Back in the day, Joseph Simmons was best known to music fans as DJ Run, one of the founding members of Run-D.M.C. Now 49 and a practicing minister, Simmons is familiar to a new generation of fans as Rev Run, the television personality. He and his wife, Justine, and their family starred in the MTV show “Run’s House,” before parlaying that popularity to their current reality series “Rev Run’s Renovation,” which began airing on HGTV on March 28. Fans may follow Rev Run on Twitter.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. We used to go to Hawaii every year and loved it! It was absolutely a favorite place for us. Then the paparazzi invaded, so we found other places. Don’t get me wrong. I love having pictures taken of me on the red carpet and love being considered a star. But when I’m on vacation, I don’t want to worry about not being shaved. The photographers sometimes aren’t being nice. I can’t go to Maui and walk on the beach anymore, which I miss.
Q. What untapped destination should people know about?
A. I was speaking at a church in Arizona and there were no paps there. I really enjoyed it. It was a lovely place and I’d love to return. To tell the truth, when I watch HGTV and see these getaways in parts of South Carolina, it looks so beautiful that I’d love to go and visit. I don’t need to go to the trendy places where all the hip people are. I’d rather go some place that’s a little less known.
Q. What was the first trip you took as a child?
A. I used to go to Baltimore every single year with my family. I used to say, “Are we there yet?” for the whole trip. I loved it.
Q. What kind of family trips do you all take?
A. We took them to a dude ranch, which was wonderful. Africa was fun. We also did Disney World. I’m happy even if we stay in a hotel outside of Disney that’s further away. As long as I’m with my family, it’s fine. It means the world to me that we get to visit these places. I’m regular people. Some of the best vacations were because of “Run’s House” and I’m very grateful for that.
Q. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from your travels?
A. It’s always fun. I don’t remember going on a trip that wasn’t. I’m one of those people who actually loves everything about traveling, including the days leading up to it. The anticipation is part of the fun. Three days before a trip, I might be at the mall buying a shirt from Tommy Bahamas. I like getting all the stuff ready for the plane — my music and headphones. It all plays into the experience.
Q. When you have time off from work, do you prefer to stay home or travel?
A. Travel! I have wanderlust. When the weather is bad, I get the urge to leave New York, even though I love New York. I just got home last night from Dallas and I want to go somewhere right now.
Q. When was your last spontaneous trip?
A. We go to Los Angeles a lot to visit our daughter, because we’re grandparents now. But honestly? I want to go somewhere today. My wife is here and I can put her on the phone to vouch for it. Right before you called, I said, “We don’t have anything scheduled until Thursday. Let’s go somewhere!” (Laughs) My wife said, “I want to get the house together!” I was trying to talk her into a two-day trip to Miami. I’ll see if I can convince her after we hang up! But yeah, there are days we’ll be heading to Home Depot to get something for the house and I’ll say, “OK, after lunch, let’s go to Paris!”
Q. If you could travel anywhere for a month, where would it be?
A. Hmmm. Let’s go all out. If I had Bill Gates’ money, I’d get a yacht and go from place to place. I’d land in St. Martin and get a boat there and sail to St. Barts and stay for five days. Then I would go out to maybe Antigua and travel around from there to what looked good.
Q. Where is the most romantic destination?
A. Hawaii with my wife. I remember eating late nights at Spago at the Four Seasons Hotel when it was first built. We had our honeymoon there.
Q. What are some of your favorite cities?
A. New York, Los Angeles and Paris.
Q. Which cities had the most vocal fans?
A. From my Run-D.M.C. days in its heyday, it was Detroit. It was a really lovely place for the band. Philadelphia, too.
Q. When you and your wife travel, do you do everything together or split up?
A. We don’t want to smother each other. I wake up a little earlier, so I’ll go run around and then we’ll meet up. But we do make a plan to spend time together.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. Headphones and my telephone with all my music in it, razor and phone charger.
Q. What is your guilty pleasure when you’re on the road?
A. Room service! I love ordering room service. And if I’ve been good, I might check the dessert menu, too.
© 2014 JAE-HA KIM
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