Managing holiday anxiety and packing blues

Hi everyone, it's me Fern Cotton. Wlcome to Happy Place. Now you might remember last summer, we launched a gorgeous minieries on the Happy Place feed. It is called for the Happy Place Guide to holidays brought to you by British Airways Holidays. And it's all about taking our holidays more seriously. I love a holiday taken it seriously. Now last year we had an exceptional lineup of guests. We had Richie Grant became very vehemently passionate about food and restaurants in other countries. That was a really delicious one We talked to Test Daily all about being phone free when away so she can properly chill out. Also, Clara Amfo talked about learning new skills when she's away, which is a lovely way to learn new things without any pressure whatsoever. Just having a lovely time and Brilliant Sarah Cox well me and Sarah, two bookworms united chatting about our passion for reading, especially like good beach reads. And actually a couple of the books that Sarah mentioned in that chat, I went away and read on my holiday last year and they were brilliant. one of them being a book called Butter, which you must read. It's excellent Now because the series did so well and we had so much positive feedback before Why not do it again? So Guides to holidays British Aways Holidays and we're very excited about it. So before we get to our lovely lineup of guests I'm going to chat to you about holidays and also work through my likes and dislikes on holiday as well as team happy places likes and dislikes I'm going to start with my likes. I had the most amazing trip recently. I went on holiday to Rome with British Airways holidays inccredible. So some of my likes. I think my dislikes but my likes are going to be explored from that very trip. So it was a really cool trip because we flew out there And then there was like a spa to the trip first. so I went to this amazing spa in a place called Fuingj And it was so chilled. I'd been sleeping so badly before that And the peace and quiet of that place alone, let alone the amazing massage that I had and the gorgeous food allow me to just properly relax like nervous system outwards And I slept like an absolute log for two nights. I was so chuffed. I hadn't done that for so long. And then I went to Rome, like right in the thick of Rome, amazing hotel that had this beautiful terrace garden and I drank the most amazing negroni, I think I've ever had in my life and sort of undid the good work of the spark ate lots of great pasta And just walking around Rome, I hadn't been to Rome for twenty years And to just see the history of that place is overwhelming sort of get like history fatigue by the end of it. There's just so much to see and do's amazing. Obviously you went to the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, all of that ticked off the list It was just it was an unforgettable trip. Let's start with my first like and it's one that many of you will probably notod along to. and that is the feeling of just being a slightly different version of yourself when you're in a new place When I'm at home, I'm always in a rush. I'm going from A to B as quickly as possible with my head down, I don'tna stop, I don't to chat to anyone on holiday I am Mrs Chilled Mooching around the streets of Rome, I was up for a chat with anyone And I got into interesting conversations with strangers that I no way would at home So is a walking past a little boutique and I love going shopping on holiday And I thought, Oh that's quite interesting. It's not like a chain of shops. so I might just pop in there popped in next thing you know I am being stripped naked in a changing room at the back. I mean, I'll strip it myself, and had sort clothes thrown at me by the wonderful, passionate shopkeeper and designer of said clothing. And she sort of dressing me up in all of these weird and wonderful outfits. Obviously I ended up buying one. And I had like a proper in depth chat with this lady about her backstory how she came to have her own shop in the center of Rome, how she makes her clothes, where she gets her fabric from, because I had the time and I had the headspace to do it. And I never do that at home. I never take the time to properly stop and chat to the person wh I am buying a top from or just stopping in the street and having a chat with someone. Equally I went to a really cool vintage shop in an area of Rome that I can't remember. and there were two elderly Italian women in there running it full of character. and I was trying to sort of communicate with them with very bad broken Italian about a jacket that I wanted to buy that I did end up buying for my auntie. And we were sort of managed to have a bit of a laugh. Neither of us could really speak the other person's language, but it was just such a fun, lovely, spontaneous moment. So for me The best bits of holidays are those magical moments where you end up having a chat with someone that you don't know and you learn something about them and you walk away with the smile on your face, remembering that there are very good eggs out there everywhere. So that is one of my big likes teamed with the first alcoholic drink that you have on holiday. Nhing beats it. Nothing will ever taste good as the first, let's say Nggroni on holiday in the sun Eating dinner outside, there's another like. There's too many. I like everything about going on holiday. Let's go to Team Happy Place. So Tia, who works on our social media team. Tia says Finding unique souvenirs instead of the usual magnets and jewelry and notebooks, little keepsakes that you'll actually use that bring back memories of that holiday. I love nothing more than buying knick knacks on holiday. But like Tia said, you want them to be useful. Again, going back to my trip to Rome, bought something. I haven't used it yet But I know it's going to come in handy I bought a wax seal with my initials on. Okay. L I remember in the Tudor Tes when they would send a letter to somebody. I mean, you won't remember because we weren't there. But in the Tudor Times, they would write a letter withith a quill And then a big red wax seal on the back of an envelope sent off to the one you love, etcetera b awax seal So I am going start I'm a big thank you notes writer. So I am going to be writing thank you notes with an Italian seal on the back of that envelope. thank you very much. And that again is a unique Kick knack slash souvenir I would never buy a wax seal in the UK. I could have Googled it and bought one on the internet. There's something about goingoing into a shop Really getting to know what that shop's about. This particular shop was actually the best stationary shop I've ever been in in my life. It was very near the trevy fountain And it was there were sort of rows of leather bound noteepads and passport covers and beautiful handbags and wax seals. So I got one. Right, let's get one more like from Team Happy Place. Let's go with Hannah. Hannah heads up our Happy Place Book Club. So it's unsurprising that Hanarah said, uninterrupted reading time. it feels so good to read a whole book in a day. There's nothing better. Now when my kids were really tiny, I did zero reading on holiday. It was probably the part of my life where I read the least because when you've got little kids on holiday As you all know, if you have them, it is not relaxing and you do not sit down for a single second. Sn loungers, obsolete. you don't need them. you don't lie down. But now my kids are that bit older. The best bit for me is now when you're on the actual flight, rather than having a toddler that you're trying to put a seatbelt on and they're trying to get out the chair, it's just like absolute chaos. My kids are now just either s on their devices or they're reading a book Hnoney's probably reading Lotie Brooks. so I can sit and read quarter of a book in one sitting Uninterrupted, no break. there is nothing better. And also I love to read fiction when I'm away Because of the amount of books I need to read for Happy Place and research that needs to be done for various podcast guests, having a world I can escape to, not I want to escape from holiday, but just to get stuck into a really good fiction is the absolute dream. And that is where it starts on that flight. the kids are okay, you're right, guys, you' got water here, lovely jubblyy in three hours and then I've got my book out No better feeling. Let's move on to dislikes I don't dislike that much at all about holidays, but I can sometimes dislike what it brings out in me. Only on day one D day one and my kids know this all too well They're on day one of any holiday to anywhere in the world, for the first twenty four hours I am nuts Um I get very anxious on the first day about all sorts of things and also because I have had of OCD over the years. Anything that feels a bit out of the ordinary can just bring that to the forefront a bit. So I am very big on this, you know, I'm in a new environment. I'm going to try and relax myself to get in a heads space where I can go to sleep I want to check every window that it's locked properly. I want to double lock the door of the hotel. I want to make sure that everything's turned off in the room, there's nothing electrical on checking all of the plugs. I sort of drive everybody mad on that first day because can't instantly switch into I'm chilled, I'm on holiday. by day two and certainly by The evening of day to, I'm like right, I know we're safe, I know the doors are locked, I know the windows are locked Everything's okay. I've not left the tap on I can sleep, I can relax. firstirst twenty four hours every time. It's not the holiday's fa It's my fault Let's move on to team, happappy pllaces, Dlikes Jenna, who does all of our PR for Happy Place, all of our press helps us get the word out there about projects we're doing like the Happy Place Festival and we're doing live events or just what we're doing with the podcast. She's the one that gets the word out there in many various ways. Jenna says packing to go home H's the pits. Nobody wants to do it, however. It is made that bit brighter looking at the new shiny things I've bought from the holiday shops. That is a plus But the packing to go home It's never good. I always leave it to the last possible minute. I'm talking like twenty minutes before we need to vacate the hotel or wherever we're staying and Everything's everywhere all over the shop Things are still wet which is an absolute nightmare. Like s swimming costumes are still completely soggy and you've got to work out, do I put it in a shower cap that I'm taking from the hotel bathroom to then stuff in the suitcase? It's just a bleak thought and also knowing that when you get home, you've got to wash all of it Oh I'm putting clothing covered in sand, like food down tops. like it's not good, it's not pretty. and just knowing Your holiday has come to an end day I hate it. like go back to reality And look. I love my job, I love my life. but there is something so magical about being on a holiday that coming home Youve got to start setting alarms again You got to get back in the routine. You got to juggle a million things. It's just, you know, I do get the holiday blues bigig time, that first day back I'm reminiscing. I'm making little photo books to reminisce about the trip It's a sad day. sad times. So Jenna I am with you. Well I would say that Team Happy Place definitely know how to take their holidays very seriously indeed. And 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 installments. They offer a twenty four hour holiday helpline And all holidays include a generous baggage allowance per person. What's more, all British Airways holidays are at all protected, so they have got you well and truly good. I want to say a massive thank you to British Airways Holidays for supporting this podcast and as always, the biggest thanks to you, G spread your wings, you gorgeous lot.