What an F1 Academy star packs when she travels | Canada Voices

When Nicole Havrda began riding karts as a teenager, she also received a crash course in life on the road. Growing up in Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, she quickly learned that pursuing a racing dream meant long commutes – by car, ferry and highway – to reach tracks on the mainland. At first, her family made the round trip from Vancouver Island to karting venues across British Columbia. Eventually, the treks grew so demanding that the Havrdas bought a motorhome. On one memorable journey, Nicole’s parents drove non-stop from Vancouver to Montreal, taking turns behind the wheel while the other slept.

Now 19, Havrda has outgrown karting – and the motorhome. As a rising star in the F1 Academy, a Formula One-supported racing series designed to develop female drivers for top-tier competition, her travel schedule has gone global. In recent months, she and her parents have criss-crossed the world: three months in London and Spain for preseason testing, three weeks in China for a race, stops in New Orleans and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with more to come in Singapore, Las Vegas and Montreal.

“It’s absolutely crazy,” said Havrda, who now splits her time between her Vancouver Island home and Indianapolis, Ind. “And my parents are along for the ride.”

Living out of suitcases and carry-ons has become second nature. She’s learned to travel smart, keeping essentials such as her racing suit, helmet and shoes within arm’s reach and getting creative with baggage limits. “I used to pack way more clothes than I needed, and my shoes took up half of my carry-on,” she admitted. Now, she has learned to keep it light, with an occasional bit of help: “I’ve been known to get my parents to carry an extra helmet bag to sneak everything on board.”