Comedian and design nerd Tim Ross shares his travel hacks
Comedian and design enthusiast Tim Ross knows how to choose the right seat, but has zero advice about loyalty schemes.
I travel to…
Spend time with my family but I also love travelling for work, because it almost always involves my passion for architecture and design. Last year it was Great Britain, Denmark and New Zealand. Over the years, I've visited some incredible buildings but also performed in places like Trellick Tower, a heritage-listed Brutalist high-rise in West London. It's not just the architecture but the people – I've met so many people all over the world through design and that's one of life's great joys.
I plan the trip…
Myself. But nobody gets a date wrong in a hotel like me. I book a lot but if it's a family holiday, my wife, Michelle, just seems to know the places to go and has a knack for finding the best hotels. She is good at taking charge on where we are going which means I don't have to make decisions and I really like that. For international travel I always use flatbeds.com.au – I've been using them for 10 years and they are the bomb.
Inside my carry-on you'll find…
A small plastic bag with hair product in it. My tubs always get confiscated, so I put enough for the flight there and back in the bag. If I have a shower during a stopover there's nothing worse than getting to your final destination with fluffy hair.
I pack my suitcase…
Really well at the start and it all goes out the window after the first hotel. Then it's all stuffed in like a complete mess. In my first two years of touring and flying in the late 1990s, I used a plastic bag for a toiletries bag. I think that's a good insight into my mind and packing style.
I like to get to the airport… Early, because I'm often travelling with a lot of equipment for filming or performing live. That can take a while; I'm always loitering around oversized luggage with huge bags.
As soon as I check in, I… Head to the lounge, have a cup of tea and refrain from posting a photo of my boarding pass.
My favourite type of travel companion is… I used to quite enjoy multiple beverages on the plane, so someone to drink with was always right up there, but more recently I've been content travelling alone.
On the plane I dress… As I always do. I will never wear a tracksuit on a plane, I think that's admitting that it's hard to fly. If you dress like normal, you feel normal.
I'm a points person but… I wish I was all over what to do with my points but it seems like you need a degree to work out how to use them. I accumulate them like mad and then can't work out when to use them.
I am not loyal to one airline because… I like to mix it up to keep them on their toes and enjoy the differences.
My preferred plane meal is… Pasta is always the safest. I never eat the bread rolls but I do eat the ice creams when they come around.
My best tip for beating jet lag is… Walk as soon as you get there and stay up as late as you can that night, but if you really need to nap, you must nap.
The plane seat I always choose in economy is… I'll take a window seat when I can, as far away from the bathroom as possible. I was on a flight to New Zealand years ago and after the movie every time the bathroom door opened we got a big whiff. I actually ended up using the external lock that the flight crew use to open the bathroom in an emergency to shut the door (when it was empty) to get a reprieve from the smell.
I save money when travelling… I've stopped drinking so that's been quite the saver.
The destination I think is the best bang for your buck is… New Zealand is very well priced.
I always get travel insurance… Because I don't want to be in a hospital in Turkey for the rest of my life and then have to pay it off by washing sheets in their boiler room.
Tim Ross is touring Australia with his new live show The Australian Dream?
Originally published as Comedian and design nerd Tim Ross shares his travel hacks
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Just be sure you've everything you need to keep the kids happy. The vastness of Australia seems ... more Housed in the former National Bank of Australasia (built – appropriately given our theme – in the Renaissance style), The Imaginarium is an extraordinary curiosity shop filled with unique gifts and a giant giraffe whose head almost brushes the 4.5m pressed-tin ceilings. Upstairs there are five guest bedrooms decorated in distinct styles; I'm staying in the Italian room with its jewel-coloured Venetian-glass chandelier and assortment of busts, cherubs and crucifixes. If that sounds a bit quirky, well … welcome to Dimboola. Chan Uoy in Dimboola's Imaginarium. Picture: Visit Victoria The creative forces behind the Imaginarium are Chan and Jamie Uoy (pronounced Oi, as in 'Aussie Aussie Aussie'), Melbourne restaurateurs who made the tree change in 2019. 'The first time I came to Dimboola I felt like I'd entered the twilight zone,' says Cambodian-born Chan, who arrived in Australia as a child refugee in the late 1970s and, last November, was elected deputy mayor of Hindmarsh Shire Council. 'There was no one around!' So the couple decided to create something to boost tourism and lure folks off the Melbourne-Adelaide highway. Enter The Imaginarium. 'We wanted a place that stimulates your mind and your imagination,' Chan says. I could write an entire article about the Imaginarium and the energy and ideas of this dynamic duo – Chan is also the founder of the Wimmera Steampunk Festival, the region's biennial 'carnival of peculiarities', – but there's so much else happening in Dimboola. I want to give credit where it's due. Owners Chan and Jamie Uoy at the Dimboola Imaginarium. Picture: Alex Coppel. 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Chef Cat Clarke at Dimboola Golf Club. Picture: Kendall Hill Meanwhile, at the Victoria Hotel, I have a juicy Angus scotch fillet with garlic mash and gravy in The Elbow Room, the one-time ladies lounge now a low-lit den strewn with Chesterfields, upright pianos and artworks. Owners Stoph and Meran Pilmore took over the century-old institution 10 years ago when the pub was mint green with laminate tables. Stoph says Dimboola has 'bucked the trend' of dying country towns and points to initiatives such as Wimmera's Silo Art Trail, said to be Australia's largest outdoor gallery, as driving the tourism boom. Opening soon, a main-street microbrewery called Frank Fox, and the Wimmera River Discovery Trail linking Little Desert and Wyperfeld national parks. Stage one, a walking and cycling path between Dimboola and Jeparit, will launch next month. Just one of many reasons to ride to the Never Never. The Wimmera River, Dimboola. Picture: Visit Victoria The writer travelled courtesy of Visit Victoria. Don't miss this Down the road from Dimboola I spent a wonderful wet morning with volunteers at the Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum, a collection of historic buildings crammed with displays of everything bygone, from agricultural machinery to domestic paraphernalia. A must-see. Originally published as Dimboola is the tiny town that's become Australia's capital of quirk
