By Jae-Ha Kim
Los Angeles Times
June 11, 2019
Born in Canada, Avan Jogia came to the United States with a challenge. His parents gave him six months to get an acting job or return home and finish school. He has remained in Los Angeles ever since. Best known for his roles in Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” and STARZ’s “Now Apocalypse,” he can be seen in Samuel L. Jackson’s reboot of the feature film, “Shaft.” Also a musician, director and poet, Jogia, 27, stays in touch with his fans via Twitter and Instagram. His book, “Mixed Feelings: Poems and Stories,” will be released this fall.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. I like to travel at least once a year to somewhere that’s not work related. You travel so much for work that you feel like you’re traveling the world, but you’re not actually seeing anything or immersing yourself. I was in Bali for a month and a half just recently and I loved it there. It’s just an incredibly unique place. The jungles are very extraordinary. The stonework masonry is insane. It’s some of the most amazing masonry in the world. That’s not exactly the cool, hip, young thing to do, but go look at the masonry in Bali (laughs).
Q. What was the first trip you took as a child?
A. The first trip I remember taking was to London to see family. It was a long flight and I remember because back then, you could go into the cockpit and the captain let me. It was a lot of fun. I love London and go there at least once a year. I have such an affinity for the United Kingdom in general. All my family is there, too, so I get to see all my cousins.
Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. I love Santa Barbara, Palm Springs and want to go up to Big Sur. I haven’t been up there yet.
Q. What are your favorite cities?
A. London, San Francisco, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, Melbourne, Rome.
Q. Where have you traveled to that most reminded you of home?
A. London, because of the rain.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. More of Asia. Japan, Hong Kong. I’ve never done any of that. Shanghai. Moscow. I’ve never been anywhere in South America. I’d love to go to Brazil.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. I like to travel light and I usually pick a kind of theme for clothing for the trip. Like maybe I’ll go to London and it’ll be all suits, or I’ll bring all linen clothes for Bali. That’s how ridiculously I travel. I don’t think there is any must-have item. A toothbrush helps. You can get that basically anywhere. The only think you really need is your passport. You can buy stuff when you get there. I’m a big supporter of buying stuff when you get there, because then you have new stuff you’ve never seen.
Q. What would be your dream trip?
A. Going around and doing a proper tour of India for a couple months would be an incredible trip. I know it’s a ‘60s hippie cliché. For me, it’d be looking at my own culture and seeing what India itself is like. I’ve been such a part of the diaspora my whole life. Just to know what India itself is like would be interesting.
Q. What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
A. Not too much. I don’t want to see all the places on Google images before we get there. If it’s a long trip, I usually try planning the first week, but I don’t over plan, because you want to be able to roll with the punches and go and see interesting things and dip off here and there. So plan the first week and then if you have more time, wing it. That’s what I would do.
Q. What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?
A. I don’t know if this is the best vacation memory, but it’s a memory. It’s taking a boat from Barcelona and doing a stopover in the cities leading up to Rome, and then getting off at Rome and just having a lovely time. I love Rome. My worst vacation story? I haven’t had one yet. I’ll have to let you know.
© 2019 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
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