'The Odyssey' Star Tom Holland Recalls A Lads Trip to Portugal for His 30th Birthday

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 non-alcoholic 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 Traveler. “What's kind of fun is because we are traveling 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 tripWhat 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, and we were playing golf all around different places in Lisbon. Our holidays as lads is 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 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.Portugalia MarketplaceCeramic sardineWhat he packedOn this trip, did you over pack, under pack, 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.What's your in-flight routine like? What do you always have with you for entertainment?I am an absolutely dreadful flyer. I get really nervous flying; nowadays I cannot sleep on planes at all. I'll usually try and take the morning flight, so I can work while I'm on the plane, because if I get the red eye with the idea that I'm going to sleep through the night and then go to work the next day, it's just a disaster. On the morning flight I'll catch up with emails and work.If I am taking a night flight, I'm really strict on myself, I have like no caffeine. I don't eat before I go on. I try and not watch any TV; I read a book or something instead. I've also found now I've given up watching films on the planes, instead I just download stuff on my iPad and watch what I want to watch.Have you found any jet lag cures?It's interesting that you ask that question now as I've just turned 30. I have really noticed in the last few years how much jet lag has been affecting my day-to-day life. When I was in my early twenties, and I was making the Spider-Man movies, and I was bouncing back and forth from America to the UK all the time, it never affected me, I was absolutely fine, but now, I can't function for days, so I am going through an exploratory phase of how to handle jet lag, and I have not figured it out.What's your go-to snack to keep on hand for long travel days?I really love microwavable popcorn. I went to the movie theater last night, and I watched an amazing film, Obsession. I had a big box of popcorn, and it was not good. I really like Skinny Pop—that one is good. For me, that will keep you full, but you're not eating too much food. It's the perfect plane snack.Do you have a favorite item of travel clothing to fly in?I have a very comfortable Vuori travel set that I really love. It's also really smart looking, like if you didn't feel it, you would think, like, oh, that person's wearing like suit trousers and a smart T-shirt, but it's all T-shirt material, so I wear that a lot to travel, because I think I like looking smart at the airport, you know. I think it's quite nice.Disclaimer: Tom Holland launched a partnership with Vuori earlier this yearVuoriAim trouser athletic slim fitIs there something you bring with you as a piece of home when you're on the road?I tried to bring my dogs with me, because there's nothing that makes a new place feel like home than experiencing it with your dogs. I absolutely love that. When we travel for long periods of time, I always make a point of printing out pictures of family and friends and putting them up around the place I've rented.What drugstore essentials do you always have in your backpack?I always travel with Vicks, because I find if I put that in my nostrils when I get on the plane, it really helps with not getting too bunged up, especially on a long-haul flight. I always bring an antihistamine because I get such bad summer allergies. That's probably it, to be honest. Maybe a paracetamol or an Advil. I can always have one of those in my bag. And a big bottle of water, as big as you can buy at the airport.Is there anything work specific you always bring with you?Always my script. The script is my bread and butter, so when I'm working, that kind of becomes my bible for that period of time, so the script comes with me everywhere I go.Have you ever accidentally left it on the plane?I am very proud to say I don't think I have. I think that's a sackable offense to leave a script on a plane. I think I've been very keen to make sure that that never happens.I wanted to ask, when you have your own drink company, do you ship beer to yourself wherever you're going, or bring it in a bag with you?On our trip to Portugal, I think we must have brought 100 cans that we put in checked bags. We distributed it amongst all of our friends to try and keep our bags as light as possible. We've just launched the new shandies, and I think I brought four cases of those. It was great having it out there, and it all got through [security]. I don't think there's an issue with putting that in the hold. We brought loads, and we drank all of it.BeroThe Odyssey x noon wheatLast question: What's your travel guilty pleasure?I love Brooklyn Nine Nine. On a long-haul flight, I could download three seasons of that and just go through episode after episode.