Tusting Talks to India Hicks

In a nutshell, what does luxury mean to you?

My mother told me recently that she felt the greatest form of luxury will be our privacy -And as she has had nearly 92 years of experience in this world I would tend to agree with her.

When Covid gives up grounding us, what are the first three places you would like to visit?

We are lucky here in the Bahamas at the moment because we are able to travel from island to island and now having my children home together with life running at a slightly slower pace we have the opportunity to charter a sailboat and explore some of the uninhabited neighbouring islands that we have not yet discovered, despite living here for 25 years but when further restrictions are lifted I would like to explore South America but before that spend a gentle summer back in my mother’s English garden.

You travel frequently – you must have packing nailed. Do you pack light or throw in the kitchen sink? Any tips for successful packing?

When I pack in a rush I overpack in panic, when I pack thoughtfully, I take just enough and leave the kitchen sink behind. When I was travelling relentlessly for business around America, I would never pack anything that needed ironing, ironing is bullshit when you’re on the road.

Your podcast conversations with your mother have made for extraordinary, fascinating listening and are also incredibly funny. Which of your parents’ grand adventures would you most liked to have been on?

My parents once met Haile Selassie on a trip to Ethiopia. There is an alarming photograph of two magnificent, chained leopards sleeping on the Palace steps when my parents arrived.

They had been advised by his courtiers that they should only converse in French, so they spent many weeks before their ‘audience’ with the Emperor practicing and were almost fluent by the time they were presented. At the end of their time together the Emperor turned to them and said ‘Thank you so much for being my guests, how delighted we are that you visited us’ in perfect English, without a hint of an accent. Clearly there had been no need at all for them to study French!

To find India’s podcasts, click here.

What do you wish people knew about The Bahamas? How they can support the islands after the devastation from the hurricane?

There is so much to discover in the Bahamas beyond the golden sand beaches and the turquoise waters and the swaying palm trees. But nearly two years ago a devastating hurricane hit the Bahamas and destroyed neighbouring islands and ripped out the swaying palm trees and brought in a tsunami wave across the islands and covered the golden sands in appalling amounts of debris which to this day are still being cleaned up.

There are people still living under canvas tents, there are children who still have not got back into school, there are family members still missing and unaccounted for.

The world is so fragile at the moment we see so many natural disasters that the media’s attention and the world’s focus moves quickly on from one disaster to the next. I have tried to keep the relief work that is happening in the Bahamas top of my mind and my family’s mind, as a result this Christmas we set up an initiative to give computers to those kids in Abaco who had no access to online learning and I continue to work with the disaster relief agency who remain on the ground helping those communities. Any donation to this foundation made today will help change the life of someone tomorrow.

Donations can be made here.

Was David’s Clipper bag the only Tusting piece your family own? Which piece would you choose next?

The bag I have just commissioned and created for David as a wedding gift (when will that day ever come?) is an updated version of a much loved, much carried, much-used satchel David bought from Tusting many moons ago – We both love the thick canvas and hand-stitched leather details, so I am drawn to The Walton backpack, as I can never resist anything that has a strong safari-style, a hint of English Patient and a lot of dusty romance.

Find out more about the Walton Backpack here

What is your oldest and most faithful accessory?

Does my three-legged dachshund count? Banger has been with me for 13 years, we are utterly faithful to each other.

Any other favourite items you couldn’t live without?

Running shoes. Wherever I am in the world.

What’s your favourite mode of transport on Harbour Island?

We just moved from golf cart to Vespa.