The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
TRINNY WOODALL MY LIFE IN TRAVEL
The style guru recalls a ceremonious meal in India, cheating queues at customs and kicking back at her Swiss alpine chalet
I USED TO KNOW THE EMPLOYEES AT TERMINAL 5 because I travelled so much. For many years, I’d leave London on a Monday and return on a Friday, nine months a year. Now I travel abroad maybe three or four times a year. By the time my daughter was one year old, she’d been on a plane 28 times.
I LOVED MY INTERGENERATIONAL TRIP TO INDIA last Christmas. I went with my daughter, 16, and stepson, 26, as well as my friend and her daughter. I booked with Rajasthan Tours, which arranged everything, including a guide, driver and accommodation according to my budget. We ate street food, rode elephants and visited the Amber Fort. One of the highlights was visiting an elephant sanctuary and a temple that had hundreds of wild monkeys running about.
I DIDN’T LIVE IN ENGLAND
UNTIL I WAS 16 although I was born here. I lived in France, Germany and Switzerland, so travelling to me when I was young involved visiting my grandparents in Hove or meeting my parents abroad. At Christmas, we’d do our big trip somewhere like South Africa and in the summer, we’d stay in Italy or France.
YOU HAVE TO EMBRACE THE FOOD OF EVERY COUNTRY you visit, but it’s also very important to know your limits. I can only take so much, but my stepson has the stomach of a rhinoceros.
I DIDN’T VISIT AMERICA UNTIL I WAS 25 but I’ve visited every year since. I like Chicago, but my favourite city is New York. I’m so charged by the energy of the city and never want to sleep. In contrast, when I’m visiting friends in Los Angeles it’s not as frenetic, which is nice for me because I’m an intense and hectic person.
EVERY YEAR UNTIL MY DAUGHTER TURNS 18 I want to take her somewhere that’s an adventure. Last year we went to Japan during half term. We packed so much into five days – seeing Tokyo, down to Kyoto, then back again the next day. She remembers every detail vividly, from the bamboo forest in Kyoto to the traditional dancers in costume. We ate in local dumpling restaurants where we were the only Westerners.
I wanted us to immerse ourselves and to give her powerful memories.
THE MOST REMOTE PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN is the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden. Even the Swedes were saying that only weird people live up there! People live much of the year in extreme light or dark and it had a huge physical impact on me. It was surreal to see the sky still so bright at 1am.
MY BIGGEST REPEATED MISTAKE WHEN TRAVELLING is my consistent failure to conquer jet lag. I’m always torn between going on adventures and wanting to go back to my hotel to “sit on my bed” for 40 minutes.
MY FAVOURITE PLACE IS OUR FAMILY CHALET IN THE SWISS ALPS, which is just an hour outside Geneva, in Challonges. We’ve had it for 35 years and there’s only one other English family in the village. When I’m sitting in my old bedroom, with the red and white gingham on the walls, looking out at the beautiful views, I feel so rested and peaceful.
I USED TO TRAVEL TO EVERY CORNER OF THE UK while filming What Not to Wear or on book tours. I love visiting my friend, who lives on the Herefordshire border with Wales and another in Bradford-upon-Avon. But the joy for me at weekends is to be in London, doing absolutely nothing, as I work such long days on my Trinny London start-up.
THE BEST FOOD I’VE EVER HAD WHILE TRAVELLING was at Bukhara in the Sheraton, New Delhi. It was incredible! I ate the chicken and slow-cooked lamb in spices, with
MAKE-UP STACKS
OK, it’s my own brand – but these Trinny London stacks keeps all my make-up neat and in one place. The products don’t need to go in a clear bag at security because they’re not liquids. From £55; trinnylondon. com
IMMUNITY BOOST
Shabir Daya, my go-to health expert, told me to take these Daily Immunity capsules, at double the suggested dosage, for a week before I went to India. I never got sick and neither did my daughter. £26; victoriahealth.com fresh naan bread. The way they served it felt somehow ceremonious.
…BUT I’M NOT A FAN OF SUSHI, which I thought would be a problem when I visited Japan last year. I was relieved to discover that only a very small proportion of Japanese food is sushi. Instead, I fell in love with their cheese-and-ham dumplings, and the street food stalls in Kyoto.
MY ONE BIG PET PEEVE ABOUT TRAVELLING is queues. I’m always trying to figure out a way to avoid or jump them, by having a priority pass or just hand luggage. At customs, I scout out the queue with the most children, as I know they won’t have jewellery and other bits to take off before going through the scanner.
In the Arctic Circle, it was surreal to see the sky still so bright at one in the morning
NEXT ON MY PERSONAL TRAVEL CHECKLIST is dog-sledding in the Arctic. I’ve done it with huskies in the mountains and I love being on a sleigh. I’m also eyeing up the Andes, as I’ve never been to South America.
Trinny Woodall founded premium make-up and lifestyle brand Trinny London in 2017. To see the range and her blog, visit trinnylondon.com