My travel life: Sydney FC's Adam le Fondre, professional footballer

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This was published 4 years ago

My travel life: Sydney FC's Adam le Fondre, professional footballer

By Sue Williams
Updated
English footballer Adam le Fondre playing for Sydney FC.

English footballer Adam le Fondre playing for Sydney FC.Credit: Jaime Castaneda

Footballer Adam le Fondre, nicknamed Alfie from his initials, is an English professional now playing as a striker for Sydney FC. He was part of the squad that won the 2018-19 A-League Grand Final.

NUMBER OF COUNTRIES VISITED 12

MY WORST PASSPORT MISHAP WAS... Nothing. Happily, my wife looks after all of that sort of thing and she's always very switched on.

I GOT MY FIRST PASSPORT WHEN I WAS around five or six years old.

MY PASSPORT PHOTO IS glum. They just always are! You go into the booth thinking it won't be, but somehow they never come out well.

I CAN'T STOP GOING BACK TO Dubai – I love it, it's my favourite place. It's got everything I love as a resort for my family.

MY LAST TRAVEL DESTINATION WAS Ballarat in Victoria for football for a friendly match against a new Hyundai A-League club. That was just a couple of days. Away from work, I also went to Bali for a family holiday for two weeks.

MY NEXT TRAVEL DESTINATION IS apart from heading overseas in our AFC Champions League campaign in early 2020 that will see us playing throughout Asia, I think the next family holiday will be back to the UK to visit family and friends. I haven't been home since arriving in Australia almost 18 months ago, so that's probably the next port of call.

I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO seeing the parents and in-laws and other family. That will be fantastic. It will also be great to catch up with some good friends from football who I haven't seen for a long while.

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WHAT I REALLY WANT FROM MY NEXT TRIP IS a relaxing time with my wife and kids – "The A-Team" – all our names begin with "A". It will be fantastic to see the happiness on my girls' faces when they see their family back home for the first time in a long time.

I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO some quiet time playing the video game Football Manager on the flights on my iPad and winning some games.

WHAT I REALLY WANT FROM MY NEXT TRIP IS, in Asia, to score the first goal of the campaign, and some good wins.

I LOVE TO TRAVEL BECAUSE when we travel in Australia, it's good to see different parts of the country, and going overseas, to visit different countries. It's amazing how many different cultures there are, and how varied the lives are that people live.

MY TRAVEL PHILOSOPHY IS be on time!! My job requires that we are disciplined as a team and as an individual and that starts with being on time for trips.

THE ONE TRAVEL MISTAKE I ALWAYS MAKE IS not bringing the right plug adaptors for the right destination when heading abroad.

THE ONE THING I REALLY DO GET RIGHT WHEN I TRAVEL IS making my flight and choosing the right resorts to suit my family.

IF I HAD TO SIT IN THE MIDDLE SEAT THE OTHER PASSENGERS I'D WANT ON EITHER SIDE OF ME WOULD BE [US golfing great] Tiger Woods because I love golf and to pick his brain on the game would be awesome. [British footballer] David Beckham would be on my other side because he's just "The Man" and, being a Manchester United fan as a kid, he was my hero growing up.

THE ONE FAMOUS TRAVELLER I REALLY ADMIRE IS [15th Century Italian navigator] Christopher Columbus as it's quite a feat to have discovered a country the size of America, especially with the dangers involved back in those days.

THE ONE FAMOUS PERSON I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL WITH IS [US actor] Leonardo DiCaprio because I think he would have some interesting stories to tell.

AIRLINE FOOD IS adequate, but it depends who you fly with and whether you are in business class or not.

AIRPORT SECURITY IS annoying and can get frustrating at times but it's incredibly necessary so we just have to get through it – literally!

HOTELS ARE generally very good wherever I go.

I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO Atlanta, Georgia, for the Masters Golf Tournament and hopefully get to play a round at Augusta.

I'VE NEVER WANTED TO GO TO Syria. It's had a lot of bad press recently because of the war but perhaps one day I might like to go when things are better.

AISLE OR WINDOW AND WHY? Window to be able to sleep on a long haul but if just a short flight I prefer the aisle.

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