Celebrity Travel: Go away with Lynn Chen

Jae-Ha Kim, Tribune Content Agency on Dec 21, 2021

A: I went to Botswana for safari over a decade ago. As I took an outdoor shower and witnessed a baby elephant crossing a stream with its mother, I remember thinking, “Nothing will ever top this moment, ever.” And I was right. Never again have I experienced an emotional or spiritual feeling like I did then and there. And I still know better than to compare anything to that experience, which has been imprinted deep into my memory bank.

Q: What was the first trip you took as a child?

A: We went to Taiwan a lot to visit family when I was a child. It feels like it was every summer until I graduated high school, but I don’t think it was actually that often. I still remember being excited to watch movies on the plane, to eat at my seat and watch strangers fall asleep. And I loved how I could witness the different weather, language, customs. My father told me it was culture shock and I remember loving that feeling, of being “shocked” or, as I pictured it, immediately zapped into a completely different world than I was accustomed to. It felt magical, and it still does.

Q: What's the most important thing you've learned from your travels?

A: How to hand-wash clothes in the sink. Shout-out to Uniqlo’s AIRism line because it dries quickly, overnight!

Q: What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?

A: I like to watch movies that have filmed on location wherever I’m going, then visit those places. When we were in Paris, we did a little “Before Sunset” tour, making sure to visit Le Pure Cafe and Shakespeare and Company bookstore. Imagine our surprise when we spotted Ethan Hawke himself at Sacré-Coeur the next day! In recent years I discovered I have a rather serious gluten allergy, so I always look up places to eat where they can accommodate people with celiac, or where I will be able to easily communicate with the chef about my special dietary needs. I find message boards and communicating directly with the restaurants to be the most helpful.

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

A: I went on a culinary tour of Taiwan in 2015 and just felt so at ease, so comforted by everything. It was my first time traveling there without my parents and I felt like the entire country was looking out for me. I remember seeing foods I had never tried before and my stomach immediately grumbling, “Eat that!” even though I wasn’t exactly sure what “that” was.

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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.)