Caitríona Balfe Shares Rare Comments About Her Son, Talks Screen Time & Traveling With Husband Tony McGill | Just Jared

Caitríona Balfe is sharing rare comments about her private life in a new interview with Travel + Leisure.

The 46-year-old Outlander actress is on the cover of Travel + Leisure‘s October 2026 Fashion and Design issue, hitting newsstands on September 18 and out now online.

During the conversation, Caitríona offered some rare comments about her personal life with husband Tony McGill and their son, whom they welcomed in August 2021.

See highlights from the conversation inside…

Caitríona Balfe Talks Traveling With Her Son & Screen Time

“My son’s a really good traveler. When he was very young, we had to go to Los Angeles a lot, and he’s fantastic on a plane. I’ve managed to avoid the iPads up to this point, and he’s really good at reading and playing games. Though he did mainline TV on one of our last long-haul flights.”

Caitríona Balfe Reveals How Motherhood Changed the Way She Travels

“Once you have children, your priorities change. I’m always trying to find somewhere that has a separate bedroom and living room, so we can put him to bed and not be stuck sitting in the dark. Open-plan suites just don’t work.”

Caitríona Balfe Talks Traveling With Husband Tony McGill

“I don’t think you can beat Claridge’s. Recently I was doing a press junket there, and then it just so happened that our boiler broke at home. So then we had to stay for two nights, which was really such a trial [laughs]. For pleasure my husband and I go to Somerset quite a bit. We got married down there, actually. It’s so beautiful, especially around Bruton. We’ve been to Babington House a few times. And I love the Newt in Somerset—the rooms, the food—but it’s very hard to plan, because I feel like it’s always booked up so far in advance.”

On why she refuses to use Wi-Fi on planes:

“Airports have gotten less and less fun, but I see traveling as my alone time. I love getting on a plane with a good book. I never use the Wi-Fi. I don’t want to connect, and I don’t understand people who do. That’s your one moment.”

On her dream holiday and truly switching off:

“There’s always somebody trying to get hold of me, but if I say, “Look, I’m away for these dates,” the phones generally stop. My dream holiday is going to Donegal in the summer with friends, staying in a little hundred-year-old farmhouse on an island. The kids can run around. I can switch my phone off and have three or four days. If I can find a yoga instructor who’ll come to the house every day, I’ll be so happy. If I can get a chef, too, that’s perfect. I really don’t want to have to think about what I’m feeding everybody!”

For more from Caitríona Balfe, head to travelandleisure.com.

The actress recently shared some of her own personal theories on what might have happened between the show’s leading couple after the series finale of Outlander.

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