An über-traveler's tips for the rest of us

You think traveling everywhere would be fun?

Consider Charles Veley, who literally has been just about everywhere.

On a website he developed -- www.mosttraveledpeople. com -- he lists his visits to 629 of 673 "countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces," a list that Veley created and has since been updated by a vote of the website's 5,000 members.

Veley is 42. He lives with his wife and three children in the San Francisco Bay area. He did very well in the dot-com boom. He tells his stories on his blog -- written in the third person under the "Where's Charles?" tab on the site.

Veley has been pulled over for speeding in 20 countries. He traveled for two days to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern tip of South America, for an expedition to Peter Island, Antarctica, only to learn the trip had been canceled. Then he was robbed.

He surfed beside actor Matt Damon on the Hawaiian island of Kauai (they shared an instructor). He traveled in a nuclear icebreaker to the North Pole, where he went swimming. He was interrogated for four hours on the Chechen border.

You get the picture.

Q How do you plan your trips?

A Websites, travel agents, but not too often. Chinese superstar travel agent/guide Shi (Paul) Baoying -- paulbys@126.com -- helped plan my trip to remote parts of China. If you know what you want, it's easier to work directly with airlines, especially when you're in a remote place and need to make changes.

In remote places, it's rare that hotels are full, so walk-up booking is fine; in some areas you may be talking about a rack rate of $34 vs. a discounted advance rate of $30 or $28. So I say enjoy your day, see where you wind up, then walk in. ... I'll prebook a rental car where possible, then show up and canvass other car counters looking for a better deal.

Q What are your favorite travel websites?

A MostTraveledPeople.com, Weatherbase.com, OAGflights .com, Amadeus.net, Trip advisor.com, AirTreks.com, VRBO.com (vacation rentals by owner).

A Pack light. Shopping for things you need is a great way to learn about a place. I always take my laptop, passport, a couple of clippings to show suspicious police and immigration, a Lonely Planet guidebook, a road map, and a camera that can fit in my pocket. I also take Ayr, a saline gel that helps keep you from getting sick on planes.

Q How do you get comfortable on a long-haul flight?

A If I'm stuck in coach, I do my best to get a window seat and a pillow, then take a Lunesta after the first meal service.

Q What are some of your favorite places?

A Lord Howe Island, Australia, is a beautiful, semitropical island, where the government has set limits on tourist beds.

San Francisco, a beautifully set European-style city with open space and a can-do attitude, and it's linked nonstop to both Asia and Europe.

Kauai's north shore, the "real Hawaii." Let's hope it stays that way.

Tofino, Vancouver Island. It's Lake Tahoe meets the sea, 100 years ago before Tahoe got crowded. Friendly Canadian people, gourmet delis and gnarly waves.

The Bar Hemingway in the Ritz hotel in Paris. Colin Fields is the world's best bartender. There's a drink named for me, the Lemon Charlie; it's a long story.

Q How about places you don't want to revisit?

I've probably had enough of Douala (Cameroon), and I don't feel a need to rush back to Khartoum (Sudan), or the so-called Amur Highway across eastern Siberia, but, like I say, every place has its beauty, and the more familiar it becomes, the less offensive it is.

Q Do you plan ahead or wing it?

A Plan as if you need to schedule every waking minute, and then, once you get there, set aside the plan. By doing all the planning as if you had control over all aspects of your trip (which you do not), you'll have enough knowledge to make good decisions when things start going haywire (which they will).

Q How much do you spend on travel and how do you pay for it?

A I helped found MicroStrategy and have held my stock since I left the company in 1999; look at the stock price graph and you'll see the story. Since 1996, I've spent somewhere between $1 million to $2 million on travel, so that would be between $100,000 to $200,000 a year.