Rachel used to travel “by the book”, following every guidebook and itinerary she could find. However, the endless crowds and tourist traps would leave her feeling disappointed, tired, and overstimulated. After all, how can you enjoy travel if you always feel pressure to see everything, everywhere, all at once?
So when Rachel got laid off in 2020, she took it as a blessing in disguise. With time on her side, she created a travel blog Rachel IRL that focused on real experiences and pure vibes. She even considered monetizing her content early on as a way to take control over her time and money.
Today, with Drive — Travelpayouts’ unified AI system — Rachel earns up to $2,800 a month, with minimal ongoing effort.
Do we have your attention? Let’s dive into Rachel’s story.
A blog for real people and real experiences
Rachel has lived in four cities – New York, Madrid, London, and San Francisco – giving her the chance to really get to know each new destination, at her own pace and on her own terms.
Her handy guides cover three continents, including destinations like the Netherlands, Singapore, Jordan, Poland, and the United States. Every article Rachel creates helps readers get the most out of each destination.
I want you to come home from a trip feeling more like yourself – not more like every other tourist on Instagram.
With her unique style and voice, it’s no wonder that Rachel turned to travel affiliate marketing – after all, if you love what you do, why not try and earn from it?
Why Travelpayouts was a “no-brainer”
While browsing one day, Rachel stumbled upon a “Powered by Travelpayouts” widget and got curious. You see, she’d been working with brands like Booking.com, GetYourGuide, and Viator either directly or through other affiliate networks. This method worked, but it was far from perfect.
When Rachel realized that Travelpayouts was an all-in-one affiliate platform dedicated to travelpreneurs like herself, she immediately made the switch and never looked back.
Discovering that there was a travel-specific affiliate platform where all of our bookings, revenue, and analytics could be centralized in one place was a game-changer and a no-brainer.
When Drive started doing the heavy lifting
In May 2025, Rachel enabled Drive, activating its AI-powered features across her site.
One of the first results came from Targeted Offers — a Drive feature that analyzes reader behavior and displays travel offers at moments of highest booking intent. After quickly and seamlessly integrating Targeted Offers into her blog, all Rachel had to do was sit back and watch the results roll in.
And roll in they did. By July 2025, her blog was already generating a steady stream of increased bookings. By August 2025, she was averaging 10 bookings a day!
We’ve seen a 53% boost in the number of bookings generated from our site, and Target offers is now consistently contributing over 20% of all earnings each month!
If you want to earn with minimal effort like Rachel does, give Drive a try today.
Just the tip of the revenue iceberg
After seeing results from Targeted Offers, Rachel enabled more of Drive’s content monetization features: Smart Previews, Recommendations, and Linked Keywords. These features help increase earnings by analyzing travel content and adding affiliate tools in the most profitable spots.
Instead of managing separate tools, everything now worked together inside one AI system.
Curious how Drive would perform if it was fully enabled on your site? Give it a try — it takes care of monetization for you, and honestly, it works really well.
Aside from Drive, Rachel also uses traditional affiliate marketing tools such as Travelpayouts widgets. These not only earn her almost as much as Targeted Offers but also help keep the user experience engaging.
Travelpayouts widgets – especially for GetYourGuide – have been extremely successful, and also help me maintain a fun, branded, interactive experience on the site.
Have you tried Travelpayouts widgets yet? You may be pleasantly surprised by how much your earnings increase.
Worrying only keeps you from earning
Like any new blogger, Rachel was concerned that integrating affiliate tools might negatively affect the authenticity that had come to define her site. But as it turns out, she had absolutely nothing to worry about.
Drive is integrated in a way that complements her content rather than overpowers it. The end product? A blog that earns a steady income of up to $2,800 a month while remaining true to who Rachel is.
I actually spent years sacrificing earnings. So please, have an open mind about what Travelpayouts Drive can do for your project!
And what better place to get started than with Drive? Turning it on is super easy, the integration is seamless, and the money makes itself. It’s also the tool that brings in the most income for Rachel – maybe it could for you as well?