The Luxury Travel Magazine
The Luxury Travel Magazine
Emma Lambert is first and foremost a mom. As a mother and wife, many of her daily activities include the usual mundane list of cooking, cleaning and teaching. But Lambert is no ordinary mom. Her four children have been to 12 countries and 5 continents. They tag along with their mom to her second favorite job title – influencer.
Emma Lambert is a luxury travel influencer based out of Sydney, Australia. Under the Instagram handle @luxefamilytravel, she inspires over 209,000 followers every day to chase their travel dreams and bring their families along with them. The Lambert unit consists of Emma and her husband, Tom, and their four children. Ages range from 22 to 10. Together, the family has played a part in many travel experiments and has been featured in numerous media outlets.
The Lambert journey to stardom started in 2014 after Emma’s father organized an extended family holiday to Europe. He wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps along the Western Front in World War I. Emma knew the places she was about to visit would be life changing. She and Tom decided to document the seven-week exploration of France, Belgium, Italy and Dubai.
Looking back, Lambert knew at that moment she wanted to show other families the possibility of traveling the world, even with young children in tow. “I wanted to share how incredible traveling with your children could be with other families. I wanted to show that you don’t have to put it off until they are older because it seems too hard.” Shortly after, Lambert decided to embark on that journey full time and officially created the Luxe Family Travel brand.
Emma Lambert is a glass-half-full type of person. One of her favorite mottos to live by is “stuff happens.” She is also a huge fan of “go big or go home.” When she decided to start her Instagram journey at the beginning of the social media movement, that is exactly how she dove in. Not only did she quit her ten-year career in public relations, but also booked one of her first branded trips to a destination most influencers only dream of finishing at – The Maldives.
With a love for traveling and luxury, her ideal goal was to find a way to enjoy both without paying so much for the cost. When she landed a deal with her dream resort, Soneva Fushi, with only 20-30,000 followers she knew she had made it, and early on. Looking back on the moment, Lambert said she cried.
“I got on the phone with my husband, and I said, ‘Oh my God. I just accepted this resort,’” she recalled. “I showed it to him, and it was in The Maldives. They wanted to host all of us and put us in this gorgeous villa.” After hanging up, Emma and her husband looked on the website to see out of curiosity exactly what their host villa cost. At $30,000 a night, the Lambert family was stunned. “I could not believe it,” Emma said. “I just thought, ‘Okay, this is worthwhile. I’m okay at this.’”
Being asked to stay at The Maldives resort was a life-changing experience for Emma and the rest of her family. After giving glowing reviews on everything from adult-only day-time activities to the best advice on what to do with your kids in The Maldives, Emma began to pitch brands on the value of welcoming a large family. “When I’m talking to potential brands, I say ‘If you’ve got all of us, you’ve got all ages from eight to 17. So, I tell them we can try all their offerings, and they often see the value in that.” After most visits, the Lambert’s often meet with the general managers of the hotels or businesses they collaborate with to give feedback from each one’s point of view.
While marketing as a big family turned out to be a plus for Tom and Emma, one of the biggest questions often asked by her followers, and other parents, is “how?” “How do you travel the world with four children?” Lambert said she couldn’t picture traveling without her kids, so she had to find a way to make it work. Through years and trips of trial and error, she shares her best advice for parents looking to travel with their children – plan, be prepared and break it down.
Planning is always a good idea with or without children but finding six seats on a flight last minute is nearly impossible. Emma often books trips a year in advance. “Every airline will have a day where they release their flights and their award seats for the upcoming year. I’m setting my alarm for that. Even if it’s in the middle of the night, I’m jumping on that website and quickly booking those tickets. So, my first important piece of advice for traveling families is to always book well in advance.”
Lambert’s second crucial piece of advice is to always be prepared and pack for everything. After her son cut her foot on a trip to Thailand, she learned the hard way to be ready for anything. “I pack for every possible hurdle. I make sure to pack anything that I can’t buy at that destination.” Emma’s go-to items include medicine, insect spray, a first-aid kit and extra clothes.
As a mom, Lambert knows the smallest concerns can keep a family from traveling the world. To those parents afraid to leap, she says to simply break it down. “It can feel overwhelming,” Lambert acknowledges. “Break it down into small, little chunks. What are the exact fears? Are you scared you won’t get the medication you need for your child? Are you worried you’re not going to get interconnecting rooms? Organize all that in advance. Leave nothing to the last minute. Contact hotels directly to find out answers to the questions you have. It all comes down to planning. Print it out. Put the entire planned out itinerary in a plastic sleeve. It takes a lot of the stress out before you even leave home.”
Emma Lambert loves being a mom. She also loves luxury travel. At one point in her life, those two things were on opposite sides of the spectrum. Until, one day, she decided there had to be more to life and decided to go big. She quit her day job, booked a trip and started an Instagram account. Within no time, she turned traveling into a full-scale career and took her family with her. Now, from Thailand and Japan to The Maldives and Bali, the Lambert family is a formidable unit showing just how dreams can come true together.
