Want to know how to travel in style, just like the pros? We check in with frequent fliers on useful resources, favorite destinations and what they never leave home without.
Name: Susan Manlin Katzman
Occupation: Food and Travel Writer/Blogger
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Residence: St. Louis, MO
Website: www.sweetleisure.com
Twitter: @sweetleisure
Facebook: facebook.com/sweetleisure
Pinterest: pinterest.com/sweetleisure
Short Bio: I have a food and travel writer’s slasher’s past, having worked as a newspaper columnist/cookbook author/ industry spokesperson/educator/consultant/menu designer/recipe creator/event organizer and professional contest judge (love the last). Now, I focus on travel writing, not that I like to broadcast this as it is undoubtedly the best job in the world and I don’t want to encourage more competition. (No, you wouldn’t like it! Really. Trust me!)
How often do you fly: Twice a month-give or take.
How many countries have you been to: 69
How many continents have you been to: All but Antarctica
Favorite American city: Los Angeles (I know, but have family there and a minuscule 2nd home.)
Favorite international city: Paris
Least favorite country: Not the country, but the experience–I was sick the whole time I was in Peru; would like to give it another chance.
Favorite World Heritage Site: Impossible to choose. Feel a thrill at all.
Favorite airline: Singapore Airlines
Favorite aircraft type: Big, clean, spacious, new (well…one can dream, right?)
Aisle or window: Aisle
Favorite airport lounge: Iberia in Madrid (Like the food choice as well as the cologne in the ladies restroom.)
Favorite U.S. airport: Lambert–because it means I am off for an adventure– or home at last. Also I don’t mind layovers in Miami, if there is time for Cuban food.
Favorite international airport: Charles de Gaulle–because it means Paris is to be or just has been.
Favorite hotel: Amandari, Bali (sigh!)
Favorite cruise line: I lecture about some of the biggies and write about others, so I best not name names.
Favorite island: Anguilla
Favorite fancy restaurant: Troisgros
Favorite hole in the wall: Casa Leopoldo in Barcelona
Favorite fruit: Ripe papaya in countries where papaya is indigenous. Especially like it with a dash of lime– or, even better, mixed with sweetened sticky rice. Ooooh. Want some right now.
Favorite food: Chocolate
Least favorite food: Tripe (YUCK!)
Drink of choice (In the air and on the ground): Red wine– with the second runner-up, water.
Favorite travel movie(s): Midnight in Paris
Favorite travel show(s): Gotta confess, with few exceptions (Homeland, Nurse Jackie and Modern Family among them), TV puts me to sleep faster than Ambian. The only travel show I can manage is the time-travel show Mad Men.
Favorite travel book(s): David Downie’s Paris Paris and John Burdett’s Bangkok 8.
Right now I am reading: Bones, Blood and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines: I like the publications that feature my friends’ writing, so favorites fluctuate.
Favorite travel website(s) – besides JohnnyJet.com, of course!: SweetLeisure.com, of course!
Five things you bring on a plane: A packed purse; a real book–made of paper with pages that turn; daily newspapers; my laptop and a large black cashmere wrap.
What do you always seem to forget: Let’s see. Mmmmm… I forget.
What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport duty-free store? I like chocolates. Dark chocolates. Very rich very dark chocolates.
Favorite travel iPhone app(s): Love my iPhone: can’t say I use many bells and whistles.
Most embarrassing/worst travel moment: Trekking to Machu Picchu and fainting (altitude sickness) just before the pinnacle; missed the whole shebang.
What’s your dream destination: Can’t get enough of Paris.
Favorite travel charity: Doctors Without Borders
Best travel tip: Stay cool even if plans go astray. Enjoy the moment, wherever the moment happens to be. Smile.