Having parents who are musical legends can be daunting, but Benjamin Taylor takes it all in stride. The son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, the 33-year-old singer-songwriter has his own successful career. His last album “The Legend of Kung Folk Pt. 1” showed off Taylor’s eclectic musical style, which actually pays homage more to David Bowie and the Roots than his own lineage. Taylor currently is working on a new album and is giving away free tracks every week on his website . Laidback onstage and off, the witty, sarcastic and funny artist enjoys spending time at home in Martha’s Vineyard. But when he wants to get away from it all and spend a little time snowboarding, Taylor heads to one of his favorite stomping grounds: Park City, Utah.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. I like going to places where you can slide down mountains, and one of the places I like to go snowboarding is in Park City, Utah. The snow is the lightest and fluffiest there. You’re about an hour’s drive from five or six wonderful mountains. The people there are great. There’s a big Mormon community so everyone tends to be nice and healthy. And the people have fun going a little nuts every now and then. It’s a lot of fun.
Q. What are your favorite hotels and restaurants?
A. I like Keith McNally’s restaurants. Other than that I try to find food that has been prepared thoughtfully, with ingredients that have not had to travel too far or go through too much processing. Hotel-wise I’m not badly bothered, but I generally prefer clean rooms and large bathtubs.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. I must have my guitar, identification and a very good reason to go away. I don’t like bringing a lot of stuff on airplanes and am capable of traveling with almost nothing and being perfectly happy. But if I have a lot of room, I tend to bring a lot of stuff. I don’t bring a lot of clothes, but Rollerblades and Snow Blade boots — things like that. When I was little, I was told that I could bring whatever I could carry. From an early age, I could carry a lot of stuff. I’m a good pack rat. You can find ways to pack lighter without a lot of sacrifice. For instance, I don’t bring a lot of shoes ’cause no matter where I am, I only seem to wear my Crocs anyway. I have always found that the more I bring, the less I use.
Q. What are your five favorite cities?
A. In order of preference: New York City, Philadelphia, London, San Francisco and Copenhagen, though the last two could easily be replaced with any number of others. It must also be noted that I have met some of the best people and had some of the best times in some of the cities I liked least.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Just to name a few, Southeast Asia, Siberia, Chile, Peru, Nova Scotia…
Q. What is your best and worst vacation memory?
A. I’m going to evade the question by saying that I try not to keep much track of worsts. The challenging thing is being on vacation where I’m not supposed to work. I guess my best vacations have all been tours.
Jae-Ha Kim is a New York Times bestselling author and travel writer. You can respond to this column by visiting her website at . She welcomes your questions and comments.
