One of my friends is a v-e-r-y frequent flyer. I had to work hard to catch her between trips to find out what it’s like to travel between continents several times a year.
Dianne Horbochuk had just returned from a 27-day journey to Bhutan and Nepal. Her trip back to Alaska included a 17-hour nonstop flight on Singapore Air between Singapore and Los Angeles.
With more than 1 million miles banked in her Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account, Horbochuk still pays for all of her flights.
“I want to maintain my MVP100K status,” she said.
I first met Horbochuk at our Rotary Club luncheon. At the time, she was a district manager for the U.S. Postal Service. But after 40 years, she traded her office keys for a boarding pass and has been traveling with a vengeance every since.
“I just love to travel because of the people,” she said with a smile. “I’ve made so many connections with people all over the world. We keep up with one another — and travel together too.”
Horbochuk also has a built-in network of friends around the world. That’s because before she started her super-frequent-flyer schedule, she hosted 12 exchange students over the years.
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Since she just returned from her visit to the Himalayas, she couldn’t stop talking about Bhutan.
“I climbed to the Tiger’s Nest,” she said. “It’s a tough climb to 10,200 feet — but I did it!”
There’s a $200-per-day fee for tourists to enter Bhutan. But that cost is included in the package that Horbochuk purchased through Gate 1 Travel.
Horbochuk books all of her own travel. “I use Alaska Airlines partners whenever possible,” she said.
Although she often travels on her own, if she cannot read the language, she often books a small-group tour from Gate 1 or from Overseas Adventure Travel.
At the airport, she limits herself to one 24-inch suitcase that she checks, then carries a small carry-on for her camera, her iPad and other stuff.
“I’ve been really lucky with my checked baggage,” she said. “Once, my bag was 10 hours late. Another time, it was 24 hours late. I also have an AirTag in my bag so I can track it.”
Horbochuk doesn’t specifically identify as a “cruise type,” but many of her best trips included time on a ship.
“I love the Fram,” she said, referring to Hurtigruten Expeditions’ expedition ship. With a capacity of 250 passengers, the M/S Fram recently was remodeled.
“I’ve sailed on her twice: once to Antarctica and once to Greenland,” she said. “On our trip to Greenland, there were 108 passengers and 108 crew members. But 30 of them were scientists.”
The Fram is named after the ship that explorers Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen used on their southern polar expedition more than 100 years ago.
“One of the things I love about the Fram is all the experts they have on board,” said Horbochuk. “They had bird experts, whale experts — even cloud experts, who could share details about the wildlife and the landscape that you just wouldn’t know on your own.”
Horbochuk’s travel philosophy is simple: “Travel with an open mind,” she said. “You’ll have a good time.”
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Looking over the trips she took this year is dizzying: Australia, Albania, Spain, England, Scotland, Greenland, Armenia, Georgia, Nepal and Bhutan. There also were some trips to Canada, Florida and Los Angeles.
As a super-frequent-flyer, Horbochuk takes advantage of lounge benefits where she can get them. She carries the Platinum American Express card, which offers admission to the exclusive Centurion lounges. The Priority Pass program also is included with the American Express card. As a MVP100K flyer, she chose an Alaska Lounge membership as a no-cost reward.
While she shies away from the big cruise ships, Horbochuk does enjoy river cruises. “I usually sail with Avalon Waterways,” she said. “I’ve sailed from Amsterdam to Budapest, but my favorite river cruise was in Vietnam.”
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The eight-day cruise up the Mekong River goes from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
“We stopped in all the little villages along the way,” said Horbochuk. “You get to see real life, not life in the big city.”
Connecting with people is important to Horbochuk. “I love to meet people and understand their culture,” she said. “If you take out religion and politics, we all want the same thing: a roof over our head, to keep our kids safe and have food on the table.”
Horbochuk also is an art lover, so she makes time to visit museums when she travels. “In Scandinavia there was a museum with an entire Viking ship reconstructed inside. In Greenland, we visited small Inuit communities, many of which had their own small museums,” she said.
While she just got back from her journey to the Himalayas, Horbochuk already is planning her next trips. And while she has had plenty of time in the air and on the water, she wants to see more of the world by rail.
“I really want to take the train that goes across Australia,” she said. “And of course I’d like to ride on the Orient Express.”
Next year, Horbochuk has plans to visit Malaysia in January, Bosnia in March, South Korea in April and Uzbekistan in October. Somewhere in there is a trip to Portugal to walk a portion of the Camino de Santiago.
Will Horbochuk maintain her MVP100K status next year? I wouldn’t bet against her. She’s definitely got the travel bug!
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