Chicago Tribune - 24 January 2010

Celebrity Traveler - Lucy Lawless

TV star loves to travel with true crime novels and her iPod, and has been stuck at O'Hare

Though Lucy Lawless is best known for playing the title character in "Xena: Warrior Princess," she once made a living as the host of a travel show for Air New Zealand. The program was shown on the airline, as well as on television in Asia, Australia and her native New Zealand. "I got to cover some amazing places," said Lawless, 41. "I am so thankful I got to see New Orleans at its most wonderful. I went back the Thanksgiving after Hurricane Katrina hit, and it was heartbreaking. It's such a great city." Lawless can be seen in the new Starz series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand."

Q: What is your favorite vacation destination?

A: Istanbul was really quite a place. We chartered a yacht many years ago and sailed up from the southwestern coast. That was probably my favorite holiday of all time. But I also really love going back to New Zealand. Queenstown is great. Marlborough is the gourmet breadbasket of the country, which makes it pretty appealing to me. It's full of artisans, goldsmiths -- just a really nice lifestyle in general. They have great wine there, and the water is so clean. They have the most amazing wasabi there; it's really sublime.

Read the full interview.