Scott Schuman known round these parts as The Sartorialist has traveled far and wide in search of the world’s most stylish and sophisticated citizens. He’s logged some serious air miles. So in the interest of improving your travel game, we pinned down the New York based globe trotter currently in the country to help judge the Australian leg of the International Woolmark Prize to discuss his five essential travel tips, how to explore new cities and the best places in the world to eat, drink and shop.
KEEP EVERYTHING TOGETHER
Scott says: “Well the number one thing is don’t spread your stuff out all over the hotel room. I like to keep everything pretty close. Some people like to get in and unpack their stuff and put it all over the place. I like to keep my stuff pretty close to the bags and as condensed as possible.
BE AWARE OF WHERE YOUR PASSPORT IS AT ALL TIMES
Scott says: “Always put your passport in the same place so you always know where to look for it. Don’t put anything in that little foldy pouch in front of you in the airplane. Don’t put anything in there you’re not willing to forget. I’ve seen people put their passport in there before. Are they crazy? Don’t they know they’re going to lose that thing!
EMBRACE BEING DUMB
Soctt says: “Always accept that when you’re traveling you’ll be the dumbest person in the room. Traveling is very humbling. You never even know where the bathroom is, you don’t know where the drugstore is, you don’t know where anything is. I just get used to being the dumbest person in the room.
DON’T CARRY TOO MUCH CASH
Scott says: “Never take out too much money, too much cash from any particular country. I have about 7 million Balinese rupee on me right now. I took some out and thought I was gonna buy some stuff like sarongs. I think my tip would be, don’t take out too much cash all in one place. You can just buy it on your card so you’re not stuck with a bunch of cash. Cause you’ll just lose it on the exchange rate getting it back.”
USE YOUR LEGS
Scott says: “I like to get a guide who hopefully has some kind of idea of what I want to shoot, that kind of thing. I hate when they just take me to the fancy shopping area. I really have to get them to try and understand the kind of shots I want to take. For the diversity of the shots I want to take I find going to a place and getting out of a car and on to a bicycle really helps. It helps keeps you mobile you can still get around. The car just puts too much separation between you and the street. So you can walk around but if you’re exploring something for the first time, if you use the wrong path it takes up a lot of your time when you know you’re just not in the right area, so I think getting a bicycle is the right thing.
SCOTT’S CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS
SHOP: Batik sarongs in Bali.
DRINK: A Negroni at J.K Place in Florence. It’s a great spot, a great hotel. A wonderful spot for watching people, it’s right on Santa Maria Novella in quite a historical location. It’s a nice place to hang out.
EAT: Rocking Horse Cafe in New York. Very good, high quality, sophisticated Mexican food in New York.
Scott Schuman is currently in Sydney to judge the Australian leg of the International Woolmark Prize.
