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.
Q: What's the most surprising/unexpected place you're ever visited and why?
A: Probably Africa in that I didn't know it was going to touch my heart the way it did. The first time I went was four years ago. Ten guys in our church took my oldest kid (and other children) and went over to work in AIDS orphanages for a week. I initially did it because I want my kids to understand that we're really blessed the way we live and not everybody lives like this. But I had no idea that I'd be going back and helping to build an orphanage in the slums in Nairobi. I just really fell in love with the people. It was life changing for my daughter (Jordan). She was 14 at the time and she's since been four times. She spoke at the White House in December about kids changing the world because she found out most of the kids in Africa are dying of malaria, which is preventable. She found out she could buy nets. She partnered up with Compassion International (an international Christian child advocacy ministry) and formed this thing called Bite Back and they've raised going on $1 million for nets. And she's still in high school. I wasn't doing that in high school.
Q: What's your favorite vacation spot?
A: Wherever my girls are. It's usually not just us. We take along cousins and people in the family that may not ever get to do one of those things. We did a cruise from Vancouver up to the interpassage of Alaska with the cousins and loved that. I have a farm south of Atlanta. We have 30 of us there and stay up and play games. It's fun seeing stuff but it's more fun who you're seeing it with.
Q: Can you offer an insider tip or recommendation for your favorite vacation place?
A: If you go to Kenya, you have to go up to the Masai Mara (park reserve) and you have to do the hot air balloon ride at daylight. I was kind of scared of a hot air balloon. My 14-year-old daughter said, "Dad, we're here. We'll never have another chance." To watch this multi-colored sun coming up while elephants and lions are walking below you — you get up there and go, "This is one of the coolest things I've ever done." I recommend doing the one at sunrise, not in the middle of the day. When you're taking off it's dark and then you go up and the sun is peeking over. Then you look down and say, "Oh my gosh! There are five giraffes below us." I had to thank her for that later.