About
Why this exists
Every backlink exchange I tried worked the same way: sign up, get listed, swap with whoever else turned up. No vetting, nothing between who linked to whom, and no follow-up once the deal was done.
That structure is exactly what search engines are built to catch. A network of sites all linking to each other, in the same pattern, with nobody checking whether any of it makes sense to a reader. It works until it very suddenly doesn't, and the people who get hurt are the ones who were just trying to grow a blog.
Travellers Welcome is the version I wanted to exist instead. Every applicant is reviewed before they can browse the directory or propose anything. Exchanges run as straight two-way trades or as three-way chains, so a site never links back to whoever linked to it. Once a link is live it gets checked, repeatedly, rather than trusted and forgotten.
The name is the idea. It's the sign you want to see at the end of a long day on the road: you're expected, someone checked, come in. Not a door anyone can walk through, but a welcome that means something because it was extended deliberately.
It's priced to stay reachable for independent bloggers rather than agencies buying links by the hundred.
In her own words
I read every application myself. There's no team scoring metrics behind the scenes and no automated approval queue. If a member stops holding up their end of a swap, I see the report and I make the call.
That personal accountability is the whole point of building this the slow way instead of opening it to everyone at once. It also means there is one person to hold responsible when something goes wrong, and you know who it is.
Heidi, founder
Questions before you apply?
Read how verification actually works, check the FAQ, or just email me directly.