Unleash your inner fan geek with celebrity travel events

By ELAINE GLUSAC • New York Times

Randy Moss may no longer catch passes from Tom Brady or Colin Kaepernick, but for at least one week this summer, fans can find Moss, the two-time Vikings wide receiver, at the BodyHoliday resort on St. Lucia running guests through gridiron drills on the beach, organizing touch football games and offering nutritional advice, including extolling his favorite breakfasts — fruit salad and acai bowls.

The celebrity-focused wellness event, from July 16-22, is part of the resort's WellFit Families program that highlights an accomplished athlete, usually an Olympian, each week in July and August. The program joins a growing category of trips for fans of everything, including Ironman races and celebrities like Oprah Winfrey.

"There's just something about bringing people together with a shared interest and a shared passion on vacation, not just out in a field listening to a band," said Anthony Diaz, the chief executive of Sixthman, which organizes music cruises featuring acts like Kiss, Paramore and Train. "They're sharing the same air with their heroes."

And sometimes having coffee with Kid Rock by the pool, or playing Ping-Pong with Jacques Pépin, or hauling in a pass by Moss.

Winfrey and journalist Gayle King will kick off O, the Oprah Magazine's new Share the Adventure cruise series aboard the Holland America Line on a trip to Alaska, July 15-22 (from $1,499). In addition to appearances by Winfrey, the cruise will feature an onboard book club, yoga classes and a presentation on how the magazine is assembled.

Filmmaker Ken Burns is collaborating with Tauck tours on trips with themes of his films on baseball, jazz and more. The next trip, Oct. 5-9, will be in New York and includes a keynote presentation by Burns and a cocktail reception, as well as lectures by historians and a private gala at Ellis Island ($7,290).

If your tastes run to live stories, join the celebrated storyteller Donald Davis leading "walk and talk" hikes at the Swag, a retreat in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in May, August and October (from $500 for two nights, all-inclusive).

Sixthman works with Norwegian Cruise Lines and erects five or more stages around a ship for music cruises that have featured acts including Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Kid Rock, Pitbull and Diplo. In addition to concerts, fan events have included guitar pick-flicking with Gene Simmons and pizza-making with Paul Stanley, both members of Kiss.

Fans of singer-songwriters Ben Folds, Melissa Etheridge and Rufus Wainwright can catch them as well as top-level Cuban talent in coming trips to Cuba billed as musical fantasy camps. Havana Getaway, May 25-29, features concerts by Folds, including one with Cuban collaborators. He will also lead music and photography workshops ($3,199). Etheridge visits Havana ($2,999), June 22-26, and Wainwright ($2,699) goes Sept. 21-25.

From food festivals to remote cooking classes, chefs seem to do the most frequent flying in the fandom universe.

As the executive culinary director for Oceania Cruises, Pépin often joins in on trips, where he might mingle with guests, demonstrate gnocchi-making, take part in question-and-answer sessions and possibly engage in competitive table tennis. Join him on the 1,250-passenger Marina sailing from London to Copenhagen, June 2-12 (from $2,149).

Guana, the 32-guest private island in the British Virgin Islands, attracts big names to its intimate Visiting Chef Series. Next up is Matthew Lightner, formerly of Atera restaurant in New York, May 3-7; the trip includes cooking demonstrations, dinners and a beach barbecue (from $720 a night, including meals).

Canadian chef Jakob Lutes will join Seascape Kayak Tours in coastal New Brunswick, Aug. 26-27. A maximum of 10 participants will forage for provisions with Lutes, who will turn their stock into meals (from 650 Canadian dollars, or $485).

This year, Trek Travel will introduce mountain-biking itineraries led by world-class cyclists including Emily Batty, in Peru, Oct. 8-14 ($4,499), and Tracy Moseley, in Norway, July 16-21 ($3,799).

Among road biking trips, veteran Tour de France rider Christian Vande Velde will lead a cycling camp at the Little Nell resort in Aspen, Colo., Sept. 24-28 (from $5,750). Attendees will take team rides on scenic mountain roads aboard supplied bikes; the resort will organize social events atop Aspen Mountain and at area ranches.

Allow Gabriel Jaramillo, a former coach of Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova, to tweak your tennis serve during Body & Mind weeks at Club Med Sandpiper Bay near West Palm Beach, Fla. Tennis, golf, volleyball and fitness professionals will gather at the all-inclusive club, April 29-June 3, for daily group lessons, tournaments, exhibitions and parties (from $909 for seven nights, all-inclusive).