He’s traveled the world empowering kids through soccer and survived more than just a reality TV show
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Favorite food or drink while vacationing? My wife and I are notorious for skipping the fancy restaurants and hunting for the most authentic local delicacies, street carts, beach shacks, exotic fruit stands, or crazy village markets. … We will eat or drink anything once.
Where would you like to travel to but haven’t? My wife and I chose to take a charitable honeymoon to Greece where we volunteered at The Vasilika refugee camp. I’m fortunate to have traveled to more than 60 countries, but we are still planning a fabulous memory-making trip. The destinations on our list are Northern Lights, Amalfi Coast, an exotic river cruise up the Nile, or just hitching up our 1960s vintage camper and heading west.
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One item you can’t leave home without when traveling? My running sneakers. I love to get lost on a long run when exploring each new city I visit.
Aisle or window? Right side window. If I can, I always try to catch the sunrise or sunset from the sky.
Favorite childhood travel memory? My dad had a major fear of flying, so we were the typical ’70s family that piled into a camper van and drove everywhere. One summer we drove across country and it’s the time we spent as a family getting from place to place that’s my fondest memory: sampling our country’s roadside treats like truck stop white gravy and biscuits, boiled peanuts and Mr. Pibb soda; my brother Lenard driving under the age of 16; our one Steve Miller Band cassette tape, and all the creative ways we dealt with boredom like the famous brotherly love game of torture called “cheeks,” where you squeeze [your brothers’] cheeks as hard as you can and the first brother to give up loses. I still have bruises.
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Guilty pleasure when traveling? Because I take more than 40 trips a year and I’m obsessed with food, I earmarked the most tasty food items in every airport: soft pretzels in Philly, barbecue in Charlotte, lobster roll in Boston, banh mi in Los Angeles, tacos in Austin, doughnuts in Portland, Pizza [at] JFK . . . and the ever-present hot Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in my home state airport, Manchester, N.H.
Best travel tip? Noise-canceling headphones, sanitizing hand wipes for the seats, and a hooded sweatshirt are all a must! Also, use a clear plastic Ziploc bag, drop in your cellphone, and clip it to the airplane seat in front of you for a mini home theater.
JULIET PENNINGTON
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