Boarding Pass: How Australian Artist Anouk Colantoni Travels

Artist and illustrator Anouk Colantoni was born in London but grew up in Hobart. She spent more than a decade living in Brooklyn, New York, where she switched gears from fashion editor and stylist (she began her career at Vogue in Sydney) to fine artist.

Her practice spans whimsical watercolours and evocative architectural renderings in pen and ink, which have induced collaborations with fashion houses including Tiffany & Co and Bulgari, the Japanese department store Tomorrowland and beauty brand Lancome, among others. In Australia, her colourful, fine-line illustrations adorned garments across Alemais’s pre-fall collection last year.

In our first instalment of Boarding Pass, a new travel series, Colantoni shares the places at the top of her travel list – exquisite beaches, legendary hotels and singular bookstores included. Plus, her non-negotiable apps while travelling and winning jet lag hacks.

Destinations

Favourite hotel?

The Bowery Hotel in New York City. It’s romance and wild rides. The times I’ve had there as a guest, at weddings in the Ballroom. Also, the Palazzo Parigi in Milan – the staff are perfectly Italian, hilarious and polite. The courtyard for breakfast, the balcony view over the top of Milan and the Hamam spa and pool inside? It’s heaven, really.

The hotel I would most love to visit next? La Colombe d’Or.

Best beach?

I’m a water baby, so I feel unable to pick just one. In my current island home, Tasmania, I love Waubs Beach in Bicheno – its powder-white sand and the eye-tingling turquoise water, even in frozen temps, which it is often. You can open your eyes underwater and see clearly, you can snorkel, and then wander up the street for treats at Governors cafe two minutes away. Kingston Beach, where it meets Browns River, is special, too. My warmest memory, and where my soul feels most at ease, is on the warm pebbles of Kaputaş Beach in Turkey. 

City with the best nightlife?

As a New Yorker for nearly 13 years, I gave that nightlife my all and it gave back in return. Your night can begin with tasty kerbside treats and aperitivo for one, then an opening or two, and then a party with ridiculously good dancing, wild conversations and laughs with intriguing humans you can’t find anywhere else – all in a few blocks and hours.

Where do you go when you want complete relaxation and serenity?

The beach. Or I walk into the Alum Cliffs wilderness here in Tasmania.

Where’s next on your travel list?

Ranchlands in Wyoming. I have been following them for many years (I secretly think I’m a Dutton). I would love to be immersed in that landscape, ride horses and paint all day.

Best store you’ve been to while travelling?

One Grand Books is outside New York City, and guest-curated by the most amazing creatives. When I went last it was Tilda Swinton, Tom Ford and others. It’s also a divine drive upstate. Also, Deyrolle in Paris, because it is like being in a Graeme Base book meets the Palace of Versailles.

Favourite museum or art gallery in the world?

Istanbul Modern and Mona’s new library, Phrontisterion, here in Hobart – just wow. Wine, books, sex and death? Just do it.

Food

What’s the most memorable meal you’ve ever had while travelling?

Daniel in NYC was a special treat with my family when they visited.

Favourite bakery?

Little Bay Patisserie, a tiny little patisserie on the Tasmanian coastline with the best croissant in the world – I’m a pain au chocolat gal.

Best street food in the world?

The Michelin Guide-featured taco trucks in LA – a $10 taco with Mexican cola. 

The flight

Chaos or calm? Checked or carry-on? What’s your packing strategy?

Creative chaos. It makes sense to me – that’s all that matters, right?

What are your carry-on essentials?

Rosewater face spray; Weleda Skin Food; hand sanitiser; Tiger Balm – because it calms me, and also smells better than that onboard smell; a hydrating face mask for before we land; liquorice tea bags; thick socks and stretchy pants; a book. 

What outfit do you wear when flying?

Leggings and chunky socks, a cotton T-shirt, soft layers and something to hide my sleeping face.

What tech do you pack?

iPad. Chargers. Noise-cancelling headphones. If it’s not for work, I want to be analogue and disappear into the movies and the sleep – I become calm and think super clearly in the sky. 

Tips and tricks

Best in-flight survival tip?

Hydrate like all hell (all the face and hand creams). Offline access to the Open meditation app.

Best jet lag hack?

If possible, get right off the flight and into the sea or ocean at the other end – somehow it resets my body best. If that’s not possible, lots of Hydralyte and try to walk off the terrifying 2pm narcolepsy. A steam room and cold plunge. And sleeping pills.

The apps that make life easier while you’re travelling?

Google Maps, Wise for international travel, Duolingo and my Open meditation app to keep me sane. Also, making sure my apps work before I leave.

Boarding Pass is a new Broadsheet series where we speak to tastemakers and travel pros about how, where and why they travel.