Celebrity Travel: Go Away With Ransom Riggs
A. That it's more about the journey than the destination. But a really great destination doesn't hurt, either.
Q. Have you traveled to a place that stood out so much that you felt compelled to incorporate it into your work?
A. Not in a literal sense, but the island I feature in "Miss Peregrine" is a composite of many places I've visited. I spent my junior year of college in Ireland. While there, I fell in love with its western islands. There's a lot of The Arans in my fictional Cairnholm Island.
Q. Where is the most romantic destination?
A. I don't think where you are matters nearly as much as who you're with. Many of the most romantic evenings of my life have been spent in my own house with my wife and a take-out pizza. That said, you could do a lot worse than the resort islands of Palawan in the southwestern Philippines. That place is beautiful.
Q. If you've ever gone away for the holidays, which was the best trip?
A. I hate the cold, but I love New York City at Christmas. Nowhere does the holidays better than Manhattan. I spent New Year's Eve there once, in a suite overlooking Central Park. They set off fireworks at midnight. Magic.
Q. What are your five favorite cities?
A. My own, Los Angeles, has to top the list. There's much to dislike about my city, but its pleasures and charms are many, though occasionally subtle. Wellington, New Zealand, is a beautiful, bite-sized city with great culture, great coffee and it's right on the edge of a world of adventure -- the magnificent South Island of New Zealand, quite possibly one of my favorite places on earth. Dublin is the first non-American city I ever lived in, and it'll always have a special place in my heart. Also, my ancestors were Irish so I'm obligated to list it. Amsterdam is a marvelous place, especially in the summer, and Portland, Oregon.
Q. Where have you traveled to that most reminded you of home?
...continued
(c) 2014 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
