Pixie Lott’s Travel Secrets | Tokyo, Italy & Why She Never Plans Her Holidays

0:00I'd collaborated with K-pop bands and artists and really just immersed myself in it and loved it so much. They were like, no, no, no, this is the locals. You don't want to go to Martha's Vineyard. You want to go to Nantucket. Yes. They were like, what's that?

0:16Tanya Rose:You were Holly Go Lightly, weren't you? Yes. Such an experience. I loved it. We started writing this album five years ago. and the reason it's called Encino is because it was written in Encino which is in California. Life imitates art all the other way around but I don't know but it was yeah it was really special. Welcome to Travel Secrets with me Tanya Rose the podcast sharing wisdom for fellow travelers. Each week I ask my guests to reveal their six travel secrets and the holidays and adventures that surround them.

0:55Tanya Rose:Today, my guest is the wonderful British songwriter, singer Pixie Lot. Actress, her distinctive blend of chart-smashing pop, her acting versatility, and her nurturing of emerging talent on Voice Kids, which was so cute. I loved that so much. And they were so good. Amazing. And you won. I was really lucky to work with just amazing young talents. I think I was just lucky that they were on my team. Well, you were brilliant as a mentor. Fantastic. You are a beloved figure of the British entertainment industry, and I know you love a holiday. I know you love a trip, so I can't wait to hear your travel secrets.

1:39Tanya Rose:Welcome, lovely Pixie. Thank you so much, Tanya. I'm very excited to be here today chatting to you all about travel and holidays days because it's just one of the biggest joys of life, isn't it? It really, really is. And actually, before we get into your travel secrets, perhaps you can just tell us a bit about yourself and how has travel impacted the person that you've become? Did you grow up traveling? Let's just talk about that generally before we get into the secrets. Yeah. I've always loved travel, but I think where I've been lucky in my job, it's taken me to places that I never would have seen before.

2:12And that's something actually my mom always says to me. She actually only said it the other day um that she wouldn't have gone to you know all these different places if it wasn't for what i was doing and her coming with me um so we've shared some incredible moments and um yeah i guess beforehand we were always a family that loved holidays but my mom was always scouring for amazing deals and taking us on these would always go to portugal and at mallorca and um lots of amazing European places. And she was kind of known as like a, I think her nickname was like a Judith Chalmers kind of thing because she just loved it so much.

2:56So maybe I got the bug from her, but then, yeah, since I started in the music business and I started releasing my own music and well, even before releasing, going to New York for the first time, signing my first record deal and experiencing writing songs in Los Angeles and stuff like that it kind of just opened up my world a bit to you know going on long haul flights I guess and since then I've traveled to Asia and Brazil and just incredible places that have just stuck with me that I might not have gone to yet if I wasn't in this kind of business. But I just love it.

3:43Tanya Rose:Well, you're going to tell us about all of those. So I'm very excited to hear them. Thank you for watching Travel Secrets. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying doing it. Please take a second and subscribe now. Let's start with what's the number one destination you think everyone should go to once in their lifetime? These questions are so hard. I've been thinking about them. um the number one destination i think everyone should go to in their lifetime has to be i'm gonna say it's a really i'm torn between two places you can have two can i have two absolutely okay so on my kind of um first adventures of of touring i went to rome and tokyo oh wow not right after one another because they're quite far away but from each other but um i love them both for different reasons and the reason i loved tokyo was because it was such i hadn't been anywhere like it before no it's so different it's so different i absolutely love everything about it the culture the people are so lovely and welcoming and polite and i love the fashion i love the harajuku girls i love getting my nails done out there i had all these like fantastic diamante crazy nails um and i just didn't want to leave i spent a lot of time out there actually did you yeah with my first couple of albums i made like an asian deluxe version of an album I'd collaborated with um k-pop bands and artists and really just immersed myself in it and loved it so much so that will always stick with me and I think everyone needs to go there because it is just so different and so cool and Rome I love I loved so much when I was kind of like doing European shows because I'm a massive fan of Italy it's like one of my favorite places I think particularly on this first trip I had a day to myself a lot of the time it was like bang bang busy busy busy interviews so I got to explore and I got to I love Italian food it's the best the pasta the pizza the weather was amazing it's so beautiful I love any um historical building obviously there's millions of beautiful wherever you walk it's just unbelievable it's just so stunning and I was just blown away by it and also the the holiness that you feel there um and the Vatican and I just loved that as well so those were the two places that really stuck with me when I first started touring and I think everyone should definitely visit those.

6:31Tanya Rose:Well I agree with you on both of them and you were very young when you started weren't you? Yeah. I mean how old were you when you actually made your first album? So, well, I actually, I started writing it when I was about 14. But my first trip to the States to like sign with Universal and start writing over there, I was about 15. And then it didn't come out till I was 18. So that's when the kind of promotional trail started. I started visiting all these different places every day. But you were 14 when you started writing that's incredible yeah yeah it was um yeah ages ago now makes it feel so old but it's it's kind of just my whole life was just that trajectory i've never known anything different i've always kind of strived towards making an album and writing my own stuff and and it took it was quite a long process even though i was super young but it just felt like i was doing little baby steps each time you're the italia conti weren't you yes So what age do you start there?

7:35Tanya Rose:So I started there at 11 and loved it, absolutely loved it. Like first kind of experience of getting the train, commuting into London with all my friends and like being at a stage school and everyone's wild and wacky. You found your tribe. Found my tribe, yeah. There's never a dull moment, everyone. There's just lots of characters and it was embraced. It was really like celebrated to have all these characters. And, yeah, they're still all my best friends now. But I loved it, yeah. Where did you grow up? Not in London then? No, so I grew up in Kent. Oh, yeah. Up to the age of 14. And then we moved to Essex when I was 14 to 18, 19.

8:20And then I moved to London from there. Yeah.

8:24Tanya Rose:Fantastic. Yeah. What is your most unexpected travel trip? That would have to be my trip to Brazil. And I've only been there once. I can't wait to go back. I loved it. But I'd just finished doing a play. And it was Breakfast at Tiffany. Oh, yes. You were Holly Go Lightly, weren't you? Fantastic. Which was such an experience. I loved it. But it was very, it was hard work as well. And by the end of it, I did it for pretty much a year with the rehearsals, the touring, and then we were in the West End at the end. And it was based on the book, not the film. So it was actually very dark in the second act.

9:06And we were doing this show eight times a week. It was like over two hours long. I was on stage the whole time. By the end of the show, I was like crying my eyes out, a mess on the floor. Holly had lost everything. And weirdly, at the end of the play, she goes to Brazil and she writes this postcard from Brazil to Fred. And that is the last scene of the whole play. And I'd never been invited to Brazil before then. I'd never been to Brazil. And randomly, I got booked to do a show in Brazil, like as soon as the play had finished. So that was just kind of like a coincidence. And I'd finished the play.

9:49I was a bit of a broken version of myself. I went out to Brazil. And first of all, at the airport, I had this amazing welcome from people there, which was just like blew me away. So I instantly welled up. And just finishing the play, going straight there, being in Rio, which is where Holly ends up, I bought some postcards from the little shop and wrote the same postcard to my character, Fred, from Rio and the director of the play. And it just felt such like a weird full circle moment. So I was kind of emotional during that time anyway. and um it was just I felt like I really just needed that trip and I went to see um the performance was in the Santa Marta community I think it is which was just incredible I had like all these different colored houses up on the hill and I was singing to them all and I could see the Christ the Redeemer statue just like to the right of my view and then um the next day I went up to visit the Christ the Redeemer statue of course and that was just so special there was just like some crazy energy when I went there like some kind of powerful feeling it felt very spiritual and I was not expecting any of this at all so after that kind of happening going there feeling that it was just a very kind of emotional special trip and then before I went home I had all these amazing um cats they're called cats who have been supporting me and like following my my music um they were like singing from outside the hotel room and we stayed in the Copacabana hotel which was really nice and um they asked if i'd do a little show on the beach i went down onto the beach and did this little acoustic show for your cats for my cats and it just was so like you know organic and special and lovely and my brother was on the trip with me as well and my best friend

12:03Tanya Rose:so it was a very um amazing trip very serendipitous and very um as they say nothing is a coincidence that you had done the play, it ended there, and then you were asked to perform there. It was strange, yeah. It's like when art, no, life imitates art or the other way around, I don't know, but it was, yeah, it was really special. How amazing. Who was Fred in the play? Fred was played by Matt Barber, who is an amazing actor and really good friend. Yeah, he was brilliant in the show. Oh, I wish I'd seen it. I love that film so much. It's so wonderful. It's a classic. Did you sing Moon River, or was it not part of it because it wasn't like the film.

12:42I did, yeah. Actually, it was a play, but I sung two songs. There was one kind of old school hillbilly song that Holly plays on the guitar. And then I did Moon River as well. I learned the guitar especially for the play. I couldn't actually play it before, yeah.

12:59Tanya Rose:How amazing. It was really cool that it kind of came along with the job because I got to learn this new skill. And actually, I sang Moon River at this show in Brazil as well on the guitar. But because it was such a long time ago, I've forgotten how to play it. Ah, I need to brush up for my skills again. Well, when your baby comes and you have some time at home, except you won't have any time with your baby, you'll be able to relearn the guitar. Get practising. What's your most underrated or overrated travel experience? Do you know what I would say for this is, and I don't necessarily think it's underrated, But I think holidaying in the UK is amazing.

13:42And I think you're always looking elsewhere. You know, the furthest away you go, it's like the best holiday you're going to have. I just don't think it's the case. There's so many beautiful places in the UK. And I've got to experience them, I guess, from like doing touring and festivals, going to places I wouldn't necessarily go to. But I think, you know, an obvious one is Cornwall. It's so beautiful. I went there as a kid, but I couldn't kind of remember it. And I went back a few years ago for a festival, Tunes in the Dunes. And we stayed up there for a week with the family and turned into a little trip.

14:20And when the weather's amazing, the water and the sand, it's like white sand and like crystal clear. I couldn't actually believe my eyes. I was like, this is Cornwall. Wow. This is like better than any other place I've been to.

14:35Tanya Rose:But it's only because of the weather. That's the dodgy bit. That's the thing. We've got amazing beaches, you know, in Wales and all these places. But it's just, you just take potluck. That's the thing. It is a bit of a potluck. So if you time it on a good weather, it's like can't get better. But you just never know if you're going to get there. But then last weekend, I went to the Lake District for the first time. Yeah, beautiful. It's so beautiful. Never been before. And we played a festival called Kendall Calling. so that's why we were down there but again kind of extended it so we stayed for a few extra days but um it was a bit of a special trip because my dad has been wanting to go there his whole life because he was meant to go there on a school trip when he was 10 years old and they did all their school projects about it and he was really excited about going there and then for some reason in like because of family or something it meant that he couldn't join his class on the trip so ever since then he has been wanting to get back to the lake district and it happened this weekend how magical and it was so lovely seeing his face like seeing the lakes and like everything he's been wanting for years and years yeah since he was 10 years old so i've got these cute pictures of him like by the lakes and it really is so beautiful and we stayed i have to tell you where we stayed at the Eden Hall estate is that beautiful it's so beautiful it's stunning and it's more like the feeling when you walk in is very very special and the lake that they've that's there the nature it's so peaceful it's a very um old house the building that we but there's loads of different places you can stay in on the estate that we saw.

16:28A log cabin where you wake up and you can go paddle boarding on the lake straight away. It's really special place. That sounds amazing. It really was amazing.

16:39Tanya Rose:I'm definitely going to look that up. Yes, you have to. You have to go there. Is that where the concert was that you did? So the concert was like 15 minutes away from there. But we stayed. So we did the festival and then we stayed there. and then we went to Owlswater, I think it's called, and we did like, well, I didn't. I just sat in the boat, but the surfing on the lake, like my husband did it, my brother. Really cool. I mean, I'm pregnant, so I'll use that as my excuse. Did you take your son with you as well? Yes, yeah. So we had little Bertie with us as well, my mom and dad, my brother, his little one, and his wife.

17:18So it was a real family affair. um but yeah what a special place can't wait to go back oh that's a great tip thank you so much

17:26Tanya Rose:for that yeah do you think your holidays have changed since you've had your son yeah definitely I mean it's uh I guess changed in the way that now I'll look for things that he would like and be interested in or like for instance my sister has booked a trip in December my sister and my brother have little ones that they're all the similar age oh perfect and it's very catered it's like a ski place but it's very catered for them all to have fun and the family whereas before we we weren't looking at that it was all about like partying afterwards and all this kind of stuff as a family holiday. So it has changed definitely in that way.

18:10But it also hasn't stopped us from going to any place that we want to. Like, we just bring Bertie along to as much as we can and get him involved in the meetings.

18:20Tanya Rose:I remember when my son was little, you suddenly start thinking of kids' clubs, don't you? Yeah. And actually, I mean, I know loads of lovely hotels with fantastic kids' clubs, but then the parents have a lovely time. The kids love it because they're doing tennis or football or whatever. or they've got good nannies. And it's actually really, it is a shift in your mindset. Because before you have kids, you don't even think of that, do you? Yeah. You're like, no, no, I'm going to lie in the Maldives and not even think about it. And then it's like, no, kids club's quite useful. Yeah, definitely. Let's talk about food and drink.

18:54Tanya Rose:It's so much part of life. It's so much part of travel. Where do you eat? What do you eat? What's been your best meal or your best drink or let's just talk about travel and food and drink um yum i would say my most favorite meal we went to capri oh yeah lovely do you pronounce it capri or is it capri it's difficult some people it's like bowie or bowie yeah is it day or bowie capri or capri i feel like i say capri but i feel like you say it capri but i say capri let's go with capri um so i've only been there once actually but we absolutely loved it it was just me and my husband oliver uh and we stayed at the punta trigara hotel and it was stunning the view from there was beautiful but they had this pasta which we just ate by the pool every day because it was so delicious it was that perfect they just get that al dente just like perfect and spot on don't they um and it had it was very simple it was just tomato based with mozzarella a little spice and tuna and it was Really good.

20:20Yeah.

20:21Tanya Rose:If I had my last meal, it would be pasta with tomato and basil. I just love it. Oh, just simplicity. Just simple. Simple, simple. I love that. Because I do love Arabiata, though. I love this. Do you not like the spice? I just prefer it, just with the tomato and basil, a bit of garlic. Simple, yeah. I absolutely love that. I just don't think you can go wrong. No. And you love Italy anyway, so. Love Italy. I think if I had to pick one cuisine, it would be Italian. I love Indian. I love sushi. I love... But if I had to eat every single day, I think I would have to go to the Italian. Do you go in London as well, Italian?

20:58Tanya Rose:Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm trying to think what would be my favourite Italian in London. Mmm. I don't know what my favourite Italian is. We absolutely love chutney-mary for Indian food. Love it. So good. Is it still on the Fulham Road or is it moved? We've only been to the one St. James's. Yeah, I haven't been to the one in. I think it started on the Fulham Road, but it might not even be there anymore. It might, Lodge Road, Fulham Road, but I've definitely been to the St. James's. It's so good. So delicious. Now I'm starting to get hungry. I know, I'm starting to feel hungry too, but it's so good.

21:32I get the coconut prawn main. The garlic naan there is just like next level. And the veggie samosa is really good.

21:43Tanya Rose:Do you eat Indian when you're pregnant or not? Is it a bit too much, yeah? No, yeah, yeah. Go for it all. Kick, kick. Yeah. Yeah, it gets the baby going. Loves the spicy food. Although they say that kind of brings on the labor sometimes, don't they? Oh, yes. Maybe don't have it for the next couple of months, just in case. You've got too many festivals that you're doing beforehand. And what about a drink? Do you have a cocktail that you love? I love all the drinks because I can't have them at the moment. I love champagne. I love cocktails. I have a cosmopolitan really because I just love holding the glass.

22:19Yeah, the glass is so chic.

22:20Tanya Rose:So cute. I got into martinis when I was doing breakfast at Tiffany's because that's what Holly drinks. But they're so strong, aren't they? You just have to sip them so slowly. Duke's Hotel in London does the best martini and they don't let you have more than two. Really? I did have three once and my legs went. That's what I want to do at Christmas. Do you know what? I saw, I don't think I've been to the Duke's Hotel before. It's a tiny bar, but it's really famous, James Bond. Yeah, I saw it pop up on Instagram a couple of weeks ago. Someone was giving their recommendations, and it sounded right up my street.

22:57I love anything old school. I actually love the, what we do is we go to Chutney Mary's and St. James's, and then you walk around the back, Blue Bell Yard, in the back of the Stafford Hotel, the American Bar. Have you been in there?

23:11Tanya Rose:Oh, yeah, that's lovely, isn't it? It's like the old stables, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, really nice. They have all the loads of Christmas trees and fairy lights and the old school cocktails with the really skinny, long stems. And they have all that American memorabilia hanging from the ceiling. Just love it in there. Yeah, and the Duke's is opposite the Stafford. So you know exactly where it is. I need to do that. What's your top travel tip? my top travel tip is to book on the go because it's not for everyone I get that because a lot of people like to plan very planned and organized well ahead and I do get that and I think your brain either works in one way or the other but for me for instance like when we got married we hadn't booked our honeymoon and then on day two of our wedding I got talking to one of my best friend's dads and I was like we haven't actually booked anywhere what would you recommend and that is last minute he's Italian and he was like have you been to Porto Cervo I was like no what's that so literally we booked that for the next day we actually stayed the first night in the Stafford hotel because I wanted to go to the American bar my favorite then we went from there to Portichevo absolutely loved it and then when we were in Portichevo we asked for recommendations there someone said have you ever been to Fortidumami no never been there and then I booked that and we went if I'd booked it before then I wouldn't have had this local recommendation and knowledge and And the same thing happened when me and my mom went to Boston.

25:03We were in Boston. We were booking as we were going. And we'd heard of Martha's Vineyard. Oh, you've got to go to Martha's Vineyard. But then when we were there, they were like, no, no, no. This was the locals. You don't want to go to Martha's Vineyard. You want to go to Nantucket. Yes. We were like, what's that? And then we literally booked it the next day and ended up in Nantucket. Beautiful. If we hadn't waited for the local knowledge, we would have been in Martha's Vineyard. Martha's Vineyard. So I actually think don't be scared to get on that plane and go somewhere. And if you don't know where you're going next, ask the locals and you might end up somewhere better than you thought.

25:38Tanya Rose:Yeah. Ask the locals is always the best way. Yeah. But I think I need to plan a bit more than you do. I know, I can see your eyes. Don't think so. Although to be honest, when I got married, my husband loves racing, horse racing. And we got married in July and he said, you know we're going to Goodwood Racing because we do that every year for our honeymoon and I was like what do you mean I said he said well I've booked it already so that's what we're doing for our honeymoon so I was like okay and then I said but I think we'll go to Bali after that and he went okay yes but we did do Goodwood in between which was really fun oh that's nice so you got to have the best of both he had what he wanted exactly and then Bali's nice for honeymoon have you been to Bali yeah yeah it's very loved it I think actually that I love sunsets so much I know most people do but love them i think the best sunsets i've ever seen have been in bali yeah did you perform there no no just went there why did we go there um oliver was doing a shoot my husband was doing a shoot for a magazine out there um so i tagged along fantastic doesn't he have menswear yes yes he does yeah yeah that's very cool stuff oh thank you very cool do tell Very cool.

26:52Tanya Rose:I know my son thinks it's very cool. What is the most poignant memory you ever have traveling? Definitely an amazing but eye-opening experience was when I went to Zambia for comic relief with my mom.

27:12And just to meet everyone. And it was a very positive story because it was about where, you know, the money that Comic Relief raised, where it's going. And so I got to meet all these amazing women that have come from nothing and set up their own businesses and they're all female owned, rocking it. And like, you know, they first buy a hairdryer and then they have a hair salon in their community. That's fantastic. So it was really positive, but just so eye-opening in the way that, you know,

27:53how they made something from absolutely nothing and, you know, just kind of seeing how different their world is. But it was amazing, like, making friends with everyone and kind of, like, hanging out together. but I think that trip will always stay with us definitely yeah that sounds amazing and your mom