Deirdre Mullins
Deirdre Mullins

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: Deirdre Mullins

Occupation: Travel writer/blogger, presenter, producer

Hometown: Dublin, Ireland

Residence: Dublin, Ireland

College: University Collage Dublin

College major: Masters in Journalism and a Degree in Nursing

Website: holladee.com

Twitter: @deirdremullins

Facebook: HollaDee

Instagram: deirdremullins

Pinterest: HollaDee

Short bio: Deirdre Mullins is an Irish award-winning broadcast, print and online travel writer. She’s the Dee behind HollaDee, a new travel blog which guides and inspires adventurous, life-affirming and mindful travel. When she’s not jetting around the world she makes short film and radio documentaries about people that inspire her. She loves adventure type of travel and experiences that help her develop as a person and connect deeply to her self and the environment around her. She’s just back in Dublin after a four-month trip through South America.

How often do you fly? Twice a month.

How many countries have you been to? 48

How many continents have you been to? 5

Earliest travel memory: My parents would pack up the car with all six of us and spend our summers road tripping around the west coast of Ireland visiting friends and relatives. We spent a lot of time in Connemara and it’s still a favourite of mine with its unspoiled stunning coastal landscape. 

Favorite American city: San Francisco.

Favorite international city: Lisbon.

Least favorite country: I like everywhere, no matter where you are in the world you can learn something from the place you are in or learn something about yourself and how you relate to it.

I have no desire to go to: I want to go everywhere!

Friendliest people in the world: It’s a toss between the people of Syria and of Myanmar.

Country with the meanest immigration officers: Australia.

Favorite World Heritage Site: Skellig Michael, County Kerry, Ireland.

Favorite airline: Aer Lingus.

Aisle or window: Window, so I can see out.

Favorite U.S. airport: O’Hare, Chicago.

Favorite international airport: Schiphol in Amsterdam. It has a meditation room.

Favorite hotel: The Cliff House Hotel, County Waterford, Ireland.

Favorite cruise line: I’ve never been on a cruise.

Favorite travel credit card: MasterCard.

Favorite island: Ko Phangan Nang, Thailand.

Favorite beach: Haad Yuan, Ko Phangan Nang, Thailand. 

Favorite National Park: Yosemite.

Favorite fancy restaurant: Arzak, San Sebastian.

Favorite hole-in-the-wall: Specs in North Beach, San Francisco.

Favorite bar: Grogans Bar, Dublin.

Favorite fruit: Coconut.

Favorite food: Seafood/Thai.

Least favorite food: Fast food/McDonald’s.

Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): Dingle gin and tonic.

Favorite travel movie(s): Wild, Into the Wild, Little Miss Sunshine, Before Sunrise, Touching the Void.

Favorite travel show(s): All of Michael Palin’s shows that he made for the BBC. I remember watching his Around the World in 80 Days when I was 12 and thinking “Wow, that’s what I want to do when I grow up.”

Favorite travel book(s): “Ireland to India on a Bike” by Dervla Murphy. She is an Irish travel writer who cycled to India in 1964.

Right now I am reading: “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion.

Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: Johnny Jet/National Geographic/Journalist on the Run.

Favorite travel website(s): Lonely Planet, The Blond Abroad.

5 things you bring on a plane: Ear plugs, eye mask, headphones for my phone so I can listen to music and podcasts, book and moisturiser.

What do you always seem to forget? My phone charger.

What do you like least about travel? Packing.

What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport Duty Free store? Things that smell nice—perfume/aftershave.

Favorite travel app(s): City Mapper, Duolingo and Time Out.

Most embarrassing travel moment: Falling into an open sewer in India! I was knee deep in it!! Much to the locals’ amusement.

I’m embarrassed I haven’t been to: Canada.

Worst travel moment: Missing my flight home from Mexico on Christmas day 2014. I cried so much in the airport and missed Christmas with my family.

What’s your dream destination? Vanuatu is still somewhere I have yet to visit and sounds like a dream.

Favorite travel charity: Greenpeace.

Best travel tip: Go with an open mind and heart. And try not to plan too much, leave the window open for spontaneity!

 

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