This was published 5 years ago
My travel life: Amanda Keller, TV host and radio presenter
By Sue Williams
Television and radio broadcaster Amanda Keller.
NUMBER OF COUNTRIES VISITED Too many to mention. I travelled the world with Beyond 2000 for six years. We did eight-week trips a couple of times a year, visiting perhaps four countries each trip. I'm exhausted just thinking about it!
ANY PASSPORT MISHAPS? On a trip to Queenstown, New Zealand, my husband "misplaced" our passports. An emergency flight to Wellington later, we had new passports, complete with the worst passport photos you've ever seen. Of course the originals turned up two weeks later when we got home, but I am stuck with the new terrible photo for 10 years.
I GOT MY FIRST PASSPORT WHEN I WAS 16; I went to England and Hong Kong with my parents.
MY PASSPORT PHOTO IS as I described!
I CAN'T STOP GOING BACK TO Japan. I loved it every time I went there with Beyond 2000 and I find myself visiting every couple of years.
MY LAST TRAVEL DESTINATION WAS funnily enough, Japan. Our family went to Tokyo for a week in January.
MY NEXT TRAVEL DESTINATION IS hopefully a beach destination where I can sloth around, have a glass of wine at lunch and read 10 books.
I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO having nothing to do and nothing to think about – a rare treat.
WHAT I REALLY WANT FROM MY NEXT TRIP IS to be able to read all the books that I currently have stacked on my bedside table … and eat the buffet breakfast guilt-free.
I LOVE TO TRAVEL BECAUSE I love spending time in my own home but if I am here, the phone rings and there is always something to do. Leaving the house is a holiday.
MY TRAVEL PHILOSOPHY IS … I don't have a philosophy of travel. I don't like to prepare too much in advance. I love the moment when the flight attendant announces that the doors are closed and suddenly you are on your way.
THE ONE TRAVEL MISTAKE I ALWAYS MAKE IS taking too many clothes. I know you only ever wear half, but I never know which half so I have to take it all.
THE ONE THING I REALLY DO GET RIGHT WHEN I TRAVEL IS I always manage to find the quirky shops.
THE ONE FAMOUS TRAVELLER I REALLY ADMIRE IS Michael Palin. When he travels he takes two shirts, and two trousers; an impossible dream for me – I admire it very much.
THE ONE FAMOUS PERSON I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL WITH IS Bear Grylls. You'd never go hungry – even if you were eating lizard spines.
AIRLINE FOOD IS important for breaking up the boredom.
AIRPORT SECURITY IS tiresome – I have had a hip replacement so I set the machine off every time.
HOTELS ARE great fun. I get to hog the remote and wear a dressing gown.
I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO Botswana. I would absolutely love to go on safari.
I'VE NEVER WANTED TO GO TO … I'm up for anywhere.
AISLE OR WINDOW? Window; but my husband always grabs it first.
Amanda Keller, co-host Dancing with the Stars, host of The Living Room, and morning radio presenter on WSFM 101.7 with Brendan Jones.
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