While traveling with a nanny may seem like something reserved for the rich and famous, it’s not solely for the extremely wealthy. In fact, almost everyone can afford some form of a travel companion, but should you?
What Are The Benefits?
The luxury of traveling with a nanny provides you all the time as a family traveling, but with an extra set of hands. It allows for one-on-one time with your significant other during your holiday or times of relief when you need a break. Instances where a child might be bored and not want to participate in an activity, having a nanny provides an alternative to everyone doing the same thing. On plane rides, or adult-only functions, having someone along for the journey can be a great idea.
Whilst our family has never traveled with a designated travel nanny or babysitter, we have traveled with family members who have tagged along to help us out during some of our trips. Our daughter’s first trip abroad was a destination wedding when she was just eight weeks old. Since I was in the wedding, I knew there would be times where my husband and I would need a little extra help. We asked my mother who was also an invited guest if she would be willing to join us on the trip and help out during certain times. As a “Nani” to her 9th grandchild, she was more than willing to take on this task.
There have been other instances where family has helped us on different trips – I am so grateful for those experiences. But I can’t help but wonder what advantages and disadvantages to traveling with a designated nanny versus a family member would look like.
What Kind of Childcare Should You Consider?
Bringing a nanny on holiday has proved to be the only way to travel for some, but that doesn’t mean it is for everyone.
If you are looking for occasional help than maybe traveling with a friend or family member is the right solution for you, but if you are looking for full-time help during your travels, you may want to consider hiring help. There are online services like Adventure Nannies and Nanny Poppinz that charge a fee, but will help you find the right nanny to take on your next holiday. They will even help you negotiate terms and pay.
Other options may include finding someone more along the lines of an Au Pair who will help out in exchange for room and board (and a free trip.) It is possible your babysitter from home may be interested in tagging along on a trip, or a family member who is willing to help out from time-to-time. Determining which type of experience you are looking to have will help to guide you in the next direction.
Bring one
If you BYOB (Bring-Your-Own-Babysitter) you have the comfort of better knowing their caretaker and the ability to set your expectations ahead of your travels. Aligning the terms of babysitting during your trip is a key step. What expectations do you have? What expectations will they have? What will be included? Will they be on call 24/7? And what sort of compensation should be given?
My husband and I have never traveled with a babysitter but we have often talked about this idea and wondered what type of an agreement would be appropriate. For us it might look something like this:
- Free Airfare (But would that be in Business or coach?)
- Free Accommodation
- Free Meals
- Compensation (For time spent working; see expectations)
It would be important to set expectations of when your babysitter/nanny is on the clock and when they are off. Communicating these terms and agreeing upon compensation before taking off on your journey would help things to go much smoother and avoid any awkward situations.
Expectations:
- Assistance during flights if needed
- Help during meal times
- Help during night-time routines
- Possible daytime or nighttime activities with child
For us, we might try to use our miles to fly a nanny with us or cash-in hotel points for an extra room. These redemptions can help us save on the total cost and make the option of traveling with a nanny more affordable. Other than true cash compensation and meals, the majority of this could be quite affordable and reduce stress during your trip.
Find one
If you are not ready to bring a nanny or traveling babysitter along with you or don’t have family members willing to take on that role, you may want to try to find child care once you arrive at your destination. Many hotels offer a babysitter service on-site with fees that are billable to your room (you’ll earn points). If there are not babysitting services, you could ask the concierge if they can recommended a local agency. Outside of your hotel, try searching online for sites like Care.com which offers babysitting services in 20 different countries and allows you to search through profiles and interview babysitters ahead of time.
This family is searching for a nanny that will also join them on their travels and it seems they have laid out all their expectations ahead of time. We don’t find ourselves in the same category unfortunately.
Skip one
While we have never traveled with a babysitter or nanny during our trips, I can attest to those times when family members have traveled with us. I enjoyed moments to myself knowing that my daughter had someone watching her, allowing me to read a book by the pool, or go for a massage. The purpose of family vacations are meant to be spent as a family, so maybe skip the sitter and enjoy all the time you have together.
…But I can appreciate where it would be nice to have a little extra help.
Have you considered taking a family member, friend or paid help on a trip? What were some of the challenges and drawbacks you experienced/foresee?
I don’t know that I’d feel comfortable having a stranger tag along with us on a vacation, no matter how vetted they are. But we did invite my mom along on our first long road trip with Ashok last spring. Fortunately, she’s retired and more than happy to tag along, and her help was absolutely invaluable. Much of it was someone with tons of life experience traveling with kids to show a couple of clueless new parents the ropes, though having mom along also allowed my wife and I to occasionally sneak off for dinner by ourselves. When you’re road tripping, the cost isn’t very much – mainly meals for mom, since gas and hotels are the same cost for 3 vs. 4. We’re going to take him for a cruise in November by ourselves, so we’ll see how things compare!
Title: nanny for vacation where poor man can afford.
Guess: what is the trick? Using points and mileage? A nanny on destination? A tips and tricks on hiring a nanny abroad? Sharing experience, perhaps? Curious….
Article content: just bring a relative, bla bla bla… yada yada yada…. if you can’t, just ‘google it!’
this is very stupid idea
if you have a child u need to take care of him
if you need some time off ,there services of baby sitters on good hotels ask concierge or some with child care like sheraton rio de janeiro kids club.
Maria, It’s a “look at me” blog! Self serving and of no real social redeeming qualities ! That’s a problem these days with bloggers your writing for themselves.
Are there tax considerations, or work visa permit considerations, if one brings a paid nanny along on an international trip?
From what I can tell, there are some tax considerations to look into depending on the amount being paid to the employee. As far as visas go, I do not believe there would be any need for international work visas/permits considering the employee would be paid by a US entity to a US entity and assuming they are abroad for less than 90 days. I did find the resource myhomepay.com to be helpful, it even has a breakdown for each state.
Don’t mean to hijack your thread, Carly, but I’ve dealt with this with a couple of my clients so thought I’d chime in. It depends on who pays whom. If you pay an agency who then pays the nanny, then there’s really no impact on you. The agency becomes responsible for handling all tax and immigration related issues.
If you DIY – it gets more complicated. If you pay the person more than $2,000 in a year or $1,000 in a quarter, then technically you become responsible for paying household employment taxes for the nanny. However, what you “pay” the nanny is not always cut and dried. If you simply buy a plane ticket, hotel room, and meals for the nanny, then that may be considered compensation to the nanny, and you’ll blow through the thresholds very quickly. It’s better if you have the nanny first purchase their airfare, lodging, etc. and then you reimburse them for actual expenses (or at least advance them the funds, have them use those to pay expenses, and then provide you receipts to substantiate actual costs). Also, 90 days, or a US person paying another US person, are NOT hard and fast rules when it comes to work visas. Most countries do have de minimis rules, but these vary by jurisdiction. I’d say if you’re just having someone come and help for a few days, probably nothing to worry about. If you’re spending a month in Thailand, though, that might be different. What I’m providing is the by-the-book answer, so take that for what it’s worth. But I’d suggest treading very carefully if you try to DIY to save money, as you can inadvertently run afoul of things.
@MeanMeosh – not hijacking at all. I always appreciate your comments and input. I think this information is extremely helpful. Thanks!
Not sure why the comments are so cutting. We travel with our little ones and often debate a nanny. In January my family and my sister and her family are meeting. Four adults and 6 kids!!!! Plenty of time to spend with kids but would be nice to have dinners out or the odd massage without kids! Still plenty of great time with them.
We debate the same thing re costs. Airfare. Accommodation. Maybe 3 hours a day real work. The rest go and relax!
I m a older lady who has worked as a Nanny for families for over 15 yrs. I’m still working and I love it. If anyone needs my service please email me at clh5447@yahoo.com. I live in the state of Maryland. 90miles west of DC and Balitmore, me. Thanks
I m a older lady who has worked as a Nanny for families for over 15 yrs. I’m still working and I love it. If anyone needs my service please email me at clh5447@yahoo.com. I live in the state of Maryland. 90miles west of DC and Balitmore, md. Thanks