Actress Virginia Madsen, nominated for an Oscar in 2005 for her performance in "Sideways," grew up in Evanston and Winnetka and graduated from New Trier High School. This year Madsen, 47, who's mom to Jack, 14, has two movies coming out: "The Haunting in Connecticut," in June, and "Amelia," with Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, in October.
Madsen lives in suburban Los Angeles and is currently editing her mom's documentary, "I Know a Woman Like That."
Q. What is your favorite vacation spot?
A. There are two of them. One is Maui; it's a favorite for my son and me. We stay at the Grand Wailea [grandwailea.com]. And I love to go to Cambodia. Last year we went and stayed at one of the most extraordinary hotels, Amansara [ www.amanresorts.com/amansara/home.aspx] in Siem Reap, near Angkor Wat. A long time ago, before the Khmer Rouge, it was the king's summer palace. It almost looks as if it should be in Palm Springs and that Frank Sinatra should be hanging out. There's an oval pool with a black bottom, and they have these early 1960s limos in a garage that belonged to the king. You get picked up at the airport in a Dean Martin mobile. The rooms are spectacular. All white and brown stone with your own plunge pool outside your door. They run a bath before you arrive, and because of mosquitoes and dengue fever, they burn incense all over the place that smells like sandalwood.
Q. Do you check voice mail and e-mail when traveling?
AI check e-mail but no phone, because phones just get you in trouble—people find you too easily. I don't want that easy access, and my son would be texting like mad. So it's better if we wait until the end of the day and put pictures online, make a blog and type away as much as we want. I've got a MacBook Air, so it's really easy to carry around. You put your pictures on iWeb, then everyone can see what you've been up to.
Q. So, you travel with your son?
A. Yes—I go on road trips with my son while he still thinks I'm cool enough. Our next road trip is to the Grand Canyon; it's going to be all Americana. Road trips are really good to do with kids, especially boys, because they'll talk to you. We rent an RV and drive cross-country. We'll just take off and see where the road takes us. Your kids will talk to you more if you're doing an activity—going someplace, seeing cool points of interest, learning history. A teenager's not going to sit next to you on a couch and talk. When I was a kid, road trips were a big thing. Now people stay home more and put kids in front of a video game.
There's nothing like being in America. I'm very patriotic, and I just love driving across the states. ... When you see the country and what it's made up of, you learn so much about yourself. You don't have to go somewhere exotic; sometimes the best trips are the simplest trips.
QWhat do you never travel without?
A. Duct tape. I'm Midwestern, OK? My dad's a retired fireman, and he was always so worried about me staying in tall hotels—if you stay above the third floor, it's more dangerous. So he said if you travel with duct tape, you can survive longer by sealing doors and vents. So to make him feel safe, I started taking it, then along the way I found all sorts of things you can use it for. And I take a flashlight.
Q. What do you seek out whenever you travel?
A. History. It's my favorite subject, and it's always good when traveling with a child to find the history of the area you're in, so you can get to know the people there. Then you find their museums and local attractions. Even prehistoric history is interesting to kids. You can point out the ocean, shells, where dinosaurs used to live. For my son, it made every place more familiar because he learned about it.
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