5 Minutes With Dave Levart of Dave’s Travel Corner

For McCool Travel’s 55th travel profile, I am pleased to present Dave Levart. Dave is the driving force behind Dave’s Travel Corner, one of the first big travel websites I can remember. Please read on for Dave’s travel tips and experiences. Great stuff.
Dave Levart’s bio:
“Dave Levart is an international travel writer and founder of Dave’s Travel Corner, a premier travel resource since 1996. He has traveled to over 100 countries where he enjoys the outdoors, backpacking, mountain climbing, meeting people, and experiencing other cultures. He has completed more than 760 visits and written reviews of Napa producers for his Napa Wine Project. Dave is a big proponent of experiential travel, valuing experiences far above “things.””
Let’s learn more about Dave Levart!

Dave Levart Machu Picchu
Dave Levart at Machu Picchu

 

Dave Levart

Hometown…
Napa Valley area – although often in Los Angeles
Always in my luggage…
Camera, Laptop & accessories – I love documenting my travels and content from my trips serves as a reminder for where I have traveled and the experiences I’ve had while on the road.
3 favorite home-away-from-home places…

  1. Los Angeles
  2. Bangkok
  3. remote parts of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains

A favorite travel memory is…
Climbing the steep pyramid shaped 6,000 meter Tocllaraju in Peru with good friends – while I did not actually reach the summit – it is probably the best I’ve ever done in high altitude. I spent nearly two weeks prior to this trip slowly gaining elevation each day to acclimatize. Despite my love for climbing tall mountains – I do very poorly at altitude without significant pre climb acclimatization time.
3 favorite travel brands…

  1. Canon
  2. North Face
  3. Eagle Creek

3 money-saving travel tactics I use are…

  1. Try to be flexible on your travel dates and time of year you can fly – often changing dates around results in a lower airfare
  2. Couch Surf where possible – saves time and money by staying with locals for free
  3. Use Airbnb to also save additional money over hotels – this often results in affordable and central locations to stay within a city

3 ways that I have fun while traveling are…

  1. Travel without a plan
  2. Seek out local foods unique to a particular area
  3. Seek out unique experiences and try these at least once

8 word (or less) travel mantra…
(closest I could get to 8 words). Ownership of most things is overrated. Ownership of worldly experiences is not.
My favorite non-travel website…
Twitter

Dave Levart and Abdul
Dave Levart and Abdul

most memorable souvenir…
A several hundred year old leather and animal parchment prayer book I purchased in Tanzania
favorite cheap eat…
Find neighborhoods where large communities of populations from other countries live. Try hole in the wall restaurants in these communities. A perfect example of this is in Thai Town in Los Angeles. One of my favorite under the radar restaurants is Sapp Coffee Shop in Hollywood serving delicious Thai food similar to what you would find in parts of Thailand.
recent discovery…
The drone revolution. Although I must say my introduction to this world has been a bit bumpy to start with. Course its probably not a good idea to try to fly a drone in the confines of one’s own home as a first flight as I did. I look forward to working with an aerial camera and video camera.
I am fortunate to have met…
Two people on a trip of a lifetime while in Nepal (this was my first big trip abroad and was sponsored by my college). We became friends for life – initially over hardships and shared experiences on that particular trip.
I would like to meet…
A life form from somewhere other than planet Earth.

Dave Levart Summit Rainier
Dave Levart on Mount Ranier summit

 


Thank you very much, Dave. May all of your travels be enjoyable and memorable.
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Check out McCool Travel’s previous profilesMcCool Travel presents tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes interview series—featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons. Previous 5 Minutes post: Monica Stott.


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