WE'RE TRAVEL INFLUENCERS ... at 50-something!

Best friends Bernie and Petra live on different continents but their passion for travel has led to a surprise new joint venture

When someone says it to us, we can hardly believe it ourselves, and we struggle to contain our giggles. But yes, somehow, through a few happy accidents of fate, we have become Instagram influencers - in our 50s!

The fact that we're best friends who managed to turn our shared passion for travel into an influential Instagram profile and website (or 'digital magazine' as we like to call it - we can't stand the word 'blog'!) is just the cherry on top.

Now, with our kids all grown-up and off creating their own stories, we're travelling the world and staying in some of the most sought-after locations on Earth, from Lake Como to Cape Town - and somehow we managed to bring nearly 11 000 followers along for the ride.

The Take-Off

But let's take you back in time and tell you how this happy accident happened. We're best friends Bernie van der Linde from South Africa and Petra Top from Germany. Bernie is the principal of a private higher learning institution in Joburg (who completed her PhD last year), and Petra is involved with the development of electric cars in Germany. Everyone in both of our families is obsessed with motorsport, and-surprise, surprise! - we met at a motorsport event in Germany eight years ago.