Miguel Ramos: Travel is about the creation of memories

MANILA, Philippines - Miguel Ramos, who has been one of Air France KLM’s appointed ambassadors since 2007, has supported the airline’s CSR programs through the National Book Store Foundation. Educational programs for the Air France KLM-Gawad Kalinga Village help ensure a brighter future for the needy families of Bagong Silang, Kalookan City.

His love of travel has always come from the quest for memorable experiences. From the heart-pounding opportunity to drive a Ferrari on the carmaker’s famed Fiorano test track to the chance of enjoying a lazy afternoon watching the cherry blossoms bloom in Tokyo. And from the exotic adventure of trekking through the Amazon rainforest to sitting in a quiet museum to stare at an unforgettable painting. He maintains that traveling for him has always been about experiences that become so ingrained in your mind that they are never forgotten.

What is your favorite city?

Paris.

Where do you really want to go back?

Africa to see the Great Migration, a snow-capped Mt. Kilimanjaro, and dive down to South Africa during the “Sardine Run.”

Where would you never go back?

The Amazon rainforest. Even if fishing for piranha can be fun, I didn’t really enjoy bathing in 99-percent DEET insect repellent and trekking through a jungle so thick that you can only see three feet in front of you. Once is enough.

What is the best hotel you have stayed in?

The best hotels for me are those that have something unique to offer. They have to give you a memorable experience. Having said that, the best hotels I have stayed in are Villa Feltrinelli and Villa d’Este, both in Italy, Mombo Camp in Botswana, and Chateau les Crayeres in France.

Are there hotels that you have always wanted to stay in but have not?

There are a lot, most of which are way beyond my price range! But without considering whether I can afford them or not, among those that come to mind are the Singita Game Reserve in South Africa, the Frank Gehry-designed Hotel Marques de Riscal in Spain, the Townhouse Galleria in Italy, Lizard Island in Australia and the three Aman resorts in Bhutan.

What is your favorite restaurant?

Alinea in Chicago. Chef Grant Achatz creates a one-of-a-kind multi-sensory experience by combining fantastic food with top-notch service in a relaxed atmosphere. You just have to try it to appreciate it. But maybe the best thing about Alinea is the unbelievably reasonable prices they charge — at least relatively speaking.

What is your most memorable meal?

Aside from the one time I ate in Alinea, probably in Chateau les Crayeres back when Gerard Boyer was still running the kitchen. It was the first time I had ever dined in a three-star Michelin restaurant and I remember coming away thinking that I never imagined that food could have tasted that good. That meal really started my appreciation for fine dining.

Are there any restaurants you still want to eat in?

Without a doubt, El Bulli in Spain before Ferran Adria retires.

Have you ever had an encounter with a celebrity?

The closest thing I have had to a “celebrity encounter” was sharing an elevator with William Shatner at the Peninsula Hotel New York. I was quite tempted to ask him if he was taking the elevator because the transporter was busted.

What are your top travel tips?

Plan your trips as well as you can. Your time is money. I think it was Rick Steves who once proposed that you should take your total budget and divide it by the number of hours of your trip and that is “what your time is worth.” Just because you took the bus and not a taxi doesn’t necessarily mean you saved money if it took you five times as long to get to where you were going. You might have used up precious time that could have been spent in a museum or whatever it was you wanted to do on the trip in the first place.

We also like to set up a budget for the entire trip and then work backwards. If we choose to stay in a luxury hotel or eat an expensive meal one day then we will make that up by roughing it up or going cheap on another day.

Travel is also about experiences. It is about the creation of memories. And it is about value for money. When putting your itinerary together, you need to balance all these factors to maximize the long-term value of your trip.

Have you been to a place that made you cry?

I haven’t been anywhere that actually made me cry, but there are some places that will just make you say wow! One of the most amazing places anyone can visit is Machu Picchu in Peru. Going all the way to the top will provide you with that classic postcard picture.

There was also the time when we just lay down in the middle of the Kalahari Desert during sunset. As day turned into night, the stars started coming out and the skies were so clear that you could see what seemed like an infinite number of stars, shooting stars and these “stars” that are moving in a straight line at a constant speed. They turned out to be satellites.

What is always in your travel bag?

My hand carry always contains my laptop (never check it in!), medicines and a camera of some kind. I also usually have my iPod and noise-canceling headphones on long trips.

What should be invented to make travel better?

The transporter of the USS Enterprise.

What is your favorite airport?

Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Singapore.

What makes a good airport?

A good airport is one where you don’t mind spending three or four hours in when waiting for your connecting flight. That means there must be lots of things to do and at least a few decent restaurants to choose from. There should also be good airline lounges because some airports have really bad lounges.

What is your most memorable moment in an airplane?

When my wife and I were on our way to Europe to get married, KLM surprised us with a wedding gift on board. They gave us gift certificates we could use on board or in Schipol airport. We ended up buying a pair of sunglasses each in Amsterdam and whenever I use those sunglasses anywhere in the world, I remember our friends at KLM.

What is your most memorable moment on a trip?

Driving a Ferrari 599 on the Fiorano test track of Ferrari. Oh, yeah…there was also that little thing about getting married.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you on a trip?

My wife and I were coming from the Sindabezi Lodge in Zambia where accommodations consist of open-sided huts that have only three walls. In other words, you are quasi-camping on an island in the middle of the Zambezi River.

I remember her telling me to keep my suitcase closed because something might decide to crawl in there. Of course, I didn’t listen. When we got back to Cape Town and had checked into our hotel, I was unpacking my suitcase when I noticed there was a frog sitting on the floor beside my bag. I was looking very closely at it thinking, “Why is there a fake frog here? I don’t remember our buying a rubber frog.” As I was staring at it from about a foot away, it promptly hopped. The expletives that I uttered were enough to make my wife come out of the bathroom screaming, “What happened?!” Just to finish the story the frog must have been pretty dizzy from the trip since he wasn’t moving very much. I covered him with a shopping bag and brought him outside. I remember hoping that we didn’t start some sort of Zambian frog flu epidemic in South Africa.