Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley and Michael Bustillos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ashley and Michael , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?
We have always had a passion for travel and dreaming of bucket list experiences. Our friends and family would say we are quite adventurous and always seeking the next thrill. During our first couple years dating, while our friends were buying the latest iPhone or going to the next big concert, we were saving up for our next adventure. Whether we were swimming with the sharks or jumping out of an airplane, we started making videos of our travels for us to reflect on and show our families. On Ashley’s birthday trip in April of 2016, we were contacted by a resort to use our video footage they saw posted for their commercial. We were so thrilled and excited, we immediately said yes! After this, we decided to start an instagram to document our adventures around the world. We decided to call ourselves AdventurPro! In 2017, we quit our corporate jobs, took our savings, and left on a one-way ticket to Europe. It was the best decision we ever made! 14 countries later, we started to gain a following world-wide and started getting contacted by multiple tourism boards and companies. We had a few posts go viral and decided to make a business plan to monetize our content. Our mission was and has always been to share real and relatable content to inspire our audience to create beautiful moments and experiences in their own lives.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
We are Ashley and Michael. We are travel insiders focusing within the hospitality and tourism industry. We are called AdventurPro. We are a couple’s travel blog focusing on luxury travel and adventure. We are partnered with tourism boards, cruise lines, hotels, theme parks, brand partnerships, airlines, restaurants, and tour companies all around the world. We have been featured with Nat Geo, seen on Ellen Degeneres Game of Games, and multiple magazine outlets across the world. What sets us apart from others is we always are told that we are the same in person as we are on camera. We are personable, reliable, flexible, always showing our real selves, original, trustworthy, and we always challenge ourselves to our greatest potential.
Today, we have built a trusted travel brand that focuses on luxury travel & adventure while responsibly promoting sustainability, tips, tricks, and travel tips for your next adventure! Our goal is to motivate people to travel the world, experience new cultures, and be inspired to do something different on their travels; for that, we strive to be inspirational. We feel confident that our current and growing audience that follow us through website and social media platforms trust our advice and opinions as it relates to the current state of what travel is today. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the opportunity for our story to be heard, and we will continue to inspire others around the world to step outside their comfort zones, travel smarter, and take the bucket list trip they’ve always wanted. Adventure Awaits!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
We love experiencing different cultures and connecting with people all over the world. We love not only creating beautiful moments and life experiences together but also inspiring others and helping our audience to not only step out of their comfort zones and take that dream trip but to also get the most out of their travels. Also, since we started traveling full time, we have been able to adventure to some of. the lesser known and off the beaten path destinations that we may not of thought to go to prior and those trips have been some of our absolute favorite experiences that we love to share with our followers!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
This is a great question. Over the years, we have received many messages and statements such as, “it must be nice being on vacation all the time” or “wow, you’re going on another trip”. Many people don’t understand at times the hard work and time required in what we do. Being a digital creator/ journalist means we have to take care of our marketing, our own branding, maintaining our social accounts but essentially, we are photographers, videographers, directors, editors, negotiators, producers, models, and researchers. We are always looking to create real and authentic content that engages our audience. We are always networking, learning new skills like coding and SEO, planning, and we spend hours creating and editing our content while keeping a strong connection with our audience. It is an amazing job to have, but it is still a job. Behind the lens, we spend countless hours editing videos and photos at all hours of the night and spend multiple days writing and editing in our office. Furthermore, sometimes in those wanderlust destinations, we are spending hours trying to capture “the shot” which can include many outfit changes, and meeting deadlines. Don’t get us wrong, we love it, but it is still a lot of work! The perception that most people have is the understanding that we simply point a camera and press click a few times.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adventurpro.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/adventurpro
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/adventurpro
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-and-michael-bustillos-743988139/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/adventurpro
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventurpro4567
- Other: www.tiktok.com/adventurpro
Image Credits
@AdventurPro