CEO OF LONELY PLANET: "MY LIFE IN TRAVEL"

It was always going to Acapulco. We did that road trip many, many times. At some point on the journey my mum used to say: ‘Lick your lips, if they taste salty we are close to the sea’. It was a time when seat belts were not an issue so my sister and I would be bouncing all over the place in this big car.

When I relocated from Los Angeles to Nashville. The removal trucks had gone, the house was closed… everything was perfect. I had called the airline ahead of time because I was bringing my dog. Our dog has travelled with us everywhere apart from Australia, because it is impossible to take him there. So he’s really good at travelling. It was 10pm when we got to the airport and the minute we turned up at the airport, the lady at the airport told us that the dog couldn’t travel with us because that specific crate wouldn't fit on the plane. So it was 10pm at night and I had to find another crate. I couldn’t do it. I had to book my dog an Uber and send him back to my neighbour. It took me an entire week to sort it out. I had to go back to LA twice to get him to Nashville.

When I was younger I did my backpacking trip to Europe and I had so much expectation around Greece and going to the birth of civilisation. And I got there and it wasn’t fantastic. The taxi driver robbed us and left us in the middle of nowhere. Then we got to the Parthenon and everything was behind scaffolding. And then it took us three days to get to where we needed to go in a boat like… [mimes being thrown about in a boat]. I’m not in a hurry to go back (laughs).

For my kids I always bring home a stuffed toy of animal from that region. So if I go to Lima I will bring them home a toy llama, if I go to New Zealand I will bring them home a kiwi cuddly toy. Most of the time the souvenirs I buy are for my kids.

Nizuc Resort & Spa in Cancun. It’s just the perfect place. Because of that hotel I bought an apartment in Tulum. Just to be close to that hotel.

Mexico City. I grew up there - that’s where my family is and I still do business there. There is always an excuse to go there. I could go there right now and I have something to do.

New Zealand. Such friendly people. Mostly because they are alone (laughs). I like how they keep life in perspective. While there can be so much excess in the States, the people in New Zealand keep it simple. One day when I was working there I remember one of the guys saying "I'm going for lunch". He then went to the beach and speared a fish, which he cooked for lunch. I was like: "Oh my God". I was eating a salad at my desk while he was having this adventure.

Stay hydrated – and talk. Don’t worry about your accent – just talk to people.

Turn on the TV. You get a sense of place. Each TV screen has different colours, textures, tones. You can get a lot of information just from just flipping through the regular channels and – you go to Japan it’s crazy, you go to Italy, it’s sophisticated. You get a sense. That’s the first thing that I do. I kick off my shoes then start flipping through the channels. It gives me a sense of the people and you get your ear a little bit tuned into the accent and how they speak.

I need to be home. I want to be home. We just moved from LA to Nashville three months ago and we have been remodelling our house and it has been taking forever. So the house will be ready by the end of this month. Once they give me the keys, I want to lock myself in and don’t go anywhere.

Ooh, I can’t disclose the Lonely Planet Best Destinations List for 2020, as it comes out on Monday. But I can say that the theme of our 2020 list is around sustainability. People are getting more aware of sustainable travel and getting conscious about places and how to leave less of an impact. I believe that we are going to see an increasing attention to sustainability, ecology and climate.

A few years ago, travel was all about destinations. Today it’s tilting more towards experiences and finding authentic experiences. I think the next frontier will be solo discovery. People are taking trips to self-discover, rebalance, recalibrate. That’s my personal opinion – that will be the trend.