Kyle Richards likes to pack light. The reality TV star tries to bring only a carry-on suitcase on short trips. She even sometimes only brings two bags for those super-glam, luxury trips she takes with her castmates on the long-running Bravo series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. It makes her stand out among the cast, known for their incredible fashion and bringing multi-person glam teams on trips with them.
Kyle Richards
“That is something that is talked about a lot, because I will often just carry on, and some of the women will say, ‘How did you do that?’ I remember once years ago, [former castmate] Lisa Vanderpump was like, ‘You don’t get any brownie points for that.’ Well, that’s true, but I don’t know. I’m always worried if my bag gets lost that I won’t have my things, so whenever I can, I try,” she told Travel + Leisure earlier this month.
With Kyle Richards
First thing you do when you get to your hotel room?
I have to get everything out of my bag immediately, set myself up, be super organized—that’s the first thing. Then I like to see what’s on their menu. Do I want to go out to dinner alone? Or do I want room service? I have to see what they have. I also like to check out the bed. That’s very important. I DM’d this hotel [that she is staying at in New York City] asking about their mattress.
Jet lag hack?
I’m someone who takes pride in the fact that I don’t get a lot of jet lag. I used to do this whole thing where I was like, ‘For me, it is now three hours ahead…” and I just can’t do that anymore. Now I’m just like, ‘This is where I’m at, and this is my life while I’m here,’ so I immediately try to get on that schedule.
Do you have a go-to drink order and snack on an airplane? Do you bring something on board?
Oat milk lattes. Depending on the seasons, either vanilla or sugar cookie or pecan crunch. I would love to say I was a no sugar, black, healthy kind of girl, but I’m not that person! Have fun! And I don’t drink alcohol, so I usually bring the thing, because it’s just something fun to have that makes me happy.
Favorite hotel in the world?
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. That’s definitely my favorite hotel in the world. The other favorite is in Lake Como, Villa d’Este. Those are my two favorite hotels in the world. Other than that, I tend to lean towards staying in Auberge hotels because I just love them. I just think they’re so beautiful, and the food’s great.
Do you have a travel fear?
Having to go home! I have noticed about myself—and it took decades to figure out—I always get nervous the days before traveling. Now I’m not even afraid of flying. I just have to clock it, and then I move on.
Favorite business-class airline experience?
Well, Air France has a good business class, and British Airways.
Real Housewife that makes the best travel buddy?
Well, I like to travel with Erika [Jayne] because we get along, and she’s easygoing. We just took a trip, not that long ago, just the two of us. She came to Aspen, and she was very much just going with the flow.
Of course, for longer trips, she will check a bag or two, and she does rely on packing cubes for her Béis luggage, which she has been using for years. Her other packing habit? Always bringing 13 pairs of shoes. “Regardless of how many days the trip is, and this is the weirdest thing, but every time I get somewhere, it’s that same number 13, whether it’s a couple days or a month.”
The actress and producer also learned not to bring her dumbbells on a plane the hard way. Richards likes to keep up with her exercise routines when traveling, and she tried to bring some hand weights with her on a trip recently, but they did not make it through security. “Don’t try it,” she warned.
This means she has to rely on her hotel having a good gym with all the right equipment. “I look at how nice of a gym it is, what the hours are. I don’t understand why every hotel doesn’t have a 24-hour gym because a lot of the time, I’m in a completely different time zone totally, and I’ll be up at 4:30 in the morning, and it’s like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t open until 7? I already have to be at work by then.”
That said, she does bring workout bands sometimes, just in case she needs an easy-to-pack workout on hand. And no matter what else is in her carry-on luggage, she has to make sure she has room for all her handbags. Richards told T+L her carry-on is essentially just lots of handbags and jewelry, as she swears she would never check them. And if you have ever watched the show, you know these collections are no joke.
She also always brings Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Hydra-Gel Eye Patches on the plane. “I will do my face cream and all that crazy stuff. I can’t skip my routine, even if it’s an overnight flight.”
One of the Bravo star’s favorite places closer to home is Aspen, Colorado, where she has owned a second home for years. Though the glam city gets all the buzz for being a prime winter town, Richards has grown to love her summers in Aspen almost as much. “I’m very much an outdoors person. I love the mountains. For me, it’s just something my soul needs.” In the summer, she loves to ride her bike along the river and paddleboard, along with other outdoor activities. “There is so much to do there. And it is so beautiful in the mountains, but also the best shopping and the best food. It’s hard to find all that in one place.”
As for her must-visit spots in Aspen, Richards recommends Cache Cache and Campo de Fiori for dining and drinks at the J-Bar at the Hotel Jerome. Richards doesn’t drink alcohol, but she insists it is the most beautiful venue. The shopping is also a big part of the appeal for Richards, citing Cos Bar and Kemo Sabe as favorites.
Courtesy of Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection
She also can’t get enough of Paris and Italy, and luckily, on this season of Real Housewives—which premiered its 15th season earlier this month—the ladies take a trip to Italy. Richards emphasized that the trip was beautiful, but the things that happened there with the cast were not so beautiful, as the drama is often heightened on their trips.
Trae Patton/Bravo
Richards said the cast also took a trip to Sedona this season, mentioning she may want to revisit the Arizona destination in the future. “I had never been. It’s such a spiritual place. Maybe I’ll go back, but without cameras,” she told T+L.
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