http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/travel/traveling-on-the-fly-with-omar-miller.html 2014-10-30 19:24:56 Traveling on the Fly With Omar Miller The actor’s tips for choosing restaurants and hotels may make advanced planning seem boring. === Traveling always came easy to the actor Omar Miller. Even before his star turn on “CSI: Miami” and a life of international film premieres, back when he was a penny-pinching college student, he said he would find cheap last-minute flights, arrive in a new city and make a weekend of it. “You know what I get a lot? ‘Must be nice.'” Mr. Miller said over the phone recently. “Yeah, it is nice. My life is great. But it’s not something other people can’t do.” He added, “There’s an intimidation that comes along with travel that doesn’t need to be there.” Demystifying travel is a mission of Mr. Miller’s on “Weekend Fix,” a series that had its premiere on the Esquire Network last month. With his co-host, Andres Izquieta, Mr. Miller travels to a different city on the fly and seeks out recommendations by using social media and talking to locals. Below are edited excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Miller about tips for spontaneous travel. Q. Let’s say you’re traveling to a new city in the States. What do you do? A. You’re in the city center. Now what? ­Usually I’m hungry. I throw out a blast on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and see if they have any suggestions. You’d be surprised how many people respond. And with Instagram — man, forget about it — it’s a menu nowadays. If you hashtag the right thing, you can find the food you’re looking for: the name of the city, plus #restaurant, #delicious, #padthai, #streetfood #foodporn — as inappropriate as that sounds. Or #nomnom is another one people love. And once you’re eating, you can determine where you want to stay. Oh. You hadn’t already booked a hotel? ­It’s not that big of a deal to find one, especially if you’re landing in the daytime. You’ve got plenty of time to hustle. First figure out what part of town you want to stay in, and you can discover that just by speaking to people. Talk to the waiter, the waitress, people on the street. Ask what neighborhoods they like, explain you’re looking for something artistic, luxurious, whatever it is. People know their city, they’re proud of where they’re from, so they’re your best resources. You’ve narrowed down your list of hotels. Do you start calling them? ­I can’t remember the last time I was actually on the phone with a hotel. I try different apps like What if you’re going abroad? ­You have to do a little bit more planning because of the language barrier. Make sure you have a phone: either a local phone or get a data package on your domestic phone — the last thing you want to do is double up the price of your trip. You’re using a lot of translation apps like