(Bloomberg) -- At Bloomberg Pursuits, we love to travel. And we always want to make sure we’re doing it right. So we’re talking to globe-trotters in all of our luxury fields—food, wine, sports, cars, real estate—to learn about their high-end hacks, tips, and off-the-wall experiences. These are the  Distinguished Travel Hackers.

Comedian Michelle Collins is a former co-host of The View, a former Sirius morning show host, and a regular on Today. She divides her time between Miami, New York, London and Amsterdam, which means the 41-year-old entertainer logs a lot of air miles—25,000 and counting just this year.

Her airline of choice? United. Not for the company but thanks to her co-travelers: “Delta people are very cocky, they love to brag. American customers are pretty miserable overall,” she quips. “I like United because people are just there to fly; no one is trying to prove they’re the biggest world traveler. Everyone flies calmly, assuming no one gets dragged off.” 

When she’s not over the Atlantic, you can catch Collins on the weekly pop culture podcast Midnight Snack and on The Michelle Collins Show  on her newly-launched Patreon, or as a regular fill-in host on NBC’s Hoda & Jenna.

These are her travel tips.

Digital nomads are making one big mistake when they pick their overseas bases.

Because of Covid and working remotely, it gave me an opportunity to fulfill my dream of living overseas. And I learned that places that are really fun to go on vacation are not always places you want to live full time. I spent two months in Italy, for example. I think that’s every American girl’s dream.

As a visitor, in a hotel with people to help you, there are things you would never, ever consider. When you’re living in an apartment for a month? Little things got really difficult. I saw all the art, but the car I rented got broken into, and I had to deal with the police. My advice for working remotely like that is to go to a city where you have access to those vacation spots, like the Amalfi Coast for a weekend or something, but you’re not there permanently.

Use this app as a scrapbook for your experiences.

I favorite and star every place I like on Google Maps. It’s like the olden days when you put a pin in a map on the wall. Zooming out on the globe and seeing all the places you’ve been is a real thrill for me. I love that. And you can share those recommendations. If you forget to save something in Google Maps, go to your photos. That can remind you where something was, because of its geotags. [Editor’s note: Although it feels it a bit creepy giving Google all your location data, the timeline can present a visual diary of your daily movements at home and abroad.]

You don’t need to settle for the first room you’re shown at a hotel—and here’s how to ask to change.

I love changing rooms in a hotel. I am a Cancerian, I was born in July, and I need my space to feel comfortable for me. If I see dirt on the bathroom or the floor, and I’m there for a week, I’m going to say something. And here’s how to change rooms without being nasty or getting filmed and going viral: You go downstairs with your bags. You very politely go, “I hate to do this. I’m so sorry, but there are hairs on the pillows in the bed”—which has happened to me. That and a little bit of charm can go a long way. It’s not a big deal for them to change rooms, and sometimes if you’re lucky, you get a free breakfast as an apology.

I was staying at a hotel in Rome for New Year’s, and I really decided to splurge—it was a lot of money for me. The room was beautiful, but the bathroom reeked of sewage. I went in on New Year’s Day, not feeling my best, and it smelt like Mr. Ed’s stable. So I went down and they moved me to another room, which had the same issue, because of Rome’s sewage system. Then I ordered room service breakfast and there was a massive hair on my plate of eggs.

That was the breaking point for me, so I went down in my pajamas with the tray of eggs and showed them. And they said I could come back and have two free nights there—and I actually did take them up on the offer. And about a month later, I went back, and I’ll say something: it did not smell great still, but it is what it is.

This is how you party in Mykonos.

I had two places on my bucket list, even though I hate the term bucket list: Greece and Japan. I still have not been to Japan, but I went to Greece for the first time with my friend, Dave. I was most nervous about going to Mykonos. I’m not sure because of that Lindsay Lohan viral clip or what—but something about it. I just thought, “I’m going to hate this place.” (There are parts of Miami that I can’t stand, and I’m from Miami, which essentially means I’m at least 30% garbage person. And I say that with pride, by the way.)

We had the best time there! It was so much fun. I think Mykonos is much like Vegas in the sense that it is what you want it to be. We leaned into the fact it was the kind of place where you’re just going to have to be over-the-top. When you have permission to be that way, it can actually be a lot of fun.

A post shared by Michelle Collins (@michcoll)

We ended up at this club Alemagou, where all the bartenders were so nice and—because of Covid—being in an outdoor nightclub felt like a fever dream. A local told us to download an app called iMove. Every Uber is going to cost you $40 or $50, even if you’re just going down the street, but this gets you taxis more cheaply and quickly.

When in a sunny destination, splurge on a room with a private terrace. 

Also in Mykonos, we stayed at the Grace Hotel, which is not one of the super high-end ones, even though some rooms have their own private plunge pool. And I decided that for one of the first times in my life that I was going to lay out topless, because why shouldn’t my girls see a little sun? It was incredibly liberating. It felt like I was finally tanning—and with a private terrace, you can sunbathe safely however you want.

Here’s how to make your Airbnb feel more like home—and have a keepsake from your trip, too.

When I check into a new Airbnb, I always go to the nearby home store and buy something: new pillows for the bed, or new sheets sometimes. Buy a souvenir you can use while you’re there, then take it with you. Otherwise, what do we ever do with souvenirs? Nothing. Here in London, I bought an olive-green felted cushion for the couch that my head is resting on very delicately right now—and that will come back with me, without the insert. And I bought new pillow cases today on Piccadilly. 

Single and traveling? Dating is a great way to get to know a place.

I tend to use Hinge because it’s the least creepy one, but there’s also Raya, which is the “big celebrity dating app”—and no matter where you are, will bring in people from all over the world. I feel like I could write a Master’s thesis on men around Europe and their dating styles, their humor. English men are funny and self-deprecating and handsome. In Amsterdam, it was kind of a shock: The term “going Dutch” exists for a reason, because a lot of guys there will not pay for drinks on your first date. I’m a tall girl. I’m 6-foot, 1-inch, and where are the giants? Ladies, that place is the Nordic countries.

When you’re not going to be in a place for a long time, dating is a difficult thing. What it tells people—in my case, guys—is that you’re down for a one-night stand or something, and at the moment, I’m not there. As a woman, I’m very slow to reveal specific details on the apps, even about how long I’m in a town, or where I’m staying. Guys often are, like, “Where are you?” so I reply “Let’s meet at a restaurant.” It gets you out of the house, and it’s a fun way to see a place.

A post shared by Michelle Collins (@michcoll)

Don’t forget to pack these pharmacy essentials.

This is a message for those lady travelers out there: I always pack menstrual cramp medication and tampons. While America’s health-care system is obviously not the best, we absolutely make the best cramp medication and tampons in the world. Bring feminine products with you from the US—washes, your sanitary things, your pills. They just don’t know how to do it in Europe. Remember when there was a tampon shortage in the States a while ago? It’s because of me, because I was coming to London and was, like, “I got to get them all!”

The one museum not to take a chance-chance on in Stockholm. 

My mother grew up in Tel Aviv, and every summer, while all of my friends were off at camp, I would go back with her to Israel to tend to my elderly grandparents—which for me consisted of sitting on their couch and listening to ABBA tapes, like Muriel from Muriel’s Wedding. But I went to Sweden, and there is absolutely no reason to pay money to get into the ABBA museum: Go there and buy a T-shirt at the store, then go back to your hotel. It felt like I was at the local country fair.

We stayed at a place called the Berns Hotel, which was very beautiful, with a terrace, and the public library there is absolutely gorgeous. Oaxen is a great place to go for dinner, kinda in a remote area; you dined under a huge ship that was hanging from the ceiling. I’m not a big herring person, which makes eating in Sweden challenging, but we had such a great time at that place. But the ABBA museum was such a waste of time.

I am trying to get tickets to the ABBA holograms, the ABBAtars, in London, and it’s sold out. You cannot get tickets. They’re holograms, and it’s sold out. And I’m still dying to see the show.

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