Nathan Masters
Nathan Masters

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: Nathan Masters

Occupation: Host and Executive Producer, Lost L.A. (airs on Tuesdays at 8:30pm on KCET in Southern California as well as kcet.org/LostLA and YouTube, Amazon Prime, Roku, and Apple TV)

Hometown: Anaheim

Residence: Los Angeles

Website: nathanmasters.me

Twitter: @nathanmasters

Facebook: Nathan Masters

Instagram: nathanmasters

YouTube: Lost LA

Short bio: Nathan Masters is a writer who hosts and produces Lost L.A., an Emmy Award-winning public television series from KCET and the USC Libraries. The show explores how rare artifacts from Southern California’s archives can unlock hidden and often-surprising stories from the region’s past. Nathan’s writing has appeared in many publications, including Los Angeles Magazine and the Los Angeles Times.

How often do you fly? 5-7 times a year.

How many countries have you been to? 10—not nearly enough!

How many continents have you been to? Europe, Asia and North America, of course.

Earliest travel memory: Walt Disney World, or maybe a family road trip to Zion National Park.

Favorite American city: I’d get in trouble if I said anything other than L.A.

Favorite international city: Paris.

Friendliest people in the world: Berlin.

Favorite World Heritage Site: The Lijiang River Scenic Zone at Guilin. Sublime karst scenery.

Favorite airline: Hawaiian.

Favorite aircraft type: A380.

Aisle or window: Window on shorter flights, aisle on long hauls.

Favorite U.S. airport: Bob Hope Airport (Burbank).

Favorite hotel: The Ahwahnee, or maybe the Yangshuo Tea Cozy.

Favorite island: Maui.

Favorite beach: Kaanapali.

Favorite National Park: Yosemite.

Favorite fancy restaurant: Dining room in The Ahwahnee.

Favorite hole-in-the-wall: Curry Village Pizza Deck. Grab a beer and watch the alpenglow light up Half Dome. 

Favorite airport restaurant: Great wine selection at Dallas Love Field’s Crú.

Favorite bar: The Tiki Bar at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel.

Favorite fruit: Avocado.

Favorite food: Texas brisket, or maybe Chicago deep dish.

Least favorite food: Anything with rice.

Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): In the air: sparkling wine. On the ground: a mai tai.

Favorite travel movie(s): Before Sunrise, Sideways, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Favorite travel show(s): California’s Gold from the late, great Huell Howser.

Favorite travel book(s): Anything by Bill Bryson. John McPhee’s series on North American geology. Or Mark Twain’s “The Innocents Abroad.”

Right now I am reading: “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari.

5 things you bring on a plane: Noise-canceling headphones, iPad, earplugs, sleep mask, and my Osprey Farpoint 40 carry-on pack.

What do you always seem to forget? Earplugs.

What do you like least about travel? Delays.

What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport Duty Free store? Single-malt Scotch.

Favorite travel app(s): Google Translate, Google Maps, Lyft/Uber.

Most embarrassing travel moment: Intestinal problems while hiking China’s Tiger Leaping Gorge.

I’m embarrassed I haven’t been to: Mexico City.

Worst travel moment: A 10-hour delay at Lijiang Airport in China’s Yunnan Province. Not a single bar or beer vending machine in the entire airport.

What’s your dream destination? Hiking the Scottish Highlands.

Best travel tip: If you believe, as I do, that to understand a place you must know its history, and you’re traveling in the U.S., check out the Wildsam Field Guide series.

 

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