ArcaMax

A. When I was a kid, we went camping at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur. We went every single year since right after I was born. We did this every year until I was 16 or 17. That was great, just to have that ritual every year with my family and a big group of people. I'm really thankful for it and I cherish those memories.

Q. Do you still go camping?

A. I really enjoy camping. My wife and I try to go camping once a year at least. It used to be easier before "Idol" happened, but now there's a tour and an album out and all that kind of fun stuff. But I'm enjoying it while I can, because all that could change.

Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?

A. We spend a lot of time in Monterey, Calif. We live in Santa Cruz, so it's kind of like living on a very small island. People tend to not venture off too much. But we've been able to break free and spend time there, and in Carmel, and explore and see what it has to offer. In our situation, Monterey is 40 minutes to an hour away from Santa Cruz and it's an absolutely beautiful place with a great kids' museum and aquarium.

Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?

A. Headphone, phone charger, toothbrush, plenty of pairs of drawers (underwear) and some movies. It's always nice to have my favorite movies and wrestling DVDs. Really, other than that, I just pack one bag with some drawing books and postcards. I always buy some postcards when I get to a destination, but it's always nice to have a few.

Q. Do you have any quirky habits when you're touring?

A. Sometimes I like to pick up a T-shirt from all the venues I played, but not every venue has a shirt. Also, my son finally let me borrow one of his stuffed animals and I've started to take a picture of it at each venue.

Q. What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?

A. Almost all the memories are great, but I've got one bad one. We went to this place right after my son Hunter was born. We went on a camping trip to a spot that our friends had told us was really cool. We got there and it was completely disgusting. The lake had leeches and the water was filthy. It was hot and sunny and there was no shade. We're spoiled. We live right by the ocean in Santa Cruz and we have redwoods right there. We can camp near our home and be comfortable, so it was horrible to be at this yucky campground with a skinny little pathetic excuse for a tree. Anyhow, our son was a newborn so at least he won't have bad memories of that trip.

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Jae-Ha Kim is a New York Times bestselling author and travel writer. You can respond to this column by visiting her website at www.jaehakim.com. You may also follow "Go Away With..." on Twitter at @GoAwayWithJae where Jae-Ha Kim welcomes your questions and comments.

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