My holidays: Anton Steel

Anton Steel at Mt Yasur, Vanuatu.

What was your greatest holiday? Travelling around Europe for six months in an old Ford Transit van for my honeymoon.

And the worst? Breaking down every week for six months around Europe in our old Ford Transit van on our honeymoon.

If we bump into you on holiday, what are you most likely to be doing? Surfing.

If we could teleport you to one place in New Zealand for a week-long holiday, where would it be? Big Bay on the West Coast of the South Island.
How about for a dream holiday internationally? Haven't been to South America yet, so that's definitely on the bucket list.

What's the dumbest thing you've ever done when travelling? I've done lots of dumb things while travelling. Number one would be leaving my passport, travellers' cheques and cash on the seat of a bus in the middle of Mexico (miraculously I got it all back). A close second would be unwittingly putting on a pair of boardshorts full of biting bull ants before I went for a surf in Bali.

Aisle seat or window seat? Window seat, unless my kids are with me.

Complete this sentence: I can't travel without ... my wonderful wife and children - if I'm going on holiday.

What's the best travel tip you've ever been given? Visit Mt Yasur, a live volcano on the island of Tanna, in Vanuatu. If I could go up that live volcano every day, I would.

What was the most memorable meal you've had while travelling? Difficult question. Probably the multi-course extravaganza I had with my wife's Italian relatives in Massa Lubrense on the Amalfi coast. Close behind that would be Balinese cooking lessons in Ubud or fish tacos from the roadside in Acapulco, Mexico.

What's the best thing you've brought back from a trip? A greater understanding of other people and cultures and an appreciation for just how blessed we are in New Zealand.

Favourite airport to land at? Tanna airport in Vanuatu.

What's the next trip you have planned? Los Angeles in October - but that will be for business, not pleasure.

Bay of Plenty Film general manager Anton Steel leads film-making workshops for young people in Tauranga on July 17, 19-21.

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