- Samantha Brown's travel show, “Samantha Brown's Places to Love,” returns for its eighth season, marking her 25th year as a travel television host.
- Brown reflects on how the Internet has democratized travel, making it accessible to a wider range of people.
- She emphasizes the importance of personal relationships in travel, prioritizing interactions with locals over just visiting tourist sites.
Travel expert Samantha Brown's career has been its own journey.
After studying musical theater in college, Brown moved to New York to continue his acting studies. “And that means I waited tables for a good eight years and went to auditions,” she told USA TODAY. One was on the Travel Channel's “Great Vacation Homes,” which she booked in 1999.
Brown celebrates 25 years as a travel TV host with the return of her Emmy Award-winning series, “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love.” The show's eighth season, which begins airing Friday on PBS, takes it from German cities like Berlin and Leipzig to Traverse City, Michigan and Crystal Coast, North Carolina, to name a few -ones.
USA TODAY caught up with Brown ahead of the premiere to talk about how travel has changed over her quarter-century career, what she's learned about community and why travelers shouldn't go direct at baggage claim after landing at an airport.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Question: In 25 years, how do you think the travel industry has changed?
Answer: It's like day and night. I think when I started 25 years ago, sure we had the internet, but it wasn't (much) a part of our travel lives. I didn't even travel with a laptop. I traveled with a thesaurus because I was the author of the series. So, I just needed other words to inspire me, so I wouldn't say “quintessential” or “quaint” all the time.
But I think with the Internet, it's really democratized travel in many ways, more than just making flights more available. It kind of created a place where people now had access to flights, not just travel agents. And I felt like maybe the travel agency world had access to a lot of opportunities where the Internet just opened it up to everyone. (That) doesn't mean it's easier to plan a trip. I think that's where travel agents are really great at their job, and you can see how much time they spend because you're now falling down a rabbit hole of information. But everyone can travel.
Before, when I started traveling, I thought it was really for the privileged – the privileged people who had money, time and then confidence. And I think with the Internet and YouTube and social media, you see your type of person traveling. Maybe he's a budget traveler. Maybe it's someone with a lot more diversity than what I represent, and all of a sudden it becomes more accessible to you, and I think that's the brilliant way that it's really changed things.
I know it's so hard to pick your favorite destinations, but I was curious if you had any most memorable trips?
I still love China to this day… I went there, I think, in 2007, before the big 2008 Olympics. I mean, with the Great Wall, the Forbidden Palace and the Summer Palace, it just knocked my socks off. And I really enjoyed the people too. I loved getting to know them and our differences.
Many of us know Europe. We were raised with European history. It’s such a part of American history. …And so I found that a lot of being in Europe was about adapting what I knew, or if I didn't know it, then I felt like an ignorant American. But China has just opened up to me. I felt like I could be like a 5-year-old and just enjoy it, and no one was going to say, “Why don't you know that?” So, I loved that feeling.
And then I would say that in the United States, to bring it as close as possible, Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's my favorite city here in the United States. …It’s such a confluence of Native American (and) Spanish influence and culture. I did four different series, shows, episodes there, and then took my mom and sister on separate trips. So it was to this city that I returned, not only for professional but also personal reasons.
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Much of “Places to Love” focuses on the people who make up a place. What have you learned about people and communities and their role in travel from the show?
I just learned that it’s all about that personal connection. For me, it is traveling. I started to care less and less about monuments, castles, cathedrals because they always take you back to the past. But when you meet people, you're more in the present moment – and perhaps the future – because you can interact with what's happening now.
And when I started doing (the Travel Channel show) “Passport to Europe,” it was more of a check-off list, you know, the monuments that you visit, the museums and the works of art that you see. And that left me a little lonely as a traveler, personally. I didn't feel like I had the travel bug even though that was the main goal. But then, now, with my own show and me taking the helm, it's all about the people because they completely change the way a place affects you.
You've said that you like to focus on places that aren't necessarily major travel destinations. What makes a good location for an episode of “Places to Love”?
Clearly, things are happening. We don't visit remote places where nothing happens. So we make small towns.
There's something else going on that people might not know on the surface. So maybe there's a story, like in Huntsville, Alabama, it's NASA and this incredible rocket and space science and exploration base. And yet, it's an affordable place to live, and artists are there too. …So there must be affordability (and, I suppose, high quality of life for the civilians currently living there). This will automatically make a great travel destination because they support this.
I always say that if you're just looking for something quick for yourself, like a two-hour sphere to travel, look for independent bookstores. This will attract other department stores, cafes and restaurants. If this town or small town supports an independent bookstore, you want to go there.
Over these 25 years, I imagine you have gained some wisdom from your own travels. If you had any good travel tips, what would they be?
I think people need advice the most when it comes to the airport because it's still a phenomenally intimidating experience for a lot of people.
First, to reduce 90% of stress, arrive on time. And what that means for me is that I base my arrival at the airport on the boarding time of a flight, not the departure time. …But if I time myself to get through the airport gate, whether I have to check in or go straight through security, a good two hours before boarding time, I have already built in that time and I know I don't have to stress. I increase this time depending on the time of year. So if it's a summer trip, I'll dedicate three hours.
Another good tip I have for people that they don't think about at the airport is when they arrive at the airport and you get off your flight, the first thing everyone does is look for the baggage claim area and exit signs. Slow down and take a look around – sort of plan your way back. Airports are pretty cool places these days. So, is there a cool local restaurant that you see, like, “Oh, I'd like to eat there,” or is there a place to get a quick massage? …Always check the security line, which you usually have a view of when you leave. Is it chaos? How do they handle this? And all this serves to inform you of your return.
For traveling with children – I have twins, they are 11 now, but we have traveled a lot since they were 2 months old. This was a game changer for my husband and I: we never used pre-boarding to pick up our kids. So we waited at the gate and number one parent or guardian number one used pre-boarding to load all the gear. …They load everything up, and then I'll wait with the kids until the very last person in the very last area is called. We would continue on our way, get the kids settled, and hopefully leave in 10 minutes.
People forget that boarding is by far the most stressful part of air travel, even for adults. We are so nervous that we put our bags in the overhead compartment. You can feel the tension in this cabin and the kids just absorb it. And then when they reach a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet, they release it.
Is there anything you’re particularly excited for people to see in the new season of “Places to Love”?
Like all of our seasons, we truly offer a wide range of travel options. We went to Costa Rica, but we went in July, and it's the rainy season, and everyone's like, “Well, why would you go in July?” And it's actually a phenomenal time. … Prices are lower, and it’s raining, but so what? It's 85 degrees outside. It doesn't bother you at all. It's actually really refreshing.
What really excites me is that we are finishing Route 66 and we are now in the middle of it. Route 66 will be 100 years old in 2026and so we started in Illinois last year, and we realized, Oh, we should do everything. So, this year, we carried out from Saint-Louis, the (gateway arch)up to Santa Fe. And then this year – we haven't shot it yet – we'll start from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and go all the way to California.
So we are in the middle. And what I love in the middle is Oklahoma, Kansas, and the Texas Panhandle. These are places few people go, and their history and people are fascinating. …And you really come away thinking, Man, what an amazing country we live in..
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
