Pod Insights Happy Place Sophie Ellis-Bextor: “I want my kids to be intrepid!” How to make your holiday magical About this episode Sophie Ellis-Bextor is playing over 20 festivals around the world this summer. Given she travels so much for work, it’s even more important to make family holidays properly magical.
Welcome to The Happy Place Guide To Holidays! In this chat with Fearne – brought to you by British Airways Holidays – Sophie explains that she and her husband have meetings to discuss the travel itinerary. They share the joy of collecting stamps in your passport, and get deep into their recommendations for Paris, Puglia, Ibiza, and Japan.
Fearne and Sophie also realise they both turn into a slightly different person on holiday... a more uninhibited version of themselves. There are more glam outfits and fewer routines!
Plus, how does Sophie stay so chilled while packing for seven people in the family, and how does she feel about screens on holiday?
British Airways Holidays are ATOL protected, offer a 24hr holiday helpline, and allow you to book with a low deposit. All holidays include a generous baggage allowance per person. Go to Ba.com/holidays http://Ba.com/holidays to find out more.
Listen to other episodes of The Happy Place Guide To Holidays:
Richard E Grant https://pod.fo/e/301465
Tess Daly https://pod.fo/e/2f8a92
Clara Amfo https://pod.fo/e/30c12c
Sara Cox https://pod.fo/e/318d58
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:01 Fearne Cotton? Hello and welcome to the Happy Place Guide to Holidays, brought to you by British Airways Holidays. I'm Fern Cotton and today I'm chatting to Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
0:11 Speaker 01 I want my kids to be intrepid. I want them to get the same enjoyment out of travelling that I do. So, I mean, I've done some spectacular mistakes. I think the worst one we did, because I like travelling hand luggage only where possible. And we once did a week away and we managed to leave two of them at Stansted. So we sort of landed. Not only did I pack light, I'd also left behind two whole people's things. Then there was another one where we had a week away and I'd actually managed to forget to pack any, I think I had like two pairs of underwear for me and that was it.
0:40 Fearne Cotton? So this is of course Happy Place, but it's Happy Place with a little summer glow. It's Happy Place but with that feeling when you step off the plane, into the warm air of a new country, there's nothing like it. This is the Happy Place Guide to Holidays, an exclusive mini-series brought to you by British Airways Holidays. They're all about helping you take your holidays more seriously. And this series is all about making the most of our travels. And I mean, really getting that childlike, giddy, magical feeling from our holidays. That is really what I want to talk to Sophie about today. I want to know how she keeps the magic alive, not only for herself but also her kids while she's travelling,
1:24 Fearne Cotton? as well as the admin, like staying chilled while packing for seven people in the family.
1:53 Fearne Cotton? Sophie Ellis-Bextor, you are, I think we're both dressed for holidays today, haven't we?
1:57 Speaker 01 I did it intentionally. I was like, take me there.
2:00 Fearne Cotton? I know, we're going to because the weather is shocking in the UK.
2:04 Speaker 01 Yeah, but that's a nice time to fantasize about happier times and warmer climes.
2:09 Fearne Cotton? First of all, I'm intrigued. Have you even got time for a holiday at the moment?
2:13 Speaker 01 Yeah, holidays aren't, well, I guess it's slightly semantics, but I think you can build in a little bit of that holiday vibe a lot of times. And possibly because when I travel for work, I've often got Richard with me in the band. We, we can sometimes eke out extra time. It's like, if it was a bit of a holiday.
2:30 Fearne Cotton? I love that you do that. I mean, you've got, I looked at your website today. You are doing 24 festivals this summer.
2:36 Speaker 01 Is it that many?
2:38 Fearne Cotton? Sorry to break the news to you. It's 24.
2:41 Speaker 01 Well, I have to break it down week by week because if I start going too far forward about what's coming up, I get a bit overwhelmed.
2:48 Fearne Cotton? Me too.
2:49 Speaker 01 Yeah. So I'm a kind of day, but take it one day at a time kind of girl, uh, or, you know, maximum week really. But it's never a boring life. So that's the way I flip that. And also I do think travel is one of the perks of what I do and I love travelling.
3:03 Fearne Cotton? Me too. I mean, you're going all over the gaff. Um, I thought I'd written down some of the places, but you're like, you're in Europe, you're in the UK.
3:09 Speaker 01 Yeah.
3:09 Fearne Cotton? You're all over the shop.
3:10 Speaker 01 Yeah. Um, yeah, no, it's nice. I mean, I think, yeah, last week I was in Sweden and Hungary. Next week I've got France and Denmark. Uh, the week after that's the Netherlands. Yeah, it's nice. But how lucky am I? Come on.
3:24 Fearne Cotton? How many stamps have you got in your passport?
3:26 Speaker 01 Not enough. I like the stamp thing. And sometimes when they come out, you're like, well, that just looks the same as the other ones. When I was a little girl, I used to really look through my passport. I think, I still think travel's really glamorous. And I, it's never lost on me that thing of when you have breakfast in your kitchen and then by lunchtime or the afternoon, you're having, you know, something.
3:45 Fearne Cotton? Like, yeah, yesterday I was in Italy, guys. It's such a weird thought.
3:49 Speaker 01 It is, but it's, it's magic.
3:52 Fearne Cotton? Whenever I look at your Instagram, I'm like always in awe and impressed with how you juggle it all, but also how you navigate things like jet lag. Because for me, that is one of the things that makes me feel slightly anxious is, oh my God, I know I'll be fine. And it's just the first 24 hours of going, I'm in a new time zone. I feel a bit wobbly and then it's so, so worth it. Do you get that? Cause you've got the, also the anticipation of you've got to get up on stage and, and sing.
4:16 Speaker 01 True, but then my work is not regular hours. So it's not like when I travel, I'm then trying to match.
4:23 Fearne Cotton? Right.
4:24 Speaker 01 You know, getting up in the morning and peaking, then I've got to prepare myself for that evening time. Some of, I've had a couple where it has been very close to the wire. In fact, I think I did a gig, um, I think it was the year before last, where we flew to San Francisco for the first ever US date I did. And we landed the day before and honestly, the night of the show, which was the equivalent of, I think, going on stage. I think it was either four or five AM, having not slept and it's all been up with jet lag in the morning. I think it's one of the hardest gigs I've ever done and I don't know what kind of energy I presented to that poor crowd.
4:59 Fearne Cotton? Slightly manic?
4:59 Speaker 01 Yeah, a hundred percent manic.
5:03 Fearne Cotton? Sort of overcompensate because you know you're screwed.
5:06 Speaker 01 I knew, yeah, exactly. Um, but by and large, I just choose, I choose which time zone suits me best. So if it's the one back home, I'll be like, don't worry, it's only six PM. And if it's the one there, I'll be like, nah, don't worry, it's evening.
5:21 Fearne Cotton? My brain does the opposite. Like, say I went to New York a few years ago and I was trying to go to sleep. And in my head, I was like, well, it's six in the morning. I'm not going to go to sleep now, am I? My brain just goes for the worst case scenario.
5:32 Speaker 01 Yeah, it is, it's a, you are basically fooling yourself one way or the other. But at least, hmm, look, as, as people who, you know, we both travel sometimes with our kids. When I haven't got the kids and it's just me and my fatigue, I'm like, come on.
5:47 Fearne Cotton? Easy peasy. There is something so delightful about walking through security without a buggy.
5:53 Speaker 01 It's just me.
5:54 Fearne Cotton? Just me and go shopping. I'm gonna drink loads of wine. Ace. The, it's, I remember when my, I mean, our kids are now big enough, we don't have to deal with all the paraphernalia of having a small baby. I remember the first few flights I did with a buggy, I was just like, how does, how's this meant to work? This is wild. So the novelty of not having that is ever present. So you've got five boys. So how, how do you even start to think about, how's a holiday gonna work? Like, what are they, because I'm imagining they've all got different likes and interests and ways they want to do a holiday.
6:23 Speaker 01 It's true, but actually, um, I think, I think the first thing starts with everybody just getting a bit excited about the destination. And we just did a really special holiday. And pure holiday, as in no work attached at all, because I'm quite good, we're quite good at building trips around work. But this was one we'd planned for, I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but probably about a decade because my eldest had always wanted to go to Japan. And then the more kids we had, the more they were like, that sounds good. So eventually in the Easter of this year, we did a two week trip, all seven of us. And it was incredible. It was a lot of planning. I was really fastidious. I wanted it to really work. So it was quite, I mean, Richard and I literally had to sit down and have like meetings about it because I was sort of planning the itinerary, booking trains,
7:07 Speaker 01 you know, everything, but I just wanted it to be, I wanted us to get the maximum out of it and it was really good. So I think, I think the kernel of a good family holiday for us starts with everybody being excited about where we're going. Because some holidays, when you're a teenager particularly, just don't sound that exciting. You want to be back home with your friends. You want time that's just your own to blob about. And I think as they've got older as well, I've probably got more relaxed about, you know, okay, if we're going to have this day trip, but if you guys want to cut off a bit earlier or you guys want to do into something else, I'm quite, quite chilled.
7:40 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, that's good. I remember like having a, an argument with my mum in Mallorca circa ninety four, because she wanted to go to a castle or like somewhere in Palmer. And I was like, I need to work on my tan. Like, what do you not understand about this? Because it was the nineties and we didn't understand sun damage.
7:57 Speaker 01 Yeah.
7:57 Fearne Cotton? And I remember having like a full blown, like digging my heels. I didn't want to go. And I look back and think, my poor mum. I mean, I think we still might have gone, but I was like a moody teenager the whole day.
8:09 Speaker 01 Of course, that's par for the course. And I've got pictures of us on like beach holidays with either me when I was a teen or now my fourteen year old in sort of full head to toe, black clothing, you know, in the middle of like seventy degrees.
8:21 Fearne Cotton? Family holiday.
8:22 Speaker 01 There's also a quote that we have in our family from something that I think my stepdad saw at a service station years ago, where a dad was telling off his kids and through gritted teeth was saying to his children, this is holiday and you are ruining it.
8:38 Fearne Cotton? We all have these expectations.
8:39 Speaker 01 Expectations. And also, we see it as a luxury and a treat. But we've done the classic of all travelling somewhere and all been jet laggy and sat at breakfast with like, I don't know, two thirds of us crying. Sometimes it, sometimes it just goes really wrong.
8:55 Fearne Cotton? Really wrong. We've all had those trips.
8:58 Speaker 01 Come on, you're so lucky. And then nobody's just like, well, thanks, but I don't want to be here.
9:02 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, absolutely. I loved, there was, I don't know if it was on your page or Richard's recently on Instagram, where you guys had played a gig together. And then you had gone, I don't know where the gig was, but you'd done that and then you went straight to a school camping trip.
9:16 Speaker 01 Oh yeah, that was only last week.
9:19 Fearne Cotton? That is a jarring transition.
9:22 Speaker 01 Yeah, it was a little bit. And then it rained a lot as well. I don't, I mean, I've done, I'm still not sure how I feel about camping. When it's good, quite wholesome.
9:32 Fearne Cotton? Yes.
9:33 Speaker 01 Sweet. Kids were super excited. So this is organised not by the school, but it's a school camping trip in that there were, I think it was 72 families from across the school had all gone to the same place, about 150 kids. It's full on and it was very sweet on the Friday night. And then we woke up in the morning, saw comedic levels of rain on the tent.
9:54 Fearne Cotton? I think that was the picture captured. You're sat there sort of rifling through a bag on the floor. And one of your sons is sort of looking at you like, what, what are we, what is this? What's going on? And the night before, you were surrounded by adoring fans, sequin katsu on.
10:09 Speaker 01 This is the thing, fun. This is what's frustrating is that you know how you hear stories about people becoming divas? I would love the opportunity.
10:19 Fearne Cotton? There's no chance. Kids are too humbling.
10:20 Speaker 01 Life is too grounding most of the time. It's really annoying. I would love to take flight.
10:26 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
10:26 Speaker 01 Come on.
10:27 Fearne Cotton? Next year's camping trips kickoff. Just like toss your tent in the air. I've had enough. I'm done. I'm out of here.
10:33 Speaker 01 Stop looking at me in the eyes.
10:34 Fearne Cotton? Exactly. Let's drill in to family holidays because a lot of people listening to this will be either thinking about going on one. They might be nervous around it. I mean, I remember when I first had kids just thinking, I can't imagine how this is going to feel. What, what is this going to even be like? What do you think is the, the secret or the recipe to a good one?
10:54 Speaker 01 Yeah, well firstly, I completely sympathise and I think before every trip away, I get a slight tension of like, why are we doing this? And and worry as well, you know, it's it's it's a big, you know, they're expensive, they're you're away from home comforts. You're taking a bit of a plunge into the unknown. You don't know what you're going to be greeted with. I I'm always okay there. Once we actually arrive, once I see the edges of what it looks like. I think firstly, relax, you're going to a place with a civilisation. If you've forgotten something, you can go and find it. And I think nowadays, we have much more transparency about what what makes for a good family holiday and what you're going to find and what will work for you. And it's much easier, isn't it, to find resources about what's nearby?
11:40 Speaker 01 You can get to grips with the local area, find out. I I love all that. I love the fact that you can look up. What's the what's the best restaurant to go to around here? What's a good local favourite? How do I do the travel here? Like, I'm all about the apps, the conversions, the language stuff, all of it. So I really enjoy that. And I think just, um, I think you've just got to, you know, remember that it's pretty much the same for everybody. And that in the moment of it, there'll be bits of tension, bits where you think, oh, my gosh, I mean, I often come back feeling like I've done a bit of a workout as well.
12:10 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
12:10 Speaker 01 Carrying bags, carrying things for all eventualities, the tension, all of that. But I'd say ninety percent of the time, my memories sort of erase all the bits that were like that. And you come back with the really good stuff.
12:22 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
12:23 Speaker 01 And it is really nice as well to reflect as a family. And sometimes the the impact of the trips comes much later down the line. I know when I my eldest first went away by himself, he did a month of travel on his own.
12:37 Fearne Cotton? Wow.
12:37 Speaker 01 I thought maybe he would never have done that if I hadn't been doing so much travel, you know, for work, yes, but also as a family. And I I want my kids to be intrepid. I want them to. Get the same enjoyment out of travelling that I do. So I think you've got to be kind to yourself. You're playing a bit of a long game with the value.
12:56 Fearne Cotton? Yes.
12:57 Speaker 01 Seeing a different world and that thing where you're you first, you know, leave the airport or the station and you're looking at the window and thinking, what's life like for the people who live here? Imagine living in that house. Imagine if that was my local school, all that stuff. So I think it's just, yeah, I just, I do feel ultimately quite sort of in a blight and about the whole thing.
13:16 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
13:16 Speaker 01 But I think there's lots of good about it.
13:17 Fearne Cotton? I think especially with kids, it's you can see in real time, it's such an amazing opportunity for them to learn stuff. Like, yes, they can sit and learn things on a screen at school or from a book or whatever, or the teacher were telling them a fact about a place or if it's geographical, but actually being there.
13:33 Speaker 01 Yeah.
13:34 Fearne Cotton? When you've got like the visuals to back it up. I know that the places my kids have been, they kind of know stuff about that area because it's attached to a memory or an experience and I love that part of it. And I'm trying to sort of like learn on on the job too. Over the years, like looking at trips that have either gone brilliantly well or haven't, what have you learned about, whether it's where you go, the the process, how you mentally approach your holiday to ensure that it is a good family one?
14:01 Speaker 01 Oh, well, I guess it's a little bit of trial and error and it probably trickles from the top down because if you're relaxed and feeling good, it's like anything, isn't it? It's like you can set the tone if you're feeling good about the things you've given yourself. So I think, I do think you need to prioritise yourself and if you're compromising yourself too much for what you think they will get out of it, then when they, when there is invariably a bit tension, it'll it'll really pull things to stretching. So I think you should go for the things that you think will make you happy. So at least you can be a relaxed sort of tour guide and tour manager.
14:36 Fearne Cotton? Yeah. Reversing roles from your day job.
14:40 Speaker 01 Yeah.
14:41 Fearne Cotton? How on earth do you, and I'm gonna say Richard, pack for seven people?
14:47 Fearne Cotton? That's absurd.
14:49 Speaker 01 I like the fact you've included, Richard, but you really didn't need to.
14:52 Fearne Cotton? Didn't need to. I thought as much. I thought as much. How do you so feel as much as a pack of seven people?
14:57 Speaker 01 Um, yeah, I mean, I've done some spectacular like mistakes.
15:02 Fearne Cotton? Same.
15:03 Speaker 01 Yeah, turning them going, I mean, I think the worst one we did, because I like travelling hand luggage only where possible.
15:08 Fearne Cotton? What?
15:09 Speaker 01 And we once did a week away where each kid had, it was also, it was an airline where it was like the tiniest hand luggage. So we all had one each and we managed to leave two of them at Stansted. So we sort of landed. Not only had I packed light, I'd also left behind two whole people's things.
15:25 Fearne Cotton? No.
15:26 Speaker 01 Um, so that was a good one. Then there was another one where we had a week away and I'd actually managed to forget to pack any, I think I had like two pairs of underwear for me and that was it.
15:33 Fearne Cotton? I always forget the obvious. It's underwear and toothbrush. So obvious. Every time I forget, every time.
15:39 Speaker 01 Because also as they get older.
15:40 Fearne Cotton? Never remember.
15:41 Speaker 01 Because for the teenagers now, they want, they're expecting, where are my adapters?
15:44 Fearne Cotton? Yes, yes. Where are my chargers? Where are my adapters?
15:47 Speaker 01 So that kind of thing. Uh, yeah, I've done, I've done lots of silly stuff like that. But that being said, I think I just have chilled out a lot about. If something happens, you know, if it all goes wonky, we can always find something.
16:00 Fearne Cotton? Hmm.
16:00 Speaker 01 And mostly actually, no matter how light I've packed, I think we still come home with things unworn. Because when it's a different environment and you're in and out of the water or, you know, running out, you're invariably wearing the same things every day and
16:14 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
16:14 Speaker 01 Not going through everything.
16:15 Fearne Cotton? I know. I sort of imagine that I'm going to turn into Joan Collins when I arrive and I'm going to wear this very glamorous outfit to dinner.
16:23 Speaker 01 Like a different version of yourself.
16:24 Fearne Cotton? And I wear shorts and a t-shirt.
16:25 Speaker 01 You get there and you go, I didn't want to wear that at home. What made me think I was going to want to wear this now?
16:29 Fearne Cotton? I know.
16:30 Speaker 01 I'd done exactly that, like holiday me. But then do you have it where you go shopping and there's like eventualities in your mind you're shopping for that you never do in real life?
16:38 Fearne Cotton? Ever. I never will.
16:40 Speaker 01 Thinking, this is so revealing of how odd I am. I'd be like, that'd be good for a garden party. I don't go to garden parties. I don't know what, I don't even know what they look like, but in my mind. I need something for that and I've ticked that box.
16:55 Fearne Cotton? I'm the same, especially actually on holiday.
16:58 Speaker 01 Yeah.
16:59 Fearne Cotton? Not only am I thinking I'm going to turn into somebody else, but I buy things. I bought some absurd stuff last year in Ibiza. It'll always be something shell based that will look awful back in London when it's great. Bohemian doesn't work. But I bought this blue cardigan, chunky knit, and it had 3D knitted hearts coming off it. And in a moment I thought, that is so cool and quirky, I'm going to look. And all the posters in the shop were like, you know, beachy women with a bikini and that on.
17:27 Speaker 01 Yeah.
17:27 Fearne Cotton? And I got home and was like, that is the worst thing I've ever bought. It went straight to my mum. Mum, mum loves it.
17:35 Speaker 01 Okay, good. Found a home.
17:36 Fearne Cotton? It's just, something happens neurologically.
17:40 Speaker 01 It's like a different, like, hey, I can be that woman.
17:42 Fearne Cotton? Can be that woman.
17:42 Speaker 01 Here I'm that lady.
17:43 Fearne Cotton? It's so good.
17:44 Speaker 01 Yeah, I've gone crazy for toweling things as well.
17:47 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, Terry Toweling.
17:49 Speaker 01 Terry Toweling. And caftans.
17:51 Fearne Cotton? Yes.
17:52 Speaker 01 I do try and involve it, but sometimes it goes a bit far. I just bought a Terry Toweling caftan, actually.
17:59 Fearne Cotton? What a double whammy. It's so good. Terry Toweling caftan.
18:05 Speaker 01 It's so much fabric.
18:06 Fearne Cotton? For a garden party.
18:07 Speaker 01 It's so much fabric. But hey.
18:09 Fearne Cotton? It's quite practical when you get out the sea, pop it straight on.
18:12 Speaker 01 This is what I'm thinking.
18:13 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, exactly. What do you think makes a holiday magical? It's like next level, or even if it's like a moment on your holiday, but you're like, oh my god, this moment right now, this has got something like sparkly about it. What are those moments for you and what makes that?
18:30 Speaker 01 I think it's got to be that, what do they call it, the golden hour, the bit where, you know, the sun's going down.
18:35 Fearne Cotton? Love it.
18:35 Speaker 01 The heat's, the dangerous heat's gone out, the sun. So you don't need to worry anymore about sun cream, but it's still warm and everybody's relaxed and. You know, the kids might be all laughing together and it just feels chilled. I love that. And maybe we've been outdoors all day or, you know, been on the beach. So you've got that sort of nice. I wouldn't say fatigue, but you know, that's a nice like, sort of like happy tiredness from a day spent outdoors where you're like. Okay, I can just settle into this bit and you don't have to worry about bedtime or anything. They're all on the same time zone. I really like that.
19:11 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, me too.
19:12 Speaker 01 I like it where we're just all together and all doing our own things side by side and, and there's no friction.
19:19 Fearne Cotton? Yeah. How do you feel about screens on holiday? It's a tricky one because to entertain five children, or even I find two, all day is impossible. It's impossible. I sort of, my approach usually is, right, we'll have breakfast and then you can have an hour doing what you want on your screens and then we're going to the beach or we're going to the pool or we're going to a market or whatever.
19:43 Speaker 01 And actually, they want to do that, I think.
19:45 Fearne Cotton? They do, they do.
19:46 Speaker 01 Yeah, I mean, I, I don't really, I don't think I kind of have like a hard and fast. This is how we're doing it or anything I've articulated. I think it's more an instinct, really.
19:56 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
19:56 Speaker 01 And, and I want us to be together and I want to share things and I want to be having conversations together and all set around the table and playing and spending time in the pool. My, my guys get in the water and they don't really get out for hours anyway. And they like running about and yeah, I think I'm quite relaxed about all that kind of thing because I think it kind of takes care of itself, really. And also, I don't have a knee jerk reaction to what a screen might be, really. I suppose, you know, if they're all. I like it when we all watch a movie together.
20:25 Fearne Cotton? Oh, yeah.
20:25 Speaker 01 Something like that, yeah. So, yeah, I don't, I suppose, there's lots about a holiday as well where taking a what I still regard as like a really luxurious thing to have, like an iPad. I wouldn't want to take that out to a restaurant or something.
20:36 Fearne Cotton? No, God, no. What about for your sanity? Like, do you need to put your phone away so you're not looking at, you know, emails or WhatsApp messages or whatever?
20:47 Speaker 01 Um, that's quite a personal thing, isn't it? I do, I'm someone that still struggles with a holiday that's longer than a week if I'm out of touch. I do, I get a bit twitchy. So I think I like to keep in touch with people.
20:59 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
21:00 Speaker 01 I don't mind dipping in and out of work. It doesn't stress me. It just makes me feel like my brain can kind of settle more. But I don't need to do it all the time. I'm happy to be quiet, but I, I don't know if I feel the need to, again, make a world for myself. But then I, sometimes sitting on your phone for a bit feels really nice.
21:15 Fearne Cotton? Yeah. Oh, my God. Especially if you're like in a really fun WhatsApp group. It's the best.
21:19 Speaker 01 We're sharing things like, well, we've got a big family one, so we're always posting pictures back and forth. And, I mean, I say that my family invariably come on holidays, well, for our summer holidays. We spend a lot of time with all of us. They've got up to like twelve of us.
21:32 Fearne Cotton? Oh, I love that.
21:33 Speaker 01 Spending time together. Yeah, it's really nice. So, no, I don't know. I suppose, yeah, I suppose I'm just sort of happy to leave it all behind. And, and my work are pretty good as well, knowing when I'm away and I need a break. And I know for sure, like with our big trip to Japan, we just did, I, I was hardly in touch with anyone at all. It was like.
21:47 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, there's too much to see.
21:49 Speaker 01 Yeah, we were so busy. It was lovely.
21:51 Fearne Cotton? We want to go to Japan so badly.
21:53 Speaker 01 Oh, you know what? The kids loved it.
21:54 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
21:55 Speaker 01 My ten year old says pretty much every other day, like, I wish we were back in Japan. Like, it really resonated. And who knows, maybe it'll form part of their future. You never know.
22:04 Fearne Cotton? Without doubt, without doubt. I think it's putting yourself in that environment where there is absolutely no familiarity. The, the, the language barrier is huge. The food is different. Culturally, things work in a different way. The shops look different. I think it's such a healthy thing for us to experience that, to kind of, you know, because we're so used to whatever our surroundings are. If you live in a town or in a more rural area, that you just see the same stuff every day and you get so used to it. So it's a real shock to the system in, in a positive way that I think makes you slightly more alert to what's going on around you. And, and how you're sort of digesting that information. I love that.
22:39 Speaker 01 Yeah, so do I.
22:40 Fearne Cotton? Japan is on the list. So Japan is one of your magical places. Any other destinations that have just really stuck in your mind that that was an amazing holiday, that was an amazing moment?
22:50 Speaker 01 So Italy is somewhere we go a lot as a family. And when I say family, I do mean the broad sense of it. So since there was a particular area we used to go when I was a child, that we kept going to even like when I was in my twenties. And it'd be with my mum and my brother and my sister. And now we've moved it more south, so for the last few years, we've gone to Puglia every summer. And it's, it's one of those lovely things, it's a bit like a sort of, like we, where we approach Christmas, where every time there's like a new thing that becomes part of the like, tradition of what that holiday is. Um, my brother has his birthday in August, so that'll form part of it.
23:26 Speaker 01 And yeah, we just all spend a lot of time together and it's all, yeah, Negronis and pasta and swimming and massages and reading and hanging out. It's lovely.
23:36 Fearne Cotton? The best.
23:36 Speaker 01 Yeah, and I've got a little baby niece now, so she's sort of part of it too. So yeah, it's like, I really like that. And I also love letting the kids bring friends with them because I was able to do that when I was young and I think that really helps.
23:48 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
23:48 Speaker 01 And it also keeps the kids, they all seem happier together when there's a new person around.
23:53 Fearne Cotton? Yes.
23:54 Speaker 01 And they become like that sort of cross generational thing of the little ones playing with the big ones and.
23:58 Fearne Cotton? That's so nice.
23:59 Speaker 01 Yeah, so we have quite, we've gone up to quite a large number of us on holiday like that.
24:03 Fearne Cotton? How do your holidays now differ to your own childhood ones?
24:07 Speaker 01 Not that much, really.
24:08 Fearne Cotton? Really, that's so nice.
24:09 Speaker 01 Yeah, pretty, pretty similar approach, I think. And I, I'm grateful actually to my mum for setting up a lot of things that really worked for me then. And she was probably quite similar to what I've tried to do now with letting me bring a friend and being quite relaxed with me if I needed to dip out of stuff. Cause I get it, when you're teenage, sometimes you do need to just sort of, you don't always wanna feel like you wanna be social and sitting around. And actually, if you let them have their own space for a bit, they, they come back.
24:35 Fearne Cotton? They come back. You're like, oh, it sounds kind of fun over there. They're all having a meal together and chatting and.
24:40 Speaker 01 Definitely. And now like my twenty two year old, it's lovely that he wants to come and do that with us. But he really does. We do it all the time.
24:47 Fearne Cotton? That's so great.
24:48 Speaker 01 Yeah.
24:48 Fearne Cotton? I think, just when you were talking a minute ago about Negronis, which won't now leave my head, um, one of my magical things is the first drink I have on that holiday. So say we've landed at, ideally, I wanna land at two P M.
25:02 Speaker 01 Okay, yeah.
25:02 Fearne Cotton? And I wanna go to whatever destination it is, hotel or whatever, and I wanna have that first drink. And it's probably like an early happy hour. It's a six P M drink. Something about that first drink, there's crisps, there's olives, there's nuts. Is there a better scene?
25:16 Speaker 01 No, I'm there.
25:17 Fearne Cotton? I don't think so.
25:18 Speaker 01 I'm actually thinking, that's overdue. I need a bit of what you just described.
25:21 Fearne Cotton? Heaven.
25:22 Speaker 01 Yeah, and just that feeling of like, we did it. And I, I like unpacking as well, putting the stuff in like funny places for things. The only thing, when I said that, I realised, one thing I do, which is really odd, and I don't know if you're the same. If I've got access to washing facilities, I become obsessed with doing the washing.
25:38 Fearne Cotton? Really?
25:38 Speaker 01 Doing laundry, non-stop. I wash things all the time. I want to come home with everything clean.
25:44 Fearne Cotton? Wow.
25:44 Speaker 01 And I don't know why it happens to me, but it happens to me every trip.
25:48 Fearne Cotton? No, I don't suppose, I'll wash the necessary things, but probably not to take home.
25:54 Speaker 01 Yeah, I don't know what happens to me.
25:55 Fearne Cotton? I guess we've all got weird quirks, haven't we? Like, one of my weird unpacking quirks is that I'll unpack half of the stuff. So I'll unpack the dresses that I'm not gonna wear.
26:05 Speaker 01 Hmm.
26:06 Fearne Cotton? And hang them up. And I'll unpack maybe the shorts and, and the t-shirts. Underwear, socks, bikinis, I just leave them in the suitcase.
26:16 Speaker 01 I kind of get that though.
26:16 Fearne Cotton? Can't be bothered.
26:17 Speaker 01 Yeah, they're kind of little and they can sit in there and you just have a little rummage and get what you need.
26:20 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, I just think, can't be arsed. And then I'm gonna put it all back in my suitcase at the end, so I'll just keep it there.
26:26 Speaker 01 I know. Well, I, I love unpacking, because I like that feeling of like, right, we're gonna bed in here. Richard hardly ever unpacks.
26:31 Fearne Cotton? Really? Just all that suitcase?
26:31 Speaker 01 He'll keep things in his suitcase the whole time, yeah.
26:34 Fearne Cotton? I mean, there's a practicality to that.
26:36 Speaker 01 And then there'll be a bit where if I've been shopping, then I'll have to pack his stuff as well when we go home, like the rolling thing.
26:42 Fearne Cotton? The roll, I, I do the rolling thing.
26:44 Speaker 01 It really works.
26:45 Fearne Cotton? More room is available.
26:46 Speaker 01 Yep.
26:47 Fearne Cotton? It's great. I love it.
26:48 Speaker 01 I will get the maximum out of that suitcase.
26:50 Fearne Cotton? Oh, yeah. Do you like buying trinkets on holiday?
26:53 Speaker 01 Yeah, I mean, when I'm on tour, it's the vintage shopping, that's my big problem. And it is a problem. But it's such a happy one. It's not one I want to change.
27:01 Fearne Cotton? No, and good for the planet, because second-hand clothes are the best.
27:04 Speaker 01 Yeah, and it makes me feel like, you know, I normally meet some nice people.
27:07 Fearne Cotton? Yes.
27:08 Speaker 01 And everybody, those shops are in a nice part of town. And I like the story that comes home with me. I'm like, this old thing, bought this, you know?
27:15 Fearne Cotton? That is my absolute favourite.
27:16 Speaker 01 Bought this in Australia or whatever, it's fun.
27:17 Fearne Cotton? I love that. I love that. With stories or any item from holiday that has a story behind it, the best.
27:23 Speaker 01 Yes, and actually I do buy trinkets as well sometimes. Silly little things and things I'll just put on the side. Do you?
27:28 Fearne Cotton? Oh, yeah.
27:29 Speaker 01 Yeah.
27:29 Fearne Cotton? I like buying all the trinkets. I love trinkets.
27:32 Speaker 01 It's fun, isn't it?
27:33 Fearne Cotton? It's the best. There's a market that I go to in Ibiza, and I have to. Really restrain myself. I want all the things that I know don't go anywhere in my home.
27:43 Speaker 01 Yeah.
27:43 Fearne Cotton? There is no place for them, but I just, I love a trinket.
27:46 Speaker 01 It's fun. Is that your main place that you go then?
27:49 Fearne Cotton? I do love Ibiza. I do, I do. I mean, the kids are a good age now. I'm sure you'll find the same that when they're really little, you think, I'm just gonna go to a place where I know how it works. Feels safe.
28:00 Speaker 01 Yeah.
28:00 Fearne Cotton? I mean, you're much more sort of experienced traveller with with your job, but I I definitely got very comfy with doing the same thing. Whereas now they're older. We've done a couple of city breaks, which have been incredible. I took them to Paris in half term and it was just us three and I was quite nervous to sort of plan it all on my own and do it all. But it went so well and they were so much more flexible than I thought they were gonna be in terms of. Okay, we planned that, but should we not do that? Should we do this? And people were sort of recommending things to me while we're out there and. They loved it, a bit like your kids in Japan, were just eating up the newness of that environment.
28:36 Speaker 01 Nice.
28:36 Fearne Cotton? And talk about it constantly. Like my son, who's just bang into food, was just. Steaks and chicken and croissants and crepes and macarons and just like eating anything. He's like, I just wanna eat the most French thing I can get my hands on.
28:50 Speaker 01 Good for him.
28:51 Fearne Cotton? So he was loving it and my daughter loved the shopping and it was, it was so brilliant. So I'm trying to be a bit more adventurous now and. Try new experiences, try new places. We went, we did, we went on a mini break just in the UK recently and did archery.
29:05 Speaker 01 Oh.
29:05 Fearne Cotton? Which was great.
29:06 Speaker 01 Wow.
29:07 Fearne Cotton? And we're all sort of weirdly quite good at it and we're like, oh, that was just fun to try a new thing.
29:11 Speaker 01 Fun and useful. I feel, I feel safer in your presence.
29:13 Fearne Cotton? Yes, if they're.
29:14 Speaker 01 You've got a bow and arrow in your now.
29:16 Fearne Cotton? If, yeah, I have in my backpack. If, if something goes down, I'm your gal. Um, exactly.
29:22 Speaker 01 My lady.
29:22 Fearne Cotton? Bodesia. Um, in the British Airways Holidays Latest Trends Report, there was something that really caught my eye. And it's how uninhibited people feel on a holiday, but in very varied ways. So it could be what they're wearing, it could be just slacking on the routine, not being, I'm sort of usually quite rigid at home with my routine and I definitely resonate with that, that I'm like, it all goes out the window. I don't care. And just that sense that you do feel much more relaxed, which is an obvious thing to say, but it's a holiday that brings you that, that sense that, oh, you can just let your shoulders go and you can sigh out. Do you feel that?
30:00 Speaker 01 Definitely. And I think that's a sign that you've done, you're doing holiday well, actually, isn't it? You should, that should be what happens. And I think for me, it's probably that lovely feeling of like, not caring at all what I wear, actually. It's probably just chucking on things and just feeling happy to just, yeah, just totally chill and and I think feeling more like, yeah, you can sort of lose yourself in where you are and and just observe. I think it kind of takes me back sometimes to just like outside of my, my own sense, you know, my, my, I don't know what the word is. My, my sense of who my character is in my everyday life.
30:37 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, you can be anyone you want.
30:38 Speaker 01 The roles, the roles you play. So just being able to just sit and observe and watch and see how things are happening. And I like seeing, you know, how people are on the beach or what seems to be the local routines and customs. I just love all of that feeling.
30:52 Fearne Cotton? I do, because I think sometimes I can tie myself in knots with going, oh my God, my kids aren't doing this. So I put them in, I put them to bed too late at home or whatever. And then you go to Spain and they're all eating dinner at midnight and you go, oh, right. This is just like a very British thing that we're like, this is how we have to do things. And everyone has a different manner and a different culture that they're, you know, immersed in. I love that.
31:14 Speaker 01 Yeah, so do I. And actually, I was thinking when you were saying about tips for families where they're thinking about doing trips. And you mentioned about going to the same place every time. I think that's absolutely fine. I think sometimes people can tie themselves in knots, thinking, oh, we should be doing X, Y, Z. But actually, the point of the holiday and how you feel as a family and what you bring home. The the the place you went to is sort of secondary in a lot of ways when it comes to thematically, what is working.
31:40 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
31:41 Speaker 01 So I think if you're looking at the fun stuff and when we spoke about a lot of it's how you're feeling. So it doesn't really matter if it's, you know, somewhere on the British coast or you've gone somewhere really far flung. I think it's about what makes you as a family access that feeling. And if it's doing exactly the same thing year on year, then there's a lot of pleasure in that.
32:01 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
32:02 Speaker 01 This is where we go. This is where we like. That's the cafe we like to go to. This is where we like what they do here. That's the swim park we like, whatever it might be. I think that's all absolutely fine.
32:11 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, me too.
32:13 Speaker 01 It's not anyone else's business.
32:14 Fearne Cotton? No, not at all.
32:16 Speaker 01 It's about how, as a family, how you all felt about it.
32:20 Fearne Cotton? Um. How do you take holidays seriously so that you do really come back going, that was a great holiday?
32:26 Speaker 01 I think it's probably planning, really, just like having a little itinerary about, that's more me, funny enough. It's funny, isn't it, how you di- different members of family emerge into different roles, but I am the, probably more the tour manager-y person, so I like to know the nuts and bolts of where we have to be and when for the travel bits.
32:44 Fearne Cotton? Are you talking like a spreadsheet?
32:45 Speaker 01 No, not that far, but just having knowledge so that I can manage all the billions of questions I will be asked.
32:52 Fearne Cotton? Yes, invariably. Um. Yes, I am, uh, this notepad is, uh, my life and I still, I can't get on board with anything being digital. I am Victorian and I, well, like Paris, for instance, uh, absolute dog shit. I mean, literally.
33:08 Speaker 01 That's nice. I can read that even upside down.
33:10 Fearne Cotton? I mean, what does it say?
33:11 Speaker 01 That's why I can't do that, because my handwriting is.
33:14 Fearne Cotton? I mean, mine is poor, but I know what it means. But, uh, for the Paris thing, I had like Monday and then I just wrote a list of stuff.
33:19 Speaker 01 I like doing that.
33:20 Fearne Cotton? The list and then I was quite literally ticking it off. It makes sense to me.
33:21 Speaker 01 I think that's it though. Yeah, and that made me feel much more relaxed. And so for me, when I travel and what makes me feel chilled is getting the balance right between things I've planned and things that are just loose and you can just do what we feel like. So for me, I feel like every day needs something to like hang the day around.
33:38 Fearne Cotton? Yes.
33:38 Speaker 01 So it can be something really dinky, like, oh, that morning is on, we'll go into town and get a coffee in that place and have a look at the toy shop or whatever. And then, or it might, you know, something gentle, or it could be, that's the day where we're gonna go and spend the day at the beach and it's a little bit of a travel bit there and we'll spend the whole day there. But just something to like hang the day around, so I know what it is.
33:57 Fearne Cotton? Love that.
33:58 Speaker 01 I think that makes me feel able to really, yeah, relax.
34:02 Fearne Cotton? Well, there is some sort of phrase, I can't remember, that's like, routine gives you the old, or not routine, but like that level of planning gives you the ultimate freedom. If you have a framework, then you really enjoy the stuff you're doing. This is quite a niche question, but I'm interested in your answer. What's the best decision you've ever made on holiday?
34:19 Speaker 01 I suppose when we're on holiday, if you've, if you've done the right bits with putting in the groundwork of getting the things we were talking about, the framework, then hopefully the only decision you're making is what you're gonna eat that day. And that's a fun decision.
34:32 Fearne Cotton? It's the best.
34:33 Speaker 01 Yeah, so I think that the best decision is, what do we all feel like eating? Cause actually on the best holidays, that is literally the only thing left to work out.
34:41 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, you work your whole day around breakfast, lunch and dinner and where it's gonna be.
34:45 Speaker 01 Exactly, and um, so yeah, I think it's that, that's what we're gonna eat and then just enjoying that.
34:51 Fearne Cotton? And what or where is your holiday happy place?
34:55 Speaker 01 Oh, well, my mind went to lots of different things because, I mean, as a kid, we did so many like holidays in the UK and I loved all of that, really happy. But I think, I think because of the fact that I've mentioned it so much, I think I will pick Italy just because it was, it's somewhere that we've had so many happy memories and they get so much of it right in terms of, you know, the climate, the, the food, the culture and it's not far away.
35:23 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
35:23 Speaker 01 We're so lucky with having all of Europe just on our doorstep like that, so I feel, I feel like that's always, always worked for me.
35:30 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, I know, Europe is just a gift. I love, if I know I've only got a, a short flight, I love every minute from the minute we set foot into the airport, like going to get your bits from Boots, getting a magazine, grabbing a little bit of brekkie or a coffee, something from Charlotte Tilbury. Like every bit of that airport experience and the flight, I am buzzing, can't wait. And then knowing you're stepping off only like two hours later in a completely different bit of scenery, oh, it's the best.
35:57 Speaker 01 Well, the one, for me, it's the travel home is where I've always feel like we're all so, super chilled. The one there, I feel like we can sometimes be a bit tense, more tense about. Getting ourselves there and all the stuff. But on the way home, it's like we've had such a great holiday. And everybody's all a little bit more loose. And looking forward to coming home. I do actually really like that feeling as well. I've always missed my cats.
36:17 Fearne Cotton? Oh my god, don't, I know.
36:19 Speaker 01 I think Richard forgets we have cats on holiday, but I'm like.
36:22 Fearne Cotton? I worry about them the whole time I'm away. Even if I have like a friend will stay at the house sometimes, or I'll have someone go and feed them. I'm like, is baby fig okay?
36:29 Speaker 01 Yeah. Actually, when you said about best decision, I think one of them might be, I've realised now that when I go away, I have to shut all the bedroom doors so the cats can't go on. And register their displeasure that we're away.
36:41 Fearne Cotton? Yes, which they do love to do.
36:42 Speaker 01 They do.
36:43 Fearne Cotton? I must learn to do that, yeah.
36:44 Speaker 01 Decision I've made recently.
36:46 Fearne Cotton? A very good one.
36:46 Speaker 01 Yeah.
36:47 Fearne Cotton? Practical. Sophie, thank you so much for coming back on to Happy Place. I think we just need to book a holiday ASAP.
36:54 Speaker 01 Please, somewhere I can wear my toweling caftan, please. I should have worn it here. Imagine if I dressed for that.
37:01 Fearne Cotton? With a sunhat and flip flops.
37:03 Speaker 01 Don't worry, it's got a matching.
37:04 Fearne Cotton? And a snorkel.
37:05 Speaker 01 It's got a matching toweling little turban, so I can do the whole lot for you.
37:09 Fearne Cotton? Oh my.
37:10 Speaker 01 You make the Negronis, I'll bring the caftans.
37:12 Fearne Cotton? This is a deal.
37:15 Fearne Cotton? Thank you, Sophie. That was, I mean, first of all, I just want to now go on holiday, specifically to Italy or Japan. Loved getting those tips. To navigate a holiday with five kids is no mean feat. And as you can tell from Sophie's sort of general demeanour, she's just very easy breezy about it all. When travelling, be more Sophie, is my tip of the day. If you want help taking your holidays more seriously, then you know where to go. British Airways Holidays allows you to book with a low deposit and pay off your holiday in flexible instalments. They offer a 24-hour holiday helpline and all holidays include a generous baggage allowance per person.
37:57 Fearne Cotton? What's more, all British Airways Holidays are at all protected, so they've got you well and truly covered. Massive thanks again to the brilliant Sophie, to British Airways Holidays for making today's conversation happen, and to you, you're the best.
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