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: Tracey Carisch
Occupation: Author and leadership development professional
Hometown: Effingham, Illinois (yes, it’s really called that)
Residence: Summit County, Colorado
College: Indiana University
College major: Business Computer Science
Website: traceycarisch.com
Twitter: @traceycarisch
Facebook: Tracey Carisch
Instagram: traceycarisch
Google+: Tracey Carisch
YouTube: Tracey Carisch
Short bio: Tracey Carisch is an international speaker and leadership professional. Her book, “Excess Baggage: One Family’s Around-the-World Search for Balance,” chronicles her family’s around-the-world journey, in which they shed the stress of their busy, overscheduled life and found a new perspective through the lessons of international travel.
How often do you fly? Depends on the year. In our biggest travel year, 27 times.
How many countries have you been to? 37
How many continents have you been to? 6
Earliest travel memory: Driving to Colorado in my parents’ full size van for our summer vacation when I was 10-years old. It must have been pretty fun, because now I live in the same county we visited on that trip.
Favorite American city: Chicago.
Favorite international city: Dublin.
Least favorite country: This is a hard question since I’m one of those sappy travelers who finds something to love about every country I visit…That said, I did get extremely severe food poisoning in Nicaragua, which scarred me to the point that I will never go back.
I have no desire to go to: Again, I’d have to go with Nicaragua.
Friendliest people in the world: Tie between the Irish and the Kiwis.
Country with the meanest immigration officers: United States.
Favorite World Heritage Site: Angkor Wat.
Favorite airline: Qatar Airways.
Favorite aircraft type: Anyone with personalized entertainment systems.
Aisle or window: Aisle.
Favorite airport lounge: Qatar’s Premium Doha Lounge (which we were allowed to access because our family got bumped to First Class for the first time in our entire lives.
Favorite U.S. airport: Indianapolis.
Favorite international airport: Barcelona.
Favorite hotel: We don’t stay in them enough to have one.
Favorite cruise line: The only one we’ve ever been on is Royal Carribbean, so I guess I have to go with that.
Favorite island: Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park, Bay of Thailand.
Favorite beach: Awaroa Inlet in Abel Tasman, New Zealand.
Favorite National Park: Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica/Bryce Canyon in the United States.
Favorite bar: McCarthy’s Pub in Castletownshend, Ireland.
Favorite fruit: Granadilla found in Peru.
Favorite food: Fish amok.
Least favorite food: Fried crickets.
Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): Dark beer, both places.
Favorite travel show(s): Expedition Unknown on the Travel Channel.
Favorite travel book(s): “1,000 Places To See Before You Die.”
Right now I am reading: “The Fourth Turning” (again).
Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: Bumfuzzle.
Favorite travel website(s)—besides JohnnyJet.com, of course! Skyscanner.com
5 things you bring on a plane: Water bottle, wet wipes, neck pillow, headphones, and a good book.
What do you always seem to forget? Enough snacks for my kids.
What do you like least about travel? Not knowing the local language, and then not understanding the accents of locals when they try to speak English to me.
What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport Duty Free store? Toblerone. (Really it’s for me.)
Favorite travel app(s): iTranslate.
Most embarrassing travel moment: One time I messed up my Spanish conjugation so badly that I accidentally propositioned myself to a strange man. He had held a door for me, and I walked by I’d meant to say “Thank you, you are very nice.” Instead, I looked up at him, smiled, and said in perfect Spanish, “I am very nice.”
I’m embarrassed I haven’t been to: India.
Worst travel moment: Getting scabies from a bus, either in Chile or Bolivia (I’m not sure which) and having to treat my whole family with a couple rounds of nasty slimy head to toe lotion.
What’s your dream destination? One of those Tahitian island resorts where the luxury huts are built out on the ocean.
Favorite travel charity: Good Travel.
Best travel tip: Take a game of Twister with you. It takes up very little space, it’s great for kids on rainy days, and it’s sure to make you some friends with curious locals.
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