Five Miles Up with ... Christopher Gorham

Christopher Gorham (Photo: Courtesy of USA Network / Andrew Eccles)Playing a CIA handler Auggie Anderson on the USA series "Covert Affairs," Christopher Gorham dodges bullets and chases bad guys through some of the world’s greatest cities. As a bonus season, the show is releasing special Auggie-centric webisodes set in Barcelona. As a blind operative, Auggie seems invincible. Not so Gorham. His personal Kryptonite? The food in Istanbul.

What’s something you never fail to pack in your suitcase for a trip?
My passport.

Carry-on or check-in?
Depends. Ideally, carry-on, but if I’m going for more than four days, then I have to check.

Window or aisle?
Aisle

What’s your idea of the perfect vacation?
Right now, the perfect vacation would be Paris, Spain and Italy; I’d be taking the whole family, but have excellent childcare so I could get plenty of alone time with my wife.

What's the silliest/most unusual/decadent souvenir you ever came back with?
I’m usually a good souvenir buyer, but on the last trip to Europe with the show, I had a hard time finding something for my wife. In Venice, I bought a necklace for her from Murano Island. It’s one of those things where you bring it home, your wife opens it and you see the face and she says, “…Thanks.” Then you look at it again and you’re like, oh, that may be the ugliest necklace I’ve ever bought.

I also bought a really nice scarf from store in London called Liberty only to get home and find they’d forgotten to take off the anti-theft tag. It’s sitting in a drawer.

The one thing you're willing to splurge on above all else?
Food.

Ever try a food that you wished you hadn't?
The food in Istanbul is incredible, but can be really spicy, and I can’t handle much spice. There was one dinner where the food was way too hot and I couldn’t stop crying. So was downing Iaban, a yogurt drink, to calm it down.

Favorite hotel, resort or yurt you've ever stayed in?
The most romantic hotel I’ve ever been in is the Hotel Cipriani in Venice. It’s stunningly beautiful. The tragic thing is I was there by myself.

Biggest regret you've ever had while on vacation?
The work trips we do for the show are a blessing and a curse. The blessing is we get to go; the curse is it’s not a vacation. We don’t have a lot of free time explore and see more of these cities, but I am getting a great flavor for the places I want to go back to.

Three songs, or artists, on your travel playlist?
This last trip, Bruno Mars was heavy in my playlist. Some Adele. And one of our drivers in Barcelona got me into this guitarist, Paco de Lucia, who’s amazing.

You only get one more trip in your lifetime. Where will it be?
Africa. I’d go on a really fancy safari – probably the only way I’d get my wife to go with me –  out on the savanna with the elephants and giraffes. Then I’d go to Kenya to visit gorillas in rainforest.