Alison Stewart: You are listening to All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Actor Eugene Levy is an accomplished comedian, a snappy dresser, and a reluctant traveler. When the suits at Apple TV+ called and suggested he be the host of a travel show, he said, "No, thank you." Three seasons later, Eugene has been getting out of his comfort zone as the host of The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy. This season sees Eugene tackle his travel bucket list. He celebrates the Day of the Dead in Mexico, rides a rickshaw in India, attends a crawfish boil in Louisiana. The Reluctant Traveler premieres on Apple TV+ tomorrow, and host Eugene Levy joins me in studio. It is very nice to meet you.

Eugene Levy: Nice to see you, Alison.

Alison Stewart: What role did travel play in your life growing up?

Eugene Levy: Not much, because we didn't really do any traveling when I was growing up. We went to the same kind of vacation spot. I'm from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We would go to a place called Crystal Beach, which was on Lake Erie. It was about maybe an hour-and-a-half drive, and that's what we did for two weeks.

Alison Stewart: That was it?

Eugene Levy: That was it. Not that it was a terrible vacation. It was a terrific vacation because they had the beach. They had a great amusement park. As a kid, that's what a holiday was. That's the only traveling I did.

Alison Stewart: When you first traveled as an adult, what made you a reluctant traveler?

Eugene Levy: Generally speaking, everything about it. Well, it was the travel. It was the pre-9/11, of course. Traveling was a little different, right? You get your ticket, you go to the gate, and then you get on the plane. Now, you've got the whole security issue, which is a bit of a pain. Then you get over there. Depending on where you are, you've got a jet-lag thing you got to get rid of. If it doesn't hit you there, it hits you when you get back. I found that the sightseeing aspect of going on vacation was almost borderline irritating because there were too many things planned in a day to do.

Depending on the weather, if it was unusually, it was in the summer and hot weather, you get tired, you get irritable, and you just wonder why you left home. That's where I was. I had a lot of friends and people who did a lot of traveling and talked about their travels. It was tough to listen to because I didn't really care that much. I was just proud of the fact that, "You know what? I'd rather not travel. Thank you," without having had any of the experience of doing it.

Alison Stewart: On the emotional level, you spend your career being someone else, being in someone else's life, being a different person. When you were yourself, you just want to be home.

Eugene Levy: Yes, it was kind of wanting to be home, no question, because you didn't have to go through the ordeal of packing and doing and going and seeing. There were places that I actually loved traveling to. Usually, it was Europe or cities in Europe. I'm more a city person than a country person. If you go to a city, well, you can always hit a smart cafe. There are things to see. Generally, you try and stay in a decent hotel. I just didn't have the wherewithal to want to even experience what was on the other side, what Africa was about, what jungles are about, what desert is about. It wasn't in me.

Alison Stewart: What changed your mind?

Eugene Levy: Well, the show. It was tough for me, which is why I said no to the show. The show wasn't called The Reluctant Traveler when I said no. It was a different show. It was a show about hotels, exotic hotels around the world, and they wanted me to host it. When you first hear it, you go, "Wow, boy, a lot of people would love to do this, but why me?" Maybe they don't know I don't love traveling. I'm not a curious person. I've got a low threshold for adventure. I think they've got the wrong person, so I said no. The conversation was I was trying to inject a little humor into the conversation, which was working because they were laughing on the other end, right?

At the end of that conversation, that's when they said, "You know what? No, no, no, no, this is not what the show should be. This is what the show should be, this conversation. Somebody who doesn't love to travel, doing a travel show with him. That's what it is." They re-pitched it, and I got it. The reason I got it was because I could be myself as a host without having to act, without having to pretend I'm loving the adventure of where I am, and I'm loving what I'm eating. You know what I'm saying?

Alison Stewart: Yes, I do.

Eugene Levy: If I could be myself, I thought, "Okay. Well, then there's an honesty here that I totally get," and that's what happened.

Alison Stewart: For Season 3, you created your own personal bucket list. What went into the process of deciding what locations that should be on your bucket list?

Eugene Levy: Well, the bucket list was more to try and make it a really interesting bucket list. It wasn't so much a bucket list of locations per se. It was a bucket list of experiences like being in Mexico for a Day of the Dead, being in Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, trying to figure out what the K-wave is in South Korea. It was the experience of being in a country for a specific episodic event. You know what I mean? That made it kind of special. I think we actually came up with a really great season's worth of bucket-list experiences that I think any seasoned traveler would want to go on.

Alison Stewart: Well, let's get our audience in on this. Listeners, we want to hear from you. What's on your bucket list? Give us a call at 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. Have you been to one of your bucket-list places? Please share it with us. 212-433-WNYC. My guest is Eugene Levy. We're talking about Season 3 of his Apple TV+ series, The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy. It premieres tomorrow. It's kind of interesting. In this season, you talk about age and mortality a little bit.

Eugene Levy: Well, I'm not really getting any younger. I'm at a stage in my life where this show made sense to me. In other words, why don't you get out and try it? At least you can say you did it. Traveling is something that I never thought I needed to do it. Why go to Africa when you can go to a zoo and see everything? It just wasn't in me. At this age, I'm saying now and what the show has brought out in me is just do it.

Alison Stewart: Do it, yes.

Eugene Levy: Do it and then decide and then make a decision whether you liked it or whether you didn't like it, right?

Alison Stewart: Everything's working. You walked in here on your own two legs.

Eugene Levy: Well, at least you can say you did it, and then you have an opinion, but I was making opinions about having not traveled, nor wanting to travel. Honestly, it wasn't doing much for me as a person to be that stubborn, couch potato-type person. It's definitely made me a more enlightened person. I'm feeling better about that.

Alison Stewart: That's interesting. That's really interesting. Tell me more about that.

Eugene Levy: Well, just think about it. I'm going through the experiences now, and there are places I can say, "You know what? I'd rather not go back, to be honest. Interesting, but not worth a second trip." There are places I would love to go back to two and three times. Even being able to say that, without getting off the couch and traveling would made no sense to me. It did at the time. Now, it doesn't.

Alison Stewart: When you're looking for a place to visit or a place to experience your bucket list, what are the things you want to know before you visit the place, and what do you want to learn when you're there?

Eugene Levy: Well, what do I want to know about visiting a place? There were places I know in the first season that were suggested. Honestly, in the first season, I was looking at a list of destinations that I thought would be actually appealing to me and fun to me. Not necessarily what would make a really interesting episode. When they suggested, "Do you want to go down the Amazon in Brazil?" I said, "No, definitely not. Why would I want to do that? No."

Alison Stewart: I want to hear the pitch meetings themselves. Those sound like a TV show. [laughs]

Eugene Levy: Well, here's what happened at that pitch meeting. I said, "Okay. Now, we're on this apparently lovely hotel boat that is going down the Amazon, and what happens if it springs a leak? How fast is it going to take to get a helicopter in? How fast? Because here's what I don't want to do. I don't want to find myself splashing around in the Amazon fighting for my life. That's the thing. Where are we in the jungle at that point? How fast can we get help?" Now, since the first season, I now can go to places knowing, "Okay, this would not be first on my list." The experience of making your own mind up in terms of whether you like it or how much you appreciate it, that's what I'm learning most on the show.

Alison Stewart: Let's take some of our callers. Let's talk to Micah, who's calling in from Brooklyn. Hi, Micah. Thanks for making the time to call All Of It.

Micah: Hi there. Thanks for having me on.

Alison Stewart: Where are you going to be?

Micah: I want to go to Scotland, also Ireland. The UK has all sorts of amazing folk music. I'm a musician. I play classical flute, but also I started playing Irish flute recently and other Celtic genres. I'm also a textile artist. I'm a weaver. It would be the perfect one, two-hit trip to get the textiles and the music.

Eugene Levy: Yes.

Alison Stewart: You went to Ireland this season?

Eugene Levy: I went to Ireland this season. I went to Scotland last season. Two amazing spots. Definitely, you have to go. Scotland was an amazing destination. Really had a great time there. Beautiful, beautiful country, and so was Ireland. Yes, the music is quite exciting over there. The Irish music is-- what do they call it? A toe-tapper? It's really great. I think you would really appreciate it.

Alison Stewart: What are some fun facts you've picked up on the way that you can drop at a cocktail party?

Eugene Levy: Wow.

Alison Stewart: In Finland, they are in-- Oh, Vienna, yes.

Eugene Levy: Vienna, yes, they have Vienna throws-- Here's a fact. They throw 200 formal balls in the span of two months a year.

Alison Stewart: Wow.

Eugene Levy: 200.

Alison Stewart: That many fancy people.

Eugene Levy: Yes, yes, and you want to know something? I actually loved it. No, I love that kind of formality. They stick to tradition. There was something about it in this day and age that I found refreshing.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Philomena, who is calling us from Westchester. Hi, Philomena. Thank you so much for calling All Of It. You're on the air.

Philomena: Hi. Good afternoon. About eight years ago, my husband and I decided that our bucket list was going to be seeing all 50 states. We had been to many and realized we probably had about 20 left to do, and we started focusing on that. Next month, we will go to our final three states, so looking forward to that accomplishment or experience.

Alison Stewart: What are the final three states?

Eugene Levy: Yes, what are they?

Philomena: Well, I don't want to be critical that I didn't save the best for last, but Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

Alison Stewart: All right, have a fabulous trip. You actually went to Utah, right?

Eugene Levy: Yes, we did a show in Utah, and we did a show in Louisiana this season where we got to RV our way.

Alison Stewart: Did you drive? Did you drive it?

Eugene Levy: Oh, I drove it.

Alison Stewart: Yes.

Eugene Levy: Not well, but I did drive it. We made our way down to New Orleans. Crazy, I got to say, yes. The friendliest people in the world, I found down there. Incredibly charming and gracious. The Everglades thing, would I want to see it again? Maybe not, but the people, absolutely, would want to go back and spend time.

Alison Stewart: My guest is actor Eugene Levy. We're talking about Season 3 of his Apple TV+ series, The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy. The season premieres tomorrow. This text says, "I went to Alaska. It was absolutely breathtaking, and I hope to have an opportunity to go back and explore more of this beautiful land." Does it strike something in you when you go to a place, and it's just beautiful?

Eugene Levy: Yes, it does. That's what I find in Italy, when I go to Italy. Italy's one of my favorite spots as well because it hits all the main categories for me. Love the people, and their priorities are family, friends, food, and work, in that order. I get that. The countryside is just literally everywhere you look is a postcard. Yes, it definitely strikes me in an exciting way.

Alison Stewart: How important is eating to you?

Eugene Levy: Well, it helps you stay alive. That, I know. I'm a very picky eater. I'm not a kind of Michelin guy. Rarely go to a Michelin restaurant because I find the portions small and a lot of squiggly sauces on things. You just want more food on the plate, basically. I have a basic palate for food. You could say a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I like my food cooked. Don't give me food that isn't cooked. I'm not a sushi eater. When you talk about food, it's an uninteresting way to go talking to me.

Alison Stewart: What was something that they asked you to eat in this season?

Eugene Levy: Well, in Mexico, there was a dish that was basically grasshoppers. It's hard to say no because you don't want to insult anybody, right?

Alison Stewart: That's true.

Eugene Levy: I did say no because I don't eat insects. That's just my thing.

Alison Stewart: Where you roll. [laughs]

Eugene Levy: Just my thing. Tried a raw oyster in France last year, and it was in my mouth and out in about a half a second. You tried reindeer in Finland. That was almost an unpleasant experience. It wasn't cooked very much, number one. Number two had a texture to it that was borderline nauseating.

Alison Stewart: I understand that you traveled to Vancouver. That's interesting.

Eugene Levy: Well, that was fun. Well, like the caller who just said they're working their way across the United States. Vancouver, I had been to before, but it was nice being in my own backyard up in Canada because I'm Canadian. It was nice to be home. Vancouver was a fun episode, had a lot of laughs, did that episode with Michael Bublé, who I had met for the first time on the show, had been a fan of his for many, many years. He lives in Vancouver and showed me the side of Vancouver that I hadn't seen before. We had a lot of laughs, and that was great fun. I think there are still maybe two provinces in Canada that I still have not been to.

Alison Stewart: Oh.

Eugene Levy: Yes, true. I think Saskatchewan.

Alison Stewart: Okay.

Eugene Levy: Never been there.

Alison Stewart: How about Banff?

Eugene Levy: I've been to Banff.

Alison Stewart: It's beautiful.

Eugene Levy: Beautiful. You want to talk about beauty?

Alison Stewart: Yes.

Eugene Levy: Lake Louise. It's one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Emerald Lake set against the backdrop of the most majestic Rocky Mountains.

Alison Stewart: Yes. You have to watch the new series, The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy. Its Season 3 is going to be on Apple TV+ tomorrow. Eugene, thank you for coming in and sharing the show with us.

Eugene Levy: I'm so glad I'm able to do this. I think, honestly, even if you don't like traveling, I think you're going to love the show. I'm hoping it appeals to people who don't like to travel and people who do love to travel. This season, I think, is going to be a really exciting one to see.

Alison Stewart: There's more All Of It on the way.