Celebrity Travel: Go Away With Lauren Weisberger
Lauren Weisberger's best-selling debut novel, "The Devil Wears Prada," was set in the not-always glamorous fashion industry. Her latest -- "The Singles Game" (Simon and Schuster) -- focuses on international tennis. After college, Weisberger backpacked around various parts of the world, including Europe, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Thailand, India, Nepal and Hong Kong. The author, 39, resides in Fairfield County, Connecticut, with her husband and children. Fans may stay in touch with her via Twitter (https://twitter.com/LWeisberger).
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. I think probably my favorite all-around vacation destination is Anguilla. My husband and I were first there nearly nine years ago for our wedding. Whenever we go back, it makes us remember that incredible weekend. I love the beaches and the welcoming locals and the huge variety of great restaurants.
Q. What untapped destination should people know about?
A. It's not exactly what I'd call convenient, but Bhutan was probably the most incredible place I've ever visited. They strictly limit tourism, so that combined with its remote location in the Himalayas definitely qualifies it as untapped. When I went we stayed in a series of lodges and moved from one to the next every couple days. It allowed my husband and me to explore so many different parts of the country, from the religious festivals in Paro to the bustling metropolis (with one traffic light) in Thimphu. The monasteries all welcomed us with open arms to meet the monks and learn more about the religion, as did all the Bhutanese people we met. It is a kind, gentle and spectacularly beautiful place to visit -- one that's rich with so much culture.
Q. What was the first trip you took as a child?
A. The first trip that I really remember taking as a child was to visit my grandparents in Palm Springs, California. They lived in one of those gated communities where every single person basically just golfs all the time. We took a day trip to Disneyland, which I distinctly remember. I was four years old and my mother was eight months pregnant with my sister. She, my father and I decided we'd go on a ride called Space Mountain. We thought it was a space museum ride, where you quietly move through a nice, air-conditioned exhibit on outer space. Uh-huh. I'll never forget when that car began to climb straight up. In seconds it was hurtling through the pitch blackness and everyone was screaming and my parents were yelling and I was crying. When it was finally over, there was a nurse with a wheelchair waiting to help my very pregnant mother off the ride. To this day, I have no idea why they let my mom on or who called for someone to help her afterward. Needless to say, I've hated roller coasters ever since.
Q. What's the most important thing you've learned from your travels?
A. Perspective. There is nothing like getting on a plane and plopping down in the middle of a foreign country with a different language and unrecognizable food and entirely strange customs to make you realize how very small your own little world is back at home. It's so easy to get caught up in our own day-to-day dramas, but only travel can make you understand firsthand how absolutely enormous the world is and how filled to the brim it is with people having experiences that are entirely different from your own.
Q. What are your five favorite cities?
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