Category: Travel

Go Away With … Alex O’Loughlin

Jae-Ha Kim

Born in Canberra, Australia, and raised in Sydney, Alex O’Loughlin’s thick Aussie accent is nowhere to be heard on “Hawaii Five-0,” where he plays the lead character Steve McGarrett. “I heard that some people thought I was American,” says the 34-year-old actor during a break from shooting in Honolulu. “I take that as a great compliment. I try to be as authentic as I can for each role that I take. But once I’m done shooting, I sound like me again. I can’t hide it.” “Hawaii Five-0” airs Mondays on CBS.

Go Away With … Katharine McPhee

Jae-Ha Kim

Singer, actress and former “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee, 26, was born and raised in Los Angeles, where she currently resides. “I love traveling and am on the road all the time for work, but I don’t get to go on as many vacations as people would think,” she says. “But a lot of people can work on vacation or relax while they’re traveling for business. And that’s what I’ve started to do.” Her favorite vacation memory, actually, is of the days off she had during a business trip to Italy. McPhee’s latest CD is “Christmas is the Time …(To Say I Love You).”

Go Away With … Exene Cervenka

Jae-Ha Kim

Exene Cervenka has lived quite the life. Born in Illinois and currently residing in Missouri, the 54-year-old artist earned early fame as the co-lead vocalist of the punk rock band X. She co-starred in the 1987 film “Salvation!” with Viggo Mortensen, where the two played a married couple. In real life, the couple followed suit, but divorced after their son Henry was born. When author Michael Blake was writing “Dances with Wolves,” he crashed at her house and dedicated the book to her. Blake — as well as Kevin Costner who would go on to star in film adaptation of “Dances with Wolves” — appears in her cowboy satire “Bad Day” (www.baddaymovie.com), which is available via digital download.

Go Away With … Jon Seda

Jae-Ha Kim

Actor Jon Seda is a Jersey boy at heart, though he currently lives on the West Coast with his wife and children. “For most of my career I’ve been on the East Coast, but for about the past four or five years I’ve been based out of California,” says Seda, who was born in New York. “I’ve just recently celebrated my 40th birthday. Oh yeah, it’s all up hill from here!” Seda, who’s best known for his roles in the films “Gladiator” and “Selena,” earned rave reviews for his portrayal of World War II hero John Basilone in the HBO miniseries “The Pacific,” which has just been released on DVD.

Go Away With … Michio Kaku

Jae-Ha Kim

Born in San Jose, Calif., and currently residing in Manhattan, scientist Michio Kaku enjoys traveling with his wife. “One of my favorite places is Germany,” says Dr. Kaku, 63. “In its glory days prior to World War II, it was ranked No. 1 in science and is known as the place that gave birth to modern quantum theory. For a scientist, it’s about as close as you could get to a sacred site.” A leading theoretical physicist, Kaku is the host of the Science Channel’s weekly “Sci Fi Science.

Our author goes all Bahama Mama when traveling to Atlantis with her son

Jae-Ha Kim

As it turns out, having a cute toddler with a penchant for high-fiving strangers is like toting around catnip. Apparently, my son saves his worst for when it’s just us, in private. In public, he was like a well-behaved movie star. He went straight to work at the airport, charming the sort of shop girls I had always assumed were beyond human emotion. Put him on a plane, I learned, and suddenly he’s the flight attendants’ favorite passenger. I’m not ashamed to say that we used him as a means to reel in extra snacks.

Go Away With … Rick Springfield

Jae-Ha Kim

In his recently published memoir “Late, Late at Night” ($26, Touchstone), musician-actor Rick Springfield, 61, reveals a dark side that few fans knew about. He tried to commit suicide when he was 17, cheated multiple times on his wife of 26 years and underwent plastic surgery at the ripe old age of 23 in an attempt to look even more youthful than he already did. Springfield, who wrote the book without a co-author or a ghostwriter, exhibits a humorous and poignant touch as he examines the ebbs and flows of his career.

Go Away With … Jennifer Knapp

Jae-Ha Kim

When Jennifer Knapp decides to take time off, she really goes for it. When the 36-year-old singer from Kansas wanted to reassess her life, she took seven years off and spent a good chunk of that time exploring Australia. She didn’t return to the United States until she was good and ready to start recording again. And she announced that she was gay.

Go Away With … Kolo’s Peter Dunn

Jae-Ha Kim

As the co-founder and CEO of Kolo — a line of colorful photo albums designed to maintain archival-quality photos without breaking the bank — Peter Dunn loves to travel, even though one-third of his year is spent on the road for business. A resident of Connecticut, Dunn uses websites to hunt down good travel bargains when he goes away to places like Italy and Hong Kong.

Go Away With … Bruno Coulais

Jae-Ha Kim

French composer Bruno Coulais is used to helping convey a film’s tone with his music. But for “Babies” — which focuses on four tiny, chubby and (for a while) bald stars — the 56-year-old Parisian, best known for the 2009 stop-motion film “Coraline,” had his work cut out for him. The documentary features no dialogue from its main stars, so Coulais’ compositions at times have to speak for the infants. “Babies” is now available on DVD.