NEED TO KNOW
Patrick Schwarzenegger is reminiscing about family vacations with his dad, Arnold
The White Lotus actor told Travel + Leisure how California was his father’s favorite spot because of its variety
“In California, you can drive an hour in any direction—well, without traffic—and feel like you’re in a whole different place,” Patrick said
Patrick Schwarzenegger is looking back on the Schwarzenegger family vacations.
Speaking with Travel + Leisure in an interview published on Wednesday, Jan 21, the White Lotus star reminisced about the trips his parents, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, would take him and siblings, Katherine, Christina and Christoper, on.
Patrick, 32, spoke about how growing up, his family traveled between the U.S. and Europe depending on where Arnold, 78, was working.
“Then when he became governor [of California from 2003 to 2011], we would travel to Sacramento to visit him and do whitewater rafting trips and visit parts of the desert,” Patrick told the outlet.
Emma McIntyre/Getty
Christina Schwarzenegger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver and Katherine Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles in October 2017
“My dad liked to stay within California. He felt that it had everything to offer, from beaches to skiing to mountains to desert,” Patrick said, later adding that he still feels that way about California, where he lives now.
“In California, you can drive an hour in any direction—well, without traffic—and feel like you’re in a whole different place,” the actor explained.
The Terminal List actor mentioned getting to travel for the Special Olympics, which was founded by his grandmother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, in 1968. As a volunteer at World Games, Patrick also went to China, Greece, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.
“One of my earliest memories was going out to South Africa for the Special Olympics,” he said, calling the working trips “great traveling experiences.”
He also spoke about how he combines traveling for business and pleasure while filming on location.
“If I’m already in Thailand, I’ll bring my wife out, and we’ll do something there, and when I was filming in London this summer, we traveled in Europe,” he said, referring to Abby Champion, whom he married in September 2025.
“It’s less one-off vacations and more pairing the vacation with work, which is the strategic thing,” he said.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Patrick Schwarzenegger in ‘The White Lotus’ season 3
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.bre
Patrick spoke to PEOPLE about being part of season three of The White Lotus in February 2025.
“Every time we would watch the show… my mom was always like, ‘Why haven’t you auditioned for this? Why didn’t you go out for this?’ And my sister’s like, ‘You need to call your agents right now. This is ridiculous that you’re not in on the show, that you didn’t even audition,’ ” he said of Maria, 70.
While on set in Thailand, he called the experience “like a summer camp mixed with work.”
“It was great, a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Patrick said. “Working on a project like this is so cool—to get to learn from some of the best that do it is just a dream come true.”
Read the original article on People