ArcaMax

A. I try to be, but I'm not always. When I went to Seoul, we had lunch with the president and they brought out Korean cuisine that was foreign to me at the time. They asked if I'd like to know what I was eating, and I said no. I'm the type that won't eat it if I know, and I didn't want to be rude and insult my host. I liked just about everything, but the one that I couldn't get past was kimchi. I can't stand the smell of that. When I was in Greece, I didn't know what calamari was. I was from the Midwest and this was my first time out of the country. To this day, I can eat the circle pieces of calamari, but not the tentacles.

Q. Where would you travel back to for an amazing meal?

A. Italy. The pizza there is off the chain! I've never had anything like it. That dough practically melts in your mouth and is so fresh. I like how they shopped there. They would go shopping every day, and sometimes for every meal, for their ingredients at the little farmers markets. Italians can eat. Those women's bodies are fit! They eat bread with every meal, wine with lunch and dinner and just really enjoy their food, which isn't overly processed like ours. I lost a lot of weight in Italy, even though I ate a lot. The lifestyle is just wonderful there. And I'd go back to Greece for the coffee. There was a smell to their coffee that was just so fresh and aromatic. I got used to drinking black coffee.

Q. What have you learned from your travels?

A. So many things, but on a practical level, to carry some snacks with me. A lot of places we went to did the European siesta, where they'd all close up for a few hours. Our tour was notorious for hitting a city during that break and you'd be starving!

Q. What is on your travel bucket list?

A. I would love to go to South Africa and go on a safari. I was in "The Lion King" for about three years and some of the cast members were from there and they were lovely. They'd talk about South Africa and that really made me want to visit. And I also want to go to France. I've never been to Paris.

Q. What are your five favorite cities?

A. New York City, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Kailua, Hawaii.

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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.)

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