Checking in... Dame Jacqueline Wilson

Best-selling children’s author

WHERE DID YOU HOLIDAY AS A CHILD?

CLACTON, and while it often rained, I have happy memories of sitting on the beach and having an old-fashioned picnic: boiled eggs and bread and butter.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST TRIP ABROAD?

BRUGES while at school, but I’m rather ashamed to admit that we kids were most interested in the chip stall in the market. When I go back now I always feel as if I’m in the middle of a medieval painting.

ARE YOU A GOOD FLYER?

I WAS terrified when I first went on a plane in my teens. I assumed we’d rise up into the sky like a helicopter, so when we took off diagonally, I thought: ‘Oh my gosh we’re going to crash.’ But I learnt to enjoy flying.

WHAT ANNOYS YOU ABOUT TRAVELLING?

I CAN’T see very well and often have trouble working out where to go at an airport. By the time I’ve reached the departure gate I sometimes wonder: ‘Is it worth it?’

ARE YOU A DARING TRAVELLER?

NO. I want to go somewhere civilised with a comfortable bed.

ANY TRAVEL TIPS?

GO LIGHT. I take only one pair of shoes and three outfits with me. That’s usually enough.

FAVOURITE CITY?

BOSTON, because it’s a civilised and polite place with lovely parks, art galleries and lots of ice-cream shops.

HOLIDAY FROM HELL?

WHEN my daughter was little we visited North Wales. It’s a beautiful area but the cottage we rented out turned out to be more of a converted garage… and it poured every single day.

We Are the BeAker Girls, by Jacqueline Wilson, is published on October 17.