My travel life: Lisa Wilkinson, TV host

I CAN'T STOP GOING BACK TO

France. My husband [columnist Peter FitzSimons] played professional rugby and lived there for four years before we met. I studied the language at school, and it has always been my favourite destination outside Australia. It's the food, the countryside, the language, the art, the architecture, the history, the style, and all those stunning boulevards and gardens that get me every time.

MY LAST TRAVEL DESTINATION WAS

the US ... Los Angeles and South Carolina to an absolutely gorgeous place there called Charleston. Both were just for a day for interviews for The Sunday Project.

MY NEXT TRAVEL DESTINATION IS

Melbourne. I do the commute up and back between Sydney and Melbourne at least twice a week to co-host the Sunday and weekday Project. I catch planes like buses these days. No complaints though as I get a lot of work done during the commute, and I'm on a first-name basis with so many of the lovely Qantas flight attendants.

I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO

the Darrell Lea Rocky Road in the Qantas Lounge.

I LOVE TO TRAVEL BECAUSE

it's the thrill of the unknown, seeing and doing something new. I always make sure that even if I'm revisiting somewhere I've been before, I keep discovering new things about what a favourite destination has to offer.

MY TRAVEL PHILOSOPHY IS

to keep getting outside your comfort zone.

THE ONE TRAVEL MISTAKE I ALWAYS MAKE IS

overpacking. I always do it...and I always promise myself I won't.

THE ONE THING I REALLY DO GET RIGHT WHEN I TRAVEL IS

sleep. After more than a decade of breakfast TV and 3am starts, I don't think I'll ever lose the desire to close my eyes when no-one's looking.

IF I HAD TO SIT IN THE MIDDLE SEAT THE PASSENGERS I'D WANT ON EITHER SIDE OF ME WOULD BE

[former US First Lady] Michelle Obama because ... Michelle Obama. What a woman! So genuine, so intelligent, so grounded, and I'd try and talk her into running for President. And if he was still with us, [late US comedian] Robin Williams. I watched a fascinating documentary about him on a flight recently. I cried through most of it - both of joy and sadness. I've always loved him since his Mork & Mindy days, so apart from the laughs that would help pass the time. I just adored that beautiful gentle heart, and wonderful mind of his.

THE ONE FAMOUS TRAVELLER I REALLY ADMIRE IS

Clive James and his Postcards series. He always had a fascinating take on the oddities of anywhere he took on.

THE ONE FAMOUS PERSON I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL WITH IS

the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. I hear such conflicting reports on her, and I'd just love to satisfy my curiosity. Judging by her old Instagram account she was a voracious traveller, and she strikes me as deeply intelligent, with so much to offer on the world stage on a whole lot of really important issues. But I really wonder how she's coping inside the very cloistered confines of the royal family.

AIRLINE FOOD IS

great when you upgrade.

AIRPORT SECURITY IS

crucial, but a total pain. And they always stop me for that second check.

HOTELS ARE

a joy when you find favourites. I always try and stay at Firmdale Hotels when I can in London and New York. The design is fantastic, they have the best bars in the city, and the comfiest beds. And they always smell so good. It's a toss-up between The HamYard in London's SoHo, and the Crosby St Hotel in New York's SoHo, as to which is my favourite.

I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO

Lake Como in Italy. It's on the list.

I'VE NEVER WANTED TO GO TO

I honestly can't think of anywhere.

AISLE OR WINDOW?

Absolutely window.