As former on-air journalists for network television, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes are used to hopping on a plane for a big assignment. These days, as podcasters and columnists calling the shots, they’re traveling more for pleasure — and squeezing in some work when necessary. Last year, the pair took a whopping 16 trips, bringing their podcast gear (in carry-ons only!) along and finding ways to make the most of their vacations.

It’s no secret that air travel can be hectic these days. Airports are the busiest they’ve been in 15 years, delays and cancellations spiked last year and unruly passenger incidents are nearly twice as common in 2025 as they were in 2019. And yet … Robach and Holmes love it. Not just going to an exciting new destination, but the airport itself, and even the flights (especially on Delta).

With more trips planned for 2026, the couple is sharing the rules — no moving your seat back, and keeping small talk to a minimum — that keep their travel fun, even if they don’t always see eye to eye. (One thing they do agree on? Be kind to your flight attendant.) Here’s what makes their trips tick.

Don’t plan in advance

T.J. Holmes: We’re not that great about planning trips far in advance. Partly, that’s because we usually go back to our favorite places. We’ll hop down to Atlanta, or Puerto Vallarta in Mexico or the Turks and Caicos islands.

Amy Robach: I have always been a spontaneous person. Plus, T.J. and I have also been the victims of our careers and our schedules working in network TV, so we’re used to doing things on short notice.

TJH: In our line of work, you couldn’t plan much in advance. It’s just so hard for us when people try to book us in advance. Someone will ask about an event in June. I’ll be like, “Uh, I don’t know what I’m going to be doing in June.” I can’t commit.

AR: Sometimes we don’t have a specific destination we want to go to, and we’ll just go to Google Maps and see that right now is a good time to go here. Let’s go, let’s take this opportunity. So, from a cost-saving standpoint, [being flexible on when and where you go] allows you to go to more places, more often. We also have a list of places we’d like to go back to — and places we’d like to go but where neither of us has been — to pick from.

TJH: Two summers ago, we ended up going to Rome. We knew we wanted to go to Europe, but every airport at the time was just wildly more expensive to fly into than Rome. It made the choice so easy: Rome it is!

AR: And we had the best trip ever. We also ended up in Nice [France] because the tickets were well-priced. There are places we want to go, but often we let good deals dictate where we’re headed.

Fly direct — and try to keep it short

TJH: I’m the one that has rules when it comes to traveling, especially around the holidays. Direct flights. I would prefer a flight that’s three, four hours max — Panama was five — but it has to be direct. And if I’m leaving New York in December, I’d better be flying somewhere tropical.

AR: See, I don’t have those same rules. But I have been OK with adopting T.J’s so far. But I’m really hoping I can convince him to go to Ireland. We’re trying to figure out what time of the year to go. It’s basically based on the temperature.

TJH: I strategize based on a week ahead. If you show me the week ahead and the forecast is in the mid-70s, book it. We’ll just go. You don’t have to talk to me. Just book it, next day.

I would do anything for love — but I won’t do that

AR: My kids and I are used to getting thrown around the world. Trains, planes, automobiles, a different hotel every night, sometimes no hotel at all. Sometimes we camp and sleep in the mountains. I definitely want to do a big hiking trip, and I’ll ask T.J. to come. I’ll try to work around his parameters. But if he says “No,” that’s actually OK.

TJH: Vacation for me is vacation. I don’t want to go on vacation and work harder than I am in New York. If I have to change hotels, if I have to pack up my own poop in a backpack while hiking up a mountain — that’s gonna be a problem for me.

AR: That was a big turnoff to T.J. for any of those adventure vacations. I have done that.

TJH: I gotta carry my own shit in a bag? I happen to not like that.

AR: But it’s exciting! You get to see things that few people get to see!

TJH: Yeah, most people don’t see their own poop in a bag. Until you reach a certain age.

The one-hour rule

THJ: I want to eyeball my gate one hour before the plane takes off. That’s been my rule forever. You want to be relaxed at the airport and, if there’s a gate change, you don’t want to be worried about running across the airport. Plus, we like to grab a mimosa, go into an airport lounge. We like the flight experience; we actually enjoy flying.

AR: The airport experience to us is a huge part of either a work trip or a vacation, because it puts you in a certain state of mind. And if you are pushing it to the last second and there’s a traffic accident on the highway or an unexpected security issue, you’re not going to miss your flight.

I have been held up or had some crazy thing happen on the way to the airport, and had to ask to cut security to make my flight a handful of times. But I’ll only do that when I’m on a work trip. I usually say, “I’m so, so sorry. Is there any way I could go? Would you mind?” It’s embarrassing, and I hate it. But everyone I’ve asked has been kind. Conversely, when I have been asked by other people, I absolutely always let them go, not even begrudgingly.

TJH: That’s something I’ve never done. I get it: People have their issues and whatnot. If somebody asks, I’ll let them go. But, depending on how they ask, I might be a smart-ass about it, or I might just say, “Sure, go ahead.” I always think I’m being rude to the other people behind me when I let somebody cut in front of me. Sometimes people just bulldoze their way through.

Keep your own seat — and keep it upright

TJH: I prefer the aisle every time. But if we’re flying together and we end up in a three-seat situation, it’s got to be the middle and the aisle.

AR: Yeah, we can’t get stuck over next to the window. I get claustrophobic in the window seat. If it’s the two of us in two side-by-side seats, I don’t care which seat I’m in, because I know I can climb over him. If I’m traveling alone, I always get an aisle seat.

If someone asks to switch seats — I do not like switching to a window from my aisle seat — but if it were something dramatic, I’d do it. But if it’s just a couple that wants to sit next to each other and I have to switch to a terrible seat, I’m going to have to think about it.

TJH: I’ve been asked to switch to a middle seat before. That’s the only time I said no. I was like, “Bro.” Sometimes I’ll switch seats, but it’s on a case-by-case basis. I remember one Family Guy episode, and this issue came up and Stewie looked at the person and said, “Your lack of planning does not concern me. Go sit down. I’ll see you when we get there.” That’s kind of it: This is not my problem that you didn’t plan your trip accordingly.

The only time I have ever asked anyone else to do it is if it’s an even trade. I wouldn’t want to put someone in that position otherwise. It’s the same reason I don’t lean my seat back. You’re just going to annoy the person behind you. I feel like I’m impacting someone’s life because when you’re that person behind that leaned-back seat, oh my God. I don’t even know why they make those things.

AR: I don’t lean my seat back. I don’t ever, ever, ever lean it back. Only if I’m in a pod where you actually have your own whole area to lie down.

The devil is in the details

AR: In both of our previous lives before were a couple, we were both the planners in our relationships. Now, sometimes one of us will completely take on the trip, or the other does. We’re both just used to taking the lead and being the organized ones. I didn’t want to bulldoze, and T.J. didn’t want to either. It’s been a bit of a learning curve, but now I make quick decisions, because I’m a big-picture kind of person, and he’s a really detailed person. We’ll look at an Airbnb, and I’ll be like, “I’ll take it!” And he’s like, “Wait, did you see that the kitchen doesn’t have a microwave? I don’t like the stove.” And I won’t have even seen that. So I’ll find 10 options and would stay at any one of them, and he’ll whittle it down to two.

TJH: You know what I do? I come in and clean up the mess. Because we’ve had a mistake or two before. You’ve shown me a place, and I’m like, “Hey, where’s the grill?” And the cook needs a grill.

The other trick is that she waits until I get a couple of drinks in me. She knows I’ll get loose. If we’ve been talking about a trip, I’ll say, “Babe, book whatever you want right now, sweetheart.” I’ve woken up the next morning to her [telling me], “You know I booked that trip, right?” And I’ll ask, “Where are we going?”

AR: But I’ll always show him the room or home, because it’s a really healthy thing to have someone who has a slight dose of OCD and is very detail-oriented. It’s very handy, but sometimes it can be a hindrance. So yes, when he’s a little looser, it makes decisions a little easier.

TJH: But it’s not a hindrance to make sure we get somewhere, and it doesn’t have a tub!

AR: But we’re actually very easy when we travel. We can travel together and roll with the punches. Things go wrong, and we’ve traveled enough to understand that. And one of the reasons that we felt good about our relationship is how well we traveled together [before]. We had to do it for years for work before we were a couple and, man, T.J., you’re such a good travel partner.

And it’s kind of indicative of our ability to go through life together. Because if you can handle all that maneuvering and coordinating and stress — that’s about as stressful as it gets. If you’re good at doing that activity together, it’s kind of a bellwether for how you’ll handle other life issues together. It was an indicator that we’re pretty damn well compatible. Not only do we get along, but we have fun, even through the stress of travel.

TJH: Yeah, I rarely find travel stressful, because I enjoy it and we work. Neither of us is telling the other to hurry up. We know when to be ready, what to grab, when to walk out the door. We get to the airport, and it’s just a blast from the time we get there.

We know it’s stressful for a lot of folks, because we watch them in the airport. And that’s also kind of fun, but it can be heartbreaking at the same time to see people going on vacation or coming back pissed.

AR: It’s a reminder to enjoy, and not let the little stuff eat at you.

TJH: My only thing is, I don’t like to talk to people at the airport bar. People traveling alone sit at the bar and almost have this expectation that there’s going to be conversation among the people who are sitting there by themselves. “Hello” is fine, but I don’t want to know where you’re headed and that whole thing. I do not want to fake small talk and to put on a smile for somebody in an airport — or on the plane. I will never be the one to start a conversation with somebody in the seat next to me, like, “Hey, how are you doing today? Where are you from, where have you been, was it a business trip? Oh, let me show you a picture of my daughter, she just turned 13.” Oh my God. Never will I do that.