Celebrity Travel: Go Away With Mark C. Lee
A. The Middle East is a place I wanted to go to previously. I would've loved to have visited Israel and Egypt. But I think the time for feeling comfortable enough to go is a little bit past. I don't know how safe or practical it is to go there anymore, which is unfortunate.
Q. What are some of the places you've been to that stand out?
A. I lived in Okinawa for 2-1/2 years. I spent a lot of time in Japan. I've been to Russia, Australia and all over Europe. I've been down to South America a couple times. I've spent some winters in Alaska and been all across Canada. I do like going back to Hawaii, though, because the weather is perfect and I just enjoy being out there.
Q. Do you eat Spam Musabi when you're in Hawaii?
A. I don't. It is kind of neat because out there, they have maybe a dozen or more varieties of Spam that you can hardly ever find on the shelf here. I've got several people at work that want me to send them back a care package of all the different varieties of Spam. One lady is from Korea and the other just grew up on it. But not too many people here say, "I like Spam."
Q. Are you an adventurous eater?
A. I enjoy food. When I was in Okinawa, I visited Korea quite often -- maybe about 15 times. I spent a lot of time there. We'd fly to Kunsan Air Base and take it from there. I ate just about everything. We would go to different restaurants and everyone would order a dish that could feed a family and then we would pass them around. We would drink, eat the food with kimchi and talk.
Q. Are you adept at learning new languages?
A. I am not. I'm not a language person, at all. I learned a little bit of Japanese, but languages don't come naturally to me, like they do to some people.
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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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