Traveling with the Stars: Jeff Foxworthy

— -- Comedian and actor Jeff Foxworthy hosts Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader. A new half-hour version of the game show premieres Sept. 21 in syndication and in primetime on MyNetworkTV on Sept. 29. He jokes that "if they didn't give me those blue cards (with the answers), it would be the shortest show on television." He says one of the coolest things about his career is "I have been to all 50 states many times. I've been to every part of every state." He calls Bigfork, Mont., "about as pretty as any place in the world" and shares his travel highlights and tips with Kelly Carter for USA TODAY.

Q: Where have you been recently that you liked or were surprised by?

A: This spring I went to New Zealand. It was my wife's 50th birthday present to me because I had always wanted to go. She sent me and a buddy over there for nine days, fishing and bowhunting and hiking. I loved it. It was really cool. The people were very friendly and laid back. It was one of those unspoiled places. I went bowhunting for red stag. I'm a real outdoors guy. The guy who was guiding us said so many people come and they never get out of their cars. We were like, "No, what's at the top of that hill? Let's go see." There were times I kept expecting a T-Rex to step out. It was like Jurassic Park. There are no predators at all on the island and no snakes — just animals everywhere.

Q: What's the best place you've ever visited and why?

A: That's so hard. We went to Italy last year and I just loved it. They know how to do life there. They have all these great coffees. They take their time, enjoy their meals and they take a nap in the afternoon. My wife and I are coming up on 25 years of being married. One of the few places we didn't go was Florence so I'm like, "You and I are going to Florence and Tuscany for our 25th." We went to Rome, Sicily and Naples. We did one of those five-city things and then did the Greek isles and then to Turkey for one day. I really loved Turkey and I was surprised that I liked Turkey that much. But I've been to Africa two or three times and I love Africa. I guess if it's just a vacay, I would say Italy, but if it was doing good stuff, I would say Africa. The to-do-list in Africa is long but you fall in love with the people because they don't have anything and yet they've always got a smile on their face.