Harry Styles practically disappeared from the spotlight after wrapping Love on Tour — and he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“At the end of the tour, the idea of taking time out felt insane. I didn’t know if I could do it, but it was the right time for me,” Styles, 32, told The Sunday Times in a profile published Saturday, February 14. “We’d finished the tour in July and I was turning 30 in February. It was time for me to stop for a bit and pay some attention to other parts of my life.”

Styles headlined his global Love on Tour concerts from September 2021 to July 2023. After the run of shows, the Grammy winner found peace and solace in Italy.

“Italy has become really special to me over the past few years. I drove from London to Rome during COVID, in that time when you could travel,” Styles told the outlet. “I’d spent all my years before that touring — with little gaps in between — and if I had a week off I’d never have driven somewhere, I would have got there and back as fast as possible.”

Once he wrapped Love on Tour, Styles was insistent on spending his hiatus in Italy.

“I drove there, and I thought, ‘I’m going to enjoy doing this.’ When I was in Rome, the city just taught me how to slow down,” he explained. “Italy became so important to me because I was so used to everything moving so quickly and being on the go, but then I remember going to a café and sitting and having a coffee and thinking, ‘I don’t remember the last time I sat down and had a coffee — if I’ve ever sat down and just had a coffee.’”

Styles continued, “I was suddenly learning, through my friends, that eating a meal is more than just sitting down and refueling. I realized the pleasure in just being in the moment of what you’re doing. The Romans are the best at that — that’s their speciality. The pace they’ve taught me has been so special.”

During his break from the spotlight, Styles’ family also grew.

“In that time, my sister had a baby,” Styles told The Times of his sister, Gemma, welcoming her daughter in 2024. “At any other time in my life, I would have missed a lot of that. To be there to get to know my niece as she’s growing up, it’s so obvious to me what’s real. It was really obvious that was where I wanted to be.”

Allowing the change of pace, Styles has found an innate sense of freedom.

“I’d always thought, or hoped, that I was the kind of person who didn’t need the dopamine hits that doing this job often gives you,” he told The Times. “But I hadn’t actually removed myself from it and it’s hard to eliminate the doubt that maybe if it all went away, I’d really miss it. That’s always been a fear for me. So, living my life in a way where I could really like who I am away from this world has been so powerful for me.”

Styles further noted that he’s worked to become more present, which even inspired his upcoming Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally record.

“I’ve made small changes, like not having Instagram on my phone anymore,” he said. “I feel so much healthier in my relationship with this world that I’m stepping back into.”