Meet the first baby travel influencer: Earns $1,000 a month traveling

Oct 21 (DailyMail) – Despite just turning one year old, one intrepid American baby has already been on an incredible 45 flights — and visited a whopping 16 US states.

Briggs Darrington has seen bears in Alaska, wolves in Yellowstone National Park, the Delicate Arch in Utah, and beaches in California.

The young traveler’s mom, Jess, believes Briggs — who was born on October 14, 2020 and went on his first glamping trip at three weeks old — might just be the youngest travel influencer in the world.

Briggs’ adventures have already attracted a huge online following, with more than 250,000 likes on his Where Is Briggs? TikTok page and nearly 30,000 fans on Instagram.

And Jess, 28, who is a full-time travel blogger and lives in Idaho Falls with her husband Steve, reveals that her son earns around $1,000 a month in trips and fees, while working with tourist boards and brands.

‘I had been running a blog called Part Time Tourists for a few years, being paid to travel the world,’ Jess said.

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‘But when I got pregnant with Briggs in 2020, I was really nervous that my career was over, as I didn’t know if it was possible to continue with a baby.

‘But my husband and I really wanted to make it work. So I started to look for social media accounts that talked about baby travel, I couldn’t find a single one!

‘I saw a gap and decided to set up social media accounts as a fun way of sharing everything that I learned — the good and bad — of traveling with a baby, to help other first-time parents.

‘I never dreamed that it would end up helping so many new moms that are dealing with postpartum anxiety and depression due to changing their previous lifestyle or being too nervous to leave the home.

‘Now Briggs the world’s first baby travel influencer!’ she said.

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Briggs was just three weeks old when Jess took him on his first overnight glamping trip while they were living in Nebraska — and he was only nine weeks old when he went on his first flight.

Since then, Briggs has traveled to 16 US states, including Kansas, Utah, Arizona, Florida, Alaska, and New Mexico.

He’s seen hot springs along a remote river in Idaho; watched a balloon fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and enjoyed beach time in Florida, Oregon, and Hawaii.

And his longest flight was about eight hours, from Utah to Hawaii.

But his first trip was closer to home.

Jess said that her husband couldn’t meet them on their first trip until 8 p.m. the day they left, so she and Briggs drove an hour to the glamping site by themselves. Briggs slept the whole way.

Briggs’ social media accounts already have a huge following — and Jess’s videos can garner 500,000 views — with travel brands keen to work with the mom-and-son duo.

The family has already worked with baby companies including Ergobaby and Guava Family, and tourism boards such as Visit Idaho have hired Briggs for a glamping road trip.

Jess estimates Briggs is already earning about $1,000 a month from sponsored social media posts and trips, and they also have a sponsor who provides them with free diapers and wipes.

‘We had been doing Part Time Tourists for the past couple of years, and he has quickly become much more popular than us with brands and tourism boards. and I don’t blame them, he’s so cute, I’d want to work with him too!

‘I think we found such a niche market where before I had Briggs, I was doing a ton of research on how to travel with the baby and I couldn’t find a single Instagram or TikTok account specifically dedicated to baby travel.

‘There’s a ton of kid travel, but nothing aimed at babies. So that’s also a niche we found that people were hungry for, to learn about.’

Jess doesn’t see that she will stop traveling with Briggs any time soon, and the family is planning a trip to Europe, including London, in the next six months.

‘I don’t ever see us stopping traveling together as a family. Maybe when he gets married and has his own family, he won’t come with us anymore!’ she said.

‘But for the foreseeable future, I can totally see us continuing to travel as a family – along with our mini travel influencer.’