My mother comes from eight brothers and sisters, and every year since I can remember, we’ve been on holiday for a family reunion. There’s a meeting when it’s decided where we’re going to go, and all the aunts and cousins — 50 or more — come along too.

This year, we went to Phoenix, where I climbed Red Rock. I didn’t get right up it, but you’d best believe that one day I will get to the top of that mountain. We’ve had a blast in some of the places we’ve been — I think the best one was Branson, Missouri. It’s the Midwestern Las Vegas — it has all the shows, the sparkly lights and the amusements.

One particular time, me and two cousins went up on a sort of bungee jump. We were maybe 13. You go up really slow, and when we got up to the top, it was so high my cousin was afraid to pull the lever to snap the bungee cord. I said, “We’re up here now, we gotta get down somehow.” And he released the switch and we just went flying. My mum and aunts were down on the ground, praying — “Why in the world would my child do something crazy like that?”

Some of my favourite trips have been to Six Flags, which is a chain of amusement parks in America. I love rollercoasters — I’ll take the tallest, fastest one you got. I guess I’m an adrenaline junkie — I can’t think of anything better than going round the world trying all the biggest rollercoasters.

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Because I travel so much with work, when I go somewhere for myself, I go totally for relaxation. I just want to sit by the pool and have piña coladas brought to me. Is that bad? I know I’m in a great hotel when I look at the room-service menu and I’m pleased. It’s the first thing I do. I’m such a nerd.

When I was touring with the band, if I had any extra time, I would sleep, but my bandmate Kelly [Rowland]... Oh God, she’s the sightseeing, get-up-early-for-breakfast, tea-and-biscuits kinda girl. Now I’m here for a longer period, I want to go see the museums, I want to ride the boats that go along the Embankment, I want to ride the London Eye. I want a tour of Buckingham Palace — do you think the Queen would hook me up?

I really want to go to South Africa in November — some friends of mine go over there every year and play in the jazz clubs. That sounds like fun. But as far as me making the reservations myself to go to some island somewhere, I haven’t had a real holiday for a couple of years.

I do the family trips, but sometimes you sacrifice the holidays to keep working and go to other levels in your career. Maybe next year... but I know that I’m due a big break.

Another place I’d like to go to is the Maldives, but I can’t swim. My mother took me to the YMCA to learn when I was nine, but I was so scared about people touching me in the water. I trusted my brother to teach me, so he held me in the water with his hands under my belly.

Then he thought it would be cute to take his hands away. You know, I thought my life was over. So now, when I get into the water, you have to keep away. If I need your assistance, I will call for you. I can’t travel on little boats, either — a kayak or a canoe. I can’t even ride a Jet Ski: I’m terrified.

Right now, I’m trying to learn how to pack lighter. When you spend so much time in cities, you can find reasonable clothes in markets — I bought this dress in Covent Garden the other day for about £10. I try to get something from everywhere I go, so I can be like, “This came from so-and-so...” My grandmother would collect thimbles from everywhere she went, so I’ve been trying to work out what I should collect. I’ve been into belts recently, so I try to get one of those.

One of my worst experiences when travelling has been my phone bills. I’ve had a $10,000 bill before now. I didn’t know you were supposed to have the unlimited data plan, and you’re not really supposed to talk so much. I was so upset. I was talking to my boyfriend and my family, and e-mailing back and forth. When I got that bill, I was crying, saying, “Do I go on the run or do I pay it?” In the end, I don’t think I had to pay the 10 grand, but I had to pay a lot.

- Michelle Williams spoke to Paul Croughton

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