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: Danny Dover
Occupation: Storyteller
Hometown: Seattle
Website: lifelisted.com
Twitter: @DannyDover
Facebook: Danny Dover
YouTube: Danny Dover
Short bio: In 2010, Danny Dover assigned a deadline of May 25, 2017, to his life. He was tired of hearing about other people’s exciting lives and decided to jump-start his own by taking steps to actually live as if the end was in sight. He tattooed his deadline on his butt and made the sole purpose of his life to complete his Life List (a list of more than 150 life goals). While pursuing his list, he inadvertently became a minimalist in order to gain the necessary focus to create a more meaningful life. This seemingly small change in mindset (which he later detailed in “The Minimalist Mindset”) dramatically changed his life for the better.
As of 2017, Dover has completed his entire Life List (which included living alone in the wilderness for a month, traveling to nearly 100 countries, mountain climbing in Antarctica, becoming a best-selling author with his book “Search Engine Optimization Secrets” and many other adventures). More importantly, though, he has a small group of deep friendships and is able to spend much of his time writing for an extraordinary community, and sharing life-changing experiences with others.
How often do you fly? At least twice a month.
How many countries have you been to? Just about 100 countries.
How many continents have you been to? All seven.
Favorite American city: Chicago but only during fall and spring.
Favorite international city: Barcelona. It is hard to top the mix of fantastic people, food and sun.
I have no desire to go to: Mars. I’m eager to watch other people’s adventures there but the logistics are a deal-breaker for me.
Favorite airline: Alaska Airlines.
Aisle or window: Window for sure. How could you beat a view and a place to rest your head?
Favorite U.S. airport: SFO. It is innovative, clean and usually pretty quick. It loses points for fog delays though.
Favorite international airport: FRA. Organized, clean and plenty of sleep and food options.
Favorite hotel: The Sheraton in Lisle, IL. It is one of the best values in the entire Starwood lineup.
Favorite island: Easter Island. Every step feels like an adventure. You get that same feeling you get when you visit a holy site but in this case it is an entire island.
Favorite hole-in-the-wall: La Oficina in Barcelona. If you are friendly to the owner he may let you bartend. The locals love when this happens.
Favorite fruit: Oranges are the perfect travel fruit. They come with their own wrapper and deal with travel abuse much better than other fruit.
Favorite food: All Italian and all Mexican food :-)
Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): Guinness. It’s widely available, consistent and not too terrible with calories.
Favorite travel movie(s): Lost in Translation. ScarJo and Bill Murray nailed it.
Favorite travel show(s): Alone. Not a typical travel show but man am I hooked.
Favorite travel book(s): “The Alchemist.” It is not just my favorite travel book, it is my favorite book of all time.
Right now I am reading: “The Minimalist Mindset“ (it is my new book and I am reading it for the bazillionth time weeding out typos).
Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: The Everywhereist is my favorite blog at the moment. I am shopping for other picks.
5 things you bring on a plane: Earplugs, sleep mask, headphones, coat, and phone.
What do you always seem to forget? I always forget the names of restaurants. It is a very bad and inconvenient habit!
Favorite travel app(s): TripIt an Google Maps are indispensable.
Most embarrassing travel moment: I once totaled two cars while driving in Ireland. Don’t worry, no one was harmed! Even though I have travelled extensively and driven in many foreign countries, I still make newbie mistakes now and again. In this case, I was driving on the side of the road that was unfamiliar to me and like a dummy I looked the wrong way when turning into traffic. Everyone involved saw the collision coming except for me.
Worst travel moment: During a bank strike in Argentina, I had to sell my pants in order to pay someone to get me to the airport. I thought I was being clever but quickly realized that I had created more problems than I had solved when I got to the airport :-)
What’s your dream destination? I would absolutely love to go to the moon! The logistics are much more reasonable than traveling to Mars and you get a heck of a view!
Favorite travel charity: Charity: water. They are efficient, genuine and helping to solve one of humanities most important problems.
Best travel tip: Always travel with gaff tape. Gaff tape is similar to duct tape but is heat resistant and doesn’t leave sticky residue. I use this most often for covering up light sources when I am trying to sleep.
