Tetiaroa in French Polynesia was the most remote place Robbie Williams had ever visited. Photo / Getty Images
Tetiaroa in French Polynesia was the most remote place Robbie Williams had ever visited. Photo / Getty Images
Singer-songwriter Robbie Williams reveals his favourite travel memories. Interview by Sarah Ewing
Golf is my recent addiction and what I need from a holiday depends on what I'm addicted to at the time. Golf is an acceptable middle-aged addiction. The 1990s could have been very different! Just give me agolf course and I'm happy. It gives me purpose. I get to raise my serotonin levels, walk for five miles, better my handicap. There's also meditation involved because I'm just thinking about the next shot. I've got a chequered past with the sport, but my handicap is currently 12. Since lockdown I've been playing online — it does the job but obviously, it's not the same.
Some of the best holidays cost me nothing. My dad was an entertainment manager and compere at UK holiday camps in places such as Perranporth, Great Yarmouth and Scarborough. I used to live with him for three weeks in the summer. I've spent tens of thousands on holidays since then, and those early days were still the best. Simple pleasures are what I aim for. I don't do vulgar displays of wealth.
We love to ski and normally we'd go at least once a season. I love Aspen, Zermatt for the views, Courchevel, Lech and Ischgl.
Any place my wife Ayda sees on the TV, she just points at it and says, "We've got to go there." I've just learnt to say, "Yes, darling" because, as the saying goes, "happy wife, happy life." But if we went everywhere she wanted to go, I would never be working again in my life.
Before the pandemic, I was on the road a lot — in 2019, I went to Formentera, Ibiza, Marseille, Romania, Dubai, the US, Australia and Austria.
Living in Los Angeles was like a holiday before my wife came along. I wasn't adventurous and didn't feel the need to go anywhere. She smoked me out of the house and then the kids smoked me even further out. I would have been a happy Howard Hughes hermit if it wasn't for them.
Robbie Williams says there's nothing he hates about travelling, but he prefers to go somewhere with a golf course. Photo / Supplied
I love Mustique because it offers privacy. I have never seen a paparazzo there and you can breathe and let your stomach out. Apart from the island's outstanding beauty and hospitality, what makes it unique is that it's a totally cash-free destination. You don't need any money or credit cards because you sign for everything.
The family comes with me when I'm on tour as we love being a unit. The kids are homeschooled, but they do plenty of activities and sports with other kids their own age. We're terrified of raising maladjusted brats.
Hawaii has been one of my favourite family holidays. Two years ago, we went there to celebrate my daughter Coco's first birthday. We went ziplining, swimming with dolphins and night-snorkelling with manta rays. My sons, Teddy and Charlie, also had their first golf lesson there.
As long as I have my laptop, mobile and antidepressants in my hand luggage, then I'm happy! My needs are few.
Las Vegas is like Marmite — you'll either love it or you'll hate it. Everyone knows what Vegas is about and what it has to offer. I would say go, get it out of your system and you might be pleasantly surprised.
I'm trying to be more conscious of my carbon footprint, so, unlike a lot of jet-setting celebs, I'd only take a private jet if it was a necessity. I'm not perfect, but I try in little ways.
Travel disasters? I've had plenty, but none of them are publishable in a respectable paper!
Pre-children, one of the most remote places I'd visited was Tetiaroa in French Polynesia. It's a small island near Tahiti, which was once Marlon Brando's private island, before being turned into a private luxury resort. It's a drag to get to — a day-and-a-half of travel — but the people are great and the villas are faultless. However, I need a bit more action, whatever it is, or a golf course. And there was neither.
Austria is one of my favourite places to perform. When I first went in the 1990s, I was told not to be fazed if the audience wasn't very warm. But I had the best audience ever. They treated me like I was a rock god, like the best version of Michael Jackson, and it's been the same way every time I've gone back. I also love performing in Germany, Ireland and Australia.
