Travelling whilst working
Want a career with plenty of travel opportunities? One that could be your ticket to the world? Then nannying could be for you.
Want a career that will see you jet-setting all over the world in class? Perhaps you should look at life as a Nanny. As our featured Travel Writer and London-based Nanny Melanie Lewis tells us, depending on who you work for, a job as a Nanny can take you from Switzerland, to St Barths, to the Caribbean and back again…
I started working for my first employers Sten and Susannah after moving to London to nurse. I had soon decided that the National Health Service (NHS) there was too devastating to even think of working in. Basically, I felt like I couldn’t do my job properly. I had a friend who had just started a job as a nanny, so I thought I would try my hand at it.
Susannah hosted the TV show ‘What Not To Wear’ (now ‘Trinny and Susannah undress’ about to air in Australia.) Sten worked in risk management. They had three kids; girls aged two and four, and a boy just turning seven when I started. I was a ‘live in nanny’. They had a housekeeper who came to the house every afternoon but I cooked and tidied for them. The eldest two children went to school full-time and Cece, the youngest, started morning nursery about eight months after I started. I was provided with a car full time for my own use, and my hours were 7am -7pm, five days a week. They went to their house in the country every weekend, so I had the London house to myself every weekend.
Life was insanely busy. Susannah was filming all the time, Sten worked three days a week out of Geneva in Switzerland so basically, it was me and three children. I was contracted to babysit two nights a week and for any extra work, I was paid extra.
"I started working for my first employers Sten and Susannah after
moving to London to nurse. Susannah hosted the TV show ‘What Not To
Wear’ (now ‘Trinny and Susannah undress’, which aired in Australia this
year."
We went on some amazing holidays. The first was to the Maldives for two weeks over New Years. We went to a very remote island which was incredibly beautiful. I had a villa for the children and I, and Sten and Susannah slept in their own villa. We snorkelled, lay on the beach, went on boat trips and played by the pool. Two weeks was long enough though, by far!!
"Life was insanely busy. Susannah was filming all the time, Sten worked three days a week out of Geneva in Switzerland so basically, it was me and three children."
Other holidays with them included skiing in Kitzbuhel (Austria) for a week. I only got to ski for one day though as Cece (youngest) was too small for ski school. We also went to their grandparents place on a Greek island called Skiathos, and to the very south of Italy, to Sweden for Sten’s brothers wedding, deer stalking in Scotland, and I went to the country with them often also.
However, working on holidays is not all smooth sailing. Basically it was me and three children 24/7; no friends, and no international calling rates if I wanted to phone anyone. It got lonely, but it was also amazing. You have to remember that you are there to try and make [the kids and parents] feel relaxed, on holiday, and to ease the load. You’re not really there to try and get a bit of a holiday out of it also!! Although you do get the experience of the place and sometimes a little time off.
The job I have now is much more glamorous. I work for Tamara Mellon who is the founder and president of Jimmy Choo shoes. She is a single mum (although currently dating Christian Slater so he basically lives at our house). She has one almost six-year-old daughter named Minty. She goes to school during the day which rocks! I then have the time to do whatever needs doing. I have complete autonomy! I’m also studying natural medicine in the time that I have.
"We went on some amazing holidays. The first was to the Maldives for two weeks over New Years. We went to a very remote island which was incredibly beautiful. I had a villa for the children and I, and Sten and Susannah slept in their own villa."
My hours of work are a bit more demanding; basically I’m on call five days a week but can go out if Tamara (T) is home in the evenings. I get paid very well, we have a full-time housekeeper who also cooks, does all of mine and Minty’s washing and is basically my angel. I don’t think I’ve cleaned a toilet in almost two years! I have full use of a car. T also has her own personal driver who we sometimes use if we are going somewhere that I’m afraid to park in, or just if he decides to instead of me driving my mini.
In other words, my working conditions are amazing. I still live in, and am more than welcome to have people over as long as it doesn’t compromise Minty’s care. We have a weekend nanny, but haven’t had her for long so at the moment if T is away, I’m working the weekends. That way Minty doesn’t have to spend a whole weekend with someone she hardly knows. She also loves my parents so we hang out with them quite a bit.
So, travel. We travel heaps! T travels even more. She has been away so much this year I swear has only been in London for about 40 percent of it to date. As I write this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Gstaad, Switzerland, on a four day skiing holiday with them. So when we travel its all class. T’s driver takes us to the airport, we have a separate car for the luggage (basically because we always have so much) and we always travel first class. We actually flew private jet to Switzerland yesterday and will fly back private also. It’s lots of fun, but very easy to get used to; sometimes I think I’m becoming high maintenance! But when I hang out with my friends in London it gives me a bit of a reality check!
Other places I’ve been with T include a trip to Miami for a few days and to St Barths in the Caribbean every Easter and Christmas.
St Barths is very exclusive and you meet all sorts of people there. It’s where we had lunch on Rupert Murdoch’s yacht, which has happened twice now. And you are forever ‘rocking up’ at people’s places for lunch only to later find out that they are an amazing movie director or happen to be Roger Waters from Pink Floyd etc! There are beautiful beaches in St Barths, but it also quite the ‘party place’. I managed to get a bit of time off while there and have made a few friends who work and live there. My cousin was also there at Christmas as she is a chef on a super yacht where all the rich and famous go.
It’s really a whole other world there. Money is nothing, experience is everything, and image is paramount. It’s sad to see people who are struggling financially just to try and keep up with the image of people who can actually afford it!
I love my boss; she’s super rich, but not pretentious or flashy. She does things in style and to the best standard, and expects the best standard, but would never be one of those rich people who treat people as inferior. I know her well - what she expects, and what annoys her. It makes for a pretty healthy relationship.
Some of Mel’s Famous Friends include…
Elton John
Elizabeth Hurley
Lulu
Thandie Newton
Roger Taylor
Sam Branson
Christian Slater
Rupert Murdoch
+ lots of lords and ladies!
Wow! Um, well, I saw Justin Timberlake once, from a few hundred metres…on a stage…OK I can’t compete with that!
If Mel’s story has reawakened your dormant travel bug, and you love to care for others, the role of nanny could be perfect for you! There are literally hundreds of agencies in London, but here a few websites to get you started:
www.londonnannycompany.co.uk
www.nanniesinc.co.uk
www.topnotchnannies.com
www.thenannyagency.co.uk
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