When Josh Groban first started traveling for work, he was thrilled, but also nervous. Not because he was afraid of flying or missing his dog. No, in a moment of shocking relatability, the Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter was freaked out about how he’d pay for it all.
“All of a sudden my record label was saying, ‘We need to send you to Australia next month,’ or ‘We’re going to Japan,’ or ‘We’re going to Europe.’ And I remember saying to them, ‘Oh man, I don’t know if I can afford 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 travel as a job.”
Since that initial bout of nerves, Groban has since found his stride through touring globally—a lot. His work in music and philanthropy has taken him everywhere from South Africa and Japan to New Zealand and, now, Las Vegas, where he will begin a five-night run at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on May 9.
The seasoned traveler spoke with associate editor Annie Harrigan about his gratitude for getting to travel for work, the “mini-pharmacy” he brings on the road, and the weirdest thing he’s ever brought through airport security.
Annie Harrigan: Travel—do you love it, hate it, or some secret third thing?
Josh Groban: So, I’ve been traveling now for work for almost 25 years, and I’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs in my relationship with it. Generally, I still love it as much as I always did. That kind of wanderlust 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 moved out of my parents’ house, and I was just so excited to hit the road and see every city. I have a home now and I worked hard to kind of settle into a place that I can call home. So every time I travel 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 feelings towards travel just a bit.
AH: Tell me about one of your favorite trips.
JG: I had found out that my music was really big in South Africa and being a kid growing up in Los Angeles, it didn’t feel like there was a place further away than Johannesburg. So to be told you’re going to take that 24-hour journey to go sing 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 said, Nelson Mandela would love to meet with you and talk to you about what we’re doing for AIDS research in South Africa.
And so that trip turned into seeing the incredible beauty of South Africa before culminating in meeting 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 hear you bring with you on a trip?
JG: I’m a big video game fan—it’s like my brain jacuzzi. There’s nothing better than playing a game after a show. The show day is really long: You’re meeting with a lot of people. You’re in soundcheck, you’ve been in the heat all day if it’s an outdoor concert, and then you have the show at night. By the time you’re done, you’re just so ready to go into your little bus bed and zone out. My favorite kind of guilty pleasure is my Nintendo Switch. I put that on, I play Mario Kart, and I lose many hours of my night, but it’s good for my head.
AH: What are some of your other travel must-haves?
JG: Depending on what kind of venues that I’m playing, the climates might be just so topsy-turvy. One minute you’re in desert air, 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 a humidifier for my tour bus and hotel rooms. I’ll take a handheld steamer that I can use. I’ve got the Throat Coat tea packed in my travel case. I’ve got the Grethers Pastilles—singers will know exactly what those are. And then I also take what I call ‘a mini pharmacy’ just in case I get sick. I’ve got antibiotics, a lot of vitamin C, lots of sinus stuff. It’s really boring, but basically when you sing the kind of stuff that I sing, it really comes down to maintaining vocal health wherever you are. I can’t lean on backup dancers or pyrotechnics. I have to sing really, really well everywhere I go.
AH: What do you wish you could bring with you?
One of the things that I’d love to bring on tour with me is my dog. My previous dog, his name was Sweeney, passed away during COVID-19. He was my road dog. He came on the road with me absolutely everywhere and he loved it. He loved the people, loved the tour, loved the bus. He’d run around the stage. He was my number one must-have to bring on tour. He was my bud. I now have a Westie named 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 inside. But right now he just kind of wants to have his pocket square and the tape on his glasses, and chill out at home with a glass of wine.
AH: Do you pack light or overpack?
JG: I’m a pretty light packer. When I’m off stage, I’m super casual. I have the same uniform that I pack way too many versions of. I’ll have my jeans, my boots, a bunch of T-shirts, flannels, and hats. If you don’t know me well, you’ll think that I’m just wearing the same thing every day. Yet somehow it takes up the whole suitcase and I don’t know how it does.
AH: What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever tried to bring through airport security?
JG: Honestly, because I love food so much, if I go somewhere like Japan or Korea, I’ll just go to the markets there and get all kinds of food that I want to bring back. There was one time where I got a bag of fruit that I wasn’t allowed to bring, and I got sniffed by the dog at customs and I had to hand it over. There were no cameras there, but I wish I’d made a cameo on a show like To Catch a Smuggler—it would’ve been really fun.
Another time, in Tokyo, I went to a place called Kitty Land, a six-story toy store in the Harajuku area, and I just went crazy buying weird action figures. I’m not into anime, but the action figures were so strange and the monsters were so funny looking that I bought 20 of them. I didn’t get pulled over for it, but I’m sure the x-ray was pretty funny.
I’m the kind of person that, even if I have nothing to declare, truly nothing that could ever get me in trouble, I’m nervous. There is an invisible neon sign above my head that says, stop me because I have a nervous look on my face. And then they always do. They look at me like, “Excuse me, sir, can you step over here for a second?” And the first thing that pops into my head is, “I’ve got 10 guns and four pounds of heroin. I have no idea how it got there. It’s not mine, but I’m sure they’re going to find it.” I don’t know what that’s about. I’ve got to talk to my therapist about this.
AH: What is your favorite way to spend a day off when you’re on the road?
JG: I used to be so concerned about my vocal health that I wouldn’t leave the hotel. I would just stay in, get ready for the show, and rest. I realized that that was actually making me more nervous. It was making me kind of more emotionally tired because I wasn’t filling my tank with experiences. And so about 10 years ago, I chose to push myself out the door and forget about the show.
Now, when I have a day off, I get out and explore. I find out the best local food from friends that live in each city. And if there’s an experience that’s unique to the city, I’ll do that. When I was in Auckland, New Zealand, somebody told me about a zip line-like thing that lets you free fall off of this giant tower in the city. They put a GoPro in your hand and basically send you down at a hundred miles an hour. So I did that. When I was in Cape Town, they said, let’s go shark diving. I said, “Great. Yeah, let’s do that.”
