Soap Hub Travel Tuesday: DAYS’ James Reynolds Sees the World

James Reynolds has much in common with his Days of our Lives alter-ego Abe Carver. Both have traveled and seen a great deal of the world. Soap Hub chatted with Reynolds about what he feels are the true benefits of visiting other locales throughout the globe.

James Reynolds Talks the Value of Travel

When Abe goes off to other parts of the world, it usually involves a DAYS ‘caper’ story in which characters are trying to solve a mystery or bring a criminal to justice. When James Reynolds travels, he does it to enjoy life and educate himself on other parts of the world.

Soap Hub: Have you been traveling much or not due to COVID-19?
James Reynolds: Actually, Lissa [my wife] and I went to Hawaii last year with all the COVID protocols in place but that’s been pretty much it the last few years. I actually lived in Hawaii for a while when I was in the Marine Corps. I love Hawaii, and I’ve been back many times. I hope to go back in the future. Lissa has traveled a lot too since before we got together and we’ve traveled together. I’m looking forward to the day when we’re able to do more traveling.

Soap Hub: What do you like about travel?
James Reynolds: The nice thing about travel is you can visit other cultures. I don’t know if there’s anything more enlightening than travel. I come from a really small town. The first time I traveled to Europe I saw all the things that I’d read about. That’s my advice — to always go to the places you’ve read about. Satisfy that curiosity and wonder you have no matter what country you’re going to. The second time, you can take a deeper dive into the culture. You’re definitely going to meet people who speak a different language, who do things that you do only in a different way. I believe that after reading, traveling is the most educational thing a person can do.

Soap Hub: What are the places you’ve been to more than once?
James Reynolds: England, France, Italy, Iceland, and Hawaii, and also places in the Middle East I’ve been to probably two or three times. There are places I want to go that I haven’t been to yet. and I also want to go back to places I’ve already visited. I understand people who want to be a part of the culture. If they want to get a house or a condo and live the life of the people who are living there locally, but I feel you owe it to yourself on your first visit to visit the places you’ve always read about.

You should want to visit the places that made you want to go there in the first place. I remember having an espresso and a croissant at a café. I’d thought about that for so long and then, I finally did it.

Soap Hub: What are some other places in the United States that you’ve enjoyed visiting?
James Reynolds: I consider Washington D.C. to be one of the best places you can visit. Many of the museums there are free. D.C. is a fantastic place to go. You can rent a car and go to Gettysburg National Military Park and see other historical places. I’ve loved my visits to D.C. I want to go back and revisit the Smithsonian and the African American Museum. There’s so much to see there that I don’t think you can ever get tired of going there. I read once that to see it all at the Smithsonian, you’d need to live to the age of 70 and go there every day.

Soap Hub: Let’s wrap up with something practical. Any tips on what to pack?
James Reynolds: I pack an empty duffel bag because I know I’m going to buy things. I do overpack. I keep trying to work on that but I haven’t mastered the art of packing less yet.

Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Salem, check out all the latest that’s been posted on DAYS spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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