“The scariest moment in my years of hosting shows was the time I got in the ring with Sacred, the six-time world amateur boxing champ,” says the Travel Channel’s peripatetic daredevil Samantha Brown. “The second time she hit me in the face, I thought, ‘This is a big mistake.’” So what did the normally fearless Samantha Brown do? “Suddenly realizing how stupid this whole thing was, I stopped the fight mid-round. Just so you know, I didn’t even go two rounds.”
Smart woman.
Viewers of Brown’s shows—which include Samantha Brown’s Great Hotels, Passport to Europe and Great Weekends—already know how smart she is. She’s also no armchair observer. Brown’s participatory style is enhanced by her quick wit and ability to flawlessly ad-lib. On the same trip to Philadelphia that found her in the boxing ring, she took hockey lessons with the Philadelphia Phantoms, which feeds players to that city’s NHL Flyers.
“I’ve always regretted not playing a sport in school,” she says, “and if I did, hockey would be it. My favorite part of learning some moves was the checking, which I think could really come in handy as I navigate airports.”
The Texas-born, New Hampshire-raised Brown majored in musical theater at Syracuse. After school, she landed in New York City to pursue an acting career, but ended up doing a lot of improvisation and more comedy than musical theater. “From there, I started in commercials, and the people I worked for recommended me to the same production company for the Travel Channel. Most cable shows like that aren’t scripted, and I got the job because I could improvise.”
When she began working for the Travel Channel, Brown was by no means an experienced world traveler, but during her eight years with the network, she’s more than filled that gap in her résumé. And she’s done it her way. Brown recalls, “It was a little disturbing for me back then to realize there weren’t that many hosts around who didn’t act like Stepford Wives. I didn’t want to go that way at all, and the Travel Channel loved that.”
Her “other way” has included activities not normally associated with travel show hosts such as the personable Rudy Maxa (“I love it when he brings his daughter on the show,” Brown says) or Rick Steves. Among the physical activities, in addition to boxing and hockey, that Brown has indulged in are paragliding, whaling, fly-fishing, swing dancing and motorcycle driving.
Brown’s approach, clearly the opposite of the traditional method of quickly surveying the local attractions, is geared to the travel experience itself. And the feedback she gets from viewers indicates they believe her when she tells them, “‘If I can do it, you can do it.’ I always advise people to take in a city with no particular agenda. The experience of travel is learning about yourself through others. After eight years of doing this, monuments and museums become less important to me. Sitting in a small cafe and talking to people matter most.”
In urging travelers to get off the beaten path and truly experience their destination, she suggests that visitors not ask natives if they speak English. “When you do that, you’re making people feel like they’re stupid because they don’t know English. Instead, say, ‘No Spanish. Do you speak English?’ That way, you’ve created a connection by saying, ‘I’m in your country, and I don’t expect you to know my language.’”
Another idea Samantha Brown champions is the restorative benefit of weekend vacations. “We’re different people when we travel on weekends. When you take an entire week’s vacation, you slip into who you are. On a weekend trip, we role-play, we’re lighthearted, sexier, more childlike.”
Asked if turning 40, which she did in March, has had an effect on the travel suggestions she offers, Brown told us, “How I approach travel has definitely changed over the past 10 years. I’ve found that as I get older I want a much more personal connection with people. Wherever I go I don’t want to lose the opportunity to make connections, and one of the best ways to do that is to ask questions.”
Another Sam Brown motto is to welcome change, not fear it. Three years ago, despite an unusually hectic life and schedule, she tossed her single status overboard when she married Kevin O’Leary of Cambridge, Md., a computer-server specialist. Fortunately, he’s able to tag along on many of her trips, which have her on the road nearly 230 days a year. “I call him my computer geek,” she told one interviewer. “I have no idea what he does. There’s the strain of trying to make time for each other; we both take time off work to be with each other. It’s a give-and-take.”
So where did the travel show hostess and her husband go on their honeymoon—and doesn’t that sound like Ben and Jerry going out for ice cream?
“Because we only had four days, we couldn’t go to Africa or Asia,” says Brown, “so we went to Key West. Rent a car in Miami and drive down—it’s fantastic.”
Among Brown’s favorite spots are places she’s eager to revisit, such as Granada, Nicaragua and Berlin. “Nicaragua is laid-back and safe, and I walked all over. People were very friendly. Berlin produces the amazing feeling of being in a place that is changing at the very moment you’re there. In Berlin, things are happening now, the architecture is happening now, and you’re really living in the moment. For the States, I’d choose Montana. Every American should go there. We’re young as a country, but the land isn’t young. The Montana landscape is incredible.
“And I love D.C. Kevin’s parents live in Annapolis, so we’re here with some frequency. But when you visit Washington, you have to go beyond the monuments and get into the neighborhoods and meet the people. That gives you two destinations in one, and the chance to learn all sorts of wonderful information. For example, did you know Washington has the largest Ethiopian community outside of Ethiopia itself? Whenever you visit a new city, try to find an Ethiopian restaurant. You won’t be sorry.”
While the Travel Channel host is often called “perky” (one critic described her as “unfailingly pleasant, enthusiastic and informed without seeming haughty”), her belief in the potentially therapeutic value of travel is fundamentally serious. Tellingly, she says the shows aren’t about her but about what she calls the travel experience. “It has always been my goal to present a natural, real experience,” she says. “I always wanted people to be inspired to travel, and it really means a lot to me when people tell me that’s what happened.”