Lance Bass Talks Travel — From his NSYNC Days, to Flights With Toddlers, and Almost Going to Space

Lance Bass was just 16 when *NSYNC started in 1995, instantly snatched out of his humble upbringing in Mississippi to jet setting around Europe — and eventually the world — as a member of the buzziest boy band on the planet. 

In order to recharge from the whirlwind during the group's pop culture reign, he eventually turned to solo getaways. “When I was in *NSYNC, I did a couple of trips by myself where I dyed my hair blue-black,” he told Travel + Leisure on a Zoom call last month. “It made me stand out more because I looked like this goth guy that was very pale because we didn’t see the sun back in those days. I went to Cancun just to relax and have a me-time vacation.”

Though he has yet to take a solo trip again since then, he still craves that feeling.“It's nice to just chill and let your brain relax and have no responsibility for a couple of days," he said.

Nowadays his travels look a little different as he and husband Michael Turchin are parents to 2 ½-year-old twins, son Alexander James and daughter Violet Betty.

“The first couple of years, it was tricky to travel with them because you never know when one's gonna have a meltdown since you can't really communicate with them to understand why they're crying,” the 44-year-old said. “Now that they're having full conversations, it's a lot easier to fly with them. You can distract them easier with games and some snacks. Traveling is just a breeze these days compared to what it was a year ago.”

Their favorite destination nowadays is back to see their families, though he admits it’s much easier to get to Turchin’s home in Miami Beach than his own in Jackson, Mississippi. “It’s a full day of layovers,” he said. “Sometimes we’ll fly to New Orleans and drive to Jackson — that’s how much I hate layovers.”

Once they arrive, they take advantage by making sure the kids get a whole week out of it with their grandparents. “It’s just so nice for them to get spoiled and really bond with the family,” he added. 

But Bass also has much grander travel plans for his little ones, especially since he and Turchin “love love" traveling, he said, calling it "our thing.” One of their best trips was to a destination wedding a couple of years ago on the Amalfi Coast, where they spent time in Sorrento (“I now put lemon on all my pasta now because of this trip!”) and Pompeii, which he loved because he had studied it as a kid. “Just everything was so magical and beautiful, it felt like we were getting married,” he said. “It was so romantic.”

He can't wait to return, but definitely with the twins in tow.

“We can’t wait to travel more with the kids,” Bass said. “I think it's very important to really expand your mind by visiting different places and seeing different cultures — we really want to show them the world.”

Though he has had his passport stamped in so many counties around the globe for work, Bass feels like he hasn’t truly seen most of the destinations the way other travelers do, and hopes to someday take his husband to Bora Bora and his kids to Paris.

“It's so fun and over the top in Paris,” the host of podcast Frosted Tips with Lance Bass said. "That would just be fun and chic to bring your kids, dress them up in really nice clothes, and be very bougie for a bit.”

Another dream destination for Bass? Central America.

"I would love to see what that has to offer and make a really fun trip out of it and with the kids. I want to bring my kids everywhere," he said. "So we'll definitely be taking some fun adventures, you know, in the next few years.”

As ambitious as his wanderlust is, there is one thing that has held Bass back from freely enjoying his travels: allergies. When he was living in New York City and starring as Corny Collins in Hairspray on Broadway in 2007, he got his first sinus infection from allergies, which lasted two to three weeks in an experience that he called “horrible.” Ironically, a stagehand strike cut down on the number of shows he had to perform.

“It was almost impossible to hit those high notes, allergies have definitely hindered my work," he said.

That’s why he partnered with Allegra on its new navigation tool Allegra Airways, a first of its kind navigation tool that can help users find routes that avoid pollen and pollution zones in real time with an accuracy of above five meters (about 16.4 feet). “Whether you’re going on a hike, walk, or running your errands, it will map out the way you should go to avoid your allergies, he said, calling the technology “genius.”

“I love that we live in 2024 where that actually can happen because now I can start to understand my allergies more while traveling in different cities,” he says, explaining that in New York, it’s the pollution, whereas in L.A., he’s more affected by nature, like oak and pollen. “Wherever you go, it’s completely different and now I just go to airways.allegra.com and I’m like, I’m going to hike there and avoid that street.”

The new technology has been a game changer for Bass, who’s also always been an outdoor enthusiast and big hiker. “I love exercising,” he said. “I think it's so important, especially the older I get to take care of myself. I want to be here for as long as I can for my little kids. Plus I enjoy how I feel after I have a good workout.”

That love of outdoor trips started as a child. “We didn't have much growing up, so when we would travel, we would save up and mostly go to Pensacola, Navarre, or a beach in the Panhandle,” he said. Certain years, they would make it down to Orlando for a Walt Disney World trip, which was always a “special thing.” 

During those car trips, Bass was busy “annoying the hell out of my family” he admitted, saying he “had a lot of energy as a kid” and would bug his sister, who is three years old. “I think those car rides might have hurt our relationship for a few years, but we’re all good now.” He now sees his childhood self reflected in his son. “Apparently he is me now, and now I get it!” 

Two standout trips: One to Branson, Missouri, to see his first concert with Tanya Tucker and Tammy Wynette, and another to Cape Canaveral when he was eight to visit his great uncle and see a space launch. “I got to see the countdown and the shuttle go up,” he remembered. “It changed my life — that’s when I knew I wanted to do something in space exploration.” 

“When I was asked to go to space and become a cosmonaut, that was right at the beginning of even talking about space tourism,” Bass said of his 2002 training in Russia. “It was kind of the wild, wild west at the time and It's incredible to look how far we've come in a relatively short amount of time with Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and all these amazing companies sending people to space and doing these experiments and doing it safely.”

Taking that step early is still one of his proudest accomplishments. “I am super excited that I got to even have a toe in the water during all of this,” he said. “And it'll be really fun stories to tell the grandkids.”

Though we chatted with Bass before this month’s *NSYNC reunion, when the track “Paradise” was still a rumor, he gamely answered knowingly when we asked what his idea of paradise is these days.

“Paradise right now is just being home with my kids,” Bass said. “Even last night, we put a little pallet together on the living room floor and watched a Disney movie and just curled up with them, holding them watching one of my favorite Disney movies, the original Sleeping Beauty. That's my paradise.”