Welcome to our first guest on 21 Questions, Bekah Clark. It never fails to amaze me how people and places leave an impact differently on everyone. As they say we all experience 24 hours in a completely different way. Bekah has managed to travel around so many interesting places and has more than a few top tips for us. She’s also found an affinity to some of my favourite spots around the world namely The Boathouse at Balmoral and Palm Beaches in Sydney! We may experience everything differently but some places stand out to us all.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself Hello! My name is Bekah, I live in North London, with my husband Jon and our little girl Ora. We have a crazy Whippet called Marlo, and an aloof but secretly loveable cat named Willow. I am the founder of Beautiful Soup, a communications consultancy which specialises in storytelling for social impact and change. Earlier this year, I launched A Place at the Table, an event series for women who are interested and interesting. And I’ve just launched my new podcast series, Sharing Tales. I am essentially all about storytelling – listening and sharing stories is such an important part of our lives, and one of the ways we make sense of the world.

2. How much does your business influence the places you want to go or stay? I’ve always had a yearning for travel, since being a little girl and seeing images of faraway lands in 1980s catalogues, magazine spreads and TV adverts. Travel always seemed so magical, exotic, and glamourous. In my 20’s I did a lot of travel for work, but mainly in the UK, which was still good as I have seen quite a bit of my own country. But what I really hankered for was international travel, and I was very lucky in that work delivered just that in my 30s, and now 40s. I’ve travelled in the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Australasia. Whenever possible I love to mix business travel with pleasure, and take the time to explore and get to know new places outside of work meetings, projects, and events. Colleagues and collaborators that I have met along the way have also influenced my destination choices, having heard about the different countries they have come from or experienced on their own journeys. My work is essentially all about people, and people live in places, and those places often have a big impact on who we are and what we are all about. Where we live is a big part of all of our stories.

Probably my favourite hotel to stay in for work and pleasure is The Nomad, New York. One of my most fun and favourite work nights out was in Paris, with dinner at L’Avenue, followed by drinks at Hotel Costes. Best dinners out with colleagues, who are really friends, include Nusr-et in Abu Dhabi (aka Salt Bae and the best steak I have EVER tasted), and Pauly Saal, Berlin.

3. What were your holidays like as a child? Coming from a working-class family, we didn’t have the cash for air travel, which is probably why long-haul adventures are such an important part of my life now. We would holiday in the UK in places such as Devon, Cornwall, and Sussex. I have some lovely memories of being around St Ives and Perranporth as a little girl, eating Cornish pasties and Cornish ice cream, and playing on the beach. My Mum is from the Lake District so we would also often head up there for extended holidays. As a teenager I couldn’t imagine a worst punishment than being away from my friends for three weeks in the Lakes of all places. Why me? As an adult, it sounds absolutely blissful!

4. Do you speak any other languages? I wish! Several failed attempts at learning to speak Spanish. A bit of GCSE French. I persuaded my Mum and Dad to buy me some ‘Learn to Speak German’ cassette tapes when I was 12, and it just wouldn’t stick. I think I got as far as Ich bin Rebekah…

5. Is there one place or trip that stands out ? My best friend Rachel, who I met on our very first day of university, moved over to Sydney for work in 2016 for a one-year placement, and she is still there! When Ora was born I was desperate to see her, and introduce her to her new goddaughter. Whilst discussing this with Jon over dinner for my birthday, we made a fairly spontaneous decision that I should make the most of my maternity leave and take Ora over there to see her. At this point, Ora was three months old and her newly delivered passport was clearly itching to be used! Tickets were purchased two days later, and we landed in Sydney within the week. This trip will always be incredibly special to me, for a number of reasons. When Rachel and Ora locked eyes in Sydney Airport’s arrivals, it was like they were old souls being reunited. I knew I had made the right decision to make this somewhat epic journey alone with a small babe, and it marks mine and Ora’s first travel adventure together.

A few highlights of SYDNEY
We took the ferry across to Manly one day and had a gorgeous alfresco lunch at Hugos. It’s the perfect spot for sitting in the sun, right beside the sea, and having some of Sydney’s famous fresh and delicious food. Ora dipped her toes in the sand and sea for the first time here.

Jon was really keen that if Ora was going on this trip without him (not a bone of contention at all!) then the least she could do was go and see some real-life koalas! We went across to Featherdale a small wildlife park where they have koalas, wombats, and a collection of other indigenous animals.

Sydney is of course all about beach life and we had a lovely walk one day along Balmoral Beach where they have an outpost of The Boathouse, a collection of popular beachside cafes. My favourite restaurant of theirs is actually The Boathouse Palm Beach where you can dine on their candlelit jetty perched above the water. Palm Beach is where they film Summer Bay, so for extra points you can visit Alf Stewart’s Surf Club – I was a teenager in the 90s…

On the weekend we went to check out Paddington Markets, a brilliant artisan’s outdoor market set up beside a church. With an abundance of brilliant crafts, jewellery, artwork, foods, and locally produced items, the market has been supporting small Australian business owners since the early 1970s. Afterwards we strolled across to Kerry Rocks, a hard to leave and even harder not to buy from jewellery boutique specialising in fine metals and gorgeous gemstones. The ring collection in particular is superb.

Ora was a pretty-perfect travel companion, but on one of our last night’s Rachel’s boyfriend stepped up to babysit so the big girls could go out to play. We headed to Fred’s a beautiful farm to table restaurant, with a dining room which feels like you are in a gorgeous contemporary country home, with tables set around a big open kitchen. Everything was seasonal, delicious and flawless. As an added bonus, they have a downstairs bar, Charlie Parker’s, which feels all dark, moody and cosy. An ideal spot for two old girlfriends to put the world to rights over a couple of tasty digestifs.

We flew with Etihad which was a conscious decision. I was of course quite nervous about travelling long-haul with Ora by myself when she was still so young, so I wanted to minimise variables. Having lived and worked in the UAE for many years, I know Etihad, and I know Abu Dhabi airport (where we would transfer both ways) incredibly well. I was also sold on their ‘Flying Nanny’ service where a specific member of crew is dedicated to helping families on their flights. The Etihad cabin crew were simply amazing on all four flights. On the way back, after a fairly hectic time away, my energy reserves were low. The crew stepped in, and essentially took Ora and looked after her in the galley for most of the Sydney-Abu Dhabi leg, giving me time to sleep. When I went to collect her at one point I was met with the disappointed faces of cabin crew who hadn’t had ‘their turn’ yet. I am a big fan of Etihad and would recommend them for any flights on their route map.

6. What is your most memorable trip (possibly without kids) or favourite destination? Ah, so many lovely trips! The ‘F**k It, Let’s Go To New York’ print lives in our sitting room as a reminder of our favourite city in the world (after London). We saw this in a café in Paris - (it’s by a French designer) when we were in town for my birthday one year and I loved it. My husband surprised me with a limited print for my next birthday. The place my husband and I always think we would love to return to however is Langkawi in Malaysia. We flew from Dubai, where we were living at the time, to Kuala Lumpa and stayed a couple of nights there en route. We liked KL, but once we hot-footed it up to Langkawi, we completely fell in love. We stayed at the gorgeous Casa del Mar, with a room right on the beach. If I can hear the waves lapping as I go to sleep, and wake up, I always feel like I’m in heaven.

If we can, we prefer to stay at small, independently owned accommodation. At Casa del Mar everything had been thought of. The staff were incredibly friendly and warm, and nothing was too much trouble. Amazing food and amenities, including a small spa. On this trip I persuaded my husband to have his first (and possibly last!) couples’ treatments. He doesn’t like massage, so he decided on a facial while I stretched out for a body rub. My therapist and I couldn’t help have a giggle at Jon in his towel turban, face mask and cucumber eyes, much to his disgust! The hotel has a little beach bar, where each evening guests are invited to spin the wheel to be in with a chance of winning delicious cocktails on the house. There was always a joyful throng of people gathered to enjoy sundowners on the beach, and try their luck with the wheel. When it comes to beach holidays, we always say we’d rather try new places than revisit old ones. But we still maintain, when it comes to Casa del Mar, we’ll surely return.

7. Did you travel this summer 2020? If so how was it? We didn’t, and unusually for us, we didn’t have any big holidays planned. I remember at the start of the year saying I wasn’t sure what we were doing, and it turns out we were staying home! That said, we are off to Dorset next week, to stay in Lyme Regis. Jon and I both grew up going to Cornwall on holiday, but for our new family, Dorset seems to be becoming a firm favourite. We have been a number of times over the past few years. Gorgeous coastline and some fab foodie destinations too.

8. If you could no longer fly. Where is your favourite spot in the UK? I was waxing lyrical about Dorset. I’ll stick with there for now, although we are keen to explore Suffolk.

9. Have you ever worked with a charity project whilst abroad ? I feel a true highlight of travel is getting to know some of the people who live in the place where you are visiting. Over the years I have participated in a few charity and volunteer experiences. The first time was when I was 20 and travelled to Russia to teach English for the Summer. This was in the late 1990s, when the former Soviet Union was opening up and many Russians saw learning English as a way to a future with more opportunities. I stayed with a family in St Petersburg which I thought was one of the most majestic cities with landmarks such as The Hermitage and the Church of Savior of the Spilled Blood. I would love to go back. It took me a number of weeks to soberly realise that Katya, my host, had moved into the living room to give up her bedroom for me to stay in. Many local families at that time took in foreign students for the Summer, as the board the visitors paid made quite a difference to them in the months ahead. I’m not sure how much my students learned from me English-wise, but many of them taught me early lessons of a lifetime. It was strange and poignant to become friends with people whose family members had disappeared in the night during the purges, or had become political prisoners. The things I had learned in my A-level history were becoming all too real. As is often the case, it is those with the least who give the most. My students were so hospitable and took such good care of me, from inviting me to their houses to drink their homemade vodka, to sneaking me in to the best seats at the Mariinsky Ballet where they worked as ushers. I still have the Babushka doll my sweet friend (and oldest student at 82!) Lily gave me - ready to pass on to my daughter for safe keeping. This was all eons ago, but the company who arranged this for me is now huge and still going. https://www.i-to-i.com

Jon and I travelled to Sri Lanka for Christmas in 2012, finding ourselves staying at Paradise Road in Bentota on the anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami. One day we hired a sweet driver to take us out for the day, and he told us how grateful he was that tourists such as us were there. Many were still too scared to return to the region because of the disaster, and of course like so many tourist-driven economies, communities suffer when people no longer travel there. He took us to a turtle sanctuary where we looked after and played with the baby turtles for a morning. We found out that the sanctuary had lost many of its local volunteers to the Tsunami, but again in the face of adversity what we took from these lovely people was a strong sense of resilience and hope.

In January of this year I was lucky enough to find myself on the gorgeous Jessica Huie’s Purpose Retreat in Treasure Beach, Jamaica. Little did we know then… The retreat is designed to help those who attend “get in touch with their true purpose, reconnecting with who we are beyond the roles we play in our lives”. Again, the highlights were getting to meet and know some of the Treasure Beach residents, and one morning we went along to a local primary school armed with art supplies, and of course sweeties! The children were surprised but pleased to see us, proud of their school and excited to share some cheeky jokes with us.

10. Has holidays with kids changed the way you see or experience them? Ora is still small, so unable to really appreciate a family holiday, but it won’t be long before we are choosing locations suited to activities we know she’ll love and enjoy. So far, she has simply come along with us for the ride. That said, holiday nights have of course much changed, so we tend to eat out at different places for lunch, and then stay in at night chilling out over something one of us has cooked, while Ora goes down to bed. I definitely find myself thinking of places I would love to take Ora as she grows older. Near the top of that list is the Kakslauttanen Resort in Lapland, Finland. It’s a dream to go and stay in one of their igloos, take Ora to meet Saint Nicholas/Joulupukki, and if we’re truly lucky, experience the Northern Lights!

11. What’s a perfect holiday 24 hours? Let’s assume this was pre-Ora, or we have grabbed a couple of nights away just the two of us!

8am – Wake up naturally after a night of undisturbed sleep. 9am – Head to a small restaurant on the water, ready for a leisurely breakfast feast! If they have mimosas on the menu, I know I’m in the right place. 10.30am – Beach time, ready to get horizontal on a sun lounger with a good book for a couple of hours, maybe a quick dip now and then in the warm, blue sea. 12.30pm – Press that little button on the table next to me to order a glass of fizz and start thinking about lunch plans. 1pm – Sit down for a light but delicious salad, with fresh meat or fish, locally sourced. 2.30pm – We love the water so would take the opportunity to get out on a boat and experience a breeze in the hot afternoon sun. 4pm – Late afternoon dip in the pool, and perhaps a cheeky cocktail at the swim up bar. 5pm – Back to our room to freshen up and get ready for our evening 6.30pm – Drinks at the beach bar, and a friendly chat with the bar tender, in the corner of my eye I see some musicians setting up getting ready to provide some entertainment! 7.30pm – Hop in a cab for a change of scene and find ourselves in a hidden gem of a restaurant, all candles, light music and intimate nooks and crannies. We eat too much whilst we reminisce about the past, and plot for our future. 9.30pm – Back to our lodgings for a quick night cap and a listen to the waves. 10pm – We laugh about the fact that once again it’s way before midnight, and as always on holiday, we are tucked up in bed, happy and content, ready to do it all again tomorrow.

The Final 10

Under or over pack? A lot of business travel has made me super organised. I actually write out outfits for each day and then pack accordingly. Nuts, I know!

Maximal style or minimalist chic? Minimalist chic

How many bikini’s/suits do you pack? Four

Heels or bare foot? Havaianas

Ski or sun? Sun

Beach or pool? Beach, but only if there is a sun lounger, and a button I can press to ask somebody to bring me a glass of something cold. I’m on holiday after all!

City break or Safari? Love a city break. Yet to do full-on safari, it’s on my list!

Buffet breakfast or a la cart? A la carte

Top 3 hand luggage items you always take? Beats, book and socks

Dream travel list to do before you die? Again, I have a long list! But my top three to go with Jon and Ora (when she is a little older) are:

Gili Lankanfushi, Maldives

Song Saa, Cambodia

Waiheke Island, New Zealand