My wife and I travelled to Bora Bora in Tahiti with the family and it was to mark the end of my 20 years as a professional sportsman, so the budget was much bigger than for our normal holidays. We had a private house on the beach with a lagoon behind it and it was magic. For domestic holidays North Stradbroke Island is a favourite.

WHAT IS THE BEST HOTEL YOU'VE STAYED IN?

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai for its opulence and service beyond belief.

WHAT DO YOU ALWAYS TAKE WITH YOU?

My own pillow and swimming goggles and running shoes. I'm always looking for an opportunity for some physical activity.

WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR A PERFECT HOLIDAY?

Activity and culture. Food is really significant, so somewhere known as a food and wine destination is good. I love coastal holidays where there's great seafood.

WHAT'S YOUR BEST PIECE OF TRAVEL ADVICE?

Stuff is going to happen, so have a contingency plan. Have copies of your important documents – driver's license, credit cards, passwords for banking sites – scanned and copied onto a remote file that you can access if something goes wrong.

AND YOUR WORST EXPERIENCE ON HOLIDAY?

When I was on honeymoon in Hawaii, I misunderstood the time for our connecting flight onto the States so we arrived a day late for it.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST PACKING MISTAKE YOU'VE MADE?

Forgetting chargers and bringing shoes with spikes back from foreign countries that automatically get confiscated.

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO NEXT?

I'm planning to do the Larapinta Trek (near Alice Springs) next year to raise awareness and funds for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and make a doco on it.

Matthew Hayden holds the record for the highest score made by an Australian cricketer in Tests (380) and is a supporter of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, prostate.org.au