Hoda Kotb Reveals She Already Planned How She's Spending First Day After “Today” Show Exit: 'I'm Sleeping In' (Exclusive)
"A good friend of mine said, 'Plan out your first day after. Plan it out because it will help you.' So I have already made my little idea," Kotb tells PEOPLE
Hoda Kotb still has some time before she closes out her journey anchoring at Today. However, she already has an idea of how she plans to spend her first day off.
"I thought about it actually. A good friend of mine said, 'Plan out your first day after. Plan it out because it will help you.' So I have already made my little idea," Kotb, 60, begins to tell PEOPLE while onsite at Miraval Austin for her "Making Space: A Wellness Weekend" event, where attendees got to partake in various classes and sessions that encouraged self-improvement.
"There is a 5:30 SoulCycle class in my town. I'm going to go to my 5:30. So I'm used to getting up at 3:00. So I'm sleeping in," she continues. "I'm going to go to a 5:30 SoulCycle. I'm going to be done at 6:30. I'm going to come home. I'm going to feed my kids breakfast. I'm going to get a hot cup of coffee. I am going to walk with them to school, which is going to be one of the most amazing things. Small, but amazing."
Upon returning home, Kotb will be putting herself to work. "I'm working in the wellness space. That's be my new thing. I'm working on an app, and retreats and things. It's all going to be all the nourishing stuff. So I will do a few hours of work," she shares, which most recently included her weekend-long event in Austin, where famed journalist and philanthropist Maria Shriver and businesswoman Jamie Kern Lima were among the big-name guest speakers.
"And then, I will have a meaningful lunch that has a great conversation with people who I haven't been able to sit and visit with," she says. "I don't remember when I've had lunch at all lately. You know what I mean? Over the past, however many years. So I'm going to sit, have lunch. I'm going to do a little more work, and at 3:00 I'm going to pick my kids up. I'm going to bring them home or take them to their activities."
Kotb then adds, "I'm going to heat up the barbecue. I'm going to pour a cocktail. I'm going to make us whatever we make. That's the kind of ... I don't care, rain, sleet, snow, whatever. We're going to have a thing I'm going to read to my kids and we're going to go sleep. That's the first. That's just day one."
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On Sept. 26, Kotb announced her plans to depart her longtime role at Today. She will remain in her position until the beginning of 2025.
Kotb won't be gone from NBC entirely, though, as she notes the plan is still "being formulated."
"It'll involve doing some specials, doing the podcast and doing maybe the Olympics, stuff like that," the Making Space podcast host explains. "It'll be like those kinds of things. So it'll be specials and all those things. And I think every month or so, I'll come back on the Today show and do a little something in this space, which I think will be fun."