Brian Hoyer could “stay at the beach all day”
The Pats’ backup quarterback talks all things travel.
Brian Hoyer calls St. John in the US Virgin Islands “probably the most beautiful place in the world,’’ and is hoping its recovery from last year’s hurricanes Irma and Maria is swift. The Lakewood, Ohio, native is the backup quarterback for the Patriots. He was signed by New England as an undrafted free agent in 2009 before heading to several other teams — only to come back to the Pats in 2017 with a three-year contract. Hoyer, 33, and his wife, Lauren, have two children. We caught up with him to talk about all things travel.
Favorite vacation destination? St. John in the US Virgin Islands. We always stayed at Caneel Bay resort. Unfortunately, when the hurricane came last year, it got completely destroyed and is waiting to be rebuilt. To me, St. John is probably the most beautiful place in the world. The beaches, the water . . . it’s incredible. Not only that, but the culture — including the night life — and the people there . . . they’re always very welcoming.
Favorite food or drink while vacationing? Wherever I go, I try to eat what the local food is. We’ve been to Mexico a couple of times, and I love Mexican food. When we go to the Caribbean, I get seafood. And in Jamaica, you know, things like jerk chicken [and] curry goat. I’m really up for anything. I think my favorite would probably be Mexican, so I always enjoy a good trip to Mexico because of the food and the culture and what goes with that — tequilas and margaritas. So I think I’d have to stick with that.
Where would you like to travel to but haven’t? Germany — even though I’ve been there before. My dad’s from Germany, so I’ve been to Europe before, but I haven’t been there as an adult, so I’d love to do a whole trip — obviously go to Germany and revisit some of that stuff, but also Spain, Italy, Switzerland. . . . I would love to get them all in in one trip. And then another place would be . . . the Pacific islands, like Fiji. For me, it’s just always so far away. When you’re in this profession, you’re trying to find vacations you can get to quickly.
One item you can’t leave home without when traveling? Probably my iPad Pro and my headphones, because I love watching movies. I’m always trying to find movies to rent or download — especially with traveling for work all the time. Now that my kids are old enough, I can hook them up with their own iPads and I can watch something I want, too, so definitely iPad and headphones. I don’t always get to see movies in theaters [because] we’re so busy, but I can always catch up with them on my iPad Pro.
Aivsle or window? I [prefer] aisle now because one, I can usually have extra room for my right knee, and two, because my kids take the window seats, so I don’t really win that battle.
Favorite childhood travel memory? It would have to be baseball tournaments. I grew up playing a lot of baseball and every weekend we’d be traveling somewhere, and I think the thing that was so fun about that was traveling with your friends; you know, being with your group of buddies. I think my favorite one of all was when we played at the Disney Wide World of Sports, so you go play the games, then at night go to the park and hang out. That was really fun.
Guilty pleasure when traveling? When I travel for beach destinations, I just want to stay at the beach all day — and that includes ordering food and eating on the beach. Basically, the way my wife and I do it is once we get up in the morning and eat breakfast, we try not to come back to the room until it’s dinnertime. Because like I said, [vacations are] so few and far between. When you go to a place like St. John’s . . . it’s like you just don’t want to leave because it’s so beautiful seeing the scenery, hearing the waves. And I hate to admit it, but the only time I ever get to read a book is on a vacation, where it’s just my wife and me and we’re on the beach.
Best travel tip? I think for me it’s asking people things. Don’t just rely on what you read. It’s like how we found the Caneel Bay in St. John. It was by word of mouth, through one of my wife’s close family friends. It’s funny: They’re house builders and they named a whole development after Caneel called Caneel Run, and we were always like “What’s that?’’ And they said, “Oh, it’s after this place.’’ So that’s how we learned about Caneel Bay. You can read stuff about this place and that place, but when you have people who visit other places and rely on that more than a travel agent or what you read in a magazine . . . I think that’s always the best. And another travel tip: TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry. I mean with kids, that’s a lifesaver because there are times when, with kids, you don’t want to be at the airport any longer than you have to. [Also], only pack carry-ons. Never check a bag if you don’t have to — especially when you have to deal with customs and things. If you can avoid that, you can save yourself so much time standing in lines.
JULIET PENNINGTON
