Travel In Sandals Traveler Profile: GREG ALTMAN

We want to give you a look at the four Travel In Sandals bloggers headed to Australia and allow you to get to know us a little better. To do so, we each answered a set of travel-related questions inquiring about our travel experiences, likes, dislikes, habits, traditions and more.

Here is a look at by far the most traveled of the Travel In Sandals gang, GREG ALTMAN:

1. What do you look forward to most when visiting a country or city?
Meeting the people and experiencing the culture. I try to get a feel for what it’s like to live in whatever country I’m visiting by hanging out with the locals and going where they go instead of doing the touristy things.

2. What is something you always travel with?
My iPod player. It’s great for rocking out at the beach or pool, has acted as the DJ for numerous pre- and post-parties in hotel rooms and even served as our car stereo while driving through Costa Rica.

3. Do you have a routine or tradition that you always do when you travel?
Not really, but I guess I would say talking to people who have been to the place I’m going to and trying to get tips on which areas to stay in, where to go and what to do. I trust the opinions of my friends more than travel books.

4. If you hosted a Travel Channel show, what would the premise be?
“After Dark” - A show about the bars, clubs and nightlife in a city or area.

5. What is a pet peeve of yours committed by other travelers?
People who don’t respect the customs and way of life in other countries and expect everything to be like it is in the US.

6. Now that you’re going to Australia, how many continents have you been to?
Five – North America, South America, Asia, Australia and Europe.

7. What do you splurge on when you travel? What is a must have?
I would say my splurging is the trips themselves. I’ve been to more than 30 countries and I try to get away whenever I can.

8. What is the one thing you look forward to most when you get home?
Sleep. I try to make the most of my time abroad, which leads to limited sleep. By the time I get home I’m usually pretty exhausted.

9. What is your dream travel destination?
Greece. I think it would be a great mix of history/site seeing (in Athens and other cities) and relaxing on beautiful beaches in the Greek Islands. Plus I really like Gyros!

10. As the sole member of the group who has been to Australia before, what was your favorite part of the last trip Down Under?
Going to the Australian Open tennis tournament in a full USA getup: my face was painted in red, white and blue, I had an American Flag as a cape and we cheered on American tennis player Andy Roddick as he took on a Russian opponent. We heckled the Russian player between every point and in doing so ended up all over ESPN’s coverage of the match. The Associated Press' match article gave us a call out saying, the Americans who "strayed from tennis etiquette by yelling at the Russian between points.”