Little Boots: My life in travel

'I once travelled to three time zones in three days'

Little Boots, real name Victoria Hesketh, has just released her latest album, Working Girl

It's quite funny growing up in a holiday town.

I'm from Blackpool, which is the site of other people's family holidays; it's strange when you're a local. My family still lives there and I go up and see them as much as I can. It's a special place. So many people have memories of going there on family holidays when they were young, especially if they're from the North. It has a very familiar vibe that makes you feel quite nostalgic.

I think Blackpool should be rebranded as quite a hip place to visit.

There are definitely bits that could be tarted up. It's become this quite hedonistic place where people go to have their hen parties and it's lost its place as a top family resort. I'd like to see it going back to that more nostalgic side, a place for people all over the country to visit. It could almost be quite a hip place to go and spend a weekend. I'd like to see that happen. I'd like to see it just being itself: a cheeky family holiday. It would be nice if it could regain some of that faded glamour that it once had – it just needs a good PR job.

Travelling makes you more open minded.

Seeing all the places and meeting people widens your experiences and your point of view of the world. You really see how there are so many different ways to live and to enjoy yourself or to live your life. You realise there's no right and wrong, or rules or set way of doing things.

All of my tours have been life-changing.

The best place I've toured is South America because people's enthusiasm for shows is just out of this world. So many bands I speak to say when you play Brazil or Argentina or Chile the fans just go crazy. They're so happy for you to be there, they're so committed, and they know all the words. It really is amazing. We played Mexico on Day of the Dead the day after my birthday and it was just an amazing time to be there. I came on stage dressed as a skeleton with a Mexican skull mask and that was great.

Big on Japan: wandering the streets in Tokyo is a treat (Getty)

The fans are so focused in Japan.

You can tell when you do an interview in Japan that the fans have gone deep into your lyrics. They've really taken time to understand them and it's so respectful, and makes interviews more interesting for you because you're like 'I never really thought that deeply about the lyrics before'. For a long time Tokyo was my favourite city; there's nothing I love more than wandering the streets there.

I queued for three hours for dim sum in Hong Kong.

It was at one of the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurants in the world and it's just under a train station, the most nondescript place. The queue was down the street. It only costs about £7 and you get huge stacks of the most incredible dim sum just served up on plastic tables. The wait was absolutely worth it.

Being able to travel is such a luxury but it can be harrowing.

I'm really grateful for the opportunity to travel but the other week I did three time zones in three days. I was travelling on my own and living on plane food and minibars. There are times when it has felt slightly depressing, but then there are also times when it's absolutely out of this world, so it's two extremes.

The more you tour, the harder it is to settle.

The longer you stay away the harder it is to be still when you get the opportunity. I stay in a lot of Airbnbs now and a lot of rented apartments because I get that feeling of being at home more than being in a hotel room. But, even so, I'm in someone else's space and I can never feel quite settled. The best thing about coming home is having a home-cooked meal and having all my comforts around me. It's nice to be a slob.

Little Boots, real name Victoria Hesketh, has just released her latest album, Working Girl.