Around the World Through a TV Gaze
By Emily Hyatt
Now is not the best time to travel; you couldn’t even if you wanted to. But this doesn’t mean you are confined to the four walls of your living room, bedroom, kitchen, etc. There are ways to travel vicariously through other people’s experiences and you don’t even have to get up from your couch. Travel television shows can be exhilarating, entertaining and a ray of sunshine in the usual overcast days of being home bound.
Austin travel guru Lindsay Mukaddam started her travel blog, “One Girl Wandering,” in September of 2018. One Girl Wandering features travel guides and tips, solo female travel encouragement and other information that benefits those who have been bitten by the travel bug.
“Basically I post things I would want/need to know four years ago,” Mukaddam said.
Because of her love of travel, Mukaddam consumes a lot of travel content. Her favorite travel television show is NBC’s “Better Late Than Never.” The show, which only ran for two seasons, followed actors Henry Winkler and William Shatner, former NFL player Terry Bradshaw, Olympic gold medalist George Foreman, and comic Jeff Dye as they traveled the world.
“I like the idea that you are never too old to travel and explore the world,” Mukaddam said. “I feel like I started traveling ‘late’ compared to many people. I had only taken two trips outside the country before I started traveling extensively at 30.”
The second season of “Better Late Than Never” took the men on a “European adventure,” as they called it. Their first stop was Munich, Germany; full of lots of beer and heaps of meat for the five stars.
“Better Late Than Never” has the ideal amount of humor and friendship, from the ridiculous shared confessionals between Shatner and Winkler to the stunning but startling slow-motion shots of four giant men walking down the street in newly fitted lederhosen (Jeff Dye is fairly small compared to the other pillars of fame).
Natalie Kloss-Biagini, owner of the Austin travel agency Travel Abundance, is drawn to the show “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.” In his show, late chef and documentarian Anthony Bourdain traveled the world so he could, as he said, “eat and drink around the world without fear and prejudice.”
“I’m a foodie and I loved his perspective on the authentic locations he went to,” Kloss-Biagini said. “He always got with the local people and got a local feel. He always had experiences that were very real.”
In the show’s eighth season, Bourdain visited the city of Houston and ate at Plant It Forward, a sustainable urban farm committed to helping economically disadvantaged refugees, had lunch at the iconic Himalaya restaurant, visited a Bollywood dance party at Keemat Grocers and, of course, had some barbecue at Burns BBQ.
Arguably the best part of the episode is watching Bourdain break bread with rapper Slim Thug. Reportedly Bourdain tried a drink that “made him very sleepy,” which was rumored to be the notorious Houston concoction, “purple drank.” “Purple drank” is the name given to the cocktail of prescription cough syrup, soft drink (usually Sprite) and hard candy that is prominent around the Houston area. Because of the codeine, it is known to make people drowsy.
“Parts Unknown” looks on the positive side of travel and the interactions between people, while some shows feature people that aren’t even breathing. The Netflix original show “Dark Tourist” dares to show the spooky side of tourism.
“Dark Tourist” features New Zealand journalist David Farrier taking part in “dark tourism,” which involves traveling to locations where some of the grisliest events in history took place, from cursed burial grounds to sites of wartime disaster.
In his “United States” episode, Farrier visits three of the darkest places in the U.S.: Milwaukee, home of infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, Dallas, the city where John F. Kennedy was assassinated and New Orleans, the city of voodoo and vampires.
In Milwaukee, Farrier was joined by Natalie, a fellow dark tourist, as they dove into Jeffrey Dahmer’s hometown and the sick fascination those in the city still have with the chilling cannibal killer. Farrier and Natalie even got to meet Wendy Patrickus, the lawyer who defended Dahmer in court, and listened to a tape recording of one of their interviews.
Many people in Dallas profit off of the presidential assassination that happened there more than 50 years ago by offering car tours that follow the same road Kennedy was killed on. Farrier went on two of the most popular “JFK tours” in the city, following the route Kennedy took in his final hours.
Finally Farrier visits New Orleans with the mission of finding real-life vampires. Viewer discretion advised: there’s real blood shown and actual blood-drinking.
On the complete opposite side of the travel show spectrum is the comedic “Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father.” The Netflix original show follows British comic Jack Whitehall and his father Michael as they travel the world in an attempt to bond with one another. The jovial Jack and uppity Michael make for quite the pairing as they spend much more time together than perhaps father and son should.
The two English travelers made their way to America in the show’s third season. The first episode had the duo making their way along the west coast and spending most of their time in California. It’s hilarious to watch the uptight Michael being encouraged to do things by his outgoing son. The one line Michael won’t cross is doing nude yoga, a line we are all thankful for.
The heartwarming cousin of Jack Whitehall’s hilarious series is “Gaycation,” the LGBTQ+ centered show featuring actress Ellen Page and her best friend Ian Daniel. Page and Daniel travel the world to immerse themselves in different queer cultures and discuss the universal fight that gay and transgender people face to be accepted.
Page and Daniel wrapped up their first season of the show by taking a tour around the United States and the LGBTQ+ community in our own country. Even though the episode revolved around American culture, their tour actually began in Canada, where Page and Daniel participated in the traditional Native American celebration, Two Spirit.
From there, the duo made their way from a New York City pride parade to the conservative state of Iowa, where they painfully discussed LGBTQ+ rights with religious activists and Page sparred with Texas senator Ted Cruz at a barbeque. The rest of the episode discussed the most prevalent LGBTQ+ issues in the country, especially the high murder rate of transgender people of color.
Page and Daniel ended their powerful episode with discussing the importance of identity, acceptance and finding a loving community to surround yourself with.
Jumping onto a plane, train or automobile and discovering some faraway land is likely the dream of many people right now. Considering the fact that it’s impossible right now, it’s okay to settle for watching people tour the world during simpler times.
“Better Late Than Never,” “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” and “Gaycation” are available to stream on Hulu.
“Dark Tourist” and “Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father” are available to stream on Netflix.
