Go Away With … Kevin Michael Connolly

Kevin Michael Connolly, photographer and author of “Double Take: A Memoir” (HarperCollins, $14.99), can now add television personality to his resume. The 27-year-old adventurer, born without legs, is the host of the new Travel Channel series, “Armed and Ready.” A resident of Bozeman, Mont., Connolly was a medalist at the 2007 X Games’ monoski event and on his show he challenges himself to try feats such as climbing a 50-foot tree in the Smoky Mountains and diving from a 40-foot cliff on Hawaii’s Big Island.

Fifty shades of Jae

A few months ago, the book club I belong to picked “Fifty Shades of Grey” to read. You know what I’m talking about. “Mommy porn,” as it came to be called by the media, which took note of its popularity with middle-aged married women. With a controversial subject (S&M, kinky sex), it’s the type of book that no one wants to admit they read, much less liked.

Sohn Kee-Chung of Korea, not Son Kitei of Japan

Growing up, I had heard my father talk about Sohn Kee-Chung (손기정). Sohn was the first Korean to win an Olympic medal, and it was gold. At the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, he set a world record in the marathon. So it wasn’t surprising that when the 1988 Games were held in South Korea, Sohn had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch into the Seoul Olympic Stadium.

Komodo Dragon Attacks Tour Guide

Remember when Sharon Stone arranged for her then husband, Phil Bronstein, to pet a Komodo dragon at the Los Angeles Zoo? And remember when dragon bit him on the foot, completely crushing his big toe? I thought about this when my husband and I were on the eastern Indonesian island of Komodo, touring an area full of the dragons for which it’s famous. There were experienced guides leading our little group, and they carried large, pointy sticks. I remember asking the lead guide if that’s what he’d use if a Komodo dragon were to attack, and he said, “Yes. It’s very effective.”

Go Away With … Gino Strada

Dr. Gino Strada is the founder of EMERGENCY, a global organization that brings free health care to war-torn countries. Strada is featured in the documentary film “Open Heart,” which is nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject at this year’s Academy Awards. The film follows eight Rwandan children who travel to Sudan for life-saving open-heart surgery. Strada, 64, resides in Khartoum, Sudan, where he spends at least nine months each year working at the Salam Center for Cardiac Surgery.

Go Away With … Meghan Markle

“I got the travel bug quite early,” says “Suits” actress, Meghan Markle. “My earliest memories are of going to Mexico twice a year and Hawaii quite a few times. We never did conventional family trips like Disney World. Hawaii and Mexico were closer for us than going to Florida or the Caribbean.”