Tom Holland is having a bit of a Carmen Sandiego year: Between his film releases (just the latest installment of a little-known franchise called Spider-Man, and an adaption of the equally low-key story of The Odyssey); Bero, his nonalcoholic beverage brand; and rehearsals for the forthcoming Fred Astaire biopic, he is here, there, and everywhere, racking up frequent flier miles left and right.
He’s also getting into the points game via a partnership with Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business: “That’s actually the thing that I’m learning with this new Chase card,” he said on a recent phone call with Condé Nast Traveller. “What’s kind of fun is that, because we are travelling with Bero a lot, using it and racking up the points is quite fun; it’s kind of a gamified way of living your life. I’m actually really enjoying that.” During the conversation, he walked us through a recent trip to Portugal to celebrate a milestone birthday – read on for his flying strategies, packing style, and travel guilty pleasure.
The trip
What trip are you unpacking for us?
I just had the pleasure of going to play golf in Portugal for my 30th birthday. My dad came, my brothers came, some of my best friends from work and school came. And what I really love about my lads’ golf holidays is, you know, we’ll usually fly like EasyJet or Tap Air or something; I try and fly under the radar in the airport, and it just is really fun. It kind of reminds me of being a kid again, going on family holidays and stuff like that. I love it.
Can you tell us a little more about the itinerary?
We were in Lisbon, playing golf at different places around the city. Our holidays as lads are all about activities, so it’s golf, it’s paddle tennis. We found this place that had this obstacle course on a lake, so we would go and do that and end up doing time trials with each other – it’s very much like we resort back to being kids, and I really enjoyed it, because my dad came on this trip, and he had a great time. We had lots of lovely dinners, lots of traditional Portuguese experiences, lots of grilled fish and chicken piri piri; just a really lovely, lovely experience.
Had you been to Lisbon before?
We used to go to Portugal all the time as kids. It was our place to go as a family. So, there’s a long-standing history there for the Hollands. I probably go to Portugal once a year and play golf.
Did you bring any souvenirs home?
Yes, actually, there’s one up there [gestures above the camera]. I bought this really beautiful ceramic sardine. And I gifted the golf course hundreds of golf balls that I love, because I was playing terrible golf, so I’m sure there’s loads of people playing golf there now going like, wow I’m finding so many golf balls.
What he packed
On this trip, did you overpack, underpack, or get it just right?
I think I packed perfectly. Sometimes when you go on these lads’ holidays, it’s very easy to just pack tracksuit bottoms, workout tops, and golf clothes, and when you go out for dinners, you’re not feeling like you’re making an effort to look presentable. But on this trip, as it was my 30th, I bought some nice outfits, and when we all went out for dinner, we wore nice clothes, and it was really nice. It ended up being an awesome week.