Senior Editor, jezebel.com
Last trip you took that you really loved: I went to a friend's house on Fire Island last summer. I loved it up, down, and sideways.
Favorite mode of travel: For longer travel, I enjoy trains. I like to see the landscape, look out the window. It's not as squished as a commercial airliner, there's something a little old-fashioned about it, and as a writer, I just get swept up in the romance of train travel.
If you have to travel for work, how do you make it pleasurable? It's always a bit weird: you're in the hotel and you don't really know anybody and you're watching tv. So I make it fun with the little luxury that hotels provide - like the bathroom's so much cleaner than the one I have at home, so it's a good time to take a 20-minute bath and do those other indulgent things you never normally do in your everyday life. I make sure to try all the different types of soaps and lotions, call room service, and if they've got robes, then it's like, the minute you're in the room, you're in that robe. I'm all about the robe. You should never be in your own clothing - you should only be in the robe.
What's the best solo getaway for a jauntsetter? Driving somewhere by yourself can be very isolating, so I'd recommend any walkable city where you can be by yourself but at the same time not feel alone. I could totally see how someone would want to have a deserted lonely beach vacation, but for me, it would be good for one day and then I'd go insane. It'd be like "crazy lady seen on eleven o'clock news" you know? It's not what I would want to do.
Most romantic trip ever taken: My boyfriend and I drove his station wagon to Mansfield, Connecticut, which is kind of the middle of nowhere, but it's home to one of the few operating drive-in theaters in the US. On Saturday nights it's the movies and then on Sundays from 9 to 3, it's a flea market - one of the biggest in the Tristate Area. So Saturday we parked the car backwards, put the hood up, and laid in the back and watched movies. [Ed. note: the last movie for the season is this Saturday, but the flea market is open till Thanksgiving.] We stayed in a motel outside of town and the next day, we got up and went back to the flea market all day. That was so up my alley: it wasn't expensive, it was an adventure, and it was super fun.
Most impressive trip: The Mediterranean. It blew me away. I'm not pro-cruise but I actually went with my mom and three of her friends with Silverseas (it's a relatively small cruiseline). We left by boat out of Chivida Vecchia, which is outside of Rome, and went to Sardinia, Malta, Saint Tropez, Tunisia, Barcelona and Majorca. We stopped in each port and took day trips and I took a billion pictures. Traveling by boat is amazing. The water was gorgeous, it was perfect weather, and I liked waking up everyday in a new place.
Dream getaway: A trip around the world. I've envisioned it to be by air (although by sea sounds more romantic) and it would go from west to east: New York, London, Paris, Morocco, Egypt. Like thirty stops. It sounds hectic, but that's what I want to do - something where you keep moving east. I would want to stop in the Mediterranean, Turkey, Southeast Asia, and Tokyo, and then come back to LA.
Best hotel you've ever stayed at? I love them all; I just love hotels. I'll list my many favorites: there's Saint Martin's Lane in London; the Hotel Saint-Marie in the French Quarter of New Orleans; the Hotel Samboise in Cusco, Peru; the Casa Grande on Ocean Drive in Miami; the Bowery Hotel in New York. At the Hotel San Jose in Austin, all the rooms have pictures of rockstars; I stayed in the John Lennon Room. And I bought a keychain from the hotel, because I was like, "I want it to be my home! So I'm going to pretend that I have the keys to the San Jose." I've always wanted to live in a hotel. [Ed. note: for more on Dodai's favorite hotels, click here.]
Any special food items you'd travel for? I have a couple: one is the homemade guava butter that sometimes accompanies your bread with dinner in Puerto Rico. When I tasted it for the first time, I felt like it was something to write home about - like, "contact your family and tell them guava butter is it." It's so delicious. And I'd also go to Barcelona just for pescaditos, which means little fish. And that's what it is: literally tiny fish that they just fry and you eat them like french fries, but they're even better than french fries. They have so much flavor and you're like, "I can't believe I'm eating a whole fish!" So good.
Best winter blues jaunt we should start planning now: Miami or Puerto Rico. Because they're close and easy (no changing money or passports) but you still feel like you're worlds away from New York in the winter. They've got culture, some different foods, it's hot and there are fantastic beaches. And after spring break time (late April or May), you can get good deals. I've had some crazy cheap discounts happen to me just for being there slightly off-season!
New Yorker travel tip: Fly out of LaGuardia if you can - it's only domestic, so the security lines are generally shorter. JFK has much more volume and they're really checking to see if you're going to blow something up.
Biggest travel recommendation: If it's at all possible for you not to check luggage when flying, don't! Really if it weren't for the vile no-liquids rule, I would only ever do carry-on. My brother is really good at this; I've seen him go to London with just a messenger bag. Sometimes he's wearing like four shirts and I applaud that because he's never waiting at baggage claim; he's already waving at Big Ben while you're still looking for your luggage.
Are you loyal to any particular airline? I belong to some programs though to be honest with you, I don't know what good it's doing me. I really always just go for the cheapest airline. I'm so not brand loyal. I don't care. I'll cheat on you, you know? I will. But that said, I love JetBlue and I wish they flew more places. The tv and the leather seats and the no-first-class-but-cheaper-tickets work for me.
Checking in early or they're calling your name? I hate to run for an airplane or train or miss a connection. I'd rather come early and hang out at the terminal than worry. But I've ended up rushing more than I'd care to admit. And I hate it every time.
Preflight routine: I like going to 24-hour drug stores and stocking up on toothpaste or conditioner or whatever I'm low on. And I always do it in the middle of the night; there's something very pressure-free about the whole experience.
Packing style: It's important for me to bring a variety of shoes. If I have flip-flops and sneakers and heels, then I sometimes only need to bring one outfit. Like a black dress: during the day you can wear it with flipflops; at night, with heels and a flower in your hair. So bringing a lot of shoes isn't packing heavy - it's actually the smart way to pack light, you know?
What would we find in your carryon? A book, the old trusty iPod, socks... and, I haven't been doing it recently (because of my busy new job), but literally right up until this point, I was also an obsessive journalizer, so I would take my journal with me on my trips and paste in boarding passes and things that I got along the way, like maps.
Worst airline experience (and anything you did to make it better): I'd rather talk about my best because I think it's a valuable one to share. One time I was flying with a couple of friends and we were so excited to be going away that we all got to the airport early. Our flight was delayed, so we hung out at the bar and had a couple cocktails. When we got on the plane, we couldn't stop laughing, talking to each other - just obviously enjoying traveling and being together. And the flight attendant thought we were so fun. So he totally gave us a bottle of champagne on the house that we drank on the spot. And then when we got off the plane, he gave us another bottle to take with us! It was such a lesson, you know, because other people were all pissed off ("I can't believe this flight is delayed"), but I guess we seemed excited that we were flying, and the flight attendants appreciated that. Even though the flight ended up landing pretty late, it was a good experience.
