One-year-old travel influencer finds fame on Instagram

With over 30,300 followers, Briggs Darrington is on his way to fame. Photo / Bady Abbas, Unsplash

For most travel influencers, the road to fame is a long one involving many years of hard work, hustle and rejection.

Briggs Darrington isn't like most travel influencers. Partly because he shot to fame within one year and partly because he didn't need to make a single post to do it.

But perhaps most notably because the young star is just over one year old.

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A post shared by Baby Travel With Briggs (@whereisbriggs)

Darrington has packed a lot into his first few months of life. Since boarding his first flight at 3 weeks old (to a glamping site in Nebraska), he's taken more than 45 more flights around 16 states, collecting a paycheck each month for sponsorship deals.

The real brain behind his Instagram account, @whereisbriggs, is his mother Jess Darrington, who has regularly posted since he was born in October 2020.

While the young traveller features in most of the posts, content tends to cover tips and tricks on travelling with a toddler.

Having a baby was something Darrington had once worried would end her career in travel.

"I had been running a blog called Part Time Tourists for a few years, being paid to travel the world. But when I got pregnant with Briggs in 2020, I was really nervous that my career was over," she told the Daily Mail.

"I didn't know if it was possible to continue with a baby."

Like any millennial, Jess and her husband Steve turned to social media for inspiration on how they could travel with a newborn but couldn't find any accounts dedicated to the challenge.

So, they started their own, covering everything they would learn about travelling with a baby as a way to help fellow first-time parents.

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A post shared by Baby Travel With Briggs (@whereisbriggs)

If Briggs' 30,300 followers are any indication, the account filled a much-needed gap.

As for the money, Briggs' mother said the account brings in over US$1000 (NZ$1390) each month from sponsors as well as free baby-related products.

"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," Jess said.