HOLIDAY CELEBRATE
As a child, all my summers were spent by the seaside. My parents were teachers and we lived on the Kent coast, so we whiled away our days building sandcastles at Botany Bay, rock pooling at Westgate-on-sea, licking Mr Whippys at Minnis Bay and – an annual treat – riding the Looping Star at Dreamland in Margate. The joy I still feel when carting a cool box full of sandwiches down to the shore, picnic blanket wedged under my arm, primed for an entire day by the sea, is one of the reasons I’d like to move back to the coast.
By the time I was a teenager, my mum had bought an old farmhouse in France, so then we spent our summers eating crepes in the village square, swimming in the river and cycling through endless fields of sunflowers. It was – and still is – as glorious as it sounds.
All this nostalgia is just to highlight how very important holidays are. Then, as now, there was the feelgood factor. The chance to be carefree, to stay up late, to do nothing, to do anything. But there was also the opportunity to reset one’s intention. Who do I want to be when I go back home? I still feel that now, when two weeks on a sunlounger (okay, maybe two hours!) give me the distance and perspective to reflect on where I’ve been and to decide where I’m going next.
This year, we hope to aid this pivotal pause for thought and help you ‘relax, reflect and refresh’. Starting on page 39, there’s an edit of the best books, albums and podcasts to listen to (whether you want to find your power or just have a laugh), then Ella Dove shares an exercise that helped her define her values – and recognise her purpose. Finally, Cyan Turan muses on the notion that perhaps your best ‘thinking’ could be done 30,000 feet up in the sky…
There’s lots more to ensure you’re holiday ready, too – from our suitcase style edit on page 14, and our Orange Crush beauty feature on page 94, to some deliciously grown-up ice-cream recipes on page 132.
Lastly, in the spirit of the issue, one of Red’s favourite women, Jools Oliver, opens her own holiday photo album and shares memories from trips to Mallorca and Cornwall. Summers that, she says, left her ‘giddy with happiness’. I know how she feels.