By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
January 17, 2012
When Samantha Brown was growing up, her family took road trips to visit nearby family, but that was about it. So when she got the opportunity to work with the Travel Channel, Brown “realized that my input would be as a layman. I wasn’t an expert traveler like Rick Steves or Rudy Maxa, but I could show people that if I could navigate my way around Nicaragua, they could, too.”
The New Yorker is now the congenial host of “Samantha Brown’s Great Weekends” and will make upcoming appearances nationwide at the Travel and Adventure Show, offering traveling tips and anecdotes, as well as autographs for fans. Brown is appearing in the Chicago area on Jan. 28 to 29 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. Check out the website http://www.adventureexpo.com/ for more dates.
Q. Where do you enjoy visiting?
A. I always love places that have a difficult history, which people find a little odd because my show is very positive and I have a very positive spin and am what some people refer to as perky.
Q. What is your favorite destination?
A. Right now, it’s Cambodia. I fell in love with it. Before going there, I had read all the books that prepped tourists and warned you about what you might see in terms of people missing limbs and children begging in the streets. I had been to lots of places in Asia before like Vietnam and Malaysia and felt I understood Asia a bit. But Cambodia was so completely different. I loved it. The people are so warm and inviting. I call them the Irish of Southeast Asia because they’re very talkative. I was surprised that so many people spoke English.
Q. You’re seen occasionally wearing a bathing suit on your show. Is that in your contract?
A. (Laughs.) It’s part of the job sometimes since I shoot a lot on the beach. But I do have a funny story about that. When I was in Malaysia this past summer, I was shooting the cover of their version of In Shape magazine. I was told to bring my workout gear and that was fine. At the end of the shoot, they brought out a whole rack of bikinis and asked if I would mind modeling one for a few photos. I hadn’t been expecting that request and had not been working out. I had spray tanned my legs and face, but not my stomach. I had more of a gut than usual, too. I’m not a model. Clearly! When I came out wearing this bikini, the look on their faces was classic. They were very polite about it, but they were confused about why I didn’t look like I did in the YouTube videos they had seen. There’s some guy who cobbled together every bikini shot I ever did on the show and it’s gotten over a million views on YouTube. So they had been hoping I’d look like that.
Q. Where did you travel as a child?
A. We’re from New Hampshire, so we stuck kind of close to home. We went to Pennsylvania to see relatives and to Cape Cod. Also to Quebec. We weren’t big travelers then — we never did Disneyland or anything like that. But I loved to travel as a kid. I always had a sense of adventure. To this day, I still love a good road trip.
Q. How old were you when you got your first passport?
A. I had just graduated from college, so it was my early 20s. I went to Paris.
Q. How have your views on traveling changed over the years?
A. When I was younger, I always equated traveling with the wealthy. I always thought people traveled because they’re very privileged. I grew up in upper-middle class New Hampshire, which isn’t nearly as wealthy as upper-middle class New York, but it wasn’t like we were wanting for anything. But I still had this sense that taking trips and flying on airplanes isn’t something that normal people did.
Q. How adventurous are you eating overseas?
A. Food is not to be feared. I absolutely eat whatever the locals do. But, I do have to have an American breakfast of eggs, toast, coffee and bacon. Then for lunch and dinner I’m good to eat anything. One of the reasons I love Asia so much is the food is fantastic and you want to eat what they eat. There’s a fantastic Korean restaurant (in New York) called Moim, but you don’t really know how good the food is till you go to the country it originates from.
You can’t know how good real Chinese food is if you never leave America. When you come back to the U.S., you really don’t want to eat at a “Chinese” restaurant ‘cause the food is so different. I know the flights to Asia are expensive, but it’s taking you so far away. And it’s balanced off by the food, which can be so cheap. You can get a hearty, delicious meal for $2 a plate from a food cart in the right areas.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. I read a novel called “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts. I had no desire to go to India before but now it’s the place I’d love to visit. Everyone says nothing prepares you for the experience, but I love being overwhelmed by culture.
Q. Are you ever afraid of insulting people when you ask questions overseas?
A. I do it all the time. When I first went to China, we had a Chinese shooting crew. I asked them, “When you were a little kid and you were digging a hole, did your parents say, ‘Are you digging a hole to North America?’ They had no idea what I was talking about, but they didn’t make me feel stupid about it. But I will say that when I’m in Asia, it does feel like you’ve drilled a hole and come across on the other side. It leaves me disorientated, but I love it.
Q. If you could spend a few months somewhere — other than home — where would it be?
A. Beijing. I wouldn’t want to stay anywhere luxurious. I’d want to be someplace where I could be a part of everyday life. I know I get to stay in some amazing hotels because of my work and they can be great, but they can also create a barrier between you and the culture you’re in. Resorts kind of cordon you off.
Q. Is it a small world, after all?
A. No, it doesn’t get smaller! The world just gets bigger and I love it!
© 2012 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
