My travel life: Simona de Silvestro, Swiss race car driver

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This was published 4 years ago

My travel life: Simona de Silvestro, Swiss race car driver

By Sue Williams
Simona de Silvestro is looking forward to a holiday in the outback.

Simona de Silvestro is looking forward to a holiday in the outback.

Simona de Silvestro, an Australia-based, Swiss-born race car driver in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, was the first female driver to score points in the FIA Formula E Series. She'll be racing in the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on October 10-13.

NUMBER OF COUNTRIES VISITED Ahh a lot! Although I now live on the Gold Coast, I have a map of the world back in Switzerland in my apartment where I have pinned every city I've been too and there are quite a few.

ANY PASSPORT MISHAPS/MISADVENTURES? Not really – touch wood.

I GOT MY FIRST PASSPORT WHEN I WAS three in 1991.

MY PASSPORT PHOTO IS very average because you're not allowed to smile. I look really serious in it.

I CAN'T STOP GOING BACK TO Switzerland – it's home. When you travel a lot you realise that home is the nicest place to be. I really enjoy going back.

MY LAST TRAVEL DESTINATION WAS America to ski back in January, that was really cool. I was there for two weeks. I counted it as a training camp before the Supercars season started.

MY NEXT TRAVEL DESTINATION IS Uluru because I haven't been there. I live in Australia but I haven't seen much of it outside of race tracks because of the race schedule. We do travel a lot but we don't have much time to see the areas we race in. It would be cool to travel around the Australian outback.

I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO experiencing the outback. I want to see if it looks like what it does in all the movies. It would be cool to rough it in a swag and cook our food around a campfire.

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WHAT I REALLY WANT FROM MY NEXT TRIP IS to learn more about the indigenous culture and traditions. Apparently Uluru has some of the most amazing sunsets in the world so I'd love to see a few of those too.

I LOVE TO TRAVEL BECAUSE I'm pretty lucky to be able to travel the world with my racing, which is pretty special, but it's also nice to sometimes take a little time to appreciate the little things there too.

MY TRAVEL PHILOSOPHY IS I don't really have a philosophy as most of my travel is for work, but I believe in just getting on with it and enjoying my time doing it.

THE ONE TRAVEL MISTAKE I ALWAYS MAKE IS I never check in before my flight or check where I'm sitting and then I get to the airport and end up in a middle seat ... very annoying!

THE ONE THING I REALLY DO GET RIGHT WHEN I TRAVEL IS knowing about the airport layouts as I travel so much. I know where all the good restaurants are, where to buy pre-flight snacks and how long it takes to walk to certain terminals. When I'm with people who don't travel that often they are always really impressed that I know exactly where to go.

IF I HAD TO SIT IN THE MIDDLE SEAT THE OTHER PASSENGERS I'D WANT ON EITHER SIDE OF ME WOULD BE [former champion Formula One racing driver] Michael Schumacher and [US tennis star] Serena Williams, that would be pretty cool. I would talk to them about their achievements.

THE ONE FAMOUS TRAVELLER I REALLY ADMIRE IS I wouldn't really say I have a famous traveller that I admire, however I do get really jealous when I see people who travel around lots and get to experience the outdoors and go on lots of adventures, that always looks fun!

THE ONE FAMOUS PERSON I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL WITH IS someone who is super adventurous and likes to do fun things.

AIRLINE FOOD IS average.

AIRPORT SECURITY IS annoying when the line is long but very necessary.

HOTELS ARE where I spend a lot of my time and sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and need to have a look around to remember where I am.

I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO South Africa. I'd love to see all the wildlife, the photos I see always look amazing. I've also heard the weather is always pretty nice and the beaches are spectacular so that's an added bonus.

I'VE NEVER WANTED TO GO TO nowhere. No place is off limits.

AISLE OR WINDOW? Window, as there are always cool things to see along the way and it's a nice time to think.

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