Travelling Stylist

One of the best things about my job as a stylist is that over the past few years I’ve been able to travel to so many countries and get a glimpse of different lives, different foods, different world views. Granted, I don’t always get to see much more than the hotel, hire car, shoot location, and airport, but it’s still a thrill.

Being that it’s the new year, I’ll let you in on a secret that might inspire you. I told you last time that I write down things I want to accomplish in the coming year. I don’t think of them as resolutions – there’s a stigma attached to resolutions, don’t you think? A resolution, like a rule, is crying out to be broken. I think of them instead as goals or intentions. Pretty common practice for the new year right? So for the last couple of years I definitely wrote down that I wanted to travel a lot for work. I think I even wrote down specific cities and countries. And I ended up going to most of them. I swear. If I were just a bit more shameless I would scan and post my pathetic little scribbled wish notes (“In 2015 I am travelling to the south of France and Paris for work.” Yeah that happened about 10 times with my old Anthropologie job!) The idiom “Be careful what you wish for” exists for a reason.

So…the South of France eh? In the first week of December, just days before turning 40, I travelled to Nimes with photographer Debi Treloar to shoot the third of 12 homes for my next interiors book. The home was absolutely stunning, and perfect for the book (can’t wait to share the title with you!), but Nimes itself was also very charming. One of the highlights for me was the quick walk Debi and I took upon arriving in town the night before the shoot. We’d heard there was a coliseum ruin so we thought we’d whizz around town before dinner, checking things out. The coliseum was closed, but right next to it was a Big Wheel (Ferris Wheel to my American readers). Normally I probably would have kept on walking, disappointed in not gaining entry to the old ruin, but Debi piped up “Shall we go on it?” And we did. For the cost of a few euros we had an incredible view down into the ruin under the most spectacular sunset (it even looks good on my rubbish iPhone) and had a lovely if slightly vertigo-inducing five minutes.

We also saw shops like this. They actually exist people! You know those pseudo-worn signs you see in the home department of T K Maxx? Well this is what they’re based on ok? Real worn signs that say things in French which, as we know, always sounds better than English.And this cool little denim shop selling very expensive American vintage work wear – old Levi’s, army jackets, patched denim shirts for 180 Euros a pop anyone?View from my hotel room. I should make a coffee table book called Views From My Hotel Room.  Someone’s gonna do it, mark my words.So the moral of the story is…make a list of things you want to do and bloody well make it happen. The other moral of the story is never pass up a chance to ride on a Ferris wheel.

Next time I’ll give you a little sneak peek of the home we shot in Nimes. It’s a bit of a dream. x