A former doctor has revealed that she and her partner - who travel the world with their three-year-old son - are earning up to £6,000 a month sharing holiday deals with other savvy shoppers. Jenna Carr, 33, from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, met her now-partner Joao Paias, 34, whilst on holiday in his native Portugal.
After swiping right and matching with one another on Tinder, the pair bonded and fell in love over their mutual passion for travel. They visited places all across Portugal and the UK as well as France and Switzerland.
They soon decided to expand their horizons and jetted off for Greece, Cyprus, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. After a few years of travelling, Jenna became pregnant in 2019 and the couple welcomed baby Leo in March 2019.
Despite the possibility that they could face criticism, they decided to pack up and take Leo abroad for his first holiday aged just two weeks. Over the years the family have travelled to, Portugal, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, the USA and the Bahamas.
Jenna said: "Our intention was to have a happier life and spend more time together, we were doing what everyone does and spending our life working. We thought this is not how we would envision our life going - now we are winging it and are happy with how things are going at the moment."
In order to fund their travel addiction, the couple founded thetravelmum, a website designed to help savvy shoppers find budget-friendly holiday deals. On the website, Jenna claimed that the inspiration came from her own days as an independent travel agent, where she saw the commission rates added to the price point.
She says: "I didn't think it was fair to suggest that these were the best possible prices, when in fact I knew they were not. A simple internet search would tell you otherwise, but I noticed that people just didn't have the time to do their own research."
Soon, by offering a subscription-based website selling the best deal combinations available, Jenna has been able to give up her stressful job as a locum doctor in February. Shortly after, Joao was able to also quit his job as a civil engineer and now the pair can focus on growing the website, their family and seeing the world.
Jenna said: "Our focus has been on increasing our income and continuing with this lifestyle. Since May we have both been unemployed and trying to make money through social media, a lot of our focus has been on that.
"Every month we need to make sure we have a brand deal in place or make sure the website memberships are sustainable. It is fun, we don't know how long it is going to last but we can make it our full-time thing, we are just going with the flow."
"We earned £6,000 last month from our website and have realised we could do everything we did before, just with a baby," Jenna told the Daily Mail. "We don't have to live a boring life to provide for him."
For the time being, the family are in the UK with plans for short breaks in Italy, Portugal and Spain. Longer-haul plans are on hold for the time being while the couple begins IVF, in the hopes of growing their little family.
Jenna says that little Leo is keeping his feet on the ground for a bit, as while he loves travelling, he's settling into nursey well. "We have been travelling with him since he was a baby," she says.
"He loves travelling, he is much more content and a lot easier while we are travelling and busy doing things. He's not used to being somewhere for a certain time or getting up at a certain time, so we have had some nightmares.
"Ultimately we want to do what is right for him. We're considering home education, there are pros and cons to doing it."
While Jenna starts her IVF treatment, instead of travelling for months at a time, the family will be going on mini adventures with the first on to Milan.
Jenna's website and her big following on TikTok, where she posts under the username @thetravelmum, since February 2020, now allow her, Joao and their son to travel the world.
The Travel Mum's top tips for holidaying on a budget
- Pack light by using a rucksack as your free personal item so you don't have to pay extra for checked-in luggage.
- Travel mid-week when flights are less in demand and therefore cheaper.
- Travel off-season - April to May and September to October usually still have great weather with massively reduced prices compared to the summer months.
- Use flight and hotel comparison sites to look for the best deals - package deals are often more expensive than doing it yourself.
- Look for rooms with a kitchenette and a nearby supermarket - a bit of effort making a meal or two can save you a lot of money.
