From the flatshare comedy Spaced to the new Star Trek movies, it's been quite a trip for the actor and writer, now one of the UK's finest exports. Interview by Francesca Babb.

Where have you just come back from? Right now I'm in a gym in Johannesburg, but before that I was in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, London, Berlin and Vancouver. I'm going to be doing 22 long-haul flights this year, which makes me feel… tired.

Where in the world have you felt happiest? Probably Skala on Kefalonia. My wife and I have been going there for nearly 15 years now, and it's somewhere we're very happy. We happened upon it on one of those pot-luck Thomas Cook trips when we were first together, and we haven't stopped going back. We've made some very dear friends there who take care of us.

Which is your road most travelled? The Heathrow-LAX flight, because I have to go to LA for work. I can recite the entire safety video from Virgin Atlantic.

What do you pack first? Underpants. I count out the number of pairs I need and then put them into my suitcase. I put them on the bottom, and then when I get there, I have to completely unpack in order to get them out. I've only just started to relish unpacking. I never used to; I would always just dig out the suitcase, which I thought was easier.

Describe a memory from a childhood holiday I didn't leave the country until I was 19, which, when I look back on it, blows my mind. We couldn't really afford overseas holidays, so we used to go down to Devon. I have really happy memories of Salcombe: there are all these country lanes, and I remember being in my parents' Opel Manta and this little white rabbit's tail bobbing up and down in the headlights in front. It was dark and it was late and I wasn't in bed, and I'd never seen a rabbit in the wild…

Describe a holiday disaster I crashed a moped on Crete once. I was with my girlfriend at the time, and I lost control and went skidding across the road. I got up really shaken, and these guys came running out of a restaurant, sat us down and gave us oranges and coffee and made us eat and drink until we were over the shock. That's the Greeks all over, really, they're such a friendly bunch of people.

Tell us about a great little place you know The Captain's Bar in Skala. I'm teetotal now, but I still love the place, because it's somewhere I can sit and feel completely and utterly happy. Tina, who runs the bar and is one of my best friends, hasn't ever seen a film that I'm in, but she's so impressed by the fact I'm an actor that she's put loads and loads of pictures of me up in the bar. I can't ask her to take them down, because she does it out of sheer love and pride, so I look like an idiot when I walk in, because I'm grinning from every section of the wall.

What's the smartest hotel you've ever stayed in? Probably the Park Hyatt in Tokyo. I've never had so much done for me when I've gone to the toilet. You sit down on this electric robot, and it dries your bum! That was extraordinary. That hotel is very much part of the whole Tokyo experience for me.

Sightseeing or sun-lounger? A bit of both, but since I've had a kid, both have become harder. I guess it's now 'active sun-lounging', so no more lying for eight hours a day reading a book. It's building sandcastles, running into the sea, then back to the sun-lounger and swap with the missus. It's nice every now and again when my wife takes over and I can get a couple of chapters in, but ultimately I love the craziness of parenthood.

'I would never, ever go back to...' The Canary Islands. Back in the days when I was less organised… well, I'm not organised at all, but back in the days before I had an assistant, my wife and I took an Easter break. I left it really late, and the only place I could get was the Canary Islands. It was all egg and chips. I would not go back there.

Confess to one thing you've taken from a hotel room I don't steal stuff from hotels, mainly because I'm a coward and I'm worried I'll get caught. I've taken a sewing kit, sure, and a shower cap I've never worn.

Which foreign phrase do you use most often? σας ευχαριστω - which means 'thank you' in Greek. My friend Tina also taught me to say to her mum, 'Your boobs look really nice in that dress', which she found absolutely hilarious and I found slightly embarrassing because I didn't actually know what I was saying. I have a Rosetta Stone course I haven't even opened yet, but I will learn. I've promised myself that.

What's your guilty pleasure? I was on tour years and years ago, and we were doing some shows in Blackpool. I walked down to the Pleasure Beach in the morning and it was raining, and I thought 'This is dreadful, so depressing.' And then suddenly the sun came out and the whole place made sense to me. We spent the entire morning there.

What would you like to find in your minibar? Something healthy. A minibar is such an insidious little temptation in the corner of the room, I've learnt to dislike it a little bit. So anything in there that is not going to make me feel sick or fat is good.

Most regrettable holiday souvenir? When I was in the American South, I bought cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and a cowboy shirt, and I wore them all the time there because every f***er was wearing them. You walk down Kentish Town Road looking like that, and everyone points and laughs.

Nominate your eighth wonder of the world Getting through a long-haul flight with a three-year-old without losing your mind. Even if they sit watching Grandpa in My Pocket for 12 hours, you still worry that they're going to go and disarm the doors when you nod off, so you just sit there in a state of readiness the whole flight. Getting to the other end sane is a wonder.

Published in Condé Nast Traveller August 2013.