For millions, Simon Le Bon is the unmistakable voice and charismatic frontman of Duran Duran, a band whose video landscapes have defined decades. But as revealed in this engaging conversation with Tanya Rose on the “Travel Secrets” podcast, Simon and his wife, the equally captivating Yasmin Le Bon, (or, as Simon said, “Yasmin and Simon Le Bon”), share a profound and enduring passion: the art of travel. Their journeys, recounted with infectious enthusiasm, paint a vibrant tapestry of unexpected detours, cherished destinations, and a shared spirit of adventure that extends far beyond the stage door.

Early Roads to Discovery: Tehran and Turkey

Yasmin’s earliest memories are steeped in the romance of the road. “In our summers,” she recalls, “my father used to drive us all the way to Tehran…quite a journey, you know, 4,000 miles there, 4,000 miles back.” These epic overland expeditions, devoid of modern conveniences like air conditioning or even a CD player, ignited a lifelong curiosity.

For Simon, the world unfurled through the lens of his burgeoning music career. As he explained to Tanya, “I count myself really lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to go around the world not just as a tourist actually, but feeling that I’m working and have and feeling I’m actually contributing something.” Yet, amidst the whirlwind of tours, certain destinations have resonated deeply. His early experience of a “terrifying” first flight to Amsterdam stands in stark contrast to the seasoned traveler he is today.

The Perils of Punctuality (Duran Duran Style)

The life of a touring musician often involves a frantic dash from one side of Planet Earth to another, and as Simon confessed to Tanya with a chuckle, punctuality wasn’t always their strong suit in the early days. “We used to play this game in the band,” he admitted, “where you’d see just how late you could be and how…late you could shave it.” This high-stakes game, particularly between Simon and Nick Rhodes, occasionally resulted in near misses – and sometimes actual misses – of flights. “On a number of occasions, we missed flights because of this game,” he confessed. He humorously noted how different things were then, with airlines sometimes holding planes, a stark contrast to today’s more rigid schedules. “Don’t think you can keep the plane waiting like we used to,” he advised with a knowing laugh.

Whispers of Wild Scotland

Scotland holds a special joint affection. “Scotland,” Yasmin declares with warmth, “it’s so close and but it is so…so wild in places and so wonderful.” Simon echoes this sentiment: “It really is the land of the big sky.” Their appreciation extends to hidden gems like the “fabulous” Inn at Loch Tummel in Perthshire, a “great travel secret” with just six rooms and no televisions, offering an escape into breathtaking scenery. “You have four seasons in one day,” Yasmin marvels, “and everything just changes, this is like this extraordinary movie in front of you.” Simon fondly remembers his love for driving through the Scottish landscapes, even referencing the cinematic beauty of the A9 in the James Bond film Skyfall.

Inn at Loch Tummel in Perthshire

The Enigmatic Allure of Japan

Across continents, Japan holds a unique allure for Simon, a fascination he eloquently. His first visit in the early 80s sparked a lasting connection with its distinct culture and meticulous nature. “It is extraordinary how different the culture is,” he muses, “the way people think, the way people are…it really makes you stop and think and assess your own self and your own life.” Beyond the bustling cities, it’s the subtle nuances and alternative perspectives that captivate him. He recounted a humorous, slightly less successful, culinary adventure with baby octopus, highlighting the unexpected discoveries that often accompany travel. Yet, his appreciation for the “joyful” colors of Japanese cars and trucks, and the “incredible flavor” of sea urchin prepared with shiso leaf, underscores the depth of his connection with the country.

The Ubiquitous Utility of Gaffer Tape

A true sign of a seasoned traveler is the reliance on certain indispensable items. For Simon, and much to Yasmin’s chagrin, that item is gaffer tape. “I travel with a roll of gaffer tape,” he declared. “I particularly like the fluorescent ones because I find it so useful.” Its versatility for equipment repairs and countless other unforeseen needs makes it a constant companion. Yasmin playfully chimed in on Simon’s attachment to this humble tool:

“My whole life is held together by gaffer tape!”

South American Echoes

South America presents a contrasting tableau of experiences. While Yasmin recounted a less-than-idyllic encounter with “really bad Brazil belly,” Simon vividly remembers a transformative return to Chile. “The first time we went there…people looked really sad and really miserable,” he recalls. Years later, however, a return visit during the Lola Palooza tour revealed a “different world,” vibrant with music and a palpable sense of joy. “They are the hippies of South America, Chileans definitely,” he observes, noting their “spiritual” nature and unique approach to food.

Adventures on the Azure: The Call of the Sea

Perhaps their most profound shared adventures have unfolded on the water.

Their most memorable voyage, a post-round-the-world race anniversary trip in the Caribbean on a stripped-down racing yacht, epitomizes their adventurous spirit. Despite the lack of creature comforts – a makeshift toilet with a hole and a broken water maker – the experience was nothing short of magical. “We felt like little pirates,” Yasmin laughs, recounting their impromptu rain-shower baths. This voyage also brought an unexpected drama: a Mayday call leading to a nighttime rescue of a stranded family, a truly “poignant travel tale” that underscored the unpredictable nature of life at sea. Simon vividly recalled the tension and the collaborative effort to save the family, highlighting the strong sense of community that can emerge in unexpected circumstances.

A Taste of the World

“You’ve got to understand about us,” Simon declared with a chuckle, “is we eat pretty much everything!” Yasmin playfully added to this sentiment about their adventurous palates, hinting at their enjoyment of a good drink as well.

Their culinary journeys have led them to savor unforgettable flavors in unassuming settings. They fondly recalled a trip to Sicily, where, staying near Taormina, they stumbled upon a “really simple open small restaurant” with whitewashed walls and views of the sea. Despite its unassuming appearance and a menu with just a few items, the food was revelatory. They were particularly struck by the freshness and taste of even simple salads. It was here they had a memorable encounter with sea urchin, brought to their table in a “grubby sort of looking jar” – a testament to its just-caught freshness. The resulting sea urchin pasta was so delicious that they returned the next day for lunch, solidifying it as a culinary highlight.

Their appreciation for sea urchin extended beyond Sicily. In Greece, on the island of Ithaca, they experienced it in an entirely different way – freshly caught by a local diver. Simon vividly described the scene: the diver using a chain mail glove to handle the spiky creatures, then expertly opening one with a knife to offer them a taste straight from the sea. “That was extraordinary, that was incredible,” he exclaimed, emphasizing the primal experience of eating something so fresh.

Their culinary explorations also took them to Japan, where Simon discovered another facet of sea urchin served as sushi and sashimi. While he wasn’t a fan of the accompanying fish roe on the sushi, he raved about the sashimi paired with shiso, a special nettle leaf with an “incredible flavor” that complemented the sea urchin beautifully.

Beyond specific dishes, they also highlighted the general quality of food in Italy. “You go to any little restaurant and the food’s really good generally,” Simon noted, attributing it to the high standards of Italian people. Yasmin pointed out the unique quality of Sicilian produce, grown in the volcanic soil, giving everything a distinct taste. They both enthusiastically recommended the wines from Mount Etna, particularly the white wines, which Simon described as “some of the best white wines I’ve tasted.”

Yasmin’s High-Altitude Adventures

While Simon found his adventure in music and sailing, Yasmin has her own compelling tales of pushing boundaries. Simon playfully alluded to her adventurous spirit, mentioning, “Yasmin’s done a climb.” “Well not really,” she chuckled, “I just filled in. My daughter had supposedly organized this with a great friend who then she couldn’t do it.”

Despite the somewhat impromptu nature of the expedition, Yasmin embraced the challenge. However, the high altitudes presented a significant obstacle. “I was the only person who couldn’t summit actually,” she recounted, “I got terrible altitude sickness which I knew was on the way.” She described the experience of reaching base camp for a preparatory lunch, only to realize the debilitating effects of the altitude. “When we went up to that level, you couldn’t do it,” she stated, emphasizing the profound impact of the altitude sickness. Despite not reaching the summit, the experience was clearly a memorable and “extraordinary, incredible thing to do,” showcasing her willingness to embrace challenging adventures.

The Enduring Spirit of Adventure

Simon and Yasmin Le Bon approach the world with an enduring spirit of adventure. Their favorite destinations, from the wild beauty of Scotland to the enigmatic charm of Japan and the boundless freedom of the sea, are not just places on a map, but integral chapters in their shared story.

Transcript from the Podcast, courtesy of Travel Secrets With Tanya Rose:

0:00[Music] welcome to Travel Secrets with me Tanya

0:05Rose the podcast sharing wisdom for fellow travelers each week I ask my guests to reveal their six travel

0:12secrets and the holidays and adventures that surround them i would just like to say thank you to Mason Rose the sales

0:18and communication agency that represents some of the finest hotels around the world for partnering with Travel Secrets

0:25the podcast [Music]

0:34today my guests are the dynamic duo this is my first threesome so let’s hope it

0:41goes well mine too it’s It’s We’re not Batman and Robin by the way we may look

0:46like Batman and Robin but Welcome Simon and Yasmin Leon hello i’m so happy to

0:52have you on Travel sorry you got that wrong it’s not Simon Yasmin Leon yasmin

0:58and Simon Leon oh that’s so funny welcome Yasmin and Simon Leon yay he

1:04thought he’d get the brownie points in early yeah when we were talking before we were talking about how an interview

1:10with three of us goes so you said it’s got to be band rules but I don’t think that’s going to work it’s band rules

1:16well band rules when when we do band um interviews one of the things we realize

1:22is that it doesn’t work when people talk over the top of each other but maybe that’s not the same in a marriage but

1:28luckily we’re not in a band together so I can break all those rules excellent so

1:34before we go into your travel secrets perhaps you could both tell me individually about yourselves and how

1:40travel has impacted the person that you have become who shall we start with yes you’re so funny um do you want me to

1:48start i mean actually you know um it’s okay i’ll start holidays are holidays no I’ll start holidays are not something

1:55that I ever really grew up with but I was blessed to be half Persian and half

2:02English and so in our summers my father used to drive us all the way to Tehran

2:10which is quite is quite a journey you know 4,000 miles there 4,000 miles back

2:15wow no air conditioning no CD player no iPod you know my poor parents had to

2:20listen to my sister and I singing the same song just one verse of House of the

2:25Rising Sun all the way there and back how they didn’t actually leave us at the roadside in Turkey I have no idea but

2:32that was um a real joy and I was incredibly lucky because it opened my

2:39eyes to other cultures other food other smells tastes sounds everything you know

2:46driving across through Europe and then into Bulgaria Yugoslavia then and then

2:52Turkey so I was incredibly lucky um quite grueling but quite brilliant but

2:59holidays were not something that were was was really something that I grew up with we didn’t we felt lucky to be in in

3:05Oxford and I maybe it was a generational thing i don’t know people go on holiday a lot more now how wonderful though i

3:11didn’t leave the UK until I was 18 years old really yeah now but um I went to

3:17Amsterdam i remember taking off from Heathrow in this Boeing 37 33 37 or

3:23something like that no small plane is it went sideways and I was terrified

3:28absolutely terrified first flight look how far you’ve come now i know all the way from Amsterdam back and back again

3:35do you remember your time in Amsterdam or It was It was nice we went to I stayed with my girlfriend’s um sister

3:43and her partner and we hung around in bars a lot of bars I remember oh

3:51wonderful it was good fun um I’m lucky enough to have but I’m I I joined a band

3:56and um and travel is a is a huge part of of being in the entertainment industry

4:03well for for a band like us anyway um and I count myself really lucky that

4:09I’ve had the opportunity to go around the world not just as a tourist actually

4:14but feeling that I’m working and have and and feeling I’m actually contributing something and does it help

4:21you get under the skin of that destination if you’re working there do you feel like a local more or do you feel like you go in and out um I

4:27wouldn’t say that i mean I do a similar thing in that I would you know I’d jump on a plane I’d be in and out of places

4:34so quickly um you get a different sense of of of how a place works I suppose but

4:41maybe not like a local um you you you get doors open for you in different

4:46places places maybe that you wouldn’t normally be able to go to yeah um I mean I remember one one of the my favorite

4:54things was I got to finally work travel to India and work in India i’ve been

5:00saving India up like my whole life I turned down trips to India i go “No no no no i want to go there when I’m going

5:07to travel there i don’t want to go and do a shoot there that’ll just ruin it.” Finally realized that I’d still never

5:12been to India and so got and so I’d got this trip i was booked for the second

5:19issue of Indian Vogue and went to Udaur in Rajasthan and it was the most magical

5:27journey alto together for me i mean they were a wonderful crew incredible photographer um it was like being in a

5:34movie i was like in a cast of thousands and it was just so magical and that’s

5:39when I knew we had to go back i had to take So Yas came back from that journey and said to me “You’ve got to go you’ve

5:47really got to go i think one of your questions later on is going to be what one destination must you go to well

Secret 1: Number 1 destination everybody should go to

5:53we’ve got more than one that’s a good thing for that so we’ll talk about India now because the number one question is

5:59what’s the number one destination but let’s talk about India and then you can have your other choices okay well I

6:04didn’t I didn’t say that India was the number one destination it is but is extraordinary she took me

6:11over there and I was absolutely bowled over by the color the the noise the

6:20people I mean the smells um the food obviously but the culture is so

6:26overwhelming it is what the music so the night the first time we went there do you remember we drove um to that uh fort

6:34at Chitra a chitra yeah right and um and they had uh they they had a dinner for

6:41us they’d laid on a dinner for us and um there was a there’s a little Indian band

6:47playing while we sat down and ate and it was just magical oh fantastic that place

6:52was very very magical did you sing with them did I sing with uh um No I don’t know any of the lyrics did they know

6:59your lyrics they could have joined i doubt it oh how funny let’s go on to the number

7:05one destination what do you think is the number one destination we’ve got this is the joint thing right now we both talked

7:11about this in the bathroom before we came here um and and I I I think the one

7:17place that Well it’s one place that everybody needs to go to i would say one

7:23of those places cuz we’ve got more than one um is Scotland we said it together

7:30darling i got my eye on you sunshine don’t you worry really Scotland how wonderful yeah because Scotland it’s

7:36it’s so close and but it is so it’s so wild in places and so wonderful and and

7:43Scottish people are amazing but it’s beauty beautiful i mean it’s to on your doorstep virtually you’ve got somewhere

7:50where you can go where you can’t actually see the sight of man the hand of man anywhere it’s so rugged and

7:57beautiful and unspoiled and there’s so much of it i mean you know we’ve only been to a few places but there there is

8:05so much to see where did you go when you went there well Perthshshire oh it’s so beautiful which is which is which is

8:12really not that Ran i mean L TML and Ranuk gorgeous and we we know a t a tiny

8:19little hotel on the on the banks of L Tamil it’s called the inn at Lo Tamil

8:26and it is it’s fabulous it’s really really wonderful that’s a great travel

8:32secret yes no TV very no TV very small very six rooms i think six rooms or we

8:38got more now six rooms i think just six rooms and and and the food is amazing there and it is

8:45beautiful you’re you’re on the you’re on the edge of just the most gorgeous scenery that you know through the day

8:52and you know what Scotland’s like you have four seasons in one day and everything just changes this is like

8:57this extraordinary movie in front of you you wouldn’t even have to leave did you drive when you went up there in your

9:03sort of rally i love driving up to Scotland love it yeah and there’s that Skyfall film you know the James Bond one

9:09they they drive up to Perth to run I think well the A9 is such an amazing road the

9:16beauty of there though if you if you want to stay there for any length of time is that it doesn’t get battered by

9:22the weather in the same way that East or West Scotland I think does yeah

9:27you’ll happily sit there watching the weather forecast and it’ll be telling you that it’s absolutely appalling you’re sitting in the sunshine i know

9:33Yaz is Yaz is Yaz Yas is very very optimistic and and rosy rosily tinted

9:40when it comes to talking when it comes to talking about the weather in Scotland because you think that they’re saying

9:45it’s terrible what they’re doing they’re keep what they do is they tell everybody it’s terrible so they keep the house

9:51prices down for the locals i’ve got it i’ I’ve cracked it i’ve cracked it well I’m going to go place it sounds

9:56absolutely amazing it is amazing scotland is amazing i mean it really is the land of the big sky my My brother

10:02went to school at La Rana School it doesn’t exist anymore but he had that

10:07every day on his doorstep imagine how beautiful lovely and there’s a new hotel that opened a few years ago called the

10:14Farms have you heard of that we still got to go to Farm they love it apparently it’s

10:19incredible really really great that’s definitely on our list yeah so let’s go on to the next one what is the most

10:26unexpected oh don’t you want the other oh yes i want another cuz there are two of you please give me the other two of us and this Please give me the other

10:32well this is mine because because Yasmin kind of she she appropriated Scotland in the bathroom um and I was thinking and I

10:40I well I’ve done a lot of work in Japan

10:45um I’ve been going there regularly since about um well I first went there in the

10:51early 80s and every time I go to Japan I discover something different it is

10:59extraordinary how it the first thing that gets you is just how different the culture is because it’s a culture um the

11:07way people think the way people are it’s it is wonderful and it really makes you stop and think and assess your own self

11:14and your own life you know um I love the way they do things there’s the attention

11:19to detail it’s attention to detail but also there’s it’s like an alternative

11:24view of the world i really think they see things in a different they they look at things in

11:30a slightly different way not a huge hugely different way but in a slightly different way and I think we can all

11:36learn from that do you like the Japanese food i love Japanese food but you you

11:43particularly love Japanese food in Japan though that’s I think it’s very different actually i remember once I went I was

11:50staying there on I was in I was staying at the Aura Hotel and I and I got a

11:56little bit a little bit adventurous and um I saw on the room service menu that um oh baby

12:04octopuses I thought I’ I’d get some of those so they sent them up they came up on a tray on a table and um I got my

12:12chopsticks and I pulled out tiny little baby octopus like that it was put it in my mouth i just spelled it it was so

12:19fishy oh it was really unpleasant it was like concentrated

12:27bad fish taste really not something I like but I mean I’ve had I’ve also I’ve

12:32eaten things like squid stomachs good which did you manage that yeah i mean

12:39they’re very they don’t really taste of a lot but they’ve got a really crunchy sort of almost like a radish sort of

12:46crunchiness of of of of squid stomach i think that’s a good title for my

12:52autobiography the crunchiness of Squid’s stomach squid stomach i love I love all the cars there

12:59though and the and the trucks the trucks you’ve never seen number one they’re so

13:05clean but every single one is a different custom color really yeah you

13:11know you look at cars and vehicles here and everything’s gray or just very

13:16monotone you really boring there they’re joyful have these micro cars that are

13:21such joyful colors everything’s about joy there’s a delivery company and their

13:26logo is a cat carrying a kitten in its mouth you know by the scruff of its neck

13:32and it’s and it’s on the side of these lo and they’re all painted lilac that’s their livery and and yeah they’re really

13:39beautiful they make the whole street look beautiful they do when when Jody

13:44came and did the podcast a few weeks ago she arrived at the peninsula in this enormous truck i mean I’ve never seen a

13:50truck like it have you seen her truck it’s like she’s just got a Hilux isn’t she i don’t know it’s huge big red thing

13:58anyway it was covered covered in mud and by the time she left they had validated the whole thing it was like it was like

14:04she took it back down to East Sussex to get muddy yeah get it muddy again oh

14:09it’s so funny what is the most unexpected travel experience you’ve ever had i’m going to Jas Yasmin first oo

Secret 2: Most unexpected travel experience

14:17unexpected travel experience i mean the one in the mille sounded quite unexpected to me when I was to be honest

14:24the car crash that was an Thank you very much Simon i think you’ll find I was in the car that was

14:31unexpected uncalled for really I would say more than unexpected and we were

14:37David Gandandy and I were I mean I was you know had David Gandhi in the car with me it was pretty fabulous we’re in

14:42a race race prepared XK 120 and I’m

14:48overtaking another car second in a line of overtaking cars and and yes and I’m

14:55sorry but the guide who I was overtaking didn’t realize and really got the hump

15:00with the fact he’d already been overtaken so decided that he was about to overtake so he didn’t check his

15:06mirror in other words he didn’t check anything didn’t check his wing mirror he and I could see he was turning like he

15:14was pulling out but we were neck and we were right next to each other i had pedal to the metal so it was either we

15:20were going to be pushed off which would take mean we’d both be in a spin or I had to make a split decision see I think

15:27you just could have clipped him and sent him into a roll over yeah fantastic no I don’t think so anyway it all ended very

15:34well survived got back in the car and completed it and thrived actually

15:39actually had the best run after that that would probably be my most unexpected of journeys but you know I

15:46hadn’t again on one of the journeys to to Iran uh we managed to my father was

15:52um a a really strongminded character nothing phased

15:58him ever the only time I think I’ve ever ever seen him not frightened but that focused was

16:06when we were going across Turkey and in those days there was barely a proper

16:11road going through Turkey you wouldn’t see anyone else in the road and we’re in

16:17the middle of nowhere and this huge storm came out of just just nowhere and

16:23it was it was extraordinary it was like being in the dead of night um the

16:29thunderbolt hit the back of the car god on one side were mountains where the

16:34rain started coming down it was like rivers pushing the car off the road my father couldn’t see anything it was

16:41really really incredible i’ve never been in anything like it in a vehicle in my life how in the in the distance he saw a

16:50couple of lights we managed to pull into this little tiny place this in in the middle of nowhere anyway that that was

16:57astounding i have to say that J because the next day we drove out and the boulders on the road were the size of

17:04houses oh my god how terrifying it was really That’s where you get your intrepidness from I’m sure really

17:10incredible after that i mean everything’s just you know everything’s a breeze after that do you

17:15have one that’s unexpected and not quite as dangerous i’m just I I can’t really compete with Yasmin on the

17:22unexpected stories um what I would say is way back in

17:301982 when we finished the album Rio yeah while Nick Rhodess stayed in London

17:37mixing the album uh myself John uh Taylor and Roger Taylor unrelated and

17:46Andy Taylor unrelated um we all took a a flight we took an Air India flight out

17:53to Sri Lanka i said “I’ve not been to India i haven’t been to India but I have been to Sri

17:59Lanka.” And none of us were expecting anything we just weren’t so so we we

18:05didn’t know what we were walking walking into we’ just come off making this album and they said “Right you’re going to make you’re going to go to Sri Lanka to

18:12make the video.” So okay fine whatever um and we got off the plane and it was

18:19extraordinary we just had no we just we just didn’t have any idea what it would

18:24be like in I suppose it was our first t time really I mean in a proper third

18:30world country and a lot of the things a very different culture yes and a lot of the things that I’ve talked about in

18:35India really applied to Sri Lanka too but it was just that coming from one

18:41world to another culture shock was extraordinary I mean when Nick arrived he arrived wearing his leather stage

18:48suit into into sort of you know 35 degree temperature um they they said

18:55they said we we said “Where are we going?” They said “Oh we’re going down to a place called Gaul.” Um beautiful

19:01and it was uh they they we said “How far away is it?” They said “Oh 60 miles.” We thought

19:07we’ll be there in in half an hour you know 45 minutes um it took it was like a

19:124-hour drive because of the way that the roads are and the way they drive wow

19:18they drive scary do they do like chicken like they do they just Well it’s not so much that they just see they just

19:23they’re very good at figuring out where a car’s not going to be when they go

19:28past that spot um when we went there the food wasn’t up to

19:34much it wasn’t It was everything was coconut it was all coconut um but we stayed in well we stayed in a hotel

19:41which would become the Amangala oh yes then when we when we were there it was called the New Oriental Hotel and it was

19:48um owned by an English lady called Nester a lovely lovely English lady i

19:55got told off because I was by the swimming pool and I saw this palm tree and um I thought “Hang on that’s got

20:02coconuts on it.” Did you try so I got a coconut off it i did oh no it’s I know I

20:08didn’t i’ll tell a lie it had fallen on the floor and um and uh I picked it up

20:13and uh and I had I found a knife and I cut it open and drank the juice and then

20:18I was told off for eating one of Neestor’s coconuts really um I also I stayed in that hotel

20:26i know i left my I left my swimming trunks on a on a bush to dry in the sun and and went off and then when I got

20:33back they were gone did a fan steal them no no no apparently apparently this is what in in um in uh in Sri Lanka if you

20:41leave things on bush bushes it’s it’s for anybody to take for a game yeah so the next question is what is your most

Secret 3: Most Over or Underrated travel experience

20:48overrated or underrated it sounds like Sri Lanka was quite underrated actually you weren’t expecting it to be as lovely

20:55as it was absolutely it was beautiful beautiful place have you got any overrated places that you’ve been to we

21:01had a bad experience do you remember we went to we went to a That’s

21:06contentious contentious he hasn’t been in the world underrated Sweden absolutely underrated yes stockholm love

21:14the archipelago out of Stock i mean sailing out of there is it it’s just

21:20magical pure pure pure magic frankly and and who built Stockholm is what I want

21:26to know every time I go there small country must have been even smaller a couple hundred years ago very simple

21:32answer look at all these massive buildings swedish people who built all of this and and where are they now there

21:40is the most beautiful hotel in Stockholm not one of my clients but I think one of the best hotels I’ve ever been to

21:47it is gorgeous so that means at home doesn’t it yes yeah okay and it feels

21:52like that doesn’t it it’s just so beautiful i love That’s my That’s my little etm is always my my reference for

21:59everything it’s like Have you seen Do you like that have you seen Etm yes no but it’s so beautiful everything she’s

22:05got exquisite taste yeah she really does crawford isn’t it yeah fantastic i mean

22:10I’ll be honest with you i think when you’re talking about um sort of overrated places i mean there’s not many

22:18places that that that if you know about stuff and of course because of our experience we tend to have an idea

22:24there’s not many places we go to that we’re really disappointed by that’s good um and I and I think and the other thing

22:30is it’s got a lot to do with how you are if you go somewhere wanting to find the

22:36best in it wanting to enjoy yourself then then you probably will if you go

22:41there a bit disgruntled and looking for the the you know the holes in the carpet

22:46and the walls you’ll find them yeah I agree totally agree absolutely i mean it’s tough isn’t it when people talk a

22:51lot about somewhere um and you do build up expectations simon’s been lucky

22:57enough to tour in South America and I only got to go to Brazil oh that was a

23:03surprise and was super super super sick really bad Brazil belly for the entire

23:10time we were there but I’ve never traveled to Argentina or Chile and I’d

23:16absolutely love to go but I’m almost scared to do it now because I want to so

23:21much i’ve heard so much you know is it going to live up to my expectations now

23:27and recently some great friends of ours actually took 3 months off and went backpacking around really around South

23:35America yeah at our age really can you believe can you believe that are they

23:41What were they thinking can I interrupt here now yeah oh gosh here we go so a real surprise another real surprise was

23:48Chile the second time we went there the the first time we went there was was

23:53during the Pinocha era pino was Chile pino Chile so and and we went there i

24:00remember people looked really sad and really miserable i don’t think the weather was very good when we were there

24:06the first time it was it was a bit crap um and I came away thinking I came away

24:13thinking “Oh I actually never need to go there again do I?” Um and for some

24:19reason many years later on a much more recent tour say um about seven years ago

24:27we went back on the Lola Palooa tour and we entered San Diego Chi to Chile and it

24:36was like a different world it’s a different regime a different political regime you know not an

24:42oppressive regime at all people were happy there was music everywhere there was dancing they are the hippies of

24:49South America chileans definitely they’re like they’re the they’re the new age ones they’re the ones where where

24:55all where you find all the really interesting kind of food and a different take on things you know um they’re very

25:03they’re very they’re spiritual they’re very very spiritual people too but I think I think all of South America’s got

25:09that running through it so you need to take Yasmin with you next time you need to do another tour in South America you

25:15know I’ve been saving it up or even not at all go back you’ll go back just we just go there go on holiday no don’t

25:22backpack i mean when I say backpack I mean kind of luxury backpacking the

25:28other place you need to go is Costa Rica you mean butlers people carrying your

25:34baggage for you yes was just put it down in the corner over there you drive that on a head he picked that one up to the

25:41other bike yasmin’s done yasmin’s done a climb up Killer Manar when you do have people carrying you you really are so

25:47brave well not really i mean I just filled in my daughter had supposedly organized this with a great friend who

25:55then she couldn’t do it so for the sake of my daughter and and I still to this

26:01day question whether there was ever really a friend going or whe it was

26:07always going to be me because I was going to end up buying all the equipment organizing everything um but we we did

26:15go up i was the only person who couldn’t summit actually i got terrible altitude sickness which I knew was on the way

26:23there was the day before they took us up to base camp level just for lunch just

26:29to give us a little taste of what that was like and then take us back down to sleep and when we went up to that level

26:36you couldn’t do it uh it was really really extraordinary incredible thing to do and I thought when I heard it I

26:42thought “Oh she’s just being a bit bit lazy.” You know your wife’s not lazy just a bit

26:48lazy no lazy definitely not but I mean it stops you in your tracks if you if you

26:54if you go I mean and probably we were just we just went up too quickly that’s the thing let’s go on to food and drink

Secret 4: Best Food & Drink while travelling

27:00mhm food and drink is so important in life and in travel what do you like

27:06eating where do you like eating where should we go to eat give us some tips just let’s talk about the first thing

27:12you’ve got to understand about us is we eat pretty much everything brilliant we’re very there’s not there’s not many

27:19things that we don’t like there is And I think we drink just about everything as well eek i wasn’t going to tell them

27:25about I wasn’t going to tell them about that yas i mean I’m surprised there are any reserves left do you know what I mean here’s Grand Reserver not if Simon

27:33Yas in town there’s some lovely whiskey in one of the decanters in this

27:39residence this bottle of champagne but I mean you can’t go far wrong with I mean being in Italy can you

27:45where just the food we were in Sicily yes few years ago oh my goodness what’s

27:52that little restaurant called and we were staying at the sister hotel the the

27:59Belmont Hotel the one that’s by the Tina St tamina right the Tamina by the

28:06by the co and we came out and we walked up the hill so we came out of the hotel and turned left and walked up i don’t

28:13know if you know it but there’s that kind of covered walkway in the distance which looks quite quite ugly we didn’t go as far as that did we no no but we

28:20found a little few hundred yards away from the hotel did it seem like much normal no no no it really wasn’t we were

28:27really really hungry Simon we were so hungry and I was getting very hungry actually and and and so we came across

28:35this really simple open small restaurant was all whitewash and just windows out

28:43to the sea but very small very unassuming place it’s the kind of place that would have the menu outside and

28:48just a few things on the menu oh my goodness the name of it we had no idea what we’d come what we what we the food

28:55everything they everything they brought even the salad just simple things tasted

29:02and they said and the guy comes he goes hey look at this he says “I got this this morning and brought this grubby

29:07sort of looking jar plastic jar over but in it was sea urchin.” And they he said

29:13″I’ve got that was the second lunch we loved lunch so much.” We’d gone back the next day for lunch again we we we were

29:20just loved it so much and that’s when he came he went “Do you like sea urchin?” And we both went “Yes.” And yes please

29:25and honestly I’m salivating now thinking about it this sea urchin pasta that they

29:31make is so delicious it’s possibly the best thing I’ve ever eat i’ve never had sea actually ever it has just come out of

29:38the sea i mean when you go to Sicily literally his his cousin had just got it out of the sea like an hour before well

29:45now we’ve had See let’s talk about sea urchin for for a minute here because sea urchin gets done different ways um this

29:52was this was a sea urchin pasta which so it’s kind of mixed into into made into a sort of sauce almost and or just mixed

29:59into the pasta but we were we were in um we were in the

30:06island of Ethaki in Greece and um we went out to a jetty and

30:12a guy who was kind of associated with the house that we were on had just come back in the boat he is he says I got sea

30:18urchin and they’d been diving and um and they use a they use a chain mail glove

30:24oh right yeah to pick them up cuz they’re spiky so you have to have a chain mail glove to pick them up and he

30:30got he picked up one with his left hand and he got a little knife out and he cut it like you know he cut a I don’t know

30:38and he just and he just scooped out some and gave it to us fresh like that that was extraordinary that was incredible

30:45really okay definitely i mean it is live and and some people may may may feel a

30:52little uncomfortable at this but I you know we we’ve eaten live food yeah fresh fresh really fresh like it’s

30:59like oysters you want to eat oysters live because it’s the ones that are dead that might give you a tummy problem so

31:05you that’s why you squeeze the lemon juice on them because they pull their skirts up you can see that it’s alive as

31:11long as it hasn’t been separated from the shell but can we go back to Simon’s tips i’m just going That’s a That’s a

31:18really good one by the way make sure the oysters pick their skirts up yeah um

31:24they they um sea urchin the other really amazing

31:30um sea urchin is you get is in Japan and they serve it as a sushi which is on top

31:38of a um like a futamaki roll you know with um with wakame seaweed around it

31:45and they put usually put those big fish eggs on it which I’m not so keen on um

31:51but then the other way is is a sashimi which is just the sea urchin and they have this special nettle leaf called

31:58shiso and it’s the most incredible flavor and it goes with the sea urchin

32:05and it’s really wonderful so sea urchins are on my list sea urchin and she

32:10absolutely and then quickly before we go on to the next question what about drink do you have a favorite drink and do you

32:15have somewhere you No no got a favorite drink what’s your favorite drink booze

32:21no so articulate my husband i love it i love it do you have a favorite drink

32:29within the category of booze within the category of booze yes i mean I can’t go wrong with wine wine yeah it’s just wine

32:36oh all together i mean it’s just such a great subject isn’t it of course the other the the the restaurant in um near

32:44Tamina is um Bella it’s called Bella Isa that one sounds incredible it’s such a

32:51but it’s such a tiny little little sort of I mean you could easily just walk

32:56straight assuming yeah it really we were we just felt so lucky that we’d gone in

33:01and had this just gorgeous simple lunch we had to go back the next day the next day you know the other thing about Italy

33:08I mean you go to any little restaurant and and the food’s really good generally

33:13because Italian people have very high standards when it comes to food have you noticed how Italian people when they go

33:20anywhere they only eat Italian food they won’t eat French food they won’t eat English food but I think in Sicily they

33:27have something very special being a volcanic place everything that grows in

33:32Sicily it tastes different to anywhere else in the world the produce there just

33:37tastes different the tomatoes are different i mean we should mention the wine from Etna oh yes yes there’s some

33:44fabulous wines that are grown on the um on on the I guess the northern slope or

33:50the southern slope of Mount Etna and they are some of the best white wines I’ve tasted i haven’t tried the red ones

33:56but the white is fantastic i’m having dinner at the river cafe tomorrow night with David Gandandy and they’ve got some

34:04good Sicilian wine so I’m going to see how we do we had some just the other day

34:10yes we were there a couple of weeks ago having a lovely time tonight you say drinking the wine tomorrow night see you

34:17there please come please join me um let’s go on to your best travel tip

Secret 5: Number 1 travel tip

34:24what’s your best travel tip oh right okay well I mean I was thinking about

34:30this whatever what travel tips i mean you don’t I mean I think in the really obvious ones are don’t miss your flight

34:38and then that’s easier said than done with this one or in the old days when we used to have tickets he had a real issue

34:46i don’t know whether it’s cuz he’s a bit dyslexic but reading the time and date on a ticket I know seemed to be quite

34:53challenging can I interject here i just want to say that um going to leave it there that no we see we used to play

34:59this game in the band where you’d see just how late you could be and how and

35:05you know how late you could shave it and on a number of occasions we missed flights because of this game especially

35:12me and Nick the game that which is quite extraordinary because in those days people used to they used to hold

35:17airplanes they used to they don’t do that anymore they know exactly where your luggage is now kick it off they

35:22know exactly where it is and they can get it within minutes and you’re off but in the old That’s a really good travel

35:28tip to do don’t think you can keep the plane waiting like we used to because

35:35you can’t and neither could we um I travel with a roll of gaffer tape you

35:42know gaffer tape is Yeah i like I particularly like the fluorescent ones because I find it so useful it’s so

35:48useful for your equipment and they’re not going to get into the gaff bottles and everything

35:54my whole life is held together by gaffer tape yes yasmin would would take me take my mouth closed we have so much gaffer

36:03tape oh yeah if you’d have said we would have brought you we would have brought you one i’ve got every color every

36:10color one every width you can imagine yeah cuz you never know when you’re

36:16going to need gaff and it is true it is very useful i’m not sure we need as much as we have so funny but on the same note

36:23I mean my my tip would be I always travel with a Swiss Army knife tell me about the um market you were telling me

36:29about earlier as a good travel tip you were saying something about Well you know London’s full of things and and I I

36:37love rumaging i love antiques and brick and anything really any kind of rumaging

36:43i I love I used to call them rotting body shops because you never in the hope that you never know what you could find

36:50something fabulous or a rotting body at the back of it yeah you know you found one mom but those are hard to find but

36:57there’s a fabulous there’s a He doesn’t stop Princess but there’s a fabulous

37:07Where’s that gaffer tape i I thought you need it i thought you weren’t going to interrupt me

37:14alfie’s Market Alfie’s Antique Market on Church Road is still a treasure trove

37:22it’s become quite expensive now but there are still there are some very expensive high-end dealers and some

37:28still very reasonable very passionate people it gets smaller with every year

37:34but I would say get to Alfies now while it’s still there brilliant top travel tip fantastic where is Church Road for

37:41the listeners who don’t know church Road just off the edgeware road so central London no excuses no excuses at all so I

37:49asked you about your most poignant travel adventures or your most poignant

Secret 6: Poignant memory from a trip

37:55travel places oh can I just interject with another market no not another one my god he’s on fire look don’t go there

38:02in August or pretty much July um but but in the plast in Sanrope there’s a

38:11wonderful Saturday morning uh was it Sunday morning i think it’s Saturday i

38:16think it’s Saturday he read he read he read the ticket wrong i think it’s Saturday because they’ll go to church on Sunday don’t they i think Saturday so

38:23yes Saturday morning market it’s a food market primarily and it’s wonderful do

38:28you go to Sandra Bay a lot um I go at a certain time of year every year actually

38:34which is I go at the end of September beginning of October because I’m a sailor oh yes and there’s a big rigata

38:42down there called Live Wilder Sanrope and it’s used to be mainly for classic yachts and I funny enough I say I’m on a

38:49classic yacht do you um I’m a I’m permanent crew on a on a very good

38:54racing boat called Blitzen well before you go or after you go I want you to go to Chatau Leadier which is our hotel

39:02just on the hill it’s amazing they just I’ve stayed there but I stayed there like like 20 years ago yeah they’ve

39:08redone it it’s owned by Learl and it is so gorgeous they got their own beach club little mini Moes that take you down

39:15there fantastic right because it’s right It’s right up at the top so you must let me know and I’ll organize for you to stay there you see it don’t you from the

39:21roundabout you know i mean when I stayed there I had I had some fun yes i think

39:28you know the thing that for us travel and holidays the the thing that Simon

39:34the gift that he really gave to me was sailing and from the very first sailing

39:41holiday we had together that to me is a holiday there’s nothing else that comes

39:48close to a sailing holiday it’s that sense of adventure every day every

39:53morning you wake you wake up you decide after your swim of course where where where are we going to go where are we

39:59going to go today they’d get the charts out where are we going to go you get an idea you go off somewhere you throw the anchor down maybe have a swim or or or

40:06see see about the island if you don’t like something that’s it you know you’re off pull the anchor up and and you’re

40:12gone and it’s there’s just there’s never a dull moment on a boat where do you go

40:18sailing normally other than obviously that race where do you go sailing oh we’ve done a lot of cruising we mean

40:24cruising yeah on holiday well cruising i mean Croatia was quite Croatia is the Dalmatian is wonderful and we’ve had

40:31amazing family holidays there because the sea is not a big sea you don’t get huge winds or big seas but there’s so

40:39many islands so much to see incredible holiday in the Caribbean after I did the

40:44round the world yacht race on drum in in it was 8586 we took every the three

40:51owners which was myself and Paul and Michael Barrow who were managers of Jirean Juran at the time um we all took

40:58our month holiday on the boat before we decided to put it up for sale and um we took Yaz and I took our

41:07month in the Caribbean on our wedding anniversary it was our first wedding

41:12anniversary and we flew down to Antigga where we met the boat and we got on the

41:17boat and we um slowly made our way down the Grenad i’ve got to interject here

41:23but so you’ve got to remember that this was a racing boat this boat is completely stripped out it’s done the

41:28whip round the world race there are no cabins there are no like showers there

41:34is a thing called the head which is a toilet which up until me arriving

41:41the captain suddenly looked and thought well there’s no door on the head is coming we’ve got to put a zip we’ve got

41:47to put a door on there zip door so he got a piece of plywood this is so cute

41:53piece of plywood sort of couple of hinges and put this makeshift door on but unfortunately it had a hole about

42:00that big just here where you’d be sitting on the toilet I’m sure they were

42:05very respectful there’s no shower i mean that the water maker ne it packed up after day two so we So anytime I don’t

42:12remember this anytime there was a rain school Simon anytime and of course in the Caribbean you can see the rain

42:18schools coming towards you we would all run downstairs get get our shower gel and run stand there naked like all

42:25lthered up waiting for the rain to come but you still think it’s the best holiday oh it was the most incredible

42:31time we felt we felt like little pirates i want to pick up yeah we felt like pirates we felt like pirates okay I’m gonna pick up now so we sailed from

42:38Antigga down we sailed south so we went to St lucia Martineique into the into

42:43the Grenardines so St vincent um we had um New Year’s Eve at Basil’s

42:51Bar in Must and that is a place worth visiting it really is um and then and

42:58after that we went down to Palm Island where we saw the Green

43:03Flash and carried on all the way down all the way down to Grenada

43:09and spent about two or three days in Grenada didn’t we then we turned right and went to I think it’s Testigos Aves

43:18we didn’t go to Curuso or Bonire but the islands of Venezuela we’ve end we ended

43:23up in a place called Los Rockas which is an archipelago um of about 60 mi north of Caracus it’s

43:32not a place you can go to now because because of the because of how Venezuela

43:37is it’s now dangerous because of you know you just don’t take boats there um

43:42but we had we had the most amazing time we picked up a Mayday call so on one of

43:49the nights we were staying there the um on the boat we heard may mayday mayday

43:55mayday this is catamaran yo we’ve come up we’ve hit a re which is which is

44:00really really scary because we knew when we sailed into Elrandroas when we when

44:06we put the the anchor down we knew that we’d only seen one tiny boat on the horizon anywhere nobody used to go to

44:13this place there was there was no hotel there were no shops there was nothing so we knew that but hearing that means that

44:20we are the boat around and it’s the it’s 2:00 in the morning so middle of the night and

44:26there were huge coral reefs everywhere around this place you this it’s very uncharted these waters we answered the

44:32Mayday call and we kept we we talked to them and found out it was a family who’d sailed from England on a catamaran and

44:38he he for one or another reason hadn’t got his satnav he was just working off a

44:44sexant and taking sights and he was about 500 miles off course oh my god and they’d sailed right up onto the uh the

44:51reef on the windward side of the island so they just getting pushed on the reef there’s no way they could get off we said “You’re going to have to hang on

44:57until the morning because there’s no lights there’s no way we can navigate to you or find you even at night time you

45:03just have to hold on.” So in the morning my brother was on the boat went across to another one of the islands and found

45:09a doctor who had a small he had a light light aircraft and they took off and they they went flew along the reef and

45:17spotted the boat up on the reef and we organized a rescue party with the whole

45:22with the island as when we took about 30 people in six boats and went along and

45:28we got the family off wow um that’s amazing no it’s really it was it was an

45:35incredible time it was incredible we actually and we put them on our boat for for the first night we had the the guy

45:41stayed on the boat he wouldn’t he wouldn’t get off the father stayed on the boat but the rest of the family came came and

45:46stayed that as your poignant is very poignant absolutely and

45:53also you probably thought “Oh my god I’ve been rescued by Simon and Yasler and Leon that’s amazing.”

45:59I think that may occur may have occurred to them but it really wasn’t that important at the time because they were

46:05they were in fear of their lives so um it transpired that they had um they were

46:13trying to get to Biz to set up a little a boat charter company down there and

46:18they bought this boat and um something had happened well and they didn’t make

46:24it there at the time but they stayed on the island and they organized a search party to dig through the coral and they

46:30dragged the boat through a channels cut in the It took about 6 months yeah they

46:36moved the boat and they and they and they they they shored up the boat and made sure it was it was seaorthy again

46:42and they sailed to Bise and they had their um they had their business there wow and I’m still in touch with with the

46:50mom that really is a very poignant travel tale yeah that’s amazing yeah it

46:56is well done stuff happens at sea well I’m glad that you love it and that you’ve had the best holidays how

47:02fantastic so you’re both very adventurous you’re very adventurous with your driving and you’re very adventurous with your

47:08sailing an adventurous couple i mean it’s Yes we We both have a spirit of

47:13adventure to be honest with you do your kids as well we’re not um you know definitely they they love it i mean the

47:21best the best holidays have have always been on on boats really yeah so finally

Secret 7: Special travel photograph

47:26I asked you to bring a photograph or some photographs that sums up travel to you both i’ve got the picture of a fish

47:35it’s called a big eye fish and I found it in a in a market in a town called

47:43Almori in um in uh northern Honshu honu

47:50is the big island in Japan hokkaido is a northern one and Kyushu is the southern

47:55one um and I was uh I was there with my friend Nick Wood and we went up there

48:01and there was this fantastic mar fish market just right next to the the sea and um I was walking

48:09around and I just took a photograph of this bright bright orange fish and it

48:15had one enormous big eye cuz it was on its side so you could only see one

48:20eye you see what I’m saying yeah um and that just summed up the whole kind

48:28of the whole trip for me just this it’s so beautiful this fish and so

48:34adventurous going to a new place that you didn’t know and that you love yeah

48:40absolutely and what about you Yasmin i think I’m gonna try and find actually there’s a there there is a picture

48:46somewhere of all of us by the side of the car going to Iran and that that for

48:52me is because it started that it started the lifelong love of traveling and

48:58particularly by car i love the combustion engine it’s not dead it’s not going away it’s just going to get better

49:05and the idea that you can stop wherever you want or or break down in some cases

49:12who you meet along the way what are the stories that you have the memories the things that go wrong always and and I I

49:20just that to me is precious that’s what traveling really means fantastic and

49:25before I let you both go what’s next where are you going next or what’s next for you both business travel but you’ve

49:32got some to you got some terrible Italian dates haven’t you oh yes we got

49:39a beautiful date in Rome well Javan has got a UK European tour coming up we’ve

49:44got dates in um Netherlands Belgium um Italy fantastic UK Spain

49:55um some fabulous fabulous places it’s going to happen starting at the end of May and it carries on until the middle

50:01of July if you want to find out any more about it we have look on jurander.com

50:08and and and go to tour o thank you we absolutely will do what about you yes

50:15well I you know I’m I I I’m just I’m I’m just his little assistant so I think I can definitely make the Rome show

50:22definitely yeah i mean I know it’s a bit shabby circus Maximus but I I think I

50:27can stretch to that and actually you have to go to Rome this year cuz it’s the big anniversary so it’s the time to go and there’s a new hotel there called

50:35the Portrait which is just at the top of the Spanish Steps only got 20 bedrooms it’s really fabulous great location

50:41lovely should we be taking the band there how many are in the band hotels or a

50:47band hotel should we need I think we need six rooms yeah let’s give me the

50:52dates put my tour manager absolutely it’s small but it’s really fantastic i love it our people are people

51:00yeah we’ve got you we’ve got so amazing yes look at that ring i know gorgeous oh

51:06my goodness you have like one of those hypnotizing Look into my eyes please look into my

51:12ring look into my ring behave you have been so fantastic i’ve

51:18absolutely loved it thank you so much for joining me you cracked me up i love you both thank you thank you very much

51:23we’ve had a lot of fun i can’t remember anything [Music]

Transcript courtesy of Travel Secrets Podcast