I travel very light. I never want to check a bag. My only standards are a few sets of clothes, my white sneakers, my blue backpack, and my laptop. I don't have any special things otherwise.

Traveling changes you as a person. If you buy something, it's so different than if you put your money into traveling.

Traveling is an experience that you can always carry with you. It makes the world come together more so we understand each other better.

And as a woman, you need to take risks. Don't stay too long in your own swim lane.

The culture of Booking.com has been very good for me because it's a culture where you're allowed to fail. When you think about taking risks, if it's OK to fail, you actually do a lot more. And you learn a lot quicker.

If you're afraid of failure or getting it wrong, you'll never truly innovate or disrupt the market.

Many people think we are a technology company, but we are totally customer-led.

My mother was from an entrepreneurial family and very creative. She always pushed me to take risks, to do things I wouldn't have thought of.

I found the Internet really fascinating.

The mission of Booking is to empower people to experience the world. Whatever people want to do, wherever they want to go, they can book it with us.

Eventually, we want to be able to say, whether in your own neighborhood or a city across the globe, our technology will be needed to break through barriers - whether it's money, time, languages, or simply choice.

There are a few books I can recommend, but one you should read for sure is 'Do More Faster,' a book full of advice for young entrepreneurs. Looking back at the early days of Booking.com, I recognize a lot of things that feature in this the book - like 'fail fast, learn quickly.'

Booking.com started with just a website, but we've always thought of our company as being more than just a website.

An American customer can book in English all over the world, but also, somebody from Japan or China can book in their own language everywhere. We translate all of our content into these languages, and that's quite unique. We service our direct customers - the innkeepers - as well in their own language.

Using science to tell us what customers are looking for is second nature for us here.

A long time ago, we had to build interfaces to connect with other companies, and I thought that was a great idea. The company had to pay a lot of money to build it and basically launched it, but our whole operating system almost broke. So, we couldn't continue it. In the end, I had to go on the train to Paris to explain that I had spent millions.

When you start very young and you start to work, you're going to fail. That's how you learn.

I don't think there's ever a wrong answer as long as people are willing to learn, share. You're never done learning.

Technology's great, but you can only be as good in technology as your people are.

For me, it's about taking things that do not take a lot of space. Don't take a lot of shoes. I tend to pack a lot of dresses, for instance, because they take up less space.

We wanted to go much bigger than anybody else. That's why we've targeted so many countries.

In the beginning of Booking.com, we were travelling around Europe a lot. Sometimes we'd do five cities in a week.

Our mission is to empower people to experience the world.

Booking.com has been very good at performance marketing. That's how we grew our business.

We are putting a lot of investments behind building customer loyalty. We need to make sure we keep investing in the right tech that will help customers. If we keep doing that well, we will keep progressing.

Whether you are checking luggage or bringing a carry-on, always weigh and measure your bags to make sure they are below the airline's size and weight restrictions. Excess baggage fees can be costly. Avoid all baggage fees by only bringing a carry-on.

Pack snacks. Food prices once you pass through airport security or within blocks of a major tourist attraction can be double the price. Pack travel-friendly snacks or visit a grocery store in the destination you are visiting to get a better price.

Instead of traveling on a weekend, begin your trip on a Tuesday or Wednesday, which are often the cheapest days to fly. Being flexible with timing can help with savings.