts of items.

Ever the Nomad (www.everthenomad.blogspot.com)

Owned by a Croatian woman named Anja Mutic, the everthenomad.blogspot.com serves as a repository of her travel stories. Before jumpstarting her freelance career, Anja published several of her travel writings in prestigious venues such as Time Out, Shermans Travel, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. What sets her blog apart from the others is the lyrical sensitivity and wit that she incorporates into her writing. Among the places that she wrote passionately about are the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, the souks of Morocco, the skyscrapers of New York and the temples of Laos.

Where the Hell is Matt (www.wherethehellismatt.com)

No other blogger has achieved international fame more than Matt Harding, the brainchild of Where the Hell is Matt who stars in the Travel Happy campaign by the credit card company, Visa. Calling himself “a deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames,” Matt quit his job in 2003 and used his savings to fund his trips in Asia. The blog was meant to update his family and friends back home where he was in the world. A curious incident happened: arms-flailing and legs-stomping, Matt did his curious dance in front of a tourist landmark. In 2006, he embarked on a 39-country tour, doing what he does best.

Traveler Folio (www.travelerfolio.com)

The Traveler Folio is an award-winning travel blog by the Singaporean youngster Eunice Khong. She writes about her travels in a quirky manner, updating followers from around the world through her Twitter account. She has already been to parts of the United States and Asian countries which include China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. In addition, she also visited some parts of Europe and fell in love with France, Italy and Switzerland. Apart from the interesting tales that she recounts, her blog also contains an enormous collection of her travel photographs. Interestingly, her blog just started in March 2008 and today she’s making a great wave in the web.

Lola Akinmade (lolaakinmade.com)

Hailing from Nigeria, Lola Akinmade writes about her travels with hope and great optimism. An active participant in ecotourism and voluntarism in and outside Africa, she writes  travel pieces for the National Geographic Traveler, Forbes and Sherman Travel apart from being a contributor to various websites such as the Smithsonian.com and GoNomad.com. Most of her travels are concentrated in Africa, Asia and some parts of Europe, Oceania and the United States.

My Itchy Travel Feet (www.myitchytravelfeet.com)

A certified Tweeter celebrity and travel blogger, Donna Hull is a freelance writer bitten by the travel bug. The best way to cure the an itch is to scratch it and head for a rewarding travel odyssey. Before she hit the freelance scene and became known as the blogger behind the itchytravelfeet.com, she was a columnist to several online publications such as iExplore and Live Life Travel. Her works were syndicated by World Reviewer and Baby Boomers TV. Most of her travels are concentrated in Asia and the Americas and are geared toward the baby boomers.

Modern Gonzo (www.moderngonzo.com)

Modern Gonzo is Robin Esrock whose syndicated travel column reaches different parts of the world. After figuring in an accident which he calls as “the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Robin decided to use his $20,000 insurance settlement to travel all over the world, discovering Laos, Albania, Brazil and New Caledonia . He created the website “as a means of distributing weekly reports and photos to family and friends.” The site was picked up by Vancouver Sun and the rest is history.

Bicycle Travels (http://impressions.bicyclingaroundtheworld.nl/index.htm)

After meeting in a bicycle trip from the West to the East coast of the United States, Grace Johnson (born in Seattle, U.S.A.) and Paul Jeurissen (born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands) embarked in the greatest adventure of their lives: traveling together on a bicycle which “brings you to the most exceptional and photogenic places on earth.” They document their travels in the United States, India, Nepal and Indonesia with their camera. As they journey, they encounter “unexpected adventures, contact with other cultures and monumental scenery.” The website is less on words but more in images, offering a glimpse to the couple’s wonder and fascination as they traverse the beauty of different cultures tucked in the far-flung corners of the world.