Nathalie Roch is a travel influencer from Paris who grew up around haute couture gowns, hard work and dedication. Her roots of high fashion designing shaped her into a well organised, planned traveller who pays attention to the fine details and has a trained eye for aesthetics. Fashion and travel go hand in hand for Nathalie – she takes inspiration for her dress designs from foreign cultures, history and locations which she explores while travelling. As Nathalie wanders around the world in her stylish princess gowns, her social media following grows by the minute. She now has over quarter million followers who rely on her for travel advice, inspiration and recommendations for their own travels.

Colourful princess gowns, historical travel locations and luxury hotels describe Nathalie Roch’s social media feed, which has the look of a dreamy travel book. She mostly shoots her alluring photos by herself, using a tripod placed in front of iconic cultural spots such as the Louvre museum in Paris or The Spanish Steps in Rome. Her outfits are often inspired by the location she travels to and she takes into consideration the cultural norms and values of the country when choosing her clothing.

For example, when going to Italy she would choose a Roman Empress-inspired dress which mimics traditional Italian clothing. Nathalie has faced a number of challenges during her path to success such as filming in freezing temperatures during the wintertime at sunrise or spending hundreds of hours of working on a dress for a photoshoot. Nevertheless, she advises: “Get ready to work. Do not expect to become successful overnight, being a full time travel influencer requires constant planning and creating content for different social platforms.”

Nathalie’s social media journey began during one of her trips to Santorini, Greece when she posted a photo of herself which went unexpectedly viral overnight. Her ‘lightbulb moment’ came to her when brands began contacting her for work opportunities and she saw the potential of turning her hobby into her career.

At the time Nathalie was following the traditional corporate path, working two jobs at a time, making it a difficult decision for her to leave her office job. Her decision paid off and Nathalie now enjoys staying at her favourite hotel brands such as The Four Seasons, Shangri La and The Fairmont hotels.

One of Nathalie’s pivotal moments in her career since social media has been her appearance on national television. The young influencer participated in a documentary by French channel TF1 about The Louvre Museum. Nathalie shares ‘It was very different than my social media experience. Having a whole team and being the centre of attention is something I am not used to. It also looks way more professional.’

She mentions that she felt ‘shy and intimidated’ being watched while filming as her usual filming set features only a tripod and a camera. Nathalie shares her interest of being a travel TV presenter: ‘It is what I love and it has the same focus of my social media – travel – so I could consider this job in the future’.

Being a travel influencer has allowed Nathalie to expand her travel list and visit many remote locations. One of them, which happens to be her favourite travel memory so far, was her visit to Iran. Her expectations were surpassed by the hospitality of the country and the people. ‘The people were so hospitable and welcoming, I have not seen that anywhere else. The architecture and mosques were mind blowing. I stayed in a traditional Persian house in Isfahan which was covered in stained glass and mirror tiles.

It was incredible.’ Her trip was organised by a local travel agency which was something new for her: ‘Planning for a trip is quite stressful. I enjoyed planning a trip without having the stress to do everything by myself. Also, our options online were limited, so using a local travel agency helped us find what we were looking for.’

The travel influencer from Paris’ travel history began in North Europe where she went on a solo road trip and explored Scandinavia and Scotland. She shares her joy of travelling alone and having the freedom to plan according to her own interests. ‘It was so refreshing. Travelling alone teaches you to do things on your own. It makes you embrace your individuality.

Some countries are safer for women than others. Scandinavian countries are a good choice for a solo trip as a woman.’ Nathalie shares that she made some of her dearest friendships while travelling alone. ‘People get pleasantly surprised to see a woman travelling by herself and you can make a lot of unexpected friendships.’

Sometimes life gives us an opportunity and we can either embrace it or somebody else will. Nathalie Roch left a life of stability to chase her dreams into the unknown and now inspires her thousands of followers to do the same. Travelling and fashion led Nathalie to her dream career while working hard and taking risks are her tools to sustain it.