My Holidays: Scott Miller, CEO of Volunteering NZ

Volunteering NZ CEO Scott Miller.

Scott Miller, CEO of Volunteering NZ, is a judge in the NZ Charities Technology Awards on Thursday in Auckland.

What was your greatest holiday?
The three months I had living in the Peruvian Andes, climbing the high peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. It was an extraordinary time climbing 6000m peaks with little oxygen, eating cuy (guinea-pig), and bartering on the value of a pack of donkeys to share the load to base camp.

And the worst? Cuba. With my wife and young son, we travelled Cuba like the locals, and were constantly conscious of the plight of this small island nation caught between economic ideologies, technological displacement and infrastructure decay. The people however, were truly amazing, and we could not have had more generous hosts or interactions during our stay.

If we bump into you on holiday, what are you most likely to be doing? I am likely to be hunting down the corner cafe that is popular, not because Lonely Planet or TripAdvisor recommend it, but because the locals know it's the best.

If we could teleport you to one place in New Zealand for a week-long holiday, where would it be? It would have to be Akaroa. The nostalgia of family holidays, young love, coastal aromas of low tide, fish and chips on the pier and the stunning topography. Pure bliss.

How about for a dream holiday internationally?
I would love to take my wife and son on a cycle-tour through Eastern Europe. Cycle-touring is the best way of eating as much delicious food as you like without ever feeling guilty about it.

What's the dumbest thing you've ever done when travelling? One time in Peru I was invited to share some cervezas with some "friendly" locals. Unfortunately they never had any change, so I would naively go and buy the rounds, and they would pay me back in $50 notes. Upon trying to spend some of these notes at another store, I found I had been conned several hundred dollars.

Aisle seat or window seat? Can I say window for take off and landing and aisle for the duration of cattle class?

Complete this sentence: I can't travel without ...
A good pair of walking shoes. The ability to get off the beaten track and explore the streets and suburbs only the locals walk is the best way to understand the cadence of their environment.

What's the best travel tip you've ever been given? Wake and sleep local time, regardless of the landing time. What was the most memorable meal you've had while travelling? In Singapore I was given the full VIP experience that included pistachios at Raffles before fine-dining some 150m above ground.

What's the best thing you've brought back from a trip? A ceramic trout.

Favourite airport to land at? Wellington, because it means I have made it home in one piece.

What's the next trip you've got planned? I head back to Dayton, Ohio this Sunday for another work trip. Dayton was unfortunately featured in Time magazine as a centre of the opioid epidemic gripping the US. However it was once the pride of the nation as the home of many inventors including the Wright Brothers (first flight), Charles Kettering (the car starter motor) and Edward Deeds (National Cash Register).

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