About
Gretl van der Kooij, the Austrian travel vlogger known to her millions of followers as Travel Gretl, built a digital empire on a foundation of cinematic beauty and the allure of solo female adventure. With over 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube and a content library generating more than 150 million views, she has defined a specific niche of high-production travel storytelling. Yet, a 2023 controversy surrounding a video in Bhutan forced a public reckoning, exposing the razor-thin line between authentic documentation and “artistic license” that now defines the careers of top-tier travel influencers.
Travel Gretl: History and Growth
Born in Zell am See, Austria, to a Dutch-Indonesian family, Gretl van der Kooij stands 5’10” (178 cm), a physical presence that matched her ambitious career path. Before she ever pointed a camera at a foreign landscape, she was a marketing manager at the global energy drink behemoth Red Bull. The corporate world, however, proved stifling. A desire for creative freedom and exploration pushed her to begin a side project in 2016, a snowboarding-focused Instagram account under the now-abandoned handle @CaptSteezy.
The transition was swift. By 2017, van der Kooij had quit her job to pursue influencing full-time, rebranding herself as Travel Gretl. The initial focus on action sports quickly broadened into a comprehensive travel vlog. She established a YouTube channel on November 1, 2016, which would become the nucleus of her brand. Her decision to relocate to Haarlem, Netherlands, in mid-2018 marked the final step in cementing her new identity as a global storyteller.
Travel Gretl's Content and Style
Van der Kooij’s evolution was marked by a deliberate pivot away from raw, action-oriented clips toward carefully crafted cinematic narratives. Her work became synonymous with high-quality cinematography that emphasized cultural immersion, particularly from the perspective of a woman traveling alone. This approach resonated deeply, setting her apart from the prevailing party-centric travel content of the era.
Her content strategy focused on deep dives into specific regions, with a clear preference for Southeast Asia and South America. These were not mere travelogues; they were polished short films that blended sweeping drone shots with intimate, ground-level encounters. This stylistic choice proved to be both her greatest asset and, eventually, a source of significant controversy.
How Travel Gretl Makes Money
Travel Gretl is not just a personal brand; it is a registered Dutch private limited company, “Travel Gretl Media B.V.” The business model is a diversified portfolio of modern influencer revenue streams. YouTube AdSense provides a consistent baseline, supplemented by lucrative sponsored content deals on both YouTube and Instagram. Key brand ambassadorships with industry giants like GoPro, Patagonia, and DJI underscore her market credibility.
Further income is generated through affiliate marketing links with platforms like Amazon and Booking.com, and the sale of digital products, most notably her custom Lightroom presets that allow followers to replicate her signature visual aesthetic. An analysis of the company’s corporate records for the 2022 fiscal year, however, raises an interesting flag: the director’s salary was noted as being significantly high relative to the company’s reported profits, an observation that points to a well-developed financial structure.
Travel Gretl's Collaborations
While often presented as a solo adventurer, van der Kooij’s operation includes a key creative partner: her husband, Dutch filmmaker Ruben Smit. Smit frequently acts as a second camera operator, contributing to the high production value of her videos. Her network extends to the upper echelons of the travel vlogging community, having engaged in high-profile collaborations with major YouTubers such as “Lost LeBlanc” and “Sorelle Amore,” further cementing her status within the industry.
Travel Gretl: Public Reception and Controversies
In early 2023, van der Kooij’s carefully curated image of authenticity was shattered. In an article for “Traveler’s Digest,” journalist Mark Felton published an exposé centered on a video from Bhutan. Citing an anonymous local guide, Felton alleged that a key scene depicting van der Kooij in a serene “monastery meditation” was entirely staged. The source claimed the scene was filmed after public hours with local individuals paid to pose as monks.
The fallout was immediate. Van der Kooij responded with a detailed blog post and a tearful YouTube video. She vehemently denied hiring extras, reframing the payments as “traditional offerings” made to the monastery. She did not dispute that the event was a private ceremony she was invited to attend, but admitted to using “artistic license” in the editing process to enhance the narrative. The defense was not enough to save her partnership with sponsor Ethical Apparel Co., which publicly terminated their contract.
This “Bhutan Authenticity Scandal” crystallized a secondary, long-simmering criticism of her work: that her popularization of certain destinations, such as a widely-viewed video on the Faroe Islands, had contributed to “over-tourism” in previously pristine locations. The dossier’s analysis frames the entire episode as a classic “authenticity vs. production” dilemma, a conflict inherent to a genre that monetizes real-life experiences through a heavily polished lens.
Travel Gretl: Philanthropy
Beyond her commercial ventures, van der Kooij has established a philanthropic initiative called the “Gear for Guides” program. Through this program, she donates used camera equipment to local guides in developing countries to help them create their own content and businesses. A documented donation in 2022 detailed the transfer of 5 DSLRs, 10 GoPro cameras, and a collection of accessories to a guide collective in Nepal, providing a tangible example of her commitment to giving back to the communities she features.
Travel Gretl Today
The Bhutan scandal marked an inflection point for Travel Gretl. In its wake, van der Kooij has visibly shifted her content strategy, incorporating more behind-the-scenes footage and transparently discussing the production process with her audience. Her current project, a long-term expedition through Colombia with a focus on documenting indigenous communities, appears to be a direct response to the criticism. It represents a move toward a deeper, more culturally sensitive form of storytelling—a deliberate effort to rebuild trust and redefine what authenticity means in the complex world of professional travel vlogging.