Speedy Boarding with Kate Lillie
The writer of Five Books For chats living in Spain, travelling with a toddler, and having 1500 books in your pocket
Welcome back to Speedy Boarding, a bi-weekly series on Not That You Asked that is great news for those of you who are getting sick of me. That’s because it’s a series where I ask some of my favourite writers on Substack eight quick-ish questions about travel. So, the vast majority of the words you’re about to read weren’t written by me but by someone else.
This week the questions are being answered by
’s Kate Lillie. Kate is an artist and writer who lives in Seville (also known as ‘the extremely hot bit of Spain’), with her husband, son, dog and mostly-feral cat. She shares a monthly set of themed book recommendations at , a newsletter for people who love great stories, and is working on various other art and writing projects in between looking after a rather rambunctious toddler and disposing of the feral cat’s “gifts”.If she had a marketing tagline, it would be “Kate Lillie - so many ideas, so little time”. You can most often find her working in the margins, often writing on her phone or drawing with one hand while using the other to support the head of the sleeping toddler sprawled across her. It should be noted that her bio photo was taken a few years ago when she still remembered what it was like to sleep through the night. We didn’t want to scare you with a more recent one.
I really enjoy Five Books For. Kate is clearly a close reader and her recommendations are most definitely to be trusted!
Now, let’s get to the questions.
Where is the best place you’ve ever been and why?
Well, Seville is the only place I've ever loved enough to move to - I fell in love with the area on a trip back in 2015 and when I returned in 2019 to start looking for a holiday place to buy I met my husband (who is from Seville), and that was it for me - I left my job and really my whole life in Dubai to come and build a new life with him here. It's so beautiful, especially this time of year when all the orange trees in the streets are in bloom and everything smells of their perfume. And of course there's the food, the fact you can buy a round of drinks with your spare change, the architecture, the twisty-turny old streets that are great for getting lost in and just generally so much to see. I love it here.
In terms of holidays though, I think it would have to be Iran. I visited with a friend back in 2017 and it was incredible - we managed to squeeze a two-week itinerary into eight days and even so we could easily have spent another month there. The architecture, the museums, the culture, the art, the gardens, the food and most of all the people. There was just beauty everywhere and it was refreshing to be somewhere which had no Starbucks, no McDonalds, nothing western at all. Having my bank account frozen when I returned on the other hand... not so fun. But it all got sorted in the end.
Where is the place you most want to visit?
Definitely Japan - I've wanted to go there for so long. We had hoped to go on our honeymoon (although the pandemic took care of both that and our wedding, thanks very much) but I'm determined to get there one day. There's so much I'd love to see and learn about there, not least the many flavours of soft serve ice cream which vary by region. Similarly, I'd love to do a big road trip around the US. I have quite a few friends over there and I'd love to go and visit them all and see more of the country along the way.
If we're talking about return trips, I'd love to go back to Israel. I spent a summer working on a kibbutz when I was at university and it was such a great experience. I did travel around the country a bit at the time and it was wonderful but I'd love to go back now as an adult and see it through more mature eyes and with a more generous budget.
Who's your dream travel companion?
Definitely my husband and son, and my family in general - I visited Hong Kong with my brother and it was awesome so I'd love to travel more as an extended family in the future. Outside of family though I think Dawn French would be great fun to travel with (and just to hang out with in general, I'm sure). You need a sense of humour for travel, I think; something always goes wrong, but when you're with the right people it doesn't matter.
Great news! I'm going to buy you a hat. The catch is that you have to wear this hat on every future travel trip at all times. What kind of hat would you like?
When I was in Iran I needed to cover my hair; I got a bit fed up of messing about with headscarves (there's obviously a knack to getting them to stay on which I have never been able to master) but luckily I had bought a couple of turban-type head coverings before we left and honestly they were amazing. So much easier, no faffing, and they made me feel like some kind of 1970s bohemian artist. So I think I'd go for one of those since they can work in pretty much any social situation and come in a variety of colours.
Where is the place you never want to go back to?
It would probably be Riyadh - I used to travel there for work and while the people were lovely it just wasn't very interesting as a place to visit.
You've been given a million pounds to live your best life in one destination for a year. The problem is - you're trapped there and can't leave for the year. Where would you go?
Definitely Italy, probably Rome if I had to choose a specific spot. I was there a few years ago for about a week and it wasn't enough to even scratch the surface. I just loved it - it has everything I want in a destination - history, culture, art, amazing food, lots of places to walk around and explore - what more could you wish for?
How do you decide where to visit next?
Well, it used to be: where do I fancy going next? What is there to see? What will the weather be like? How long is the flight? Which art galleries are there? What exploring can I do? Is it walkable? What will the food be like?
Now, it is primarily: is the flight a length we can manage with a toddler who has more energy than a whole colony of Duracell bunnies? (Usually, the answer to that question is no).
As a result we haven't travelled much since our son was born other than going back to the UK to see family, although that has given us a nice opportunity to explore the UK a little, especially for my mother-in-law, who comes with us and hadn’t visited the UK previously. We usually look for places with space for kids to run around. Stonehenge was especially good for this; there's lots of open space and there are some very friendly crows which we all loved - they're even friendlier if you have crumbs for them. Next I need to figure out how to manage the National Gallery with him, because that's my favourite indoor place to visit and I have really missed being able to go there the past few years.
And finally, what's the one thing you never leave home without when travelling?
My Kindle, for sure. I read a lot (I mean, there's not much point writing a newsletter about books if you're not a big reader). Before Kindles were invented I used to have to carry 15 books in my suitcase and now I can carry 1500 just in my pocket, how amazing is that?! And I don't have to try and predict what I'll want to read, I can just choose while I'm there. Amazing.
A huge thanks to Kate for agreeing to be part of Speedy Boarding. If you liked this post please do consider becoming a free or paid subscriber to Not That You Asked. Paid subscribers get two free travel guides a month for just £4.99, which is way cheaper than Netflix. If £4.99 is a bit steep in this economy there’s a 50% off forever sale on at the moment to celebrate two years of Not That You Asked.
The next Speedy Boarding will drop on the 18th of April, next up is
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Seville is on our list of places to visit, buuuuut I don't think I could handle the heat...
Lovely to meet Kate, if only virtually!
Love this series!