Nothing compares to watching the sun rise over the ocean, listening to sound of the waves, and breathing in the tropical air that surrounds you. We love these beach holidays in sunny places and most would wish for a life of going from one if these holidays to the next. For Karen and Terence from Terplanet, this is their reality, as they turned their passion for luxury travel into a business. The coveted life of this couple centers on travelling the world while exhibiting their trips to exquisite resorts and hotels to their followers as inspiration on social media.

With almost 2 million followers on Instagram and TikTok combined, Terplanet posts daily videos and photos from their romantic adventures in sun-drenched corners around the world from Bali to the Italy Riviera to the Maldives. Favouring tropical destinations for their striking social media posts, Terplanet’s pictures can’t help but awaken in their legion of followers the travel itch for a sunlit getaway. Their name Terplanet  is inspired by the term “interplanetary”, meaning between stars and planets. Their account represents just that, travelling between different cultures and destinations, five-star hotels and star-studded restaurants.

These two travel enthusiasts met in Australia, having moved there separately, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. In 2017, Terence started posting photographs from past travels as a creative outlet, without the intention of turning his Instagram account into a business. As the account grew, hotels began to reach out to them for collaborations, and from that point on, they found themselves at a crossroad. Should they continue travel blogging as a hobby or commit to it full-time professionally? While some of their peers wondered if they should have “a real job”, Karen and Terence had their mind set. They sold most of their things and went on a three-month trip to Southeast Asia with just two backpacks They kept moving, collaborating with hotels, and always with the goal in sight of becoming luxury travel influencers.

In growing their influence on social media, Terplanet learned many lessons along the way. “People think that what we have accomplished that they can create within a six-month period, but it’s such a big, transformational time and journey. It’s a huge process,” explains Terence. By viewing everything as an investment, the couple views any expense or booking as an asset that allows them to network, create more content and grow their business. This is how they made the transition from backpack travellers to luxury travel bloggers. Five years later, they can confidently say that they made the right choices and now have a successful business travelling full-time. However, they still continuously learn from their experiences, while continuously upgrading and improving their business and social media. One example is that they noticed the rise of then new social media hotspot, TikTok, and reformatted their content to publish it on the video-based app. In order to stay successful, the couple swears by constantly evolving when it comes to social media.

Alongside of their trips and collaborations with tourism boards, hotels or resorts, Terplanet has created presets. These filters allow their followers to transform their photos into the oversaturated, bright, and eye-catching posts that can be discovered on the couple’s Instagram. The couple also offers their followers a PDF as well as a book, where they reveal tips and tricks on how to grow your social media following and start a successful travel influencer lifestyle à la Terplanet. They published the free PDF to give something back to their supporters. “We always say, if we did it, you can do it. Because if you really want to do something like this, it seems so hard to achieve. You really need to have some insights. And if we had people alongside telling us what to do me, the key things to do, maybe we would have done this before, “explains Karen.

Consistency is key on social media as the couple post pictures from all around Australia and Europe when they were living on each continent. “We were leveraging from the place that we already were in, and then just making the most out of that”. Showing that you don’t need to travel everywhere to become a successful travel influencer.

As for the best destinations out there, The couple’s favourite destination? Italy, Karen’s home country. Even though she grew up there and the couple has visited in many times, it is still their favourite travel spot. “After five years, traveling far from Italy, last year, I went back, and I fell in love again with my country”. Their love for the Italian peninsula really presents itself as they describe it. Karen raves about Italy’s romantic landscapes and cities, such as charming Positano or historical Puglia. Their social media displays their love for the Italian cuisine, as they post charcuterie boards filled with Mediterranean products or candlelit dinners with a glass of Italian wine and spectacular views on the Mediterranean Sea.

Karen tells us that one of the biggest misconceptions with travel influencer is that they must have travelled the whole world already, however, this could not be further from the truth, as Karen and Terence still have many destinations left to tick off their bucket list. French Polynesia, Bora Bora, Costa Rica, and India are just a few of the places she hopes to visit in the future. Their long-time dream destination were the Maldives, which they managed to visit in 2021, despite the pandemic.

Inciting inspiration and wanderlust Terplanet’s bright and remarkable pictures transport their followers into magnificent tropical hideaways. From charming, affluent resorts in the Maldives, where you can daydream away, to stunning landscapes and feel-good cuisine in Italy, their Instagram shows the most romantic of travels combined with a luxury twist. Terplanet is all enjoying showing us the finer things in life and living it to the fullest through their travels.