What I pack: David Hiatt

David Hiatt. Photo / Supplied

Do you travel light or heavy?

I come from a prodigious line of heavy packers. It wouldn't surprise if the ship our forefathers arrived on towed a dinghy for excess baggage.

Cattle or first class?

Unless I am with clients or have upgraded using airpoints, the eyes turn left but the body goes right.

I can't travel without...

If it's a holiday, my lovely wife and soon to be two children. If it's business, my Blackberry. Plus, I take a camera regardless of where I'm going.

What type of suitcase do you carry?

I was proud as punch of a hard shell Samsonite I had... until flying through LAX I became one of those unfortunate people you see sometimes at the luggage carousel. First came a single shoe that looked familiar, followed slowly by a trickle of my clothes, and finally in all its glory my suitcase wide open grinning at me with burst hinges!

What's always in your hand luggage?

Blackberry, camera, iPod, noise reducing headphones and my laptop. Occasionally a rental car key I should no longer be in possession of.

Most memorable trip?

My good mate Hamish and I were trying to get from Cairo to Tel Aviv in the mid 90s and splurged on air tickets, albeit on a now defunct airline. We travelled across the tarmac on buses with armed soldiers and spotted possibly the oldest looking Boeing still in operation. As we climbed the stairs, the pilot popped the cockpit window out, stubbed his cigarette butt out on the fuselage before tossing it away and then flashed us this big smile. To their credit, man and machine flew one of the smoothest sectors we had ever been on and we safely landed in Israel!

David Hiatt is the owner of Lookout Point, a luxury NZ destination specialist based in Christchurch.