Celebrity Travel: Go Away With Craig Hurley
A. I hope not. A friend of mine took a walking tour of South America and visited places like Peru and Argentina. He was backpacking and staying at hostels. He said that, eventually, he stopped saying he was from the U.S., because some people were giving him a hard time about it. But when he said he was from England or Australia, they accepted him more. I love America. But we do have a reputation for being arrogant and not bothering to learn the language of the country we're visiting. Yet we expect the people there to speak English. That just doesn't make sense to me. If you're going to visit some place, try to fit in. At least make an attempt. My girlfriend is completely bilingual and I find that so impressive.
Q. Which place turned out to be better than you had envisioned?
A. Florida. I had visited Miami and Orlando before, but I didn't really like it when I was there. I thought it was too humid and smelled like the inside of an airplane. I just didn't like it at all. But now that I live in Miami with Katie, I really like it. Maybe that's because of who I'm here with and I can see the city through different eyes.
Q. What's the best thing about Miami?
A. Florida is like a completely different country. In Miami, I'm the minority. There are Haitians, Jamaicans and Latinos where we live. The food is really good, with a lot of variety. The sushi here is amazing. We go to a place called Moshi Moshi (http://www.moshimoshi.us/) in South Beach where everything is really good.
Q. Of all the places you've been what's the one place to which you always return?
A. I love Maui. I almost bought a house in Lahaina. I've been there six times and adore the place.
Q. Do you surf?
A. No. When I first moved to California, I tried the beach thing and the surfer dude stuff. I taught myself how to surf. But then a bloated dead dog floated by me and I paddled back to the shore and that was it. That's the last time I surfed. It was like it was an omen of some kind. But I do like to snorkel.
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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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