Celebrity Travel: Go Away With Kim Coates

Kim Coates is known to "Sons of Anarchy" fans for his portrayal of Alex "Tig" Trager. The prolific actor has been busy. Besides "The Land," which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, he has five other projects set to release this year, including "The True Memoirs of an International Assassin" (with Andy Garcia) and "Goon: Last of the Enforcers" (with Liev Schreiber). Fans may follow the Los Angeles-based actor on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KimFCoates.

Q. What is your best vacation memory?

A. My wife and I visited Tanzania to see our daughter, who was working there for a nonprofit. When we experienced the people, the mud huts, the safaris, it was just beyond magical and we'll never forget it, ever. It was an incredible, life-changing travel experience.

Q. If you've ever gone away for the holidays, which was the best trip?

A. Being Canadian, I have a big family with lots of crazy, beautiful relatives. (For three straight years, starting) when I was 14 years old, we would all meet at this Christmas lodge in Alberta where there were more fireplaces than logs. We played amazing games of Risk, had shenanigans on the frozen pond, jumped into a snowbank from an uber-hot sauna and had cinnamon bun eating contests. I mean, it was incredible! It was so much fun that it was like being in Vegas with no clocks on the wall and we just kept going and going.

Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?

A. My cabin. It's located on a lakefront in one of the most beautiful parts of Canada. You've got to bring bathing suits; you've got to bring hiking gear; you've got to bring a good attitude and you've got to be ready to chillax.

Q. What untapped destination should people know about?

A. You have to travel! Period. Life is just all about the destination, people and food on this beautiful planet. You just have to go. You've got to travel. It's the greatest thing you can do in your life.

Q. What was the first trip you took as a child? And did you love it ... or not so much?

A. I was nine years old traveling with my hockey team in northern Saskatchewan. I'll never forget having colored marshmallows with hot chocolate. I never knew colored marshmallows existed, let alone having them with hot chocolate.

Q. Have you traveled to a place that stood out so much that you felt compelled to incorporate it into your work?

A. Since I've been able to travel the world, I think I subconsciously incorporate a lot of it into my work. How lucky am I that I'm able to, you know? For example, last year I was shooting my movie "Strange Weather" with Holly Hunter. I was able to travel to Maine to meet the real guy who I was about to play in that film. I hung out with him; I learned his accent from him; I ate the same food he did. When I get to travel, I think I soak it all in as much as I can.

Q. Where have you traveled to that most reminded you of home?

A. There's something about the people in the Maritimes (Eastern Canada) that remind me so much of home. There's just something similar about the people from there and the people from the prairies. They'd all just give you the shirt off their backs and there's nothing wrong with that.

Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?

A. Iceland.

Q. What are your favorite hotels?

A. Ask my youngest daughter Brenna. She's our little hotel queen and knows all about hotels. For me, it's any hotel that's next to, or really close to, a golf course. Answer Option No. 2: the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin.

Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?

A. Altoids, Swiss Army Knife, my small music box and a book of Sudoku.

Q. What are your five favorite cities?

A. Paris, New York, London, Montreal and Vancouver ... not necessarily in that order. Q. What are your favorite restaurants?

A. I have a few, obviously, but we love trying new places. My wife and I just discovered the Stocking Frame in downtown Los Angeles. Their different array of tapas dishes is amazing, their beer selection is international and exquisite and, to top it off, it's got an (amazing) shuffleboard table. What's not to love about a place like that?!

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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.)