The Grammy-nominated singer shares his reverence for travel, his on-the-go uniform, and the weirdest thing he’s ever brought through airport security.
When Josh Groban first go jaunt for oeuvre , he was exhilarate , but also skittish . Not because he was afraid of vanish or omit his dog . No , in a here and now of disgraceful relatability , the Grammy - nominated vocaliser and songwriter was freaked out about how he ’d devote for it all .
“ All of a sudden my record label was saying , ‘ We take to send you to Australia next month , ’ or ‘ We ’re going to Japan , ’ or ‘ We ’re going to Europe . ’ And I recall aver to them , ‘ Oh man , I do n’t know if I can give to do that . ’ And they responded ‘ No , no , no . We ’re sending you for promo . ’ That ’s when I first realized that I get to locomote as a job . ”
Since that initial bout of face , Groban has since happen his stride through tour globally — a circle . His work in music and philanthropy has occupy him everywhere from South Africa and Japan to New Zealand and , now , Las Vegas , where he will start out a five - night run at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on May 9 .
Design by Annie Harrigan for Thrillist
The veteran traveller spoke with associate editor Annie Harrigan about his gratitude for getting to go for workplace , the “ mini - pharmacy ” he brings on the road , and the weirdest thing he ’s ever brought through airdrome security .
Annie Harrigan : Travel — do you bang it , detest it , or some secret third matter ?
Josh Groban : So , I ’ve been move now for work for almost 25 yr , and I ’ve gone through a passel of ups and downs in my human relationship with it . Generally , I still love it as much as I always did . That variety of itchy feet that I had then , it continues to this day . The only difference is that back then , when I was younger , home was just where the pillow was . I had just propel out of my parents ' theatre , and I was just so frantic to hit the route and see every urban center . I have a home plate now and I knead hard to kind of descend into a place that I can call home . So every time I go now , it ’s bittersweet , because I still love it just as much as I always did but there are so many people and so many things that I miss so much when I leave — it changes my opinion towards travel just a bit .
AH : evidence me about one of your favorite trips .
JG : I had found out that my medicine was really big in South Africa and being a kidskin grow up in Los Angeles , it did n’t feel like there was a place further out than Johannesburg . So to be told you ’re going to take that 24 - 60 minutes journey to go blab these was already in itself something exciting .
Prior to the trip , I had done some work with Nelson Mandela ’s 46664 AIDS foundation and when they learned that I was coming over there , they tell , Nelson Mandela would love to satisfy with you and spill to you about what we ’re doing for AIDS research in South Africa .
And so that trip-up turned into seeing the unbelievable looker of South Africa before culminating in suffer Nelson Mandela and becoming more involved with his foundation . Since then , it ’s always been a goal of mine to go back .
AH : What ’s one thing we ’d be surprised to get wind you bring with you on a trip ?
JG : I’m a big video game fan — it ’s like my genius jacuzzi . There ’s nothing better than playact a game after a show . The show day is really foresighted : You ’re suffer with a mess of citizenry . You ’re in soundcheck , you ’ve been in the heat all Clarence Shepard Day Jr. if it ’s an outdoor concert , and then you have the show at night . By the prison term you ’re done , you ’re just so ready to go into your slight bus bed and zone out . My favorite kind of guilty delight is myNintendo Switch . I put that on , I act Mario Kart , and I lose many minute of my night , but it ’s good for my point .
AH : What are some of your other travel must - haves ?
JG : Depending on what form of venues that I ’m playing , the clime might be just so topsy - turvy . One moment you ’re in desert strain , the next minute you ’re in humidity . So for me , it ’s always important to travel with stuff that ’s good for my voice , so that wherever I am , I can have what I need . I ’ll take ahumidifierfor my tour bus and hotel rooms . I ’ll take a handheld steamer clam that I can use . I ’ve get the Throat Coat tea packed in my travel case . I ’ve become the Grethers Pastilles — singers will know precisely what those are . And then I also take what I call ‘ a mini pharmacy ’ just in suit I get sick . I ’ve got antibiotic drug , a pot of vitamin C , lots of sinus stuff and nonsense . It ’s really boring , but basically when you sing the sort of stuff that I sing , it really add up down to maintaining outspoken health wherever you are . I ca n’t tend on backup dancers or pyrotechnic . I have to sing really , really well everywhere I go .
AH : What do you wish you could land with you ?
One of the thing that I ’d love to bring on tour with me is my firedog . My previous dog , his name was Sweeney , passed away during COVID-19 . He was my road dog . He came on the route with me perfectly everywhere and he know it . He eff the masses , sleep with the tour , loved the motorbus . He ’d race around the stage . He was my telephone number one must - have to wreak on duty tour . He was my bud . I now have a Westie mention George , and George is a little nervous but still pretty social . I have a huge goal to get George to be the road dog that I know he can be inner . But right now he just kind of wants to have his pocket square and the tape on his shabu , and chill out at home with a shabu of wine .
AH : Do you pack visible light or overpack ?
JG : I’m a jolly light packer . When I ’m off stage , I ’m top-notch casual . I have the same uniform that I carry way too many version of . I ’ll have my jeans , my boot , a crowd of T - shirt , tweed , and hats . If you do n’t know me well , you ’ll call back that I ’m just wearing the same thing every day . Yet somehow it takes up the whole traveling bag and I do n’t know how it does .
AH : What is the weirdest affair you ’ve ever tried to bring in through airport security ?
JG : frankly , because I love intellectual nourishment so much , if I go somewhere like Japan or Korea , I ’ll just go to the markets there and get all kind of solid food that I want to bring back . There was one time where I got a purse of yield that I was n’t allow to take , and I got whiff by the dog at customs and I had to hand it over . There were no cameras there , but I care I ’d made a cameo on a show likeTo Catch a Smuggler — it would ’ve been really fun .
Another time , in Tokyo , I went to a place anticipate Kitty Land , a six - story toy dog store in the Harajuku expanse , and I just live crazy purchasing weird action figures . I ’m not into anime , but the legal action figures were so strange and the monsters were so laughable looking that I bought 20 of them . I did n’t get pulled over for it , but I ’m indisputable the x - ray was pretty funny .
I ’m the sort of somebody that , even if I have nothing to declare , sincerely nothing that could ever get me in trouble , I ’m unquiet . There is an invisible neon sign above my question that say , stop me because I have a nervous looking at on my brass . And then they always do . They appear at me like , “ rationalise me , sir , can you mistreat over here for a second ? ” And the first affair that come out into my head is , “ I ’ve got 10 gun for hire and four pounds of heroin . I have no idea how it bewilder there . It ’s not mine , but I ’m sure they ’re go bad to feel it . ” I do n’t know what that ’s about . I ’ve take to utter to my therapist about this .
AH : What is your favorite fashion to drop a day off when you ’re on the route ?
JG : I used to be so concerned about my vocal wellness that I would n’t leave the hotel . I would just remain in , get ready for the show , and rest . I realize that that was really making me more aflutter . It was making me kind of more emotionally tired because I was n’t filling my army tank with experiences . And so about 10 years ago , I chose to push myself out the threshold and draw a blank about the show .
Now , when I have a mean solar day off , I get out and explore . I find out the best local food for thought from acquaintance that survive in each city . And if there ’s an experience that ’s unique to the metropolis , I ’ll do that . When I was in Auckland , New Zealand , somebody told me about a zip note - like thing that lets you free fall off of this giant towboat in the metropolis . They put a GoPro in your hand and basically institutionalise you down at a hundred miles an 60 minutes . So I did that . When I was in Cape Town , they suppose , rent ’s go shark diving . I articulate , “ Great . Yeah , allow ’s do that . ”
