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: Dan Nainan
Occupation: Comedian/Actor
Hometown: Chevy Chase, Maryland
Residence: New York City!
College: University of Maryland
College major: Business
Website: comediandan.com
Twitter: @comediandan
Facebook: Dan Nainan Comedian
Pinterest: You are joking, right?
Google+: It’s mostly dudes so I don’t bother.
Instagram: comediandan
YouTube: dan nainan
Short bio: Dan Nainan took a comedy class to get over the fear of speaking on stage in his job as a demo engineer with Intel. Since leaving his job, he has performed in 23 countries and for President Obama, Donald Trump, Steve Wozniak, Hillary Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Rudolph Giuliani, Arianna Huffington, etc. and at TED and TEDx. He is Delta Diamond Medallion and travels over 200,000 miles a year. His life is like George Clooney in Up in the Air, just without the sex.
How often do you fly? I average two segments a week.
How many countries have you been to? 50.00
How many continents have you been to? 6 down, 1 to go.
Earliest travel memory: My parents took me on a trip around the world when I was five and couldn’t remember anything! :(
Favorite American city: New York City of course!
Favorite international city: Dubai/Hong Kong/Sydney/Singapore.
Least favorite country: Canada, because they always hassle US performers at the border!
Friendliest people in the world: Thailand.
Country with the meanest immigration officers: Canada—Canadian Border Services, you suck!
Favorite World Heritage Site: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Favorite airline: Delta.
Favorite aircraft type: 777-200LR and A380.
Aisle or window: Aisle—I go to the bathroom a lot. Also, I don’t need the window because I have Google Earth.
Favorite airport lounge: Qatar Airways Al Mourjan lounge in Doha.
Favorite U.S. airport: Honolulu.
Favorite international airport: Nelspruit, South Africa—it looks like a lodge!
Favorite hotel: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore—highest pool in the world!
Favorite cruise line: Celebrity and Royal Caribbean—I’ve performed (or should I say bombed) on both cruise lines.
Favorite travel credit card: Delta American Express Platinum.
Favorite island: Any uninhabited island in the Maldives.
Favorite beach: Polihale, Kauai, Hawaii.
Favorite fancy restaurant: Keen’s Steakhouse New York.
Favorite hole-in-the-wall: Rin Thai New York.
Favorite bar: I don’t go to bars because I don’t drink.
Favorite fruit: Cherimoya.
Favorite food: Châteaubriand, flourless chocolate cake.
Least favorite food: Anything vegan.
Drink of choice (in the air and on the ground): Milk, fresh squeezed orange juice (I don’t drink).
Favorite travel movie(s): Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Favorite travel show(s): The Love Boat.
Favorite travel book(s): “Heads in Beds” by Jacob Tomsky, “Decoding Air Travel” by Nicholas Kralev.
Right now I am reading: “Owning Model S” by Nick Howe.
Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: Condé Nast Traveler, Islands, The New York Times Travel section.
Favorite travel website(s)—besides JohnnyJet.com, of course! The Flight Deal, the Points Guy, Kayak, carrentals.com, TripIt.
5 things you bring on a plane: iPad, 3.7-lb 15-inch Samsung laptop, voice dictation headset (voice dictation works on planes!), SCOTTeVEST jacket, MindFold eye mask/earplugs (fantastic!).
What do you always seem to forget? I’m forever leaving my electric toothbrush and other gadgets and adapters, cables, etc. in hotels.
What do you like least about travel? Being stuck in coach, and people behind you who grab your seat when they get up.
What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport Duty Free store? After all these years of traveling and thousands of flights, would you believe I still have no idea what duty free means? I’ve never used it.
Favorite travel app(s): iArrow, Flight Board, XE currency converter, Viber, Glympse, PlaceMe, Dragon Recorder (for dictating book chapters when I’m driving/walking, which Dragon NaturallySpeaking transcribes when I get back to my computer).
Most embarrassing travel moment: On one of my comedy tours of India, I hid my laptop behind a dresser so that it wouldn’t be stolen. When I got to the airport, I realized I had left it in the room. I guess I outsmarted myself, because I forgot to pack it. The hotel was kind enough to have one of their employees drive it to the airport and bring it to me, and of course I tipped him handsomely.
Worst travel moment: Years ago when this sort of thing was possible, I bought two tickets that were in someone else’s name. When I got to the airport, they confiscated the first one. I came back a few hours later and tried to get on another flight. I almost got away with it. But the same guy who had been there before saw me at the last second and confiscated that ticket as well.
What’s your dream destination? Bora Bora/Tahiti, Mauritius.
Favorite travel charity: Greenpeace.
Best travel tip: Never check a bag, ever—George Clooney was right.
