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: Teresa Rodriguez
Occupation: Author of best sellers FLY SOLO: 50 Best Places on Earth for a Girl to Travel alone and Body, Mind, and Solo: 7 keys to conquering the world alone.
Hometown: Benicia, California
Residence: San Francisco, California
Website: www.tangodiva.com
Twitter: @FlySolo
Facebook: /TangoDiva
YouTube: TangoDivaOnline
Short Bio: Teresa Rodriguez is a single mother and a jet-setter extraordinaire. She discovered that traveling can be the prefect antidote for anything ailing the soul. And, believing so, she created TangoDiva.com—a worldwide online social network women. Her dream was to connect and empower woman around the globe with the wisdom she gleaned from her solo sojourns. She authored FLY SOLO: The 50 Best Places on Earth for a Girl to Travel Alone, (Penguin) which is published in four languages. A few of her TV appearances include LIVE with Regis and Kelly, NBC-NY, FOX, CBS, and ABC. Her advice has been written up in thousands media outlets including Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ELLE, Marie Claire, Allure, SELF, SHAPE, and Real Simple. Her latest adventure Body, Mind, & Solo: 7 keys to conquering the world alone, published by Balboa Press – Hay House.
How often do you fly: 4 times a month
How many countries have you been to: 50+
How many continents have you been to: All but Antarctica
Favorite American city: Love me some New Orleans any chance I get
Favorite international city: Barcelona, Spain. The food, the energy, the beaches, Gaudi, Picasso, I just can’t get enough of that delicious city
Least favorite country: Monaco. Really, another super old man in a Ferrari with a young Russian blonde on his arm?
Favorite World Heritage Site: Great Barrier Reef
Favorite airline: Virgin America
Favorite aircraft type: Learjet 85
Aisle or window: Aisle. I need to get up and move around a lot
Favorite airport lounge: Thai Airways lounge in Bangkok has the best airport food ever
Favorite U.S. airport: San Francisco. They have done a great job with the cuisine options
Favorite international airport: Copenhagen. It is so clean, well designed, and people there are so friendly
Favorite hotel: Banyan Tree in Phuket
Do you unpack into the dresser/closet? Or live out of your suitcase? Live out of my suitcase
Favorite cruise line: I don’t cruise, but I do enjoy a well-stocked yacht
Favorite island: Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Favorite fancy restaurant: It was Cyrus in Healdsburg, but they lost their lease
Favorite hole in the wall: La Mediterranee on Fillmore in San Francisco
Favorite fruit: Mango
Favorite food: Bacon
Least favorite food: Liver
Drink of choice (In the air and on the ground) Champagne and champagne
Favorite travel movie(s): Roman Holiday and Last Holiday. But, my all-time favorite airplane move is Airplane!
Favorite travel show(s): I don’t watch television
Favorite travel book(s): Mine! Love Body, Mind, and Solo for its inspiring message to women who are not sure if they can travel alone.
Right now I am reading: Ask and it is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks.
Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: TangoDiva.com, PeterGreenberg.com, girlgonetravel.com
Favorite travel website(s) – besides JohnnyJet.com, of course!: TangoDiva.com
Five things you bring on a plane: Monster headphone, Jurlique lavender lotion and spritzer, gum, water bottle, and a scarf
What do you always seem to forget: Earplugs, many times I don’t know exactly where I am staying and inevitably it will be somewhere noisy
What do you want your loved one to buy you from an airport duty free store? Anything from Hermes or Gucci
Favorite travel iPhone app(s): AroundMe. When I’m somewhere new and I want to eat or drink, I just tap AroundMe and it gives me places that are walking distance.
Most embarrassing travel moment: Taking my 23-month-old daughter on First Class to Cancun. She was on antibiotics and had a tummy ache. She pooped through her outfit 3 times (and on me!). Everyone in First Class hated us by the time we landed.
Worst travel moment: I was traveling through Europe for almost a month to write my first book. My last stop was Budapest. I was exhausted, and I organized a driver from the hotel to pick me up from the airport. He never showed up and they shut down the International section of the airport and it was empty. I finally found a taxi driver who took me to my hotel.
What’s your dream destination: So many!! I am saving up all my frequent flyer miles for a First Class trip to St. Petersburg for White Nights.
Favorite travel charity: I’m digging companies who are creating volunteer vacations like www.voluntourism.org
Best travel tip: Especially for women, I recommend researching a destination before you go. We are very fortunate to live in a fairly safe society, but that is not the case in other parts of the world. Have copies of all your travel documents stored somewhere besides your person and leave a set with someone you trust.
