Go Away With … Pete Wentz

By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
May 14 , 2013

Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz remembers traveling to the Bahamas as a child and getting ill on the small plane that took his family from Nassau to their destination. “I had terrible motion sickness when I was younger and I barfed into the bag,” says the 33-year-old musician, who also hosts the Oxygen reality series “Best Ink.” There was no place to throw the bag away, so we had to go through customs holding it. That was a little weird, but the trip overall was awesome!”

He shares his love of travel by taking his 4-year-old son, Bronx Mowgli, to as many places as he can. Fall Out Boy is currently on tour to promote its latest album “Save Rock and Roll.” You may follow Wentz on Twitter.

Q. What are your favorite types of vacations?

A. I like tropical places a lot. But I also like just being in nature. My parents have a lake house in Vermont. I’ll bring my kid and we’ll do stuff like fishing at the lake. I think it’s important to give my son an exposure to a bigger part of the world than Southern California. I love it when we’re out hiking and I see him come to life seeing things in a brand-new way. I love that sense of wonder.

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

A. We did a lot of road trips to the Three Lakes in Wisconsin. We went to Wisconsin a lot. We just kind of puttered around those lakes on a boat and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or whatever. And then we also went skiing at the Cascade Mountain (in Wisconsin). I always rode the back of the station wagon hard! We didn’t go to the Wisconsin Dells, but we did go to a lot of water parks. I loved that! We went to Sesame Place Water Park in Langhorne, Pa. It was awesome. I remember thinking how rad it was to be there!

Q. Where are you least recognized as a celebrity?

A. When I’m not recognized, I love it. I think that’s really healthy. When we go to Japan, nobody really cares unless I’m there with Fall Out Boy. They’re not a tabloid-based culture like we are over here. So it’s really nice. The people in Sydney and New York City — they don’t care who I am. I’ll be walking through Union Square and I’ll get a high five every now and then, but people can’t really be bothered to notice me. It’s great.

Q. What are your favorite cities?

A. Chicago is my absolute favorite city, because I grew up there. I also love Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, London, New York and Paris, depending on the weather. My home base is now in California. I have a lot of love for the Valley out here.

Q. Where did you travel to for work that you’d like to revisit as a tourist?

A. You’re Korean, right, Jae? I don’t have a lot of time to revisit places as a tourist these days, but I’ve got a lot of Korean friends and am looking forward to returning there. We were in Seoul and had an awesome experience there. We played a fest and tried all kinds of really good food. Our tour manager, Dan Suh, (now a DJ) showed us around. We’re heading back to Seoul in August for work and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of the city and eating more food! I’m well versed in Korean barbecue now.

Q. Do you like K-Pop?

A. I do. K-Pop, rap, rock, classical, whatever. I love it all. It’s interesting to hear what’s coming out of Asia and see how other cultures take to our music and us to their music. Music is music and it’s a cliche but music is universal. I can’t understand Korean, but I can understand the music, if that makes sense.

Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?

A. We were trying to be the first band to play all seven continents. We tried to get to the Antarctica but were unable to make it. I still want that to happen. But six continents isn’t too bad, right? I’d also love to see more of South America. I’ve been to Uganda and South Africa. I want to see more of Africa.

Q. Do you have things you want to do in Antarctica?

A. (Laughs) Details!

Q. Are you an adventurous eater on the road?

A. There are certain places you don’t want to get sick, but overall, I’ll give it a shot. I’ll try local cuisine everywhere. I’ve gotten braver as I’ve gotten older. But there are a few things I won’t eat. In some cultures they serve horse meat and stuff like that. I can appreciate that it is part of someone’s diet, but it’s not for me.

Q. Name a place where you had an unforgettable meal?

A. Not long ago, I got to eat at the restaurant featured in “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” (Sukiyabashi Jiro, located in a Tokyo subway station). That was such a cool experience. You could see the care that went into the food.

Q. Was it super expensive?

A. (Laughs) It was worth every penny.

Q. Is Bronx a good traveler?

A. He actually is! He’s been traveling since he was a baby so he’s used to it. He’s not perfect all the time, but then neither am I. (Laughs)

Q. What would be your dream trip?

A. I would want to go and stay in one of those stilt huts in Bora Bora. That’d be a dream trip for me. It seems like it’d be awesome!

Q. Did it! It’s a lot of fun. We went jet skiing around the island and it was so beautiful.

A. One day. It’ll happen!

Q. What is your guilty pleasure when you’re on the road?

A. I like airport lounges a lot. When you spend so much time in airports, it’s always good when you can get a little comfy before the flight. When the label or the TV show is paying for it, it’s somewhat of an easier pleasure to stomach!

Q. To someone who wanted to get a tattoo during their trip, what would you say?

A. I think it’s cool to mark a trip with a tattoo, but you need to really trust your artist. So do your research so you know the artists and their work. Make sure they use clean equipment. And make sure you really know what you want.

© 2013 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.