Demand for travel nannies has skyrocketed 20 per cent since 2019, with more luxury hotels and holiday companies now offering childcare as part of the package.
British nannies, especially those who trained at Norland College, are particularly popular with wealthy families around the world.
And one British holiday nanny has revealed the highs and lows of working for wealthy families around the world – revealing it’s not quite the dream role that it may seem.
Lisa Wallace, 42, from Hertfordshire, has worked everywhere from flooded basement staff bunkhouses to opulent five-star resorts.
At one point during her career, she began to split her clients into two categories: ‘old money,’ families she described as structured and respectful, and ‘new money,’ who were ‘flashy’ and unpredictable.
On flights, she recalled how she was seated in economy to look after the children while ‘new money’ parents lapped up luxury in first class.
Lisa told The Telegraph: ‘It was also about being flashy, with nannies something to show off as part of the entourage as you were walking around.
‘But one minute I was the parent’s friend and confidant, the next I was talked down to.’
Lisa Wallace, 42, from Hertfordshire, has worked everywhere from flooded basement staff bunkhouses to opulent five-star resorts
Larissa Hazzell, 33, from Essex, soon discovered how invisible nannies can feel when a father she was employed by started undressing in front of her in a hotel room at a golf resort in Portugal
One of her most difficult days began with a long-haul flight caring for twin toddlers and a baby – and ended with her taking all three to the hotel pool at 4.30am local time because they were too excited to sleep.
Another travel nanny, Larissa Hazzell, 33, from Essex, soon discovered how invisible they can feel when a father she was employed by started undressing in front of her in a hotel room at a golf resort in Portugal.
Also speaking to The Telegraph, she explained: ‘The parents were back from dinner after a day on the golf course and I was in their room with the sleeping child when the dad just started to strip off.
‘Luckily the mum stepped in and stopped him.’
Larissa, who now works as a childcare advisor, said travel nannying comes with a host of extra demands and pressures – not to mention requiring the ability to improvise.
With no access to toys or familiar routines at times, the former nanny had to get creative – such as making musical instruments out of pebbles and Pringles cans to keep the children entertained.
She even recounted how she once begged hotel staff to open a closed playground during the off-season.
A third nanny – Kathryn Lord, 38, from Lancashire – has nannied for Russian billionaires and millionaire families, often travelling to luxury spots in the Maldives, Cape Town, Italy and Switzerland.
Kathryn Lord, 38, from Lancashire, has nannied for Russian billionaires and millionaire families, often travelling to luxury spots in the Maldives, Cape Town, Italy and Switzerland
She recalled once being given a credit card – with instructions to never say ‘no’ to the children.
On one trip through the Norwegian fjords with 50 family members, she worked 20-hour days in uniform and dressed the children each evening for staged sunset photos before they were whisked away from the adults for the evening.
She said: ‘They didn’t really want to see their kids. I did feel quite sorry for them.’
Though Kathryn’s work was generally demanding, there were generous perks: she once had her own private butler at a safari lodge in Mozambique and climbed Table Mountain at sunrise in South Africa – a bucket list trip paid for by her employers.
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