June 17, 2010, 2:47 PM |
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I believe this is my fourth time shooting in New Orleans and I simply never tire of it. The people, food, culture and architecture make it one of the most interesting places in the world. We are starting the shoot off with something very dear to my heart: animal rescue. I used to give my time to an organization called KittyKind by loving homeless cats and cleaning about 30 cages every Thursday in the hopes they’d be adopted. Now that I don’t have the time I give money but I deeply miss the one-on-one experience with animals. You think it’s going to break your heart but it just makes it grow.
The organization that is letting us join them for the day is called PAWS, Plaquemine Animal Welfare. Tens of thousands of animals had to be abandoned during Hurricane Katrina and because of that debacle animal welfare legislation was passed that all evacuation plans had to take into account people’s animals or no Federal Aid. Can you imagine being told you had to leave your house and go to a shelter but had to leave your dog or cat behind to fend for themselves? Or thinking like most people that they would be back after a few days and then not being able to get back home after weeks and months? I couldn’t take it. It would have been absolute torture. Most of the animals that PAWS is taking in are the offspring of that terrible time and I am joining them for their Saturday training session in the park and then the following week at their big adoption event. My charge for the day is an adorable black lab named Charlie. This makes me weep almost immediately because my very first dog was a black lab named Charlie. Charlie liked to knock me down as a 4 year old and walk all over me and I loved it. This Charlie is a little guy with big watery brown eyes and I know immediately he will have no problem being love at first sight for some lucky dog owner.
It’s a wonderful shoot for us all as being a crew constantly on the road we love the good sloppy drooly companionship and often muse how great it would be if we could have a crew dog join us wherever we went. Along with having a great day with the dogs we enjoyed talking to the volunteers who are on the front lines so to speak giving all their time trying to create homes for animals desperately in need of one.
No trip to New Orleans would be complete without enjoying fabulous music. Tonight I walked Bourbon Street with Jazz legend Irvin Mayfield and listened to his vision to bring the area back to its old school roots. He has opened a jazz club right in the heart of Bourbon St, very much in the style of the old clubs of the ’30s and ’40s, supporting new local talent playing the way the jazz greats did. He hopes this will start an exciting new chapter in the life of the French Quarter. Irvin is an absolute hunk. I don’t use that word often. He’s smart, caring and incredibly gifted. Great Friday night!
I got to spend the afternoon on a shrimp boat; I have been really looking forward to this since one of my strange quirks is that I really love manual labor. I’m a hard worker; I love lifting, shoveling, pushing and all other forms of backbreaking work. I am joining Robin Palmisano on his family’s 40ft shrimp boat. Of course we all know how much Katrina destroyed the boats of the fishing fleet in Louisiana and how long it took for them to finally get back on their feet. (We shot this back in November and what a complete tragedy knowing now that just as Robin and the other 100s of fisherman were finally experiencing some success a new catastrophe was on its way. Katrina destroyed their boats and now oil will destroy their waters, it makes you wonder how much people can take and how truly unfair life can be, we are trying to find out how he is doing and will post on Twitter as I am sure everyone will be interested to know.)
Posted By: samantha brown
June 1, 2010, 4:15 PM |
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First day of shooting was snorkeling. I have never been a fan. Snorkeling scares me, but the subject was enough to keep my nerves at bay. Underwater archeology. My guide Peter was a serious man who felt passionate about his subject. People who are that smart have a difficulty in pleasant conversation. His brain was so packed with information I couldn’t ask what I thought was a throw away question designed to disarm his professorial armor without a historical anecdote. He was pure logic.
When we got into the water I was fine, it was shallow and except for the fact that it was underwater looked like the rest of Paros, barren as the arid island landscape. Urchins grew like weeds and I saw the most amazing specimen — a Hare Fish, which looked less like a fish and more like a human organ, white with fuchsia polka dots like a kid colored it in.
We have arrived in Greece during a bad weather spell. It’s cold, windy and raining. It would be okay if this were Martha’s Vineyard or even Hawaii but no one wants to see anything but cobalt blue skies. The entire shoot we have experienced a jumble and scramble of scenes to account for the drab weather. We head to a beautiful beach accented by rocky mountainsides and it begins to pour. We have to nix what would have been a fantastic scene where the locals scoop the volcanic mud and put it on their faces to bake for a bakery scene, which then never makes the show. 

I also have a strong case of Foreign Room Syndrome. When I unload my toiletries in the bathroom I bang my head so hard on the mirrored shelf, I back up to recover and fall backwards into the small telephone-booth sized shower, my movement releases the shower nozzle attached to the long hose and it lands heavily on my head. Ahh, it’s good to be back in Europe.
Another problem is that I can’t get on the Internet. There’s wireless in the hotel, but not in the room though I discover that when I open the window and place my computer on windowsill I can pick up a signal. Typing is hard in this position but I can still Skype. As I begin to make a connection, it begins to rain so I have to close the window. Can’t go into lobby because there’s no convenient outlet and my 6 and a half hour battery is down to the last half hour because I am in Europe where your electricity flows by the use of a key card that you insert your own room key in to activate. I forgot and drained my entire battery. That night I am constantly awoken by the five mosquitoes that I cordially let in while trying to keep my personal life going. 

The next morning we are checking out, I am excited to leave and hopefully shake the dark clouds over the island and my mind. I go to retrieve my passport from my safe and the code that I have been using for 6 years doesn’t work. Sigh. I go to Christina’s for make-up, back to my room and now my key doesn’t work. The light goes red instead of green and it makes a beeping sound. I try this a few times before going back to Christina’s room to see if I picked up her key. She’s blow-drying her hair so she doesn’t hear me knock. I try the key thinking I can get into the room. But same red light, same beeping. This being a small hotel of course there is no one at the front desk. The door for the reception is locked tight and it’s of course … raining. Thankfully someone is here. I tell him my problem, he goes to my room tries my key and it works. I practice my deep breathing exercises. When you travel it’s all about the deep breathing exercises.
Posted By: samantha brown
June 1, 2010, 12:16 PM |
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The Rat Pack in the 60′s is a lifestyle we would all want to live, oh what I would do to be an olive in Sinatra’s dry martini…if only for a weekend. That’s what the episode is all about. Weekends allow us time to get away but how about time travel? Palm Springs is a town well preserved and the vestiges of the crooning and boozing set are still very much present.
Christina had put together an amazing wardrobe so that I look the part of the young ingénue, a corn fed girl from the Midwest arriving on a bus with the hopes of making it big. My co-stars are none other than Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Impersonators of course but so good are they that when we did the scene at Melvyn’s with Frankie baby I was a bag of nerves! The actor/singer/impersonator Nick D’egidio never let his character drop and trying to match wits with Mr. Sinatra is tough. I think one of the best times I’ve had to date in front of the camera was the Golf Cart Polo game. I hate golf and it hates me but the golf cart is a completely different matter and the fact that you can play bumper cars with them while swinging a mallet just shows that they (golf carts) don’t get to show their true potential on an 18 hole course. But for me I felt like I was shooting a 1960′s madcap comedy with Frank Sinatra. We even got a chase scene in — and I was wearing high wedge heels no less!
If you go to Palm Springs you must stop by Buddy Greco’s place for fantastic music, a great dinner and a darn good martini. It’s a modern version of the old supper clubs — and like most of Palm Springs nothing about it is a musty museum like version of its once self instead the experience feels fresh and heart-poundingly alive. A real treat was to hear Joe Mattalia play piano and sing. I have known him for a while and he is a part of the Travel Channel family but I simply had no idea what a power house of pure talent he was. I think Joe is in the scene at Melvyn’s teaching me how to scat so unfortunately the episode doesn’t begin to display his virtuoso but I guess that’s what itunes is for.
Of course the true high point was the party at Frank’s old house, Twin Palms. The Party scene was incredible and if I didn’t have to sing along with a big band in front of 50 people and a camera I would have been a lot more relaxed. But let me tell you getting up there and singing with Sammy and Frank (with a song I learned 10 minutes before) was a trip! And again I really felt like I was singing with the two legends themselves so much so that when the music stopped I was so sad that my time travel experience had come to an end. And I am still kicking myself for not jumping fully clothed into Sinatra’s pool!
Posted By: samantha brown
June 1, 2010, 12:14 PM |
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Our time in Nantucket was unfortunately a bit rain soaked and harried as Ben our producer worked to change the destinations to accommodate thick grayish clouds that would open up at a moment’s notice. But growing up in a place not too dissimilar I love whatever the weather the New England coast throws at me. Our biggest challenge was figuring out how to salvage the clam bake which was to take place right on the beach. The great thing about being on such a tiny island is that everybody knows everybody and when the SOS call went out many of the residents leaped to our aid. A lovely woman named Stephanie whose family has had a home for many generations offered her Boat house up for the feast which was baking nicely in the sand very nearby. The space was raw and beautiful with exposed beams, and a rickety wooden floor. Christmas lights wrapped around the beams and large Chinese lanterns hung – all decorations from a wedding held a few months ago. A small boat took up most of the space and a fiddler and guitarist positioned themselves at the bow. When everyone sat down at the folding table with plates filled with mussles, steamers, bright yellow corn and a large red lobster, I thought wow, this is like from the pages of a Martha Stewart magazine.
We shot during the day and caught the 2:30 ferry to Martha’s Vineyard to complete our second half of the Nantucket VS. Martha’s Vineyard episode. We have gotten some lively opinions from Nantucketers — all good spirited and fun. Apparently all sprung from an innocent yet passionately played high school football game that takes place every year around Thanksgiving. As our ferry pulls into MV it is a hot, beautiful summer day — unbelievable seeing they had experienced hail the size of golf balls three hours ago. But one thing’s for sure it is good to feel the sun again.
About three months ago we got a call from the Make a Wish foundation with one of the most flattering requests I have ever gotten. A young woman in her late teens had said her wish was to spend the day with me during one of our shoots and the Foundation wanted to know if that would be possible. After a lot of back and forth it was determined that our shoot on the Vineyard would be the best; it was close by to where the family in Massachusetts lived and our schedule was such that it wasn’t too crazy of a day for She and her family to join us and hopefully have some fun. Her name is Laura Bentley and her parents as well as sister joined us for the day. At lunch we got a chance to talk about her unique and courageous story that began three years ago at the age of 15. At first she started to feel very tired which as we all know is a part of what being a teenager is all about. But when she started to experience a lot of pain in her back her family went in for some tests. Hearing you have Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma before your sixteenth birthday has to be a real blow no matter how young and resilient you are. She went in for Chemo treatments immediately and then began six weeks of rituxin. It was during this time that she started watching a lot of me on Travel Channel. We finally convinced Laura to be in a scene with me — a simple one of ordering lobster ice cream in Martha’s Vineyard. She was slightly nervous but you could never tell, when we went back to see how they made it -fresh lobster mixed in with sweet butter cream ice cream she came off with the best joke of the day — after mixing the two slightly cringe inducing ingredients together she said “want to lick the spatula?” In my mind I thought okay, YOU get to have my job when I am finished.
The whole of the North East has been caught in a month of depressing weather that it is now called the Month of January. These last two sparkling days have just begun to make up for it but we are due at least two months of bright blue skies. Christina Rory and I are leaving today for California to join that crew for the circus episode our ferry isn’t until 2 so we have the morning off before we have to begin what will be a very long journey. I bought the New York Times and headed to the little sand outcropping of a beach made lovely by a small lighthouse making the name I’m sure: lighthouse beach. There I sat absorbing as much as I could of this beautiful scene, soaking it up like a sponge: the breeze, the taste of the air, the families playing and sunhat babies with sand trapped between the folds of their pudgy legs. But this will all soon end — we’ll have to return rental cars, board a ferry, take a two hour taxi to Boston, board a 6 hour plane ride to San Francisco and then rent a car for a final hour’s drive to San Jose — this and the constant loading and unloading of heavy gear and even heavier suitcases will make for a toughie.
Posted By: samantha brown
May 20, 2010, 3:24 PM |
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Being a full blooded American I love road trips. My family vacations were not even faintly familiar to how I travel now: first class plane, VIP lounges and very nice hotels. They were long wonderful journeys in the back of a Pontiac station wagon with fake wood paneling. My two sisters and I packed in the back along with our beloved dog Gidget. We were usually heading to see our aunts, uncles and cousins in Pennsylvania — an 8-hour trip that was full of promise, when even stopping at a bathroom at a rest stop held a bit of the magic of travel.
So I was so happy that a road trip along Route 66 was added to the list. We couldn’t do the whole of route 66 as that would take too long; however, saying that I realize how ridiculous the shear amount of what I accomplish in these weekend shows is and simple logistics never stopped my producers before in cramming 1 week’s worth of activities in 2 days time. But there are speed limits to observe.
I love driving and I also love shooting driving sequences. Usually it’s some nice alone time as the camera shoots me from another vehicle I can crank up the tunes and have a good time. I’m also shooting with one of my dearest friends and cameramen, Brian Miller. We became close during the shooting of all those Royal Caribbean cruise shows and it’s great to be back together working again. Driving along Route 66 you are reminded of a young America still filled with such hope and promise. With all that’s going on right now in the world and us as a country I really ache for a time I was never even a part of. But that’s the allure of this trip, to turn back time and feel things more simply I guess. In our traveling world these days we want hotels with wave pools and restaurants that serve 5 different types of cuisine, we want to be entertained constantly and we want to make sure we are overloaded in our options of what to do. So just driving in a car stopping at an old gas station to enjoy a soda? Now that’s a vacation.
Funny story with Cool Springs Gas Station, when we went in for a snack all they had were cans of soda. It was also a knick-knack and souvenir shop and I spied in the back an old green glass coca-cola bottle. The owner happily rinsed it out with hot water and soap and then we poured the 2009 can of coke into something that looked more appropriate for the place. Once we were done the scene, sitting outside some motorcycles pulled over saw my drink and said “They have bottles of coke? Great!”
Our last day of shooting was at the Grand Canyon. We had arrived the night before and were to be ready to go at 4:30am the next day for the sunrise. Christina and I walked out of our rooms at 4:30am and saw nobody. Uh oh we thought, this can’t be right as there’s usually someone loading up a van with equipment or snacks and beverages. When we called our beloved producer Ben he nearly had a heart attack as two vans left that morning each one thinking me and Christina were in the other one. They were already positioned over the rim for the best view of the sunrise and aside from the host of the show not being there it was going to be one heck of a shot. They raced and got me, running out of the car, being handed my mic and battery pack and quickly hiding it within my clothing a dash of lip gloss and now I’m in front of camera minutes away from the sun rising and exposing the glorious depths of our Grand Canyon. Definitely worth getting up at 3:30am.
Posted By: samantha brown
May 20, 2010, 3:21 PM |
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I have run away this weekend and joined the circus. The dream of every young kid. It was our first taste that life could be exciting, daring and adventurous. I love when I really get to immerse myself in the lives of others and I am most looking forward to getting to experience a bit of a lifestyle that seems to exist in this flying trapeze of another world.
I understand a lot of viewers will wonder how this is a Great Weekend — doing something no one can do (unless of course you join the circus) but for me it’s that behind-the-scenes look at other people’s lives that really can round out a travel experience. Usually the show is comprised of the accessible and the immersive to give you a full perspective of why travel is so important.

There was also a sense of time travel as well. To go back to a time and feel like a child who has snuck into the Big Top to watch the clowns, acrobats and trapeze artists not only rehearse, but hang-out, gossip, relax and eat. Even behind-the-scenes with no make-up or sequined costumes the magic is still there. And what magic there was …
 

Watching as well as participating in putting up the Big Top, you can’t help but marvel at the fact that they assemble their own world, create it from scratch. Very similar to our childhood days of make believe of making forts and living out fantasies. Once the big top is up, the children play, the fire-breathers walk their dog and head to the mall for new sneakers. I couldn’t comprehend how they could live such a transient existence. Completely forgetting my own rambling state. But when they told me that when they have a month off between seasons they all begin to get antsy I knew exactly what they meant. I am constantly longing for home and excited for new experiences. Life is a trapeze act. Sometimes you make it and sometimes you fall.
My favorite part of the weekend actually didn’t make the show. It was after my trapeze rehearsal which had to be done around 10pm after the show, as well as after the heat of the sun. The Big Top now empty of guests was a community center of sorts for all the performers. Everyone gathered even all the kids. In the beginning I thought how tough it must be for children to have this life but there they were jumping on the trapeze net and eating the leftover cotton candy and popcorn. What a life.
Posted By: samantha brown
May 13, 2010, 5:03 PM |
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One question I always get when interviewed is “What destination surprised you?” I usually talk about Berlin, Nicaragua, Cambodia, but now I have a new addition to that list: New Jersey.
Jersey has a certain reputation perpetuated by shows like Jersey Shore and The Sopranos; hysterical as Jersey Shore is and as groundbreaking as The Sopranos were, what those shows don’t portray is the common “good people” population that is as abundant as the gun-carrying, over-tanned and gelled.
I met most of those good folks at Yappy Hour at Wonder Bar, which has to be the happiest place on earth. Every Thursday they open up their back patio to the dogs and owners of Asbury Park. There’s a dog pool, a sandy area and of course plenty of butts to sniff. A local adoption agency was there as well to team up dogs with loving homes. In one hour I fell in love with a Burmese Mt. Dog named Hannah, and then there was Buddha, the 25-pound flatulent Pug.
I got to hang out with Lance Larson who is the heart and soul of Asbury Park.
Lance has been deeply entrenched in the music scene here since the 60s. (It’s his red baseball cap in the back pocket on The Boss’s infamous album cover.) His girlfriend Debbie runs a cat shelter and they host Yappy Hour at Wonderbar. I think I love these people.
A highlight for me was getting to meet Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon and Tommy Shaw of Styx today, as their music was a part of the soundtrack of my permed hair and designer jean wearing youth. I got to sing ONSTAGE with them as well. I was so nervous that I asked if I could have stiff drink before I went onstage. All they had was Merlot!
Another rockin’ good time was had when I got to try my hand at Roller Derby. As soon as I walked into the Colliseum I knew I was going to have a good night. Over 50 women skating around in fishnet stockings and tutus. These were the Jersey Shore Roller Girls. I got a quick lesson from Malicious Megs, AC Skater, and Black Eyed Betty. My roller girl name? MC Slamher. And my signature move — green eggs and SLAM!
When I asked the ladies whose ages ran from 21 to 52 why they did it they replied, “Let’s just say we’re not into Pilates.”
It was a total thrill being out there in the rink and all the women were just fantastic in choreographing some moves so I wouldn’t end up in traction. On one of my last go’s around the rink, I fell and the bruise that developed over the next few days was a work of art. It was like its own blue-ribbon prize and I wanted so badly for people to ask me how I got it just so I could say in a tough but nonchalant voice: “Roller Derby.”
Posted By: samantha brown
May 6, 2010, 12:06 PM |
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I love Maine. If I could live anywhere it would be in Maine. In fact of all the beautiful coasts I’ve visited from Florida to the Caribbean, Hawaii — even Thailand and Bali — none of them stir my heart quite the way that a fog covered rocky coast does. I was thrilled that we were doing a weekend sail onboard a 100-year-old beauty called the Victory Chimes.
The shoot had a rocky start due to rain but it was very clear from the moment we met Captain Kip and his fun crew that we were going to have a great time regardless of weather. Captain Kip is a man rarely found these days — a true old salt with a wicked sense of humor, he gave the impression that he could single handedly man the 180-ft ship himself.
My favorite part of the day became the morning line waiting for the shower. We couldn’t begin showering until 7am since the noise would cause a disturbance to the rooms just beneath it. So those of us who were early risers (or had to begin work in an hour) would make their way to the deck with a hot mug of coffee, tousled hair and sit on the bench waiting our turn as the sun came up. The water at that time in morning was like glass and as I sipped my coffee blinking the sleep from my eyes I knew that I was experiencing heaven on earth.
Our major stopover was in a tiny pristine village called Castine that was once occupied by the French, Dutch, British and then finally America. While in Castine we had a few drinks at one of the best pubs I’ve ever been to — The Passport Pub. It’s a cozy, old world hideaway with a small oak bar. The pub was covered in vintage photos, paintings and memorabilia from travels abroad. It was a bar Ernest Hemmingway had never been to but would have loved.
Also on Castine is the Maine Maritime Academy with a training simulator that is basically a million dollar video game. Here I felt what it was like to be the pilot of a tanker. I was told from the beginning that I would no doubt experience extreme sea sickness especially since I already have some troubles in that area, but I had such a great time that my inner ear forgot that I was in 12-ft swells trying to navigate through the NY harbor. Unfortunately, my soundman Dave Gaffney did not. And he owns his own sailboat!
For some strange reason, I said yes to climbing to the top of the mast. All 80ft of it. I was told I would be locked in, but found out at the last minute that you get safety attached when you make it to the top-not while climbing. The last part was the most nerve racking as I needed to climb out a bit to get over the crow’s nest, an act made more difficult by the fact that I was hugging the mast like an old school friend, not wanting to let go. Once on top it was a great view but I was still feeling uneasy and surprised by my sudden vulnerability and total lack of confidence. But then I looked across at the other mast to see that my cameraman Rory had climbed to the top with a large camera and was standing on the crow’s nest shooting me as I spoke — with no safety hook. Later when home and recounting my adventure that I had become rather proud of, I saw my husband’s face go from a smile to steely and grave. I was in trouble. And I understood why he was so upset. I really did love that I conquered the mast but ever since I have given more thought to if a shot is really worth it.
We had such a wonderful time on the Victory Chimes and it’s something I definitely want to do with my family some day.
Posted By: samantha brown
February 9, 2010, 6:32 PM |
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I remember getting the call from my executive producer at the Travel Channel that the network wanted to celebrate my ten years on the network. TEN YEARS?! I honestly hadn’t been counting or if I had it wasn’t that high. My own mind told me it was eight but sure enough when I did the math — ten.
And oh the places I’ve gone in those ten years, my eyes have seen things I never dreamed they would: The Acropolis, Machu Picchu, The Great Wall of China and my heart has opened to experiences I never thought I would have. Most of all my idea of what travel is and why it is important has changed completely. When I first began the European series I was focused on monuments, museums and beautiful things that showed a glorious past. But quite frankly that left me feeling pretty lonely. Although my shooting days were overwhelmed with the learning of another place (The Romans! The Greeks! The Hapsburgs!), something big was missing in my life. When the cameras stopped for the day I would just head out for a walk, what I was searching for exactly I didn’t know. I guess I wanted to find a small piece of the town, city or country I was in that I could call my own, a part of a place that I could feel intrinsically without the help of a history or travel guide to show me its importance.
And I found it.
On my walks I would naturally gravitate to neighborhoods that were far from the Champs-Elysees, or the Spanish Steps. These were the neighborhoods of just regular people and I would walk thru their parks with them as they came home from work, wander the aisles of grocery stores as they thought about preparing dinner and sit down to eat with them at their local cafés.
And I loved it.
Those walks recharged my batteries. I recognized my own life in theirs and yet also saw how it was a bit different. It may have been normal everyday life but it was in another place around the world and to me that made it extraordinary.
I also found something that I was finally good at. I was good at connecting with people, of recognizing their subtleties and appreciating them for it. I wanted to look for what made a place more human and therefore intimate, looking past a Classical, Baroque or Renaissance façade to find out what was happening now. How were the people today? Yes we all know that Michelangelo was a genius but what about that older gentleman over there roasting chestnuts by the Vatican? How long has he had his tiny cart on that corner? What do his hands look like? Has he ever seen the Pope?
For me it’s rarely the big ticket items of travel but the hidden jewels of humanity that plant tiny seeds which grow deep in my soul.
So I guess that would be my focus as I approach every place I am lucky enough to go to. I love being somewhere where I am the only person who looks like me in the room. I don’t speak the language and I barely understand what is going on but now it’s up to me to find out, it’s my job as a traveler to figure out how to connect with the people and discover their culture. I learn about them and I learn a lot about myself in the process.
I’ve also learned that travel is not a luxury but a necessity. We need to travel. We are all trying to figure out who we are in this life we’ve been given and nothing gives us that opportunity like travel. It doesn’t have to be big trips 5,000 miles away for months at a time. It really can just be a weekend trip, two hours from your hometown. Because no matter where or how far you go, travel marks a new beginning a chance to open our minds and see things in a different light.
As I write this I am 35,000 feet above the earth, I just passed the Arctic bay a few hours ago and the sky is slowly turning that orangey-pink you see in Impressionist paintings. I’m coming home from a trip to Thailand and Cambodia. It was an amazing adventure but after being gone for 25 days I am really ready to be home. I am so close that the plane and “New York” finally appear together on the flight map showing on the tiny screen in front of me. Soon I’ll see my husband of three years and my cat of 17. Soon my days of exploring 800 year old Cambodian temples and hanging out with Thai elephants will be replaced with sorting thru mail, picking up dry cleaning, meeting up with friends and lying on the couch watching reality television.
It’s my everyday life and it’s extraordinary.
Posted By: samantha brown
February 9, 2010, 5:32 PM |
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I remember getting the call from my executive producer at the Travel Channel that the network wanted to celebrate my ten years on the network. TEN YEARS?! I honestly hadn’t been counting or if I had it wasn’t that high. My own mind told me it was eight but sure enough when I did the math — ten.
And oh the places I’ve gone in those ten years, my eyes have seen things I never dreamed they would: The Acropolis, Machu Picchu, The Great Wall of China and my heart has opened to experiences I never thought I would have. Most of all my idea of what travel is and why it is important has changed completely. When I first began the European series I was focused on monuments, museums and beautiful things that showed a glorious past. But quite frankly that left me feeling pretty lonely. Although my shooting days were overwhelmed with the learning of another place (The Romans! The Greeks! The Hapsburgs!), something big was missing in my life. When the cameras stopped for the day I would just head out for a walk, what I was searching for exactly I didn’t know. I guess I wanted to find a small piece of the town, city or country I was in that I could call my own, a part of a place that I could feel intrinsically without the help of a history or travel guide to show me its importance.
And I found it.
On my walks I would naturally gravitate to neighborhoods that were far from the Champs-Elysees, or the Spanish Steps. These were the neighborhoods of just regular people and I would walk thru their parks with them as they came home from work, wander the aisles of grocery stores as they thought about preparing dinner and sit down to eat with them at their local cafés.
And I loved it.
Those walks recharged my batteries. I recognized my own life in theirs and yet also saw how it was a bit different. It may have been normal everyday life but it was in another place around the world and to me that made it extraordinary.
I also found something that I was finally good at. I was good at connecting with people, of recognizing their subtleties and appreciating them for it. I wanted to look for what made a place more human and therefore intimate, looking past a Classical, Baroque or Renaissance façade to find out what was happening now. How were the people today? Yes we all know that Michelangelo was a genius but what about that older gentleman over there roasting chestnuts by the Vatican? How long has he had his tiny cart on that corner? What do his hands look like? Has he ever seen the Pope?
For me it’s rarely the big ticket items of travel but the hidden jewels of humanity that plant tiny seeds which grow deep in my soul.
So I guess that would be my focus as I approach every place I am lucky enough to go to. I love being somewhere where I am the only person who looks like me in the room. I don’t speak the language and I barely understand what is going on but now it’s up to me to find out, it’s my job as a traveler to figure out how to connect with the people and discover their culture. I learn about them and I learn a lot about myself in the process.
I’ve also learned that travel is not a luxury but a necessity. We need to travel. We are all trying to figure out who we are in this life we’ve been given and nothing gives us that opportunity like travel. It doesn’t have to be big trips 5,000 miles away for months at a time. It really can just be a weekend trip, two hours from your hometown. Because no matter where or how far you go, travel marks a new beginning a chance to open our minds and see things in a different light.
As I write this I am 35,000 feet above the earth, I just passed the Arctic bay a few hours ago and the sky is slowly turning that orangey-pink you see in Impressionist paintings. I’m coming home from a trip to Thailand and Cambodia. It was an amazing adventure but after being gone for 25 days I am really ready to be home. I am so close that the plane and “New York” finally appear together on the flight map showing on the tiny screen in front of me. Soon I’ll see my husband of three years and my cat of 17. Soon my days of exploring 800 year old Cambodian temples and hanging out with Thai elephants will be replaced with sorting thru mail, picking up dry cleaning, meeting up with friends and lying on the couch watching reality television.
It’s my everyday life and it’s extraordinary.
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