Interview with Jeff about travelling

The website sympatico.ca posted a brand new interview with Simple Plan’s lead guitar player Jeff Stinco, in which he discussed his travelling habits and where he’d like to go in the future. Check out the English translation of this interview below:

Traveling with Jeff Stinco of Simple Plan
Original French article by David Nathan – sympatico.ca

Are you a frequent traveler?
I love traveling, I travel a lot, but I would not say I’m a great traveler, I just don’t have it in my blood. And furthermore, I have a very bad sense of direction. Once I got totally lost while walking in a city in the United States. I put the correct city name in the GPS, but … not the correct state! We played two hours late that evening.

Where have you travelled?
After high school, I went to Europe for three months with a friend. It was an incredible journey, and I will always remember the Ray Charles concert in Carcassonne, France. I read a lot of novels when I was a teenager, including novels that took place in Europe, so after that I took this trip to Spain, Belgium, Italy, and I saw the same scenery as the characters in those books I read. Literature became reality.

Do you get to travel besides touring?
I do it once per year. My next trip should be Tunisia. My father is of Italian descent, but was born in Tunisia and I would love to go there to see where he was born, where he grew up.

Where else would you like to travel?
I dream of visiting Machu Picchu, but I’d like to get there by doing a multi-day hike. I like challenges and having to climb to deserve this incredible site is an idea that I really like. I am always appreciative of the people who pass the Camino de Santiago for example. That is an adventure.

Are you rather lazy on your holidays or hyperactive?
I can be lazy for two or three days, but that’s the maximum. Then I need to move, do something special, something different from what I usually do. It can be a hike, bike, whatever, but I like to move and paradoxically, it is very relaxing for the mind to do something different!

A memory of unpleasant trip?
My trip to Japan was not unpleasant, but I must admit that it was a real culture shock, a change of scenery which had its bad sides. It was very noisy, I had no references at all, at the time the subway stations were not yet translated into English. There was a very oppressive side, but at the same time, it was fascinating. At 4am in downtown Tokyo there are a lot of people in the streets!

You’re the type to photograph your travels?
Yes, I have a camera that I carry with me. Otherwise when I jog, I use my cell phone to take pictures. One of my fondest memories was in South Africa, when we opened for Metallica. There were only three shows in a week, so we had some time to discover the country. I remember the safari was absolutely amazing.