Hopkins finds calm in Arizona
By Jae-Ha Kim
For actor Jacob Hopkins (“The Goldbergs,” “Dragons: Rescue Riders,”
“The Loud House”), the pandemic certainly made working more difficult. But, just as importantly, it put his education plans on hold. “I think the biggest thing that changed for me is that I ended up deferring my first year of college, because of the pandemic,” said Hopkins, who turned 19 in March. “Hopefully, we will go back to our normal lives (soon). I want to pursue my college life and expand my horizons as a person and as an actor.”
Q: Have you been able to work much during all of this?
A: I’ve been quite fortunate during this time. I was able to film a movie in Arizona called “Carolina’s Calling” and I filmed the season eight premiere of “The Goldbergs.”
Q: What have you and your family been doing during this unusual time?
A: We definitely live in a parallel world at the moment. We always spent a lot of time together – game nights and stuff like that – so our quality time never changed, we just do more of it. We love to hike, so we do more of that, too. We were able to do a fourday weekend to San Diego when things were calmer, while still following all the guidelines, and go boating, tubing, hiking and on long walks.
Q: What untapped destination should people know about?
A: There’s this beautiful hiking trail in Pine, Arizona – Cypress Trail to Boulder Trail – that takes you in a gigantic loop through beautiful pine trees and insane boulder formations. Because of its size, you definitely find yourself being the only ones on the trail, which also makes it feel so serene and calm.
Q: What was the first trip you remember?
A: The earliest memory I have of a trip was when I went to Disneyland for the very first time. I absolutely loved it, until the point when I lost my blanket I called Ba-ba. I pretty much cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, I was in a restaurant in the Downtown Disney District with mac and cheese, grapes and a new Ba-ba my mom had gotten from our car, but I didn’t know it was a spare.
Q: Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A: Towsley Canyon, a beautiful hiking trail where I get to visit my favorite family of deer.
Q: If you’ve ever gone away for the holidays, which was the best trip?
A: I remember going to Michigan to visit my extended family for Christmas and it was honestly one of the best times of my life. I had never been in snow before, and what better way to experience it than sledding with your cousins? We got to be there on Christmas Day and exchange presents with each other. I’ll always cherish those memories.
Q: Do you speak any foreign languages?
A: Je parle un petit peu français! I tend to pick up on common phrases, but it’s a bit difficult for me to learn foreign languages. I really want to learn how to speak Japanese though!
Q: Why Japanese?
A: I’d love to go to
Japan! I grew up on anime, Nintendo and martial arts – I’m one stripe away from a third-degree black belt in (the Korean martial art of ) taekwondo – so it’d definitely be a dream come true.
For more from the reporter, visit www.jaehakim.com.
A: If you had a ticket in premium economy, you should have sat in premium economy. Cathay Pacific could have been more proactive about notifying you, and the refund should have been automatic and much, much faster.
But an aircraft change — or “equipment change,” in airline parlance — is not a bait-and-switch. It happens fairly routinely when a plane isn’t working correctly, or the airline needs to accommodate more passengers. Still, I think Cathay Pacific might have alerted you when you checked in and offered other options, such as rescheduling you on a flight with premium economy.
By the way, premium economy is kind of a misnomer. All economy class seats should have
a minimum amount of legroom and amenities, particularly on a 12-hour flight. Premium economy is a lie, if you ask me. They should just call it economy class and get rid of the tiny seats that you had to endure for half a day.
You were correct to contact Overseas Adventure Travel in writing. It sold you the Cathay Pacific upgrade. And you’re also right that four months is way too long to wait. If you’re still on hold after a month, you can escalate your case in writing to a manager. I list the names, numbers and emails for Overseas Adventure Travel on my nonprofit advocacy site at www.elliott.org/ company-contacts/grandcircle-travel/.
But, ultimately, this refund was up to Cathay Pacific. I should note
that your trip happened before COVID-19 — so no pandemic excuses!
You could have contacted Cathay Pacific or appealed to a manager. I list executive contacts for Cathay Pacific on my site, too, at www.elliott.org/companycontacts/cathay-pacific/.
I reached out to Overseas Adventure Travel and Cathay Pacific on your behalf. Five months after you requested a refund, you finally received it.
Christopher Elliott’s latest book is “How To Be The World’s Smartest Traveler” (National Geographic). Elliott is the chief advocacy officer of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers resolve their problems. Contact him at elliott.org/help or chris@elliott.org.