Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
After making an impressive film debut in âQuinceanera,â Emily Rios has compiled quite the list of roles in critically acclaimed productions such as âFriday Night Lights,â âThe Closerâ and âHouse.â But the 24-year-old Los Angeles-based actress is best known for playing a reporter on the FX drama âThe Bridge,â as well as recovering drug addict Andrea Cantillo on AMCâs âBreaking Bad.
Best known for his work on the Discovery Channelâs âDirty Jobs,â Mike Rowe has a resume that may surprise some viewers. Besides doing on-air work as a host for the home-shopping channel QVC and voice work in commercials for companies such as Ford Motor Company, Rowe used to sing with the Baltimore Opera Company. But he says some of the most important work he does is through the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, which promotes skilled trades and alternative education.
After making a name for himself on WE tvâs âMy Fair Wedding,â celebrity wedding planner David Tuteraâs back with another reality series on the cable network: âDavid Tutera: Unveiled.â An avid traveler, Tutera says, âMy travels have always been an inspiration for my business. It opens my mind up to designs, culture and food. Travel allows me to see how other people live. I find all of the vast diversity in even our own country fascinating. The things Iâve seen and the people Iâve met have truly expanded my design capabilities and permeate every aspect of my career.â
Tyler Florence is a chef, restaurateur and cookbook author, but heâs probably best known for his on-air work. The 42-year-old television personality is the host of the Food Networkâs âThe Great Food Truck Race,â which showcases teams of cooks traveling across the country, with the hopes of getting the opportunity to win their own food truck and a $50,000 cash prize. A father of three children, who range in age from 5 to 17, Florence says he and his wife love to travel. However, they take different types of trips these days to accommodate their youngest kids.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Marcus Lemonis was adopted as a baby by a Greek family living in Florida. His parents were friends with Lee Iacocca, who advised Lemonis to get into the camping and RV business. After making guest appearances on NBCâs âCelebrity Apprenticeâ and ABCâs âSecret Millionaire,â Lemonis â whoâs also the chairman and chief executive of Camping World â caught the attention of CNBC. On his reality series âThe Profit,â the 39-year-old entrepreneur invests cash into failing businesses, teaches the owners how to better their businesses and, hopefully, earn a profit
After Lisa Ling gave a speech at Tufts University, students asked her what advice she had for young people. âThe best education I have ever received was through travel,â said the California-based journalist. âYouâll become more conversant, poised and smarter.â
âI have the best job on the planet!â says Casey Anderson, the 37-year-old naturalist who hosts the Nat Geo WILD series âAmerica the Wild.â âI get to go to some of the most amazing places for work. So when I go on vacation, I go home. There is nothing more relaxing then sitting on my deck, watching the wildlife, the sunsets, and listening to the creek.â
Singer-songwriter Christa Wells says that in some ways, growing up in a military family prepared her for all the touring she does today. âI lived for four years in western Europe,â says the 39-year-old musician. âI love travel and seeing the different ways towns and cities have been built, the ways people live and eat and relate to one another â the sounds of different languages. (Travel has) taught me about the beauty of diversity. The world is so big and richly textured. Weâll never run out of new things to try and experience.â
An American expat residing overseas in London, Kalliope Lee makes her novel debut with âSunday Girlâ (Psychopomp Press). Set in 1991 Seoul, the book tells the story of two college-age friends struggling to live with the violent attack they both survived. One of the young women becomes obsessed with the plight of Koreaâs âcomfort womenâ â girls who were forced into sexual slavery to serve the Japanese Army during World War II.
Justin Roberts doesnât think itâs all that unusual that he went from being a Montessori preschool teacher to a Grammy-nominated musician. The Chicago-based singer-songwriter wrote intelligent, catchy songs to sing to his young students. Roberts has consistently made Amazon.comâs Top 10 Childrenâs CDs of the Year list, and performed his music on the âTodayâ show and Nick Jr. His single âGet Me Some Glassesâ also was featured on a World Series broadcast. Heâs currently touring with his band, The Not Ready for Naptime Players, to promote his latest album, âRecess.â
Grits and Glamour celebrated the completion of its CD âDos Divasâ in a relaxing way. The duo â comprised of country music stars Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan â took a trip to Mexico. âWe went with our husbands on a couplesâ getaway to celebrate the wrap of our new album and stayed at Garza Blanca Preserve Resort and Spa in Puerto Vallarta,â says Morgan. âWe were treated like royalty and Iâm ready to go back.â
Like her father, Arthur, Pauline Frommer writes travel guidebooks. She also hosts the nationally syndicated radio program, âThe Travel Showâ with her dad. But when she was a teenager flying around the world with her parents, Frommer wasnât always enamored with the travel lifestyle. âI dreaded going on trips with my parents,â says the fortysomething New Yorker. âI found it very difficult to be away from my friends. And since my parents were travel writers, a lot of what we did when we traveled was fact checking, which can be dull, if youâre not the one doing the checking.â
Beach volleyball player Sean Rosenthal has played in two Olympics so far and, if he gets his wish, heâll be competing at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, too. âI hope to make the U.S. squad for a variety of reasons,â says the 33-year-old athlete, whoâs based in California. âItâd be such an honor to get to represent the United States again. And, thereâd be the added bonus of getting to play in Brazil, which has always shown an amazing amount of love for volleyball. The people are so enthusiastic about the sport, which makes it a lot of fun to play there.â
HGTVâs âRed, Hot and Greenâ host Carter Oosterhouse and his wife, actress Amy Smart, enjoy living green. So, itâs fitting that the former âTrading Spacesâ carpenter is one of the go-to guys when a program needs a telegenic lifestyle expert for advice on eco-living. A regular contributor to the âRachael Ray Show,â the 36-year-old television personality also hosts HGTVâs âCarter Can.â
Chef Gerry âG.â Garvin is an author and a James Beard Award nominee for best food personality. As the host of the Cooking Channelâs âRoad Trip with G. Garvinâ â currently in its second season â the 44-year-old Atlanta resident crisscrosses the country to find the best Southern-inspired dishes. His cookbooks include âTurn Up the Heat with G. Garvin.â
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif., where she still resides, Regina King starred as Marla Gibbsâ daughter on the popular â80s sitcom, â227.â Unlike many child actors who fade away after a few years in the spotlight, the 42-year-old actress worked steadily through the years opposite Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock and Cuba Gooding Jr. King recently starred in the series âSouthlandâ and has a recurring role on âThe Big Bang Theory.â
Born in Colon, Panama, and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Gary Forbes had basketball on his mind when he was growing up. When he discovered he had Type 1 diabetes, he worried that it would derail his NBA plans. But, with the help of his diabetic father, he learned to navigate his way around his illness. After brief stints with the Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets, the 28-year-old athlete last played for the Chinese Basketball Associationâs Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. Forbesâ latest project is TypeOneTwo.org, an online forum he created to help young people learn how to live full lives with diabetes.
LeAnn Rimes will be the first one to tell you that she likes to be in control of just about every aspect of her life, including travel. âIâm very hands on when it comes to planning trips,â the 30-year-old singer says, laughing. âI really would love to go on a safari. Thatâs the next thing I want to do, and Iâve been planning it for a couple years now. Iâm looking forward to going away with my husband (actor Eddie Cibrian).â But first, Rimes will tour to promote her new CD âSpitfire.â
Before he turned 30, golf legend Gary Player became the third person to win the Grand Slam. In 1974, after winning 165 tournaments, Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Player and his wife, Vivienne, live on a stud farm outside of Colesberg, South Africa. They also spend time at their home on Floridaâs Jupiter Island.
Fall Out Boyâs Pete Wentz remembers traveling to the Bahamas as a child and getting ill on the small plane that took his family from Nassau to their destination. âI had terrible motion sickness when I was younger and I barfed into the bag,â says the 33-year-old musician, who also hosts the Oxygen reality series âBest Ink.â There was no place to throw the bag away, so we had to go through customs holding it. That was a little weird, but the trip overall was awesome!â