Postcard from Hydra: dressing for child-free sunshine

YAMAS!

After weeks of searching for an abroad family summer holiday and being either outraged at the price or depressed by the sheer naffness available within budget (I now realised why people with school-aged kids book holidays a year or more in advance - the early bird catches the Jet2 deal) we've decided to call it quits and take the kids to my mum’s in Devon again, with a week in a caravan in Cornwall.

BUT to jolly things up, my husband and I each booked individual trips with a friend: him to Canada for 10 days, and immediately afterwards, me to Greece for 10 of my own.

Which I know sounds extravagant (I'm almost apologetic about it). Quite honestly I didn't think me being away for such a long time would be possible logistically - and emotionally. However, with the help of extra childcare via my 16-year-old niece, it turns out it is. And yes, I did feel a bit wobbly getting on the plane and have messaged several times a day to check the kids are ok. And yes my husband has asked me where my son's PE kit is (in the clean wash basket at the end of our bed!!!), and I've called the doctors surgery to book my daughter's next round of jabs from a pebbled cove with limited reception. But I've decided not to feel guilty. Life is a lot at times and everyone needs a break. Especially mothers.

So here I am, in Hydra, where it is utter bliss. A movie set of polished stone walk ways, hot-pink bougainvillea, pretty stray cats and blue sparkly ocean. The soundtrack has been switched from "muuuuummy!" to cicadas and the clip-clop of donkeys carrying luggage up the hill.

Bridget, is that you?

“One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough”

My friend and I have been referred to twice (!) as “girls”, and at dinner one night a trio of chic sixty-something women who used to work for ITN asked if we were old enough to have legally partaken in the Brexit vote. When we told them we were a stones throw from forty and that I have two kids, they were brilliantly astonished.

As for clothes, I've taken the opportunity to not pack a capsule wardrobe and instead brought a family-sized suitcase just for me (this from Antler which is very lightweight and has useful internal compartments) and filled it with lots of linen and airy cotton, fun accessories and too many toiletries, which I had both the literal and mental space for.

I've listened to the advice I have given a hundred times over in my newspaper features and packed in outfits not pieces, and stuck to a limited colour palette of black, red, white (lots!) and navy, with a few rogue pops of yellow and brown - let's not get uptight! Both of these things have absolutely made packing/getting dressed feel easier but still fun.

The two pairs of denim shorts I've brought won't get a look in - far too hot for the weather and far too stiff for island vibes. However, If Only If’s Clover mini dress in white cotton (I got the thicker version in size S) has really come into its own. I think I could have survived with just this and a bikini for the whole trip.

How cute is my little fish necklace?! Similar here

The easy breeziest beach dress

(or to wear to Tesco in a heatwave?!)

I mean!

My other suitcase successes are Beyond Nine’s polka-dot mini, WNU’s linen boyfriend shirt in Cardinal red, these lightweight trousers which I also wore on the plane and Asceno’s long black linen dress which is v. spendy but my idea of the perfect black summer dress, and has been great for dinner both on Hydra and for our stop-over in Athens (we ate at Pharaoh - the thyme shrimp were insane).

Shirt, bag (sign up for pre-order or lovely alt here - use it as your in-flight too)

Bikini, shorts, the jolliest tote bag and such a useful larger size, Birks, sunglasses

Polka-dot mini (use code FRANKIE15!)

Dress

I’ve also really enjoyed my tablecloth top from M&S (sign up for restock notifications). Ooooh, and these £10 sunglasses for the beach - chic but fine to get covered in suncream/sand.

Top - I wish I'd bought the matching shorts too

Shirt, shorts, sunglasses, basket, flip-flops

Shoes wise, during the day black Birkenstocks and these cushioned flip-flops have been versatile enough to work with everything and comfortable for walking around in. I haven't worn either of my fancy flats for the evening, just a pair of black leather thong sandals.

I've also worn this button-front dress to a London wedding. Great for breastfeeding too!

If I could bathe in Lulus tzatziki I would

Nightdresses as day dresses!

I actually wish I'd taken more bikinis, partly because it's boiling but mainly because there is a wonderfully uninhibited attitude here. In general I’ve found that the idea of baring your bod in swimwear is worse (especially when you've spent too much time looking at Instagram) than the reality of actually being on a beach surrounded by all sorts of boobs, bums and tums. Greece feels even more ‘whatever’ and not at all self-conscious - it’s so liberating to not be fretting over my post-baby bits and bobs, and to just be able to chill out. My friend (Charlie, also a former fashion editor) has packed two banging bikinis from Calzedonia (this and this), which she maintains is a great high-street label for swimwear for celebrating bigger busts and bottoms.

On the subject of Charlie - my friend of twenty years - this is the longest time we've spent together since before I had kids. To have the opportunity to be silly and chatty and giggly and “girls” has been the biggest treat. One I will savour for a couple more days until it's time to go home and be a grown-up again.

But until then…

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One more thing…

Of course I've read more books in a week than I have in the last few months. I brought four with me: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall; Heart the Lover by Lily King; The Correspondent by Virginia Evans; The Names by Florence Knapp.

I tore through those in the first five days so have had to do an emergency dash to the island book shop and buy Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (when in Greece!).

The original four are very good - compelling, moving, beautifully written - and I would recommend all of them, if it wasn't for the fact that the first three I mentioned are billed as love stories but also feature (unadvertised) child peril. Which is the very last thing you want to read when away from your own. (What is it about contemporary fiction’s current fascination with grieving mothers? See also Hamnet and Guess How Much I Love You?) The Names explicitly references domestic violence (again, women's pain!) which isn't exactly a relaxing-on-a-sun-lounger topic.

So instead, I'm going to suggest you check out Elizabeth Morris’ Hot Mum Summer Reading List which, like all of her book recs, is very thoughtfully put together.

Hot Mum Summer Reading List 2026

That's all for now. You're doing great, Frankie x