This is the year. The year I truly buckle down and start treating my content creation like a business… while having fun. Roam Away From Home turns nine years old this year, our TikTok turns six, and the YouTube channel turns three. For the first time in my content creation journey, I feel like I truly have a handle on the platforms I love, programs that are worth my time, and where I want the future of our content to go.
I’m not one to gatekeep – if I love something and it works, I TELL EVERYONE.
Because I’m doing this behind the scenes work to really get my shit together, I thought… why not share my favorite tools with fellow creators?
Here are Creator Programs and resources I’m loving in 2026:
- Stay 22 – ideal for travel content creators
Stay22’s tagline is “Your Content Rocks. Your Revenue Doesn’t.” I think most travel creators especially resonate with this. Stay22 helps convert your recommendations and favorite places to stay into revenue through hotel and tour bookings. I heard about Stay22 for a couple years before actually signing up… and I can’t express how much I wish I joined the Stay22 creator program sooner.
There are three main ways that content creators can implement Stay22 to start earning more income:
- Maps with hotel and points of interest recommendations. (works for non-blogging creators)
I mostly joined Stay22 for this purpose. I didn’t like how I’d put together these extensive lists of my favorite activities in different cities (like my hometown of Lagos), but my only real option was Google Maps. I wanted something more personalized… with the potential to earn income in a way that benefits us and our audience.
With Stay 22, you can create dynamic maps with recommended accommodations and points of interests (restaurants, bars, museums, etc.).
As a follower or reader, people get an easy-to-use map without needing to download any other app. As a content creator, you can make commission on accommodations booked throughout from clicks on the map. It’s pretty easy to set up and customizable with icon/branding color options.
- Link Generator (best for direct referrals)
If you’re already doing affiliate links for your content, this is very familiar. You create a referral link for your favorite hotel, send out that link or use it as a button, and if someone books, you get a commission.
This option is really helpful if you are recommending specific hotels on your page rather than a range of hotels.
- Script embedded within your site (best for bloggers)
This is the proprietary tech that’s unique to Stay22 and really helps make conversions. It uses AI to optimize links that will be easier for your audience. If readers prefer Expedia over Booking.com for accommodations, the technology within the script will automatically direct them to the platform they typically use. You don’t need to update broken links – that’s taken care of with the script. And, it helps direct readers to the hotels that they are most likely to enjoy.
For example, someone read my Camping in Santa Monica blog and ended up booking a hotel stay in Tijuana thanks to the AI technology without me needing to recommend a hotel in Tijuana.
BUT THE BEST PART?!
The team at Stay22 is truly helpful. Not only did they give me very easy instructions on setup, they also helped me rework my blog to optimize it for readers so that I can provide more value.
Here’s a link for new creators joining Stay22 – you get a bonus once you hit the booking threshold and so will I – a win win . It may sound like a hard push, but this truly is the best affiliate program I’ve joined.
- Headout – ideal for newer travel creators with a minimum of 3k followers
Headout is a booking app with activities and tours around the world. They have everything from city metro card passes to skydiving in Dubai. I started using Headout during our Amazing Race (Taylor’s Version) series so that I could work content creation into some of our challenges on the race.
Essentially, Headout gives you a creator credit to spend on their platform and you make a video about your experience. It’s short-form video creation in exchange for a travel experience. This isn’t going to pay the bills, but it can be a great way to boost your portfolio while doing something fun!
The better your videos perform, the higher credit you get for next time! This is helpful if you have a travel buddy because you can use it to pay for both of you if it’s high enough. I used my last credit to go on a boat tour with my fellow travel content creator, Caitlin aka The Country Jumper:
They provide you with the brand guides and everything you need to get started, but you do need to have a minimum of 3k followers/subscribers on at least one of your channels to sign up for the creator program.
- Jen on a Jet Plane Substack (best for paid freelance writers)
If you’re a travel creator and don’t follow Jen Ruiz, you really should. She shares some great tips for travel content creators in general.
If you are someone who does paid freelance writing work and pitches outlets, I highly recommend signing up for her Jet Plane Crew Substack. She shares more paid opportunities for travel writers and creators in one place than any other newsletter/platform/email blast/etc. I’ve seen.
She also offers pitching guides and has courses for sale too if you really want to dive all in with paid pitches. Her pitching guide helped me land one of my all time favorite features:
“Weir Everywhere: Deadheads Find A Musical Community After Moving Abroad To Portugal [Feature]”
This was the little seedling that ended up growing into us hosting our very own Grateful Dead inspired music festival in Lagos, Portugal this year: Eyes of the Algarve. So yeah, do the pitches and who knows where it will lead.
I also recommend setting up a MuckRack profile if you think you’ll start pitching outlets for articles. It’s a really easy way to set up a content portfolio without constantly needing to maintain your own website.
- Affiliate Programs based on what people actually need
Choose 1-3 affiliate programs that you really really believe in, use, and know they’ll solve a problem for your audience. I used to be an affiliate for every single product and service I used in my life. I barely made any income from these affiliate programs, and they honestly were too disconnected to provide benefit to my audience.
Now, I’m part of two core affiliate programs because they solve the two main problems people who watch my content have:
Affiliate program 1: Portuguese with Anita
I cannot teach Portuguese – although, I do try to incorporate super mini lessons when helpful in my YouTube videos…. Still… it is not something I actually do (nor should I).
However, I believe SO strongly that learning Portuguese is one of the most critical aspects of moving to Portugal. It changed our experience and has made assimilation into the culture exponentially easier than if I didn’t take lessons before moving abroad.
It’s also a very challenging language for most people. After feeling the personal impact that my Portuguese teacher had on my experience living here and after being complimented on my Portuguese pretty consistently by native speakers, I started working with Portuguese with Anita to help others discover her courses.
Affiliate program 2: Start Abroad
The second affiliate program I work with closely is Start Abroad. They help people organize and immigrate to Portugal, Costa Rica, and Panama.
Many creators do consult calls with people that are looking to move abroad. I am not one of those people.
The reality is the laws change so quickly and each person has a unique situation that either qualifies or disqualifies them from moving abroad. There are different visa paths, citizenship considerations, income requirements, etc.
As a former attorney, I understand how complex the immigration process is and I do not feel comfortable advising people with the current immigration guidelines. But, I do want to help people find the right people for the job!
I met with Start Abroad, really asked them some hard questions to make sure they understood the process before recommending them to others, and jumped right into their affiliate program to put together The Ultimate Portugal Resource Guide for Americans Moving Abroad.
The majority of people that find our channel because they’re interested in moving abroad from the US are considering Costa Rica or Portugal because those are the last two places I’ve lived, so working with Start Abroad was a natural fit.
All of this backstory to say – choose affiliate programs that solve a problem for your audience. It’s even better if it provides a solution to a problem you also experienced but can’t necessarily help them with personally.
- Newsletters (LinkedIn, Substack, or your own)
Landing in people’s email inboxes is harder than ever with data privacy, spam filters, etc. I’m learning all in on newsletters for my clients via LinkedIn and Substack, which have seen some shockingly good results.
LinkedIn is a good fit if you have content related to a professional service (you’re a freelance writer) or your audience tends to be professionals (many of my clients are law firms). LinkedIn pushes newsletters hard, they actually land in people’s inboxes and their feeds, and articles on LinkedIn are often sited as resources in AI platforms like ChatGPT.
Substack has promised to remain creator-first in a world where social platforms are forgetting creators are the reason they exist in the first place (*cough cough* TikTok US *cough cough*). When people subscribe to your Substack, it means they really want to hear from you, so you’ll find a more engaged audience. It’s also a great platform for highlighting content you house across different social channels.
This article will be featured in our first Substack newsletter later this month!
I hope this helps trigger some creative thinking when it comes to different programs that would benefit you and your audience in 2026! I’ll touch back later to see how they actually performed for me. But for now, thanks for reading and happy creating!
And yes, some of these links do contain affiliate referral programs (Stay22; Headout), but mostly… they are absolutely the tools I’m using and confident in spending my time on this year as a content creator. Head to our remote income section of our blog for more content creation tips.
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