Here's to Samantha Brown

Don't get me wrong, I admire Samantha Brown. I used to want her job. But the more I watch her show the more I realize she doesn't really see any of the countries she tours. She has the same vacation every time--high class hotels, wine, lounging on the beach or skiing, expensive meals. It doesn't even matter where she is, it seems. Isn't travel more than fancy meals and high-end hotels? Isn't travel more than sight seeing? She and I just have a different style. For me, travel involves a mix of pleasure and pain. I don't just want to see the pretty exterior, the outer and superficial. I want more of the soul of a place. Give me food out of a van on the side of the road. Give me lodging that's less than $40 a night and close to where people actually live. Give me sights that are more ancient than modern, more history-filled than superficial. Give me time spent exploring without a guidebook, time spent with real people, full of sounds, tastes, colors, smells, sights...life. That's the way I do it, and that's why I leave every time with a broken heart that never fully heals. Here's to Samantha Brown, who is somehow able to enjoy herself and keep her heart intact. But I shall continue to travel like Anthony Bourdain who, like me, understands the heartache of travel and yet keeps going back for more.