Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Bestselling author Sara Shepard is best known for her “Pretty Little Liars” books. She says her love of travel often makes it into her books. “If my characters travel somewhere, I generally write about a place I know to give the scenes more authenticity,” she says.
Filmmaker and New York Times bestselling author Ransom Riggs is best known for his “Miss Peregrine” books. An avid traveler, Rigg says his ideal vacation is to “somewhere I’ve never been before, and preferably, someplace I can’t pronounce. Madagascar has been on my list for a long, long time. While I can pronounce the name of the country, just give its capital city, Antananarivo, a try.”
Three years ago, musician Brian Culbertson and his wife started the Napa Valley Jazz Getaway. “It’s what I call a lifestyle event where you come in for several days and listen to great jazz concerts, enjoy meals and hang out late at night,” says Culbertson, who splits his time between the West Coast and Chicago.
On his Travel Channel series, “Trip Flip,” comedian and on-air personality Bert Kreischer surprises people with action-packed vacations that are designed to fulfill items on their travel bucket list. Kreischer, 41, resides in Los Angeles with his family. Of California, he says, “I absolutely love it. It stinks that I’m not here enough!” His book, “Life of the Party” (St. Martin’s Press), will be in stores on May 27.
Actor Sean Astin encourages travelers to “look up. It might sound like a simple thing to say, but don’t have your face in a map or your phone or your stuff. I think most people get to wherever they think they need to get to and then they look up.”
Born in Calgary, Alberta, sisters Tegan Rain and Sara Keirsten Quin are better known as the musical duo of Tegan and Sara. The twins, 33, won three Juno Awards earlier this year in Canada for their work on their seventh studio album, “Heartthrob.” But the song that has helped earn them a new (and young!) fan base is “Everything is Awesome.” They recorded the infectiously catchy song for “The LEGO Movie.”
Talk show host Wendy Williams’ idea of a vacation doesn’t include sightseeing: “We’re that family that doesn’t care about seeing ancient ruins or centuries old landmarks. All we want to do is lay down on the beach and eat $12 M&M’s from the minibar.”
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, star in their current HGTV reality series “Rev Run’s Renovation.”
“Raising Hope” star Lucas Neff says he prefers traveling to “someplace new. I hate returning to the same place. I always feel like I’m missing out. The unknown offers far more. I’m less about vacation, more about experience. I try to avoid places where beheadings are popular though.”
“Greece is unbelievable, and not just because it’s the motherland,” laughs Maria Menounos. “The food there is amazing. I was eating so much homemade food that had fresh ingredients in it.”