The world is Samantha Brown’s oyster

BROWN. Natural, no-frills approach.

Some years ago, we were training a new talent to host a travel show on TV, and she asked us to give her a “role model” for the job. Without skipping a beat, we answered, “Samantha Brown.” We had seen Brown host a number of travel programs and were struck by her natural, no-frills approach, which made globetrotting not just exciting and fun, but also practicable and affordable for many viewers.

After viewing Brown’s program, our trainee seconded our motion and proceeded to similarly make her travel spiels natural and personal.

Recently, we caught a Samantha Brown travel piece again on TV, and our admiration for her increased. This time around, she had apparently just completed a year-long series of televised trips to Latin America, and was about to launch into the “impossible” task of editing their highlights together into one brisk, bright summary—with a running time of  only 30 minutes!

Tall order

That really did sound like a tall order, but thanks to her production team’s clear focus and Brown’s adroit way of weaving disparate details and insights perceptively together, the “impossible” mission was achieved.

Breathlessly tagging along for the brisk ride, we went from a Rio beach to a volcano’s steaming caldera in Costa Rica, Mayan ruins in Honduras, a “chicken bus” in Nicaragua, a religious procession in Ecuador, a parade of drummers in Uruguay—food-binging from beginning to end!

Ever the adventurous spirit, Samantha chewed and swallowed all sorts of seemingly icky and yucky objects with a satisfied grin and burp—not really because she enjoyed all of them, but because she was making a point: Travel is all about getting out of yourself and your carefully cultivated comfort zone, and living—and eating—like the natives do.

Because, in so doing, you understand them better, and why they live and eat and pray and love the way they do. And in understanding other people’s “exotic” and sometimes even “icky” lifestyles, you end up understanding yourself better, as well!

It’s a great mystery how all that works, but trust Samantha Brown, it does. And, after years and years of “participatory” travel and living, she hasn’t kicked the bucket yet, so she must be on to a good thing!

The peripatetic and coolly copacetic Samantha advises timorous would-be travelers to go beyond the usual tourist sites, and “dare” to go for the real, the everyday and the “ordinary.” A visit to the local wet market, if done with insight and empathy, can teach a visitor a lot about the people he’s haggling or rubbing shoulders with.

Disposition

To be sure, some hidden dangers may lurk around the next corner, especially if you don’t know the language and thus are clueless about what the local ne’er-do-wells are semaphoring to one another regarding the disposition of your body (kidding).

But, if you travel during the day and don’t go where angels fear to tread, most foreign trips will be more fun than fearsome—and truly broadening.

Summing up, Samantha also advises being keenly open to the rhythms and music of a new place, because that’s how the people groove when the spirit  moves them. Do groove along with them—and just go!