Celebrity Travel: Go Away With Ann Curry
A. Vermont. New Hampshire. Germany. Places with deep forests remind me of home. And this might be an unusual answer, but there was something that made me immediately feel at home the first time I landed in Africa. It's the people, who look at you -- a total stranger -- as if you are a relative, with an openness rarely seen. No walls. Honestly, my first thought in Africa was, "It feels like home!"
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Ready? I really want to see the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg and the Tiger's Nest in Bhutan. I want to follow the trail of Alexander the Great from Macedonia to Persepolis. And most of all, I want to light the butter lamps in the Potala in Lhasa, Tibet. That's just for starters.
Q. What would be your dream trip?
A. My dream would be one heck of a road trip, with the historian Yuval Harari and the scientist Spencer Wells, traveling in the footsteps of our ancestors out of northeastern Africa, across the Middle East toward the point where Homo sapiens diverged, some east, toward Asia and others back west, toward Europe. What would we learn about what we humans are made of? I would even volunteer to drive the whole way.
Q. What is your guilty pleasure when you're on the road?
A. Sometimes I will come upon a candy store in the airport that sells caramel apples covered in peanuts. My promise to myself is that it doesn't matter if I've just eaten, or if I'm trying to drop a few pounds. I get to have a caramel apple if I want one. I love caramel, granny smith apples and peanuts. Put them together and boom shakalaka! My dad also loved them, so sweet memories of him come back, besides.
Q. What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?
A. The worst memory was getting food poisoning in Lima, Peru on our way to Machu Picchu. Apparently, we should not have eaten the cheese. But the best memory was arriving in Machu Picchu, which is as gorgeous as the photos and even more so from the top of Huayna Picchu, 8,835 feet above sea level. When our family reached the top together, after hours of climbing, the exhilaration we felt was beyond measure.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. Favorite pajamas, an engaging book, headphones, a pair of super cozy socks and dark chocolate.
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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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