Martha Stewart is a culinary icon – but don’t expect to find her in the kitchen on vacation.“I never cook when I’m traveling if I can help it,” she told USA TODAY. “I'm not traveling to go cook. I'm traveling to enjoy the cuisines of all the different locations where I visit.”That involves making reservations ahead of time so she and her travel companions are “not disappointed”. The lifestyle entrepreneur is about to visit another foodie destination, headlining the Kohler Food & Wine Festival – billed as the “Midwest's premier epicurean weekend” – beginning Oct. 16. Kohler, Wisconsin, was incorporated in 1912 after the Kohler Co., known for its plumbing fixtures, based its operations there.Stewart, who was also recently named Kohler’s Cast Iron Ambassador, spoke to USA TODAY about the Wisconsin village, her favorite ways to travel and why she always brings two phones on a trip.Question: You are Kohler’s first cast iron ambassador. What drew you to working with them on that project?Martha Stweart: Well, several years ago, I proposed to them – I live in old houses, mostly, and many of my plumbing fixtures are the old enamel cast iron. Classic shapes, you know, very sturdy, beautiful, big kitchen sinks, giant laundry tubs, bathtubs on feet. So, I proposed to them that they reinvigorate their line of enamel cast iron. … And finally, it all came to fruition, and I'm so happy about it. And they made me the ambassador of the entire program, which is very nice.You also have the Food & Wine Festival coming up later this month, and you've headlined that before. With a mind to travel, is there anything that you particularly enjoy about visiting that region or that part of Wisconsin, or the food scene there?Well, it's one of these American companies that has what I call a campus, and it's historic. It's an entire giant town, actually, Kohler, Wisconsin, with gorgeous golf courses … You go to Kohler, and it's a resort. Fabulous stores, wonderful restaurants. And so it's grown and grown and grown.Do you have any travel must-haves, things that you always like to bring when you're traveling?Well, I always take a camera, and I always take two phones – which are also cameras, but I always have two. I have chargers that are battery chargers, and that's also extremely important since so many places don't have charging facilities. And what else do I take? I always take a very warm scarf that can act as a jacket or a scarf … and good hiking shoes.Why do you usually bring two phones with you?Just because, what if I lost one? Oh boy, that would be a disaster – not that I ever have, but if I did.Do you have a preferred mode of travel? Is it flying, train travel, road trips?My favorite kind of travel of all travel is helicopter, and if I could have one vehicle to take me everywhere, it would be a helicopter. But since I don't have one, I ride in them whenever I can, because I think it's the most beautiful way to see the landscape. But I prefer … a really good truck with high seats so I could have great visibility – I prefer that to most cars – and I prefer electric, if possible.When you are flying, do you prefer an aisle or a window seat?Oh, I always want a window seat.Is there anything that you like to either splurge on or indulge in while you're traveling?I like to see as much as I can. So, when I'm traveling, I don't want to, you know, lie around in a hotel room or just sit in a restaurant the whole time. I really want to see the sights. So, we have a very busy itinerary wherever we go.Are there any travel pet peeves or things that get on your nerves while traveling?Delays in scheduled travel, I hate. (It) ruins everything. Bad weather – that can ruin everything also; and it also can cause delays. And I have to take all that into account whenever I'm traveling, because if I have an appointment at noon, I might have to leave the night before, because I don't want to miss my appointment at noon. I take all of that into consideration when planning trips.Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.