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: Lillie Marshall
Occupation: Teacher and Travel Blogger
Hometown: Boston, MA, USA
Residence: Back in Boston after circumnavigating the globe!
College: Brown University, RI
College and Graduate School Majors: Comparative Literature (Spanish, French, and English), International Development, and Education
Websites: Teaching Traveling and Around the World “L”
Twitter: @WorldLillie
Facebook: Around the World “L” and Teaching Traveling
Instagram: worldlillie
Pinterest: Lillie Marshall
Google+: +Lillie Marshall
Short bio: Lillie Marshall is a six-foot tall teacher and new mother from Boston who created AroundTheWorldL.com travel blog in 2009 to feature her own explorations, and TeachingTraveling.com in 2010 to feature other “Teacher-Travelers” (in the widest sense of the term). Both sites now receive over 1,000 readers a day. Lillie has one of the largest social media followings of any teacher in the world.
How often do you fly? It depends wildly! Sometimes every month, but due to logistics with two young children, that’s slowed a tad for the time being.
How many countries have you been to? Almost 40.
How many continents have you been to? Five.
Earliest travel memory: Eating ice cream on a bridge in Paris.
Favorite American city: Boston!
Favorite international city, least favorite country, and place I have no desire to go to: Can’t answer this! Every place has something to offer.
Friendliest people in the world: Ghana.
Country with the meanest immigration officers: They’ve all been fine.
Favorite World Heritage Site: Old Quebec City. (See my article on why we loved Quebec City here!)
Favorite airline: Emirates.
Favorite aircraft type: Um, the kind that’s not too small?
Aisle or window: Both! (I like the view of windows and so would pick that if forced to, but as a six-foot-tall woman, I need the aisle space.)
Favorite airport lounge: The giant VIP Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul.
Favorite U.S. airport: Boston, because it’s so close to the city that it’s incredibly convenient, and I love how you come in and take off right over the water.
Favorite international airport: Any of the tropical ones where it’s mostly outside, like Hilo, Hawaii.
Favorite hotel: The Phoenix in Ambergris Caye, Belize. (See my article on The Phoenix here to learn why.)
Favorite cruise line: Only cruised once, and don’t remember with whom, nor would I call it my favorite, though it was fun!
Favorite travel credit card: Chase Sapphire.
Favorite island: Puerto Rico!
Favorite beach: Trinidad, Cuba.
Favorite National Park: Great Sand Dunes, Colorado. Beyond mind-blowing.
Favorite fancy restaurant: Seven Sands, Dubai.
Favorite airport restaurant: There were a bunch of good ones in Tokyo, Japan, but I don’t remember the names because I was so busy stuffing my face.
Favorite bar: Cloud 9, Shanghai, China, which is over 1,000 feet in the air and has an epic bathroom!
Favorite fruit: Raspberries.
Favorite food: Avocado or chocolate.
Least favorite food: Lemon squares.
Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): Whiskey, martini, or gin and tonic, but depends on my mood. I just hate sweet drinks.
Favorite travel movie(s): Y Tu Mama Tambien.
Favorite travel show(s): I don’t really watch them, but if I did, No Reservations looks neat.
Favorite travel book(s): “Tropic of Cancer” by Henry Miller. (Explanation for why it’s such a good backpacking book here.)
Right now I am reading: “The Underground Railroad” by Coleson Whitehead.
Favorite travel website(s)—besides JohnnyJet.com, of course! The Everywhereist and Everything Everywhere. (I very much enjoy the people behind both!)
5 things you bring on a plane: Neck pillow, crossword book, computer, water bottle, and now that I have kids, a zillion things for toddler travel!
What do you always seem to forget? Nothing. I have a system not to forget things.
What do you like least about travel? I love to take extremely long walks, so when I find myself in a situation where I can’t do that, I sometimes feel trapped.
What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport Duty Free store? Chocolate!
Favorite travel app(s): Yelp and Google Maps, of course.
Most embarrassing travel moment: Offending an entire class in Ghana because I opened their gift in front of them, which is culturally wrong! (Read the whole story—with photos of the horrified children—here.)
I’m embarrassed I haven’t been to: South Africa.
Worst travel moment: Being groped on a moving motorcycle in rural Vietnam. See what happened here.
What’s your dream destination? Cape Verde and South Africa. (Plans are afoot to get there soon!)
Best travel tip: Do what you most want FIRST, because otherwise you’ll be so focused on your future excitement that you’ll be distracted in the present.
Interesting information, my dream is to cover at least 100 countries before turning 45, hope it happens :) thanks for sharing.
Big thanks for the feature, Johnny! It was fun being on a panel with you at TBEX, too. Basically, any time connecting with Johnny Jet is a fun time! :)
Thats amazing. I too want to visit more than 100+ countries before i turn 40, just 10 years to go. Hope will make it.
Thanks for this helpful information.
Wow. Very interesting… I have learnt a lot. Thank you!