I’ve travelled the world but never set off without £5 hand luggage item – it’s a lifesaver for planes & hotel rooms

A BRIT who has travelled the world always takes this £5 item in her hand luggage as its useful for cold planes and hotel rooms.

Jewellery designer Kiki McDonough colourful gemstone earrings, rings and bracelets, are a big favourite with the Royal Family.

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Kiki McDonough, not pictured, always has a hot water bottle in her hand luggage (stock image)Credit: Getty

Princess Kate, the Princess of Wales, wears her earrings, as did Princess Diana.

The first piece of jewellery Kiki made, a pair of earrings, is now on display at the Victoria and Albert museum in London.

When Kiki isn’t in her home in Battersea or in her Chelsea store, she travels the world either for work and sourcing gemstones or for pleasure.

So far this year she been to the US, Nepal and India and also went off to Barbados for a beach holiday with her girlfriends.

Kiki thinks all airports are “ghastly” but she finds comfort by relaxing in her seat, wearing comfortable trousers, a fleece and socks and reading “a really good” book.

She is loyal to British Airways so she can pile up the points and since the pandemic, travels with only a carry-on.

In that carry-on though is always a hot water bottle, she says is essential for tolerating the air-conditioning in her hotel room.

Kiki also revealed the very unusual item which has travelled all around the world with her – a pebble.

She told Bloomberg: “When I was 6 I found a beautiful, very individual-looking pebble on Southwold beach, Suffolk, where we used to go for our holidays.

“It is a pretty pale shade of pink, and it has streaks of a darker shade of scarlet running across it.

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“At the time it reminded me so vividly of those deliciously sickly raspberry ripple ice creams.

“I started to carry it with me all the time.

“It has travelled all around the world with me, and I really do think it brings me good luck.

“Little did I know at age 6, I would go on to become an expert in gemstones.”

Kiki also advised on what to do once you have arrived at your destination.

She said: “First of all, [I find out] where the spa is. Secondly, where I can eat, and thirdly, how far the beach is located.”

Kiki also recommends travelling solo as it can be highly rewarding.

She said: “When I first got divorced, I thought, oh my goodness, I might easily be traveling on my own for the rest of my life, and I might not meet somebody else, so let’s see how that works.

“So I took myself off on a tiger safari to India. I met wildlife photographers Jonathan and Angie Scott.

“They have won endless awards. They taught me so much about what it really is like to live and work, out in the wilderness – they live in the Maasai Mara, and they know everything there is to know about the wildlife and the culture there.

“Fifteen years later, we are still in regular contact, and I avidly follow what they are up to, supporting their conservation initiatives as often as I can.”

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Kiki, not pictured, says the first thing she does once she’s arrived at her destination is to find out where the spa is (stock image)Credit: Getty



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