Travel doesn’t just test love—it flings it into the overhead compartment, subjects it to turbulence, and occasionally loses it somewhere between connecting flights. But for Link Travel Group‘s Emmalita Malmberg and TTC Tour Brand’s Tomas Malmberg, travel wasn’t a test; it was the blueprint. They didn’t just fall for each other; they fell for the world, and then built a life inside it. They signed up for an industry that reinvents itself every few years and survives crises that should kill it. But through every reroute, reschedule, and reinvention, one thing has stayed on course: each other.
It all started with an engagement party, a dance floor, and an unfortunate case of perspiration.
Tomas Malmberg, now the Head of Trade Sales & Partnerships at TTC Tour Brands Australia, remembers the moment he met Emmalita. They were at a mutual friend’s engagement party. She was carrying a tray of hors d’oeuvres, he was working up the nerve to ask her to dance. He finally did—only to be betrayed by the music and his own body.
“I had finally mustered up the courage to ask her to dance, and just as I did, the DJ switched from dance music to a slow song. And suddenly, it was just the two of us on the floor.”
But Tomas had been dancing hard to the fast stuff. He was sweaty and now here he was with the gorgeous Emmalita in his arms.
“I couldn’t pull away, and as I looked down at this beautiful girl, a drop of sweat ran from the end of my nose and fell straight into her eye.
“And then I stepped on her foot.”
Somehow, despite that less-than-smooth start, Emmalita still saw something in Tomas—though perhaps through a squinted eye. Love is supposed to be blind, after all.
A year later, they were married.
Love at first flight
Marriage is about compromise. Tomas wanted to move to Asia. Emmalita wanted South America. Naturally, they landed in Budapest.
Despite having both travelled extensively when single, they’d really only travelled domestically as a couple. Moving to Budapest was their first overseas jaunt together.
“We just packed up our house and hopped on a plane with no jobs, no idea of where we were going to be living,” Emmalita tells Karryon.
“But I think we both just knew that we could do it together.”
Tomas found a job at Nissan, she landed at IBM, and they squeezed into a small apartment near the Hungarian State Opera House.
“We were both in our 20s, so we weren’t on amazing money, but we used to get these cheap opera tickets, sitting right up the top of the Opera House,” she says.
“It was like Ft5 to go and see a ballet, which I wasn’t necessarily into (it was Ft20 to go to the movies),” says Tomas.
“But it was just an amazing building and orchestra. So that became our date night, to go to the opera or something fancy like that.”
For Tomas, adventure isn’t just about crossing borders—it’s about pushing boundaries. And Emmalita? She’s the one yanking them both over the edge.
“When you’re truly out of your comfort zone, you rely on each other more,” he says.
And no one pulls Tomas out of his comfort zone quite like Emmalita.
“Some of the biggest decisions we’ve made—the moves, the uprooting, the new countries—that’s been Em,” Tomas says. “She’s got this ability to just go, ‘Let’s do something completely different.’ And I’ve always appreciated that because not everyone is willing to make those sacrifices for the sake of an adventure.”
He recalls a trip to Botswana, camping deep in Chobe National Park, with lions roaring outside their polyester tent and an elephant so close their guide had to shush it away. “It was uncomfortable, full of mosquitoes, and absolutely perfect. And Em? She was loving every second of it.”
Upgrading to a family-sized adventure
They had packed, unpacked, moved across continents, and lived out of suitcases more times than they could count. But nothing had prepared them for the ultimate adventure: parenthood. Ruben arrived, and just like that, their itinerary now included a tiny, unpredictable co-pilot.
Some say children clip your wings. Tomas and Emmalita saw it differently.
“There’s this idea that travel with kids is either magical or impossible. The truth is, it’s both,” Emmalita says.
“But kids open doors when you travel. People want to connect when they see a child with you.”
So, naturally, when Ruben turned four, they did what any rational parents would do— they packed their bags, and moved to Ecuador.
“I knew once he started school, we’d be anchored in routine,” Emmalita explains. “So I woke up one day and said, ‘Let’s go for it.’”
It was a bold move. This was before remote work was a thing, before Zoom became a lifeline. But TTC made it happen, allowing Tomas to work from abroad while they embraced another chapter of adventure—this time, with nap schedules, snack negotiations, and a toddler along for the ride.
How love deepened with fatherhood
Love doesn’t just change—it expands, stretches, and sometimes breaks you down before putting you back together. For Emmalita, watching Tomas become a father was like seeing him in high definition for the first time.
“I always knew Tomas was kind and dependable, but seeing him with Ruben showed me a whole new side to him,” she says. “He’s the rock in our family, the steady hand when I’m spiralling. He’s patient, he’s wise, and he has this way of making Ruben feel safe and understood.”
Despite never having a father figure himself, Tomas has become the kind of dad every kid deserves. Every night, without fail, he and Ruben share a ritual: “Don’t forget—you’ll always be my best mate,” Ruben tells him before bed. And every night, Tomas says it right back.
Some things in life don’t come with a manual. Parenthood is one of them. But in the Malmberg household, love—like travel—has never been about certainty. It’s about showing up, weathering the turbulence, and holding on tight to the people who make the journey worthwhile.
The woman who changed him
For Tomas, Emmalita has been a force of nature.
“She’s passionate, kind-hearted, and a whole lot of fun,” he says. “She challenges me in the best way—pushing me to be more open, more in touch with my emotions. That didn’t come naturally to me at first, and honestly, it’s still a work in progress. But Em has made me a better person.
“She gives me support and confidence but also challenges my thinking and attitudes to make sure I’m not simply taking the path of least resistance unless that’s a considered choice.”
He credits her with giving their family its sense of adventure. “She’s the one who wakes up and says, ‘Let’s move to South America.’ She’s the reason our lives have been filled with so many incredible experiences.”
Balancing careers, calendars, and continents
Navigating dual careers in travel isn’t always seamless. “We’re already scheduling into July and August,” Emmalita says. It’s the beginning of February. “It’s a constant negotiation.”
But through the juggling of calendars and continents, their unwavering support for each other remains. When COVID arrived, grounding the industry and forcing them both onto JobKeeper, they never questioned staying in travel. “We knew it would bounce back,” she says. “It’s not just a job, it’s our heart.”
For a couple whose love story began with a literal misstep, they’ve found their perfect rhythm. And through every adventure, every relocation, and every unexpected challenge, they’ve proved that the best journeys are the ones taken together.
