Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandi Perry.
Hi Brandi, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Backroads Travel Co. started in 2018, with two best friends, Brandi Perry and Dori Lowe, who shared a love of traveling, discovering places that were a little off the beaten path, and telling people about the experiences we found along the way.
We didn’t start out with a big business plan or the intention of becoming professional travel writers. We were both educators with a genuine curiosity about the places around us, especially the small towns, locally owned restaurants, hidden gems, and unexpected stories that are so easy to overlook. We started sharing our adventures simply because we believed these places deserved to be seen.
As our audience grew, so did the opportunities. What began as sharing places we loved eventually turned into working with destinations, tourism organizations, and small businesses to help tell their stories. We realized that our experience as educators was actually a huge part of what made our storytelling work—we know how to research, organize information, connect with an audience, and, most importantly, tell a story in a way that makes people want to experience it for themselves.
One of the biggest milestones in our journey came when we became authors. We co-authored 100 Things To Do in Mississippi Before You Die, which gave us the opportunity to showcase the incredible variety of experiences across our home state. That book opened another door for us and led to our second book, Unique Eats and Eateries of Mississippi, where we set out to highlight the restaurants and food experiences that make Mississippi such a special place to explore.
Writing two books changed the way we looked at travel. We weren’t just visiting places anymore; we were researching their stories, meeting the people behind them, and looking for the details that make a destination memorable. It also reinforced something we had believed from the beginning: some of the best travel experiences aren’t necessarily the most famous ones. Sometimes they’re found down a two-lane road, in a small-town restaurant, or in a place you’ve driven past a hundred times without realizing what was there.
Today, Backroads Travel Co. has grown into much more than a travel page. We are destination storytellers, content creators, and authors who work with communities and businesses to turn the places they are proud of into experiences travelers want to discover. We still both work in education, so Backroads has grown alongside our careers rather than replacing them—and we think that’s part of what makes our story unique.
At its heart, Backroads is still what it was when we started: two best friends getting in the car, taking the backroads, finding something worth talking about, and sharing it with the world. The difference is that now we’ve written two books, worked with destinations and businesses across multiple states, and built a community of people who are willing to take that next turn down the road with us.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, and honestly, we think that is part of what makes our story worth telling. Backroads Travel Co. has been built alongside our full-time careers as educators, so from the beginning, we have had to learn how to balance teaching, family, travel, and building a business. Many of our evenings, weekends, school breaks, and vacation days have been spent creating content, traveling, writing, editing photos, answering emails, pitching destinations, and figuring out the business side of something that originally started simply because we loved exploring and sharing the places we found.
Then COVID changed everything. For a travel business, it was an especially uncertain time. Travel came to a stop, destinations closed, events were canceled, and people understandably weren’t planning trips. We suddenly had to figure out how to continue being a travel company when people couldn’t travel. Rather than stop creating, we shifted our focus to places closer to home and continued telling stories that gave people something to look forward to. We learned that travel storytelling isn’t just about physically being somewhere; it is also about inspiring curiosity, supporting destinations, and keeping people connected to the places they love. When travel began to return, we came out of that period with an even greater appreciation for the opportunities we had.
As Backroads continued to grow, another challenge was learning how to turn something we loved into a legitimate business without losing the passion that started it. Neither of us went into this with a business degree or a roadmap for becoming travel content creators. We had to learn everything as we went—how to price our work, write proposals, communicate with tourism organizations and businesses, negotiate partnerships, understand analytics, manage a website, and figure out what it actually takes to make a business sustainable.
We have also had to learn to balance opportunity with reality. Because we still work full-time in education, we can’t say yes to every trip, partnership, or opportunity that comes our way. There have been times when we have watched other creators move faster or take opportunities that simply weren’t possible for us. We’ve had to remind ourselves that our journey doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.
There have been plenty of disappointments, too. We’ve sent pitches that went nowhere, had opportunities fall through, watched social media algorithms change, and put enormous amounts of time into projects without knowing whether they would pay off. Writing two books while working full-time has been one of the biggest undertakings we’ve taken on. There have been plenty of late nights, long drives, deadlines, and moments when we wondered if we were crazy for taking on one more thing.
But those challenges have also shaped Backroads into what it is today. Every setback has forced us to learn something new, become more creative, or find another way forward. We have learned that growth doesn’t always happen quickly or in the way you expect. Sometimes it is simply continuing to show up when things are difficult.
The road hasn’t been smooth, but it has been incredibly rewarding. COVID tested us. Balancing full-time careers with a growing business has tested us. Rejection and uncertainty have tested us. But through all of it, we have continued to travel, write, create, and tell stories about the places we believe deserve to be discovered. We don’t have everything figured out, but we have learned to trust the journey—and, appropriately enough, keep taking the backroads.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Backroads Travel Co. is a destination storytelling and content creation company built around one simple idea: there are incredible places everywhere, and sometimes you just have to get off the interstate to find them.
We specialize in discovering and promoting destinations, small towns, locally owned businesses, restaurants, attractions, outdoor experiences, and the people and stories that make a place worth visiting. We work with tourism organizations, communities, destination marketing organizations, and small businesses to create authentic content that inspires people to put a destination on their travel list. Our work can include social media content, photography, blog features, destination storytelling, campaigns, and partnerships designed to give places long-term exposure rather than simply creating one post and moving on.
We are also authors. We co-authored 100 Things To Do in Mississippi Before You Die and Unique Eats and Eateries of Mississippi. Writing these books allowed us to dig deeper into our home state and showcase experiences that people might otherwise overlook. It also helped establish us as storytellers who aren’t afraid to do the research, get in the car, and find the places that make a destination special.
What are we most proud of? Honestly, it is difficult to choose one thing. We are proud of the books, of the destinations and businesses that have trusted us with their stories, and of the community we have built. But perhaps we are most proud that we have built Backroads while continuing to work full-time as educators. We didn’t have a large company behind us or a roadmap for how to do this. We learned as we went, built it around our lives, and kept growing.
We also believe our background as educators sets us apart. We know how to research and organize information, but more importantly, we know how to communicate a story to different audiences. We don’t simply want to tell someone that a place exists. We want to tell them why it matters, what makes it different, and why they should care enough to put it on their own itinerary.
Another thing that sets us apart is that we genuinely experience the places we feature. We aren’t interested in creating generic promotional content that could be written about anywhere. We want to eat the food, walk the streets, talk to the people, learn the history, experience the attraction, and find the details that make a place unique. Our goal is to tell the story from the perspective of someone who has actually been there.
And then there is the fact that Backroads really is a partnership between two best friends. Brandi and Dori bring different strengths to the table, and that combination has become part of what makes our work recognizable. We are able to approach a destination from multiple perspectives and create a mix of written storytelling, photography, video, and social content.
At the heart of everything we do is curiosity. We don’t believe you have to travel thousands of miles to find an incredible story. Sometimes the best ones are down a two-lane road, in a small-town restaurant, at a roadside attraction, or in a community you’ve driven through a hundred times without ever stopping.
That’s what Backroads is known for: finding those places, telling their stories, and making people want to take the next turn down the road.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
The biggest advice we would give someone just starting out is to stop waiting until everything is perfect. We certainly didn’t have everything figured out when we started Backroads, and honestly, we still don’t. We learned by doing, making mistakes, asking questions, and trying again. If we had waited until we knew exactly what we were doing, Backroads probably would have never become what it is today.
We would also tell people to start with what they genuinely love. Our business grew because we were already passionate about travel, small towns, good food, and telling stories. That authenticity matters. People can tell when you are genuinely excited about something versus simply creating content because you think it will perform well.
Another thing we wish we had understood earlier is that creating content and running a business are two very different things. It is easy to focus on taking the pictures, writing the post, or making the video and forget that there is an entire business behind those things. Learning how to price your work, write a proposal, communicate your value, understand contracts, track expenses, and build relationships is just as important as creating something beautiful.
We would also tell people not to compare their beginning to someone else’s middle. Social media makes it incredibly easy to look at another creator’s followers, opportunities, trips, or accomplishments and wonder why you aren’t there yet. We have had to learn that everyone’s path is different. We built Backroads while working full-time as educators, and that meant our growth sometimes looked different from people who could devote all of their time to travel. That didn’t make our journey less valuable; it simply made it ours.
Most importantly, we would tell people to be willing to adapt. COVID taught us that even the best plans can change overnight. The travel industry essentially stopped, and we had to figure out how to keep moving forward. That experience taught us that the ability to adapt can be just as important as having a great idea.
And finally, don’t underestimate relationships. Some of the biggest opportunities we’ve had have come from people we met along the way—other creators, tourism professionals, business owners, and people who simply believed in what we were doing. Be kind. Follow through. Do what you say you’re going to do. Build relationships instead of constantly looking for the next transaction.
If we could go back and give ourselves one piece of advice, it would probably be this: take the opportunity, even if you aren’t completely sure where it will lead. You don’t have to know the entire road. You just have to be willing to take the next turn.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Backroadstravelco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backroadstravelco?stkn=Y3M2bTZ6YmUwam4%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19MYgLYmee/?mibextid=wwXIfr
