Patrick Schwarzenegger on Family Trips With Arnold Schwarzenegger—and His Dream ‘White Lotus’ Destination

White Lotus fans are used to seeing Patrick Schwarzenegger reveling in a luxurious island vacation at Thailand’s Four Seasons Koh Samui, with protein shakes in hand, of course. But this month, he’s trading the sun for the snow by heading out to his very first Sundance Film Festival, the last one that will be held in Park City, Utah.

And he has a very particular mentality when it comes to a winter mountain getaway: “It’s a work hard, play hard situation,” the 32-year-old Californian told Travel + Leisure. “I feel like you need to deserve the après-ski. So you need to do a little skiing first, which is a great workout, and a great way to start the morning.” 

He then doubles down on that approach with his beverages. “Start the day with an espresso, and end with an espresso martini.” So it’s appropriate that the actor will be at the legendary festival as its official sponsor Ketel One’s Spirit Advisor, sharing his Après Noir recipe, a twist on the classic with a dash of winter citrus and seasonal spice. 

“I’ve always wanted to go for a film there, but this is the next best thing because I get to go enjoy Sundance, watch films, and enjoy Ketel One—so it’s kind of a cool mix of worlds for me,” he said. 

This isn’t Schwarzenegger’s first time partnering with the vodka brand, having first collaborated last year when his season of the HBO show debuted. Having spent nearly seven months on location in 2024, he now looks back fondly on those days filming in Thailand, where he connected with the people as much as the places. 

“I miss the overall experience and being with everybody, sequestered onto this little island in a beautiful hotel all together,” he said. Though they were at the Four Seasons resort, where they lived and worked, about 80 percent of the time, on days off, they’d go explore the surrounding areas and cities. 

The most memorable involved tight sleeping quarters with—ironically—his on-screen brother. “One night, I third-wheeled with Sam Nivola and his girlfriend Iris [Apatow],” he recalled. “We went out to an island and stayed in a hut, which was a pretty funny experience. He was a great travel partner—they both were.”

Another aspect of Thai life he immersed himself in was the food. ”I miss just going up to some random shack or stand and having it be the most delicious, amazing food,” he said, adding that he especially craves the mango sticky rice there.

Despite indulging in Thai food for all those months, when he got back to Los Angeles, his agents and manager took him out to the family-run Anajack Thai in Sherman Oaks, which had just scored a Michelin Sommelier Award.

Seeing the world through bleisure travel—mixing business and leisure—has long been Schwarzenegger’s style. “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. “It’s less one-off vacations and more pairing the vacation with work, which is the strategic thing.”

His approach is no surprise, having grown up traveling wherever his dad Arnold Schwarzenegger was working, both in the U.S. and Europe. “Then when he became governor, we would travel to Sacramento to visit him and do whitewater rafting trips and visit parts of the desert,” he said of himself and his siblings, older sisters Katherine and Christina and younger brother Christoper. “My dad liked to stay within California. He felt that it had everything to offer, from beaches to skiing to mountains to desert.”

But he also saw the world through the Special Olympics, the organization that was started by his grandmother, his mom Maria Shriver’s mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. “One of my earliest memories was going out to South Africa for the Special Olympics,” he said, He also went to China, Greece, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, often to volunteer at World Games. “Those were great traveling experiences.”

When he’s not working, the star of the upcoming “Love of Your Life” and “Bunker” films prefers a more low-key lifestyle, admitting he hopes he’ll be able to travel less this year. When he’s home in California, he and wife Abby Champion enjoy trips up the coast to Santa Barbara and Montecito, relishing in the fact that “in California, you can drive an hour in any direction—well, without traffic—and feel like you’re in a whole different place.”

The couple’s routine is also simple when they visit Champion’s home state of Alabama. Meals are mostly cooked at home, though they did enjoy a steakhouse dinner in Birmingham over the holidays. “And my wife loves her fast food, and they have Milo’s Hamburgers out there, so we go out to get their sweet tea,” he said.

Another special place for Schwarzenegger is Idaho. Not only did he grow up going to the state, he also continues to spend summers there. Most recently, he visited with his dad for the Sun Valley Film Festival, where his dad received a Vision Award, and he was honored as a Rising Star. He and Champion even had their wedding in the northern part of the state near Lake Coeur d’Alene last September. 

“It’s a nice breath of fresh, clean air with just mountains, lakes, and rivers,” he said. “It’s God’s country, just a totally different vibe. And we love it out there.”

The perfect Idaho day for the couple is all about taking in the simple things. “We’re both very active people, so it’s probably waking up early and getting the best coffee, since we’re both coffee connoisseur snobs,” he said. “Then it’s a long walk or workout. We’ll go to the lake and surf, swim, or do some sort of activity. Finally, we’ll make a great dinner and have a great cocktail like a martini.”

But there is one big item left hanging on their agenda for this year: a honeymoon.

“My wife really wants to go to Bora Bora or the Maldives,” he said of her wanting to try out an overwater bungalow. “That’s what she wants. So, you know, happy wife, happy life, as they say.”