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: Claudia Laroye
Occupation: Travel writer + blogger
Hometown: Montreal, Québec
Residence: Vancouver, British Columbia
College: Carleton University
College major: History + International Relations
Website: thetravellingmom.ca
Twitter: @travelling_mom
Instagram: thetravellingmom
Facebook: TheTravellingMom
Pinterest: The Travelling Mom
Google+: +Claudia Laroye
Short bio: Claudia is a travel writer and blogger who is passionate about family travel and educating children through the travel experience. She writes for a variety of print and online travel publications in North America. Her blog, The Travelling Mom, is a modern mom’s guide to family travel sanity. She loves hiking, snowboarding, ziplining, and camping in her VW Westfalia.
How often do you fly? 4-5 times per year.
How many countries have you been to? 25+
How many continents have you been to? 4
Earliest travel memory: Staying with my grandmother in Switzerland and visiting the bear pits in Bern.
Favorite American city: New York.
Favorite international city: Bern and Siena.
Least favorite country: Luxembourg. Whenever I visit that country, everything’s closed.
Friendliest people in the world: Brazil and Jordan.
Favorite World Heritage Site: Wadi Rum, Jordan; the Old City of Berne.
Favorite airline: Past: CP Air Present: Alaska Airlines.
Favorite aircraft type: Boeing 747.
Aisle or window: Window.
Favorite U.S. airport: SEA (Seattle).
Favorite international airport: YVR (Vancouver), AMS (Schiphol, Amsterdam).
Favorite hotel: St. Regis Bal Harbour; Fairmont Pacific Rim.
Favorite cruise line: Celebrity.
Favorite travel credit card: TD Aeroplan Visa Card.
Favorite island: Kauai, Hawaii and Hornby Island, British Columbia.
Favorite beach: Polihale Beach, Kauai + Oostende, Belgium.
Favorite fancy restaurant: Pergola, Bruges, Belgium.
Favorite hole-in-the-wall: Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro, Boise, Idaho.
Favorite bar: Lobby Lounge, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver.
Favorite fruit: Raspberries.
Favorite food: Chocolate.
Least favorite food: Tripe.
Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): Water.
Favorite travel movie(s): Wild, Lost in Translation.
Favorite travel show(s): Anthony Bourdain, Departures, Rick Steves.
Favorite travel book(s): “All Over the Map,” Laura Fraser.
Right now I am reading: “Will Not Attend,” Adam Resnick.
Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: AFAR, Travel Mamas, Candice Does the World.
Favorite travel website(s)—besides JohnnyJet.com, of course! Kayak, Trip Advisor, CN Traveler, Nat Geo Traveler, The Points Guy, Atlas Obscura.
5 things you bring on a plane: Ear plugs, eye cover, water bottle, pashmina, Vanity Fair magazine
What do you always seem to forget? Nothing.
What do you like least about travel? Jetlag.
What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport Duty Free store? Pimm’s No. 1 Cup.
Favorite travel app(s): Google Maps, Kayak, Word Lens, Skype, TripIt, Trip Advisor.
Worst travel moment: Getting lost driving in the dark through the streets of Paris and ending up in the Bois du Boulogne at midnight. Not a great place to be at that hour.
What’s your dream destination? Botswana (I dream of Africa). Adelboden (Switzerland), Patagonia, Japan.
Favorite travel charity: Passports with Purpose.
Best travel tip: A gelato a day keeps the tantrums away!
