Want to know how to travel in style, just like the pros? We check in with frequent fliers to find out how often they fly, their favorite destinations and what they never leave home without.
Name: David C. Moore
Occupation: Accidental author and retired marketing director
Hometown: Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
Residence: Droskyn House, Pinkneys Green, Berkshire, England
College: Trent University
College major: B.A. Hons Business Studies
Website: davidcmoore-author.com
Twitter: @dcmooreauthor
Facebook: David C Moore
Instagram: heleneanddavid
Pinterest: David C. Moore
YouTube: david c moore
Short bio: I retired from advertising and marketing when Helene thought I may still be fit enough to take on an adventure around the world. It was an itinerary for those of us of a certain age who prefer to turn left when boarding, choose a one-to-one specialist guide rather than a bus full, and enjoy a room with a sea view rather than one with a shared loo.
How often do you fly? Usually once a month or so, but during our ten-month adventure to 15 countries we took 53 flights.
How many countries have you been to? 15 in the last ten months plus a further 20 over the years, so 35’ish in total.
How many continents have you been to? Six but Antarctica is on the list.
Earliest travel memory: Spending hours in my father’s old Morris Minor car trying to get to Margate in Kent for two weeks of going blue on the beach. My father, despite being in the RAF on National Service (or perhaps because of it) didn’t care to fly, so my first flight was to Costa Blanca in Spain at the age of 16 with my twin brother and a few long forgotten friends, when bizarrely one could smoke on an aircraft and drink sangria until your eyes popped out.
Favorite American city: New York twice over.
Favorite international city: Shanghai. Stay on the Bund and watch the Huangpu River snake around some of the largest and most recognizable buildings from around the world, tour the city by motorbike and sidecar and visit the Michelin-star restaurants.
Least favorite country: I was really disappointed with Australia, no barbies on the beach, the supermarkets are awful—they don’t even sell wine, and the TV is dreadful.
I have no desire to go to: Pakistan, ever.
Friendliest people in the world: The Burmese in Myanmar, the country gets a lot of bad press but the people are wonderful.
Country with the meanest immigration officers: USA, they appear to be doing us all a great favor.
Favorite World Heritage Site: Machu Picchu; “the hidden castle in the sky where the kings live.” The sights are wonderful but the story behind the scenes is extraordinary, I am a huge fan of Pachacutec.
Favorite airline: Emirates; the in-flight entertainment is excellent, the food rivals any top end restaurant, and the cabin crew are the friendliest and most helpful.
Favorite aircraft type: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, but no Wi-Fi on the BA Dreamliner!?
Aisle or window: Aisle short-haul, window long-haul. Or central in First Class.
Favorite airport lounge: Concorde Room at Heathrow T5 is only just beaten by the Miracle Lounge at Bangkok, it has to be good with a name like that.
Favorite U.S. airport: Los Angeles International LAX.
Favorite international airport: Beijing Capital International Airport, designed by Foster + Partners T3, is one of the largest buildings in the world at over two miles long but it is beautiful architecture using the traditional Chinese colour scheme of red and yellow.
Favorite hotel: The Savoy, London. Impeccable service at the recently renovated Savoy.
Favorite cruise line: Captain Cook Cruises, Fiji—not too big and great fun, especially feeding breakfast to the black tipped sharks.
Favorite travel credit card: American Express because you get a Priority Pass with it for airport lounges, we used 25 in ten months, some wonderful, some dreadful.
Favorite island: Tokoriki, Fiji. Just go, enjoy the music, food, people, and kava!
Favorite beach: The Gold Coast, Australia, and Margate, Kent.
Favorite National Park: Guilin and Lijang River National Park, China.
Favorite fancy restaurant: Maaemo, Oslo. Ridiculously expensive but worth every penny.
Favorite hole-in-the-wall: Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Nottingham, England. Literally a hole-in-the-wall, it is an ancient pub built into stone caves with a charming, wonky interior and resident ghosts.
Favorite airport restaurant: The Concorde Room, Heathrow, London, not only because of the free flowing Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle Champagne, the food rivals most top-end London restaurants.
Favorite bar: Harry’s Bar, Venice, home of the Bellini cocktail, you almost feel the seats are still warm from Hemingway, Hitchcock, Chaplin, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Favorite fruit: Strawberries, particularly in G’Vine (see “Drink of choice…”).
Favorite food: Poached salmon with asparagus and Cornish new potatoes.
Least favorite food: Durian, it smells like someone has died eating blue cheese.
Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): G’Vine gin and tonic, difficult to find but served with strawberries, orange peel and peppercorns it is divine. In the air it’s bubbles of course.
Favorite travel movie(s): The Bucket List. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are simply hilarious.
Favorite travel show(s): Planet Earth. David Attenborough at the very top of his game with some astonishing insights into unusual wildlife behavior and extraordinary photography.
Favorite travel podcast(s): “Travel” with Rick Steves. High production quality and some well-known faces.
Favorite travel book(s): Ignoring “Turning Left Around the World” just about anything by Bill Bryson or Chris Stewart.
Right now I am reading: “Driving over Lemons” by Chris Stewart, I want to meet the man whose solution to every problem is, “Let’s eat meat, drink wine and talk.”
Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: A Luxury Travel Blog, Audley Traveler magazine and Frugal First Class Travel.
Favorite travel website(s)—besides JohnnyJet.com, of course! audleytravel.com and wanderlust.co.uk
5things you bring on a plane: Glasses, iPad, Kindle, mints, and Helene my wife.
What do you always seem to forget? Glasses, Helene now makes me pack three pairs; in carry-on, hand luggage and hold luggage.
What do you like least about travel? Queuing. It drives me mad that the ground crew lie about when a flight is boarding and when it’s last call.
What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport Duty Free store? Pasha by Cartier, if they can find it, and afford it.
Favorite travel app(s): Waygo is brilliant! It translates everyday Japanese, Chinese and Korean characters on street signs and menus etc into English. Waygo uses your smartphone’s camera to capture the image of Japanese words and then instantly displays a translation. Very clever, very useful when travelling across Japan by train.
Most embarrassing travel moment: Arrested in Juliaca Airport Peru for packing an explosive device in my luggage. It was actually an oxygen canister I used for altitude sickness when we travelled to Lake Titicaca.
I’m embarrassed I haven’t been to: Canada, always wanted to go but just never got it on the list.
Worst travel moment: What should have been a simple route from Easter Island to Santiago and a quick turnaround to Calama became a nine-hour delay at Easter Island and a further nine-hour delay at Santiago compliments of LATAM who kindly provided a $10 voucher for McDonald’s that I dislike and my gluten-intolerant wife Helene can’t eat. Thank you LATAM. On arrival at Calama at 1:30am Helene’s luggage had a wheel missing and was immovable. Thanks again LATAM. No compensation of course.
What’s your dream destination? Of the 15 countries we visited in “Turning Left Around the World” I would love to return to New Zealand, what a beautiful and peaceful country.
Favorite travel charity: BA Flying Start a charity run in conjunction with Comic Relief. Apart from the great work they do around the world the new BA safety video is hilarious.
Best travel tip: Talk to the locals, you’ll find out so much more than any guide or guidebook can tell you.
