Singapore’s OG travel influencers share their favourite offbeat destinations and top travel tips

Catching Amelyn and Dan in Singapore is no easy business. As an indication, the couple were in town just two months out of last year, jetting off every other day for a trip. Just before this interview, they were in Vietnam shooting at a new luxury resort, and as of writing, appear to be somewhere off in Southeast Asia again.

These intrepid travellers are Amelyn Beverly (@amebeverly) and Dan Ng (@lifewithdan), Singapore’s OG travel content creators. We say ‘OG’ because they’ve been in the business for nine years, entering the scene as Instagram was peaking and influencer marketing on the platform was taking off.

They also happen to be a married couple, first meeting in LASALLE when Amelyn transferred to Dan’s class in a stroke of serendipity. Today, the two have travelled to 36 countries and amassed a combined following of almost 200,000 Instagram followers who avidly keep up with their travel, lifestyle – and in Dan’s case – wildlife content.

A power couple in travel content

Amelyn and Dan have a penchant for offbeat destinations. When they’re not reeled in to a destination by paid client work, they’re picking the road less travelled to explore and document. Places like Uzbekistan, Bolivia, and Kenya are some of their favourites – and it’s safe to say they went before the current ‘alternative travel’ trend began in earnest.

“I like choosing places I can draw inspiration from,” says Amelyn. “Unconventional places. And to use our platform to tell the story of that destination.”

Indeed, picking an interesting destination is one thing; telling a compelling story of that destination is another. And aspirational travel content is something that Amelyn and Dan excel at. Between the two, they are trained in fashion design and fashion photography (Amelyn) and 2D animation and film studies (Dan) – a perfect creative match for their chosen path in life.   

Scroll through @amebeverly and you’ll see her dynamic creative eye: from shot composition showing off landscapes and architecture to their best, to the colour coordinated outfits Amelyn carefully selects to match specific attractions at each destination. Dan is behind the camera on many of these shots (he learned photography from Amelyn, as a matter of fact), and Amelyn credits him for guiding her in videography now that Instagram heavily prioritises reels.

Work that resonates

That’s all to say that their work leaves an impact. First and foremost, Amelyn and Dan do this out of their personal love of travel. Amelyn, in particular, has loved it from a young age – largely thanks to her adventurous father – drawing Dan into this hobby after they got together.

At the same time, “We want to prove a point that the world is a safe place,” says Dan. “It’s a beautiful earth. We want to show people that you can travel far and wide and still be safe. Everybody’s going to have a good time.” 

So, nothing feels better than the times when followers reach out requesting for their itineraries to far-flung spots. “They follow our entire Uzbekistan itinerary,” says Amelyn, as an example. “When they do that, it makes me feel like we’re actually inspiring people to get out there. It feels really nice.”

More up their sleeves

It's important to recognise that travel content creation is not all roses. Having seen Amelyn and Dan in action, it's hard to deny the immense hard work that goes into sustaining their travel brand and presence: from pre-trip research and red-eye flights to before-dawn call times to dodge the crowds and photo and video editing. And laundry – "a lot of laundry after every trip," quips Amelyn. 

Yet, after nine years of nonstop travel and content creation, Amelyn and Dan still have lots up their sleeve. Most recently, the couple launched sign-ups for a hosted trip to Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Amelyn calls it "a meet-and-greet" session with followers (just all the way in Kenya), but the core desire is to share their amazing experience in East Africa with like-minded travellers.

Amelyn herself has hopes to expand her @amebeverly audience beyond Singapore and to nurture her personal interest in videography. “Not just for reels, but for real,” she jokes. At the same time, she admits to feeling “a bit tired”. By no means is she stepping away from travel content creation though, just introducing a little lifestyle content into the mix so she can prioritise rest and self-care.

As for Dan, it’s full speed ahead towards his dream to achieve the pinnacle in wildlife photography – working with National Geographic. His @lifewithdan feed shows his evolution, starting from the early days of capturing local wildlife scenes at Pasir Ris Park to expeditions to the Amazon. He can barely suppress his excitement about another 5-week trip to the Amazon rainforest with American conservationist Paul Rosolie to craft a documentary concept for HBO.

So, how have they been able to do this for so long? And still have more in the tank? “Passion,” says Amelyn. “We really love telling stories. We really love to travel.”

“We want to keep doing it as long as life allows,” says Dan. And however long they do this, we’ll be following.