Celebrity Travel: Go away with Emily Marie Palmer

A: The destinations that are always at the top of my list tend to be ones full of mysterious, mountainous landscapes, like Iceland, Scotland and Switzerland. In Iceland, we rented a car and took our time driving around the entire island and it was just incredible. Some of the highlights for me were the mystical Snæfellsnes Peninsula, where we married, the breathtaking Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon and the otherworldly black pebble beach at Reynisfjara.

Q: What untapped destination should people know about?

A: White Sands National Park (New Mexico)! Most people I talk to have never visited. It’s truly one of the most enchanting, otherworldly places I’ve ever explored. Make sure to pack sunglasses or you’ll probably have to buy some at the gift shop, like I did. The intense desert sun reflects off of the pure white gypsum sands and it’s blinding.

Q: Where are your favorite weekend getaways?

A: Living near Nashville, some of our favorite weekend trips have been to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It’s a true hidden gem. We also love to go camping and Tennessee has no shortage of lovely state parks and, of course, it’s home to the lovely Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

Q: What are your five favorite cities?

A: Montréal, Reykjavik, Paris, Kraków and New York. Not necessarily in that order.

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

A: I felt so deeply at home in the Scottish Highlands. My mother is from Appalachia and growing up I spent a lot of time there visiting my grandmother and other relatives. The Highlands reminded me very much of the hazy blue hills of East Tennessee that I spent so many years running barefooted in.

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

A: My Blundstone boots have become a must-have item, regardless of my destination. I also never travel without whatever book I’m reading at the time, and a small journal to capture the thoughts and memories that I want to jot down.

Q: What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?

A: All of my best travel memories involve spontaneous adventures and meeting good people — like the time my cousin and I hitchhiked with a kindly Catholic priest in Scotland and couch surfed for a few nights with the most delightful family in Black Isle — a small village near Inverness. If you’re out there reading this, Thin family, we still love you and have never forgotten your kindness and hospitality to us during our travels! Or when I went swing dancing in New York City and on my walk home afterward I stopped to help a very lost Polish guy find his bus stop. His name was Jan, and he and I became fast friends. Six years later, we’re still close. I visited Poland for the first time in early 2020, and he was a fantastic tour guide!

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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.)