Katie getting into the holiday spirit
Today my guest in the Hot Holidays! Spot is the rather marvellous milliner, Katie Vale! Regular readers of my blog will remember the fab fascinator she made me last year for my friend’s wedding, that ended up getting its own wedding photo.
Katie is a couture milliner who works from her countryside studio on a farm in Essex. She designs & makes all sorts of fascinators, hats & headwear; and loves working with a variety of materials to achieve unique results. She has one “big” holiday a year and tries to get away for a few long weekends with her friends each year too. For more info on Katie’s terrific titfers www.katievaledesigns.com
ES: Where did you spend your last holiday and why did you choose to go there?
KV: New York, with my mum, my sister & my mum’s best friend. It was to celebrate mum & her friend’s 60th birthday’s last year. None of us had been before. It was incredible. The most amazing place & I’m desperate to go back again. I spent the entire time walking around with my mouth open in wonder. Totally fell in love with it!
ES: What’s your favourite type of holiday?
KV: I’m most definitely a sun worshipper. So for me a sunny beach holiday relaxing and topping up my tan is always going to win. I love the big adventure ones too, but it doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing if someone offers me a lazy beach holiday I’m going to take it.
ES: And your least favourite?
KV: My least favourite is skiing!!!! I went once when I was 14 with my school. It was horrendous. I cried under my goggles most of the time. Unfortunately me and another girl my age were grouped with 6th form boys who had all skied before. So we had one day on the nursery slopes then were sent up the big mountains with these guys. We couldn’t keep up & the boys just found it hysterical to cut us up the whole time. I will never go back on a slope again. It was terrifying.
ES: Where did you spend your best ever holiday and what made it so memorable?
KV: Magalluf ’98. ☺ I would love to give you some real classy destination and make myself sound very intellectual & fabulous…..but this holiday goes down in history as the best ever! 4 of us had 2 weeks in the sun when we were 18. From the minute we loaded the car with our suit cases to the minute we touched back down in the UK we were laughing; I’m talking bent over double in side splitting laughter. It was the typical “girls holiday” abroad, I won’t lie….the alcohol consumed was scary! We were threatened to be evicted from our hotel. We would do a bar crawl every night and partied until the early hours; some days not actually getting into bed until 1pm the next day to start again at 8pm that night. I’m not going to lie to you, there were boys involved too but actually what was lovely was that we really didn’t pay that much attention to the boys out there, it really was about us 4 cementing our friendship and dancing our socks off. All 4 of us are still best friends now.
ES: Any holiday or travel disasters?
KV: My ex-boyfriend & I had a very scary incident on a plane about 6 years ago. The windscreen shattered as we were 2 hours into a 4 hour flight. We had to do a crash landing & brace; the air hostesses were in tears. It was horrific. I have always been fine with flying, in fact I found it a fun part of the holiday; now I am in a complete state on planes, I really can’t deal with it well at all.
ES: Tell us about a place you long to visit and the reasons why.
KV: The Rainforest. I love animals & nature. I think this world is full of stunning & amazing places; picturesque, tranquil & adventurous. But to me the rainforest is beyond all of that. To be stood underneath the tree canopies with the animals all around me, could very easily reduce me to tears at the sheer wonder of it. So yeah….if money was no object….The Rainforest!
ES: Who’s your favourite travelling companion(s) or do you prefer your own company?
KV: I have had 2 weeks in the sun on my own, and it was one of the most relaxing holidays I’ve ever had. I did what I wanted, when I wanted. However, nothing can beat going away with your friends. I am lucky enough that I have a few real close friends and we try to go away every year at some point. It usually involves good food, laughter & dodgy dancing to 80s music. You can’t beat it.
ES: Ever had a holiday romance? Details, please!
KV: Erm…..a few, I was a bit of a party animal when I was younger ☺ To be fair, when I think of a holiday romance, as in the proper sense of it there is only one guy that stands out. I went to Gran Canaria and when I was at Gatwick this group of guys all loud and chaotic ran past us, knocking our bags. My initial thoughts are not printable on here, but I was not impressed. Then we got on the plane; of course there they were! When we collected our suitcases in GC I spotted one of them, he caught my eye. Our first night out & we saw them all. Me & this guy got chatting….and that was that. We spent the rest of the 2 weeks together. He was brilliant, I adored him. He bought me a present at the airport and we exchanged numbers. I never cried leaving him, I had no need because we were adamant that we would see each other again & begin a relationship. When we got back to England we were in contact every day for about 8 months but never actually got round to meeting up. That was 10 years ago. I’ve not heard from him since.
ES: How would you spend your dream twenty-four hours if you could travel to multiple, worldwide destinations with no travel restrictions?
KV: It would have to be watching the sun rise whilst stood at the top of the Blue Mountains in Australia. And watch it go down whilst stood at The Great Wall of China. And seeing if I could catch the Northern Lights at some point during the day!
ES: What tip or piece of advice would you give to holidaymakers and/or travellers?
KV: Take a camera…..but don’t get bogged down photographing every single bit. I see so many people with cameras up but they are actually missing the moment of taking it in in person as they are too busy focusing their lens!!! The element of absorbing your surroundings & creating a memory is way beyond any photograph you can take. My favourite memories are in my mind….I then buy a professional photograph of that specific place.
That’s a good point! So many people miss the moment trying to capture the moment. Thank you so much, Katie. Look forward to buying a new hat from you soon and I’d encourage everyone to contact Katie for hats and fascinators for those special occasions!
