Fashion entrepreneur Daymond John first came to prominence with his pioneering hip-hop clothing line, FUBU, but he’s probably now best known as one of the original sharks on the enduring reality hit show Shark Tank.
The 56-year-old lives in Miami with his family and logs more than 400,000 miles in the air every year.
His favourite airline? “I’m sure it’s the same as everybody: Emirates,” he says. “Of course, the rooms with the showers and the cabins are the best. I got sick [once], and I needed to take a shower to feel fresh. I take it about 20% of the time.”
Here’s his best advice for packing light, getting over jetlag and enjoying your vacation, even when you’re worn out by work travel.
A silk scarf is a surprisingly versatile accessory
I never go anywhere without a silk scarf. My favourites are a traditional brown Louis Vuitton one, because it’s a dark colour, and another by Kenneth Cole.
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I use it when hopping out of a plane — I swear that little bit of time with my neck exposed can potentially give me a cold — and I can throw it straight over my shoulders, or use it as a pocket square to elevate more casual looks. I can also put it around my wrist if I’m trying to be cool.
Finland in the dead of winter is wonderful
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We went to Finland for New Year’s Eve, a Santa village. It was great, a little cottage with staff dressed up like elves and Santa, running around in the middle of the forest. My nine-year-old daughter had a fun time dog-sledding and snowmobiling. We went to Hidden Arctic Clouds villas. Those cottages get booked up so quickly, so if you want to go and stay there instead of a hotel, you need to book it a year ahead of time.
Don’t forget to book an easy vacation from time to time
At Baha Mar, I love the restaurants, I love the nightlife. I love that you can just stay there all day if you want, and everything’s at your disposal. They treat me extremely well. A very, very simple, easy, easy trip. I travel about 250 days per year, so the easier it is on vacation, the better it is for me.
The best bar in the Caribbean is a no-frills institution
There’s a bar named Footprints in the Bahamas. I take a little boat out there when I stay at Baha Mar. The guy who owns it, Ronnie, woke up 30 years ago and said to his wife, “Do you love me?” She said, “I don’t really know.” So he left and opened this little bar.
I respect that he made a decision to go off and live a simple life. People come in off the boats, they catch fresh fish and eat it right there. Ronnie appreciates the simplicity and the hard work, and he’s probably well into his 70s now.
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Embrace being hungry when you have jet lag
Over the last six months, I’ve been doing intermittent fasting. So now, if I leave New York at 5pm and land in Los Angeles at 8pm, I won’t eat dinner at 8pm because my body still thinks it’s 11pm in New York. I will wait until my next regular mealtime to eat.
This small discipline lets me reset my internal clock faster and is key to keeping my energy levels stable. If you’ve missed a mealtime, skip it — don’t make it up.
Vintage stores are the best places to shop in a new country
Between the late 1990s and now, it appears that every place has become the same. It used to be that there were specific brands, things you could find only in that country. When Instagram and all these things started coming out, everything started looking the same. But go to the vintage stores in these countries, and you’ll find brands that were only made to be distributed there.
Double-book so you never miss a connection
I’ve double-booked myself on different airlines when I have a tight connection. You can’t use your name for two bookings on the same airline, but you could book a Delta flight that leaves at 6.30pm and an 8pm flight on a different airline. Book a more expensive fare that can be cancelled for a credit, and you can use the credit on your next flight.
Unpack like a pro in any hotel room
I have one charger that has multiple outlets on it, and I get all my stuff plugged in there to be charged together. I then take out my toiletries, put them where they’re supposed to be. I take out my workout stuff and all my vitamins and arrange them on the desk. And I leave my clothes across the chair. I don’t put them in the closet.
