Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Actress Brooke Burns says her ideal vacation would be to head to “Africa for a month. I’ve been for about 10 days and it wasn’t enough time. Being out on safari takes you to another time. I would love to do that and marry the trip with some significant time on the islands east of Africa. Mauritius. Seychelles.”
In each episode of “Breaking Borders,” journalist Mariana van Zeller and celebrity chef Michael Voltaggio travels to a different country and reports on the differences — and similarities — of various cultures.
“There is nothing I love more than to travel,” says actress Bellamy Young, who portrays the first lady of the United States of America, Melody Grant, on the ABC drama “Scandal.” “I want to see everything before my hips stop working. If I had two months off, I would work my way right around the world. That’s what I would do. I always have a spinning kind of globe in my house and have been really lucky to have visited a lot of places around the world. But there’s still so much more out there that I want to see.”
Salvador Paskowitz is the screenwriter for new film “The Age of Adaline,” which stars Blake Lively and Harrison Ford. If he were to script his own past, he couldn’t have made up his fascinating family background, he says. Raised by bohemian parents, Salvador and his siblings were raised in a camper on a beach in Southern California. His father — the late Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz — had given up his career as a physician to become a surfer.
“When I was young we didn’t have a lot of money, so we didn’t take fancy vacations,” says “American Pie” and “Scorpion” actor Eddie Kaye Thomas. “But we made little local trips that were so much fun. We used to drive to Philadelphia. I have fond memories of being a little kid who loved revolutionary history and getting to see battlefields and all that stuff. It was a really easy, inexpensive trip for our family and I remember it as being really, really fun!”
I like to pretend that I’m a semi-adventurous eater,” says “Wonder Years” actor Jason Hervey. “But then I get abroad and when it comes right down to it, I’m absolutely most content eating American-style food.”
James Wilder may best be known for his acting skills (“Melrose Place,” “Murder One,” “Equal Justice”), but he’s also an architect and designer whose work was featured on HGTV. Wilder designs leather jackets. And he can still juggle things on fire, like he used to when he was a teenage street performer. Wilder, 46, costars in the upcoming indie thriller “3 Holes and a Smoking Gun.”
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Page Kennedy is based out of Los Angeles these days, though he has spent a good chunk of time filming in Canada. “I really like Canada,” says Kennedy, 38. “I was most recently in Vancouver in the summer filming ‘Backstrom.’ There’s so much to do. They had the Shakespeare Festival, which was a lot of fun. The water was beautiful and the architecture was really pretty. You don’t see buildings like that in Los Angeles.”
“There’s one scene that explains it best,” says “Dig” actor Ori Pfeffer. “The walk to the apartment was shot in Jerusalem, inside the apartment was shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and exiting the apartment was then shot in Dubrovnik, Croatia. I believe it’s hard to beat a scene that was shot in three different continents! It’s pretty crazy and fun at the same time.”
“When I was 11, I went to Puerto Rico for a month to stay with my grandmother,” says Andrea Navedo of “Jane the Virgin.” “To see the way people lived there and experience my own culture was wonderful. It helped give me insight into my own cultural identity. I remember that the food and coffee there was amazing.”
“I always travel with one book,” says “Suits” star Patrick J. Adams. “I’ll read it and then leave it for someone else, and take another book. I bring a notebook or a journal and my computer, so that I can go through my photos. And a couple of cameras. That’s it.”
“We started traveling almost immediately with our kids and we’re aware that sometime we’re ‘that family’ and you feel bad for the other passengers,” says “Better Call Saul” actor Patrick Fabian. “When we traveled to Fiji, my youngest was beside herself! It was an 11-hour flight that started at 11 at night. By 1 a.m., she was having a meltdown. There’s nothing you can do. I was lucky we were with family and we took turns holding her and trying to console here. But there are not enough lollipops and iPads to help at that point.”
“When I played football in school, I took academics very seriously,” says former NFL running back Thomas Q. Jones, who’s now an actor. “If I didn’t get A’s and B’s, I couldn’t play sports. I was an honor roll student and graduated from university in three years. My parents didn’t push sports. They wanted us to do well in school.”
“The only thing I have been longer in my life than a ‘Brady’ is a surfer,” says Barry Williams, who played Greg on “The Brady Bunch.” “So, when visiting the Hawaiian islands, my activities are, surf, beach, rest, sleep and eat.”
“Wild Card” actress Dominik Garcia-Lorido remembers spending time in Italy while her father, Andy Garcia, filmed “The Godfather: Part III”: “I still remember the school I went to and what the hallway looked like, what our house was like and all that. I went to an American school, so I didn’t learn to speak Italian, which is a shame. But, Italy is still my favorite place to go.”
British mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins is known for her beautiful voice. Over the past decade, she has performed with opera legends such as Andrea Bocelli, Placido Domingo and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Jenkins — who also was a runner-up on “Dancing with the Stars” — spends much of her time touring and has performed in South Africa, China, Abu Dhabi, Europe and the United States.
Former co-stars (“Charmed”) and real-life best friends, actresses Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs star in the Great American Country reality series, “Off the Map with Shannen and Holly.” “Holly and I experienced so many memorable moments,” says Doherty, 43, who resides in Malibu. “We ziplined in Kentucky and handled an alligator in Georgia. But, most of all, the people we met were so special and I truly feel blessed to have had this experience.”
“I didn’t make it to Perth, but I went all over Australia,” says actress Carla Renata. “I was working over there long enough that I could take vacations. If I could figure out a way to make a living there, I would move there. The food is to die for. Everything is fresh and prepared spectacularly and the people are really loving and warm. The theater and arts scene is wonderful.”
Author Dianne Hales says, “If you were to offer me a ticket almost anywhere, but I had to leave in an hour, I wouldn’t hesitate. There’s nothing I need that can’t be bought somewhere.”
“I’ve been lucky enough to travel from a young age,” says actress and jewelry designer Katie Barberi. “I’ve grown up seeing so much diversity and beauty in different cultures. I draw inspiration from that all the time.”