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.

Carole Kongprachith
Carole Kongprachith

Name: Carole Kongprachith

Occupation: Entrepreneur, Editor and Traveler

Hometown: Paris, France

Residence: US

Website: RollingCoconut.com & OOAworld.com/travel

Twitter: @ooaworld@RollingCocoWP

Facebook: ooaworld.com – ooa’s World, Arts & Travels

Pinterest: Carole Pavina

Google+: Ooa Revo Ooaworld

Instagram: therollingcoconut

YouTube: Ooaworld Videos

Short bio: Founder of Rolling Coconut, now OOAworld Travel. Used to be accountant, got out of my cubicle and started adding my travel expenses instead. I have a fear of heights (I’d take the stairs down instead of escalators any day). I try to conquer it by climbing mountains.

How often do you fly? +10 times per year.

How many countries have you been to? 30+

How many continents have you been to? 3, soon 4.

Earliest travel memory: I used to experience air sickness when I traveled. It would start as soon as I got into an airplane, and it lasted all the way till arrival. Needless to say, I am glad that’s over now.

Favorite American city: New York City.

Favorite international city: Tokyo, Japan.

Least favorite country: Each country is unique and has something to offer so none so far? If I really have to pick one, maybe Bangladesh. Bangladesh was a bit difficult for me when I first got there, not many women around, men only speaking to my partner…but after a while I was seduced.

Friendliest people in the world: Myanmar.

Country with the meanest immigration officers: USA.

Favorite World Heritage Site: There are so many beautiful sites to choose from…Ha Long Bay/Borobudur.

Favorite airline: Sri Lanka Airlines.

Favorite aircraft type: A 787.

Aisle or window: My partner and I are all about the window, so we take turns.

Favorite U.S. airport: Honolulu. The wiki-bus and the smell of plumerias as soon as you get off the plane.

Favorite international airport: Changi Airport in Singapore by far—best amenities and comfort.

Favorite hotel: Plankton Diver’s Inn, El Nido, Palawan. We got to stay while the guest house was still under construction: We were the only ones there, with a deck and pristine beach to ourselves.

Favorite island: O’ahu, Hawaii.

Favorite beach: Lanikai Beach on O’ahu, Hawaii.

Favorite fancy restaurant: I love going to Je The…Me in the 15th arrondissement in Paris.

Favorite hole-in-the-wall: Kay Lee Roast Meat Joint for the best char-siu in Singapore. Was lucky to stay in a hostel close by or I would never have found this place. 

Favorite bar: I feel old because I have to think about it…and can’t come up with anything.

Favorite fruit: Mango.

Favorite food: Lao and Vietnamese food. Ban Cuanh and Larp.

Least favorite food: Sri Lankan—I don’t know why, we just couldn’t get along.

Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): Red wine. And red wine.

Favorite travel movie(s): Lost in Translation, Into the Wild, L’Auberge Espagnole.

Favorite travel show(s): Planet Earth.

Favorite travel book(s): “Around the World in 80 Days.”

Right now I am reading: “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” Finally!

Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: National Geographic—I’d like to improve my photography. Legal Nomads—we share the same love of Vietnamese food!

Favorite travel website(s)—besides JohnnyJet.com, of course! Travelfish.org, maninseat61.com—simple, unassuming and practical.

5 things you bring on a plane: Snacks, my circle scarf, a book, iPad, camera,

What do you always seem to forget? Q-tips and sunscreen. 

What do you like least about travel? Carrying a heavy bag. And then having to listen to my partner lecturing me again about the benefits of traveling light.

What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport Duty Free store? See above. I need to learn how to travel light.

Favorite travel app(s): Google Maps. Take screenshots while you have Wi-Fi if you don’t have access to data.

Most embarrassing travel moment: While taking a fourteen-hour train in the middle of the desert in western China, the mother sitting across from me lifted her child up in the air. The baby proceeded to pee on me. Nobody cared whatsoever. Not so much embarrassing as unhygienic. 

Worst travel moment: Sleeping in a bug-infested hostel in Baguio, Philippines, during Easter Week, for the kingly sum of USD $20! Read more about our visit here.

What’s your dream destination? Antarctica/Tahiti/Anywhere where I can see the Northern Lights.

Best travel tip: Carry a scarf with you. This is especially useful for ladies. I always have my circle scarf with me which can act as a head cover, a sarong, a changing station, a pillow, a jacket, a sheet, a blanket—the most versatile item ever. Make sure to wash it often.

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