Style & Culture

How I Travel: Kelly Clarkson Has More Books in Her Carry-On Than Rory Gilmore

We peek into the airport routines and bizarre quirks of the world's most well-traveled people.
Kelly Clarkson

I’m busy, you’re busy, but Kelly Clarkson is busy. This year alone, she debuted a daytime talk show (The Kelly Clarkson Show), released new music, coached on two seasons of The Voice, hosted the Billboard Music Awards, and announced a Las Vegas residency. She travels between four homes in four states with her four children and her husband, Brandon Blackstock. Taken all together, you might understand why she actually looks forward to the airport: “Flying is my 'me' time,” she says.

Now, Clarkson has yet another new gig: last month, Norwegian Cruise Line named her the godmother of its newest ship, Norwegian Encore. She just wrapped up the christening ceremony in Miami on November 21. “They totally won me over with the laser tag arena and the longest race track at sea, all of that fun stuff," she says. "To be a godmother to something that represents family, and making magical memories—it’s pretty rad.” Noting that her kids currently dominate her approach to travel, she told Condé Nast Traveler about the other things that define how she operates on the road.

Why she’s a cruise person:

We have a wide range of kids, from three years old to 18, so to find a movie, let alone a vacation, is hard for everyone to agree on. A cruise is always good because there's literally something for every age of kid there, and even adults. Everyone wins, and that's rare on vacation. I am a cruise person when you surround yourself with the right people. When you don't do that and you're stuck at sea with people you maybe don't want to be with, that can be not good. But man, when it's done right and you bring people that are just cool—and the thing I love about Norwegian cruises is that you can kind of create your own schedule. A lot of times we go on and everything is mapped out and you have to be somewhere at a certain time. It's really cool that they kind of cater to what your scheduling needs are for your family, because every family's different. They just make it super easy.

Her tips for traveling with kids:

I’m going to be real with you. I know there’s a lot of hippy dippy moms out there who don’t approve of iPads, and I think that’s great for them. More power to you. But we definitely have iPads, because at some point travel can be total hell. Not just with kids, but in general—a flight gets delayed, things happen, weather. Just having something they can escape [with], play little games, watch movies on it. We definitely make sure everyone's fed, heavily fed, just so they don't go crazy. And this is a true tip, okay? Travel at nighttime. I know it sounds weird, but then they're asleep on the plane. Especially when we go overseas, we get on the plane and then everybody winds down. We drink some chamomile tea, calm everything down, and then we go to sleep. It's kind of perfect when you're traveling with kids to try and get those really late flights so they sleep the whole time. But I don't know. I think it's different for every family. My tips might not work for the next one.

Why you shouldn’t pity her travel schedule:

This is going to sound sad but funny. I actually love being on an airplane, because when you're on an airplane, you can't really do much. It’s the only time I get to read. I wrote a song on my last flight because my kids were like, "We want to watch a movie!" Flying is my 'me' time. We’re in our own worlds. I try to lean in and find the silver lining in anything. Like traveling so much—no, it’s not the best, especially with children. It can be difficult. But you go, well, at least I have time to read and go over my schedule, or work on the next Voice rounds, or write some songs. There’s always stuff to be done. It’s kind of like my office.

When she arrives at the airport:

We’re literally showing up right before we have to. We’re never the people that are there early. My sister always gives two hours—I don’t understand that.

When she can sleep on a plane:

I can sleep on planes and sometimes I do but—I sleep on a plane if we’re not with the kids. If we’re with the kids, it’s hard for me to fall asleep because I’m responsible for them. It’s kind of hard to check out when I have a three-, five-, 13-, and 18-year-old on this plane. For the rest of the people on this plane, I should probably stay awake to make sure they’re not, you know, tiny turds or anything.

What’s in her carry-on:

Oh, there’s a ton of mom stuff, yes. I have a little emergency kit for every situation. I definitely carry far too many books. I’m like Rory from Gilmore Girls. You just don’t know! I like a lot of different styles, from classic literature to Harry Potter to “how to make your own essential oils” and self-help books. I usually have one from each genre, just in case I don’t know what I want to read.

The best vacation she’s ever taken:

Oh man. I would have to say being on safari in Africa. That was pretty magical, having Mufasa from The Lion King three feet away from me, just living his best life. Like, wait, what?

Her happy place:

My favorite place to vacation in general is our ranch in Montana. We try to get there as much as we can. I didn't grow up in a big city, so we don't do well trapped in L.A. for a long period of time. And the commute, this back and forth to Tennessee, is exhausting. So we try and get to it as much as we can. It's so awesome there, just a different style of living.

Her favorite hotel stay ever:

We were recently in Paris, and Le Royal Monceau was amazing. Our five-year-old loves Fancy Nancy [the book and television series about a fancy girl who loves all things French], and we happened to be in Europe for work, and the kids love Paris, so we did this whole thing [and visited]. The hotel set up all this extra stuff—we walked into the room and it looked like Pottery Barn Kids had exploded. There were tents, there were games, there were coloring things and towers of sugar, and it was the most magical thing ever. Basically it seemed like our kids were going to the most fancy camp. We went in a horse and carriage around town on our day off, we went to this beautiful park, the Jardin d’Acclimatation. It was the most wonderful day that our family’s had in a long time.