Eat in Peru, start exploring Africa
An avid traveler who has written for television (“American Dad,” “The Office,” “30 Rock”) and received an Emmy nomination (“Late Show with David Letterman”), Steve Hely also hosts the popular podcast “The Great Debates.” His latest project is “The Wonder Trail: True Stories from Los Angeles to the End of the World” (Dutton, $27), in which he writes about his adventures traveling from his home in Los Angeles to Patagonia. “That was the best trip of my life,” says Hely, 36. “One place that jumped out as a true wonderland was Peru.” An edited version of our conversation follows. To someone who was going to Peru for the first time, what would you recommend they do during their visit?
Eat! The food in Peru is such a wild mix of indigenous, European, Asian and every other kind of influence. Plus, there are fruits and vegetables you’ve never seen, let alone tried before. In the Andes, there is something like 4,000 varieties of potatoes. I say this as a picky and prickly eater. But, for a visitor, Peru is as close as you can come to checking out a buffet on a brand-new planet. What are your five favorite cities?
Boston, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles are all fantastic. But how can you top Barcelona for its medieval alleys, warped modern architecture, the best in food and good times, endlessly interesting cultural weirdness and artistic mania? And on top of that, it’s on the beach. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
Africa. That’s an overwhelming answer: It’s a huge continent. I want to see all of it and I don’t know where to start! I live near Little Ethiopia in L.A., where the food and hospitality is so welcoming, so maybe that’s first up. What would be your dream trip?
I’d love to be plopped down in some town somewhere in Brazil with orders not to come back for three months. What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
Obsessive checking of web forums, message boards. If Anthony Bourdain has been there, I’m definitely gonna check where he went. The Lonely Planet books are still just amazing. I can’t believe the army of intelligent, engaged people they have around the world. But better than anything is talking to someone who’s been there or, better yet, lived there. What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?
My family is all pasty, fair-skinned people who fear the sun, so we would go to the beach at 4 or 5 p.m. Everyone would be leaving and we’d just be showing up. Those evenings were pretty much magic. Sailing from Panama to Colombia on a catamaran with 17 ragtag Australian, European and American wanderers was also impossibly great. (That) has to go down as one of the best.
Worst might be driving my grandfather’s second cousin from Abruzzo into the heart of Rome. Driving in Rome requires a Jason Bourne-level of concentration and skill and fearlessness. When I finally got out of the car, I was drenched in sweat, terrified and wildly exhilarated. I looked down and there was the Coliseum. For more from the reporter, visit www.jaehakim.com.