Kia ora, I'm Talia!
I'm a musically wired nanny from the bottom of the globe where magical Narnia and Middle Earth's landscapes were created.
If you haven't guessed it, I come from New Zealand.
There's only one problem with growing up in this oceanic paradise - we become accustomed to the beauty and develop a lust for travel and adventure elsewhere. This has led me on heart warming adventures through frozen Greenland, Icelandic deserts, Asian encounters, and road trips through Australia, Europe and the USA.
Travel is more than an addiction for me. It is a responsibility to serve as a model resident of the world by helping others still finding their way in it. This view I also take as a nanny having studied and worked in education since 2009. When I discovered the ability to combine my passions for journalism, photography and childcare as both a travel writer and travel nanny in 2016, I haven't looked back since.
I want to be a role model on paper and in real life to show how travel can open hearts and minds, sharing these incredible locations with the readers and families I work for.
Work Experience
I graduated from Wellington Nannies College with my early childhood education qualifications in 2009 and have five years experience working with children aged 6 months to 16 years. I have assisted busy working parents in New Zealand and abroad with the children's meals, cleaning, homework, creating fun activities, and taking initiative. I aim to make everybody's lives easier as well as fun, so parents can concentrate on their business knowing their children are happy, healthy and in capable hands.
Helping and inspiring people, both big and small, is my greatest joy, which is why I became a journalist as well as a nanny. My journalism background has ingrained in me a large general knowledge and a thirsting curiosity to learn, which means I am as fascinated by the children's experiences, curriculum and in developing their interests as they will be.
Interests
I have professional experience as a children's theatre performer, singing, dancing and making children laugh in over 200 schools across New Zealand and Australia with prominent children's educational theatre company NZ Playhouse. I spent eight months with them on the road staying in a mix of motels and holiday parks with my two cast mates, who started off as strangers and ended up feeling like family.
This experience taught me the perils of life on the road and being in enclosed spaces with the same people for a long time. Especially when there are up to 1000 children expecting smiles, entertainment and the highest quality performance, both on stage and off stage. This includes meeting them, performing to them, and the behind the scenes prep which goes into the job, living out of a suitcase, preparing for each day and dealing with setbacks and difficult children to make sure everyone, especially those children, have the best time. You can't pull all that off without loving what you do and enjoying every moment, especially the difficult ones which become the most rewarding in the end.
The last two years I have worked for a New Zealand family in France, Italy and Croatia, worked for an Indian family, plus completed my own travels through the United States, Europe, Asia and the UK. I love seeing new places, meeting new people and living a life better than anything I could have written! I can't wait to turn the page and see what happens next.
