My Holidays: Mike Neilson

Mike Neilson, head brewer at Panhead, in Japan. Photo / Supplied

Mike Neilson is head brewer at Panhead.

What was your greatest holiday? Last year my wife Anna and I packed up the kids and flew to America for three weeks. We landed in San Fran and saw all the sights, hired a car, visited a few breweries along the way up to Sierra Nevada in Chico. Once I ticked off the bucket-list breweries, my parents flew into LA and we spoiled the kids for the next two weeks, taking them to Disneyland.

And the worst? I don't think I've had a bad holiday. We did go to Cuba on an 11-hour flight where we were jammed into seats like sardines, and I spent half the time with sunstroke vomiting in the room, but heck, I was in Cuba!

If we bump into you on holiday, what are you most likely to be doing? Walking around in my shorts and jandals in a random country looking at crazy shit or following Anna around shops.

If we could teleport you to one place in New Zealand for a week-long holiday, where would it be? I really like the chilled lifestyle of Waiheke.

How about for a dream holiday internationally? An open-ended ticket to the US with the family, where we pick up an old hot rod and drive the Southern States with no timeline.

What's the dumbest thing you've ever done when travelling? One that springs to mind is sitting on tiny little chairs in Bangkok drinking Thai whiskey and Thai Red Bull buckets till 7 in the morning, then hopping on a bus for a 12-hour trip to the Cambodian border in a no-sleep daze, finally ending up on an island in the Gulf of Thailand.

Aisle seat or window seat? A month ago I would've said aisle but I'm finally finding the joys of window again.

Complete this sentence: I can't travel without ... Too many undies. Who knows what could happen? And you don't want to get caught short.

What's the best travel tip you've ever been given?

Ask reception to write the name of the hotel in local dialect on a card, or take a photograph of the door to your hotel.

What was the most memorable meal you've had while travelling? A couple of my friends and I went on a little junket to Hong Kong and Japan in April. The food blew our minds. I couldn't choose just one meal, it has to be the whole trip. Dim sum, barbecue goose, ramen, wagyu, raw horse and beef arteries, the lot, it was all delicious.

What's the best thing you've brought back from a trip?

I travelled with my then-partner on our two-year OE. Everyone said it wouldn't last and London tears you apart, but it didn't. It made us stronger. We came back together and got married, as happy as ever. So she would definitely be the best thing I've brought back from a holiday.

Favourite airport to land at? Velana International Airport, in Male, in the Maldives. Looking over the islands from the aeroplane was amazing, vibrant blue water, white sand. When you land, it's a tiny, short runway, water either side. Male appears to just rise from the sea, and you know you're only a boat ride away from the most amazing over-water bungalow and beach your eyes will see.

What's the next trip you've got planned? In April, I head off to the World Beer Cup and Craft Brewers Conference with some like-minded colleagues. We are stopping off in Austin for American barbecue, Nashville for a week at the conference, Louisville for the bourbon trail and Portland for more amazing beer.

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