AIR MILES

JAMES NESTOR is a journalist, freediver and the author of Deep, a book about his sport. He has travelled the world in search of the best diving spots and lives in San Francisco. “My research often requires flying to an airport I can’t pronounce in a country on the Department of State advisory list. Last year I was on the road for about six months.”

The most unusual place you’ve been for freediving?

There’s this weird inland grotto in the west of Florida, called the 40 Fathom Grotto, which was used as a trash can for decades and is now a diving hole. In it there are old cars and statues, and a lot of beer cans. I learned to freedive there. Not the best diving experience, but certainly the oddest.

You must travel with unusual equipment.

I always pack my mask, fins and wetsuit. Anything else you can source wherever you are. When I was starting out I made the rookie mistake of travelling with 9kg of diving weights to Réunion Island, which is about as far away from San Francisco as you can get. I had to beg the ticket desk not to charge me an extra US$200. I ended up leaving my weights there.

How could international airports improve?

How about some carpeted areas to stretch out in, or lounge chairs where you can nap? There seems to be collusion between the airports to make long layovers as miserable as possible. It’s a disturbing trend.

How could airlines improve their in-flight service?

I’m 6’2” and still have to fly economy for most flights. The space between seats is so small that I literally can’t sit up straight. It’s inhumane.

Indispensable travel gadget?

Kindle tablet. Dozens of hours of entertainment, and it costs around US$80. If you lose it, or it gets dunked in the Indian Ocean while you’re on the beach, you can just buy another.

In-flight reading material?

A stack of old New Yorker magazines.

Loveliest souvenir?

I once went to this island in Greece called Tinos to write about the surfing scene. There is a strong Greek Orthodox presence on the island; it’s the kind of place where devotees climb on their knees on cobblestone paths to hillside churches as penance. There is a tradition of painting portraits of townspeople on the rocks. I’ve got one up on my bookshelf now.

Pipe-dream destination?

The Solomon Islands. I’m obsessed with Polynesia and Melanesia, and would love to get away from the constant intrusions and distractions of modern life – and reconnect with the grit of the natural world.