My life in travel Julia Ormond
The actress on going glamping with bears and the delights of dachas in rural Russia
I HAD THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY GLAMPING EXPERIENCE on Vancouver Island. I was filming in Vancouver and we went to Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge which was the most relaxing destination. It’s in Clayoquot Sound. You have bears walking through the camp to get to the shellfish. When you are in your tent, you have this bear alarm just in case you can hear a bear climbing on the adirondack chairs to get to the berries outside. I’ve got photographs of a bear early in the morning among the horses. You can go outside of Vancouver itself to areas such as Deep Cove where you can do gorgeous hikes through northern rainforests.
THE MOST REMOTE PLACE I’VE BEEN is probably Greenland, just above the Arctic Circle. That was when I was filming Smilla’s Sense of Snow, which was a while ago now, but I still remember flying into Greenland – it was out of this world. It’s hard to explain the vividness of seeing the icebergs, the different colours, these deep blues and turquoises, and the changing landscape. Greenland is definitely the most underrated destination in the world.
WHEN WE WENT DOG SLEDDING, we came down this hill and went across a frozen lake at sunset. It was the most magical experience. While we were filming we took a helicopter ride, too. It was amazing to go to Greenland after learning about Inuit culture; they have 50 different words for types of snow or snow conditions but no equivalentof the word snow itself.
THE TRAVEL I DO FOR PLEASURE tends to revolve around seeing my family in England. We recently went to Rye, which blew me away. Absolutely gorgeous. I’m a huge Airbnb and Vrbo fan. I think they can be hit and miss
but are good for the most part. My favourite city for nightlife would be London and my favourite bar is Momo.
MY EARLIEST MEMORY OF TRAVELLING ABROAD was with my mum and grandmother when I was three or four years old. I remember sitting on the plane next to my grandmother, who kept looking out of the window and turning to me to say: “It’s like cotton wool”. She had never seen clouds from a plane before and she was completely blown away. It is a memory that I hold dear.
I LOVE THAT MY WORK HAS TAKEN ME ALL OVER THE WORLD in a way that I never expected; it does expand who you are as a person. When you work on a film, you work with a local crew and the best moment is when a member of the crew invites you to their home. I remember working in St Petersburg and being invited to a dacha in the countryside. When you have the experience of working abroad over an extended period of time, people just open up and you get to understand the culture on a different level.
I’VE DONE A COUPLE OF TRIPS TO HAVANA, which have been great experiences. They set up these meals in paladares, ordinary people’s homes that have been turned into cafés. It’s so personal and such a unique experience. One of the things I did was get outside of the main city and go a bit further afield. I went to the Museo Girón to learn about the Bay of Pigs from the Cuban perspective. There was also an incredible stop at a natural lagoon on the way from Havana called La Cueva de los Peces (The Fish Cave).
I READ AMONG THE RUSSIANS BY COLIN THUBRON before going off to work on the film The Barber of Siberia in Eastern Europe. The people are just amazing in Russia. I took my child to see the staircase that led up to [Mikhail] Bulgakov’s apartment. The Russians have created a sort of pilgrimage to the author’s old home by graffitiing the staircase with quotes from The Master and Margarita. Just going to Moscow to see that is worth the trip.
WHEN I WAS YOUNGER it was all “let’s find a beach and get a sun tan”… so I have been there and done that. Now, I want to find an extraordinary experience that taps into a specific culture.
I HAD AN INTENSE PERIOD OF TIME where I seemed to go from one indigenous people to another. Whether
they were the Inuit in Greenland or the Cree in Canada, their respect for the land and their relationship with nature was something I just responded to completely.
ANY AIRLINE THAT IS WORKING on anti-trafficking issues gets a gold star from me. I’ll give Delta a big thumbs-up for the work they are doing on that front.
NEAR THE TOP OF MY TO-DO LIST is visiting a tiny home community in Oregon. I’m quite interested in the tiny home revolution – I have a great desire to get to a little hut in Iceland to watch the aurora borealis. There are some great tree houses I have spotted on Vrbo that I’m hankering to go to as well.
The film Reunion is available to download and rent now on Sky Store, Amazon, Virgin and iTunes