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Celebrity Travel: Go Away With Jon Landau

By Jae-Ha Kim, Tribune Media Services on

Q. Have you eaten anything that you've regretted?

A. I wouldn't say that I regretted it, but I tried blowfish once when I was in Japan. That's the type of thing you only need to do once, because there's a scary aspect to it. And I didn't think it tasted great enough to risk trying it again. In Australia, I tried kangaroo, which tasted a little like venison, which is a little gamey. And I'm not necessarily a fan of gamey foods.

Q. If you could travel to anywhere you wanted to tomorrow, where would you go?

A. I've been fortunate enough to travel to many places. If I look at a map, I go, "Wow! I've been really lucky." But I've never been to Egypt and I would love to go see the pyramids and visit Luxor. Thailand would be amazing. Again, both places combine culture and history with exotic locales.

Q. Have you been on any trips where you didn't feel particularly safe?

A. I went to Indonesia years ago and was visiting a temple where I was approached by a local churchgoer who sort of asked me in a somewhat intimidating way what religion I was. And that was a moment where I felt uncomfortable, because I didn't know what he would consider a right or wrong answer. So I told him I was an atheist and got myself out of the situation. I must say the rest of my trip was great. So it wasn't that I didn't feel safe in Indonesia. It was about the particular situation I was in.

Q. When you take on a new film, how important is the location where you shoot?

A. If someone writes in the script that you're in the Himalayas, then you have to go there, but when you have a choice, you have a lot of leeway in where you can shoot. On "Avatar," we had a choice and we chose to shoot in Wellington, New Zealand. One of the best parts was that when you had a day where you didn't have to work, it was a wonderful place to just live. It's a great, environmentally conscious artistic community. Everyone thinks we went to shoot the film there for the rain forests, but we only shot in the studio! We truly could've gone anywhere since none of it was filmed outside. We went for the artisans and the lifestyle we knew we'd enjoy and embrace during our months there.

 

Q. Where will you travel to next?

A. For work, it'll be back to New Zealand to shoot the next two "Avatar" films concurrently. We will do live action and visual effects there.

Q. What are the things you always bring with you on the airplane?

A. My iPad and headphones. Then when I'm sitting there, I can watch all the shows that I've downloaded and I can connect to local television, get local news from home and just keep myself busy. I carry those two things in my backpack all the time, along with my passport, because I never know when I'll need to get out of a country quickly!

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Jae-Ha Kim is a New York Times bestselling author and travel writer. You can respond to this column by visiting her website at www.jaehakim.com. You may also follow "Go Away With..." on Twitter at @GoAwayWithJae where Jae-Ha Kim welcomes your questions and comments.


(c) 2012 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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