NOW CALLED GLOBE TREKKER - THE BEST VIEWING ON TV! (Lonely Planet)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Lonely Planet
Date:	26/09/04 (430 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great presenters, Good detail

Disadvantages: You may not like travel

In everyone there is a latent traveller. I don’t know many people who don’t dream of simply upping sticks and heading off on some adventure somewhere to take them away from the daily grind of every day life. I’m no exception and have taken to the idea of heading for destinations where the tourist en masse doesn’t frequent. If you are planning such a trip or even fancy a bit of escapism even for an hour then try Globe Trekker, formerly called Lonely Planet.

Basically, it’s a simple premise. The programme lasts for an hour and takes the viewer on a traveller’s eye view of a foreign land. The beauty of it is that the perspective taken is of a single backpacker making his/her way through a country equipped with a route, some planned stops and a desire to find out about the lives and cultures of the native people.

If your idea of a holiday is a first class hotel with an accompanying 14 days of luxury then this isn’t for you. The traveller has a budget, which usually means using youth hostels and other basic accommodation as well as the occasional hotel.

You will find Globe Trekker on Channel 4, usually at late viewing times and Discovery Travel and Adventure on satellite and cable. The non-terrestrial showings appear to be ad-hoc with programmes popping up at any time between 8am and the early hours but if you have a video/DVD recorder or even Sky Plus if you are being flash then this shouldn’t present a problem.

The programme is shot be taking a camera crew along with the traveller and in tried and tested format, the footage is edited and put together after the journey has been undertaken. You can’t help wondering what gets left out of the final version! Of course, this also means that the camera man/people more or less has to do what the traveller does to. The authenticity of the programme shines through in fine detail such as the dishevelled condition of the presenter on occasions when they’ve clearly had accommodation with no obvious ironing facilities.

Globe Trekker has an array of presenters who provide the narrative for the shows. The most prominent are Justine Shapiro, Megan McCormick and Ian Wright although there are others and you can see more info about them at http://www.pilotguides.com/tv_shows/globe_trekker/ travelers/index.php. My favourite would be the irrepressible Ian Wright. Hailing from Suffolk, Ian has a cheeky wit that always brings a smile to my face and his willingness to do just about anything never fails to impress. I’ve seen him hang glide in Eastern Europe, wrestle with indigenous Africans and clamber up mountains usually reserved for Tibetan sherpas. Ian has won prestigious US Cable Ace Awards, for Best Magazine Host for his Morocco, Central Asia, and Ethiopia programmes which is no surprise for his no nonsense approach to his travels. Recent outings included trips to Georgia and Armenia where there is a great deal of hardship and yet the richness and diversity of local life simply reels the viewer in and makes you realise just how dull we can be in this country. One local custom in Georgia was for all the men and women of the local village to meet in a hall and drink the local tipple all night whilst the men sank a song to try and impress the lady of their choice. Of course, the drink sounded as though it was rocket fuel and the man’s voices weren’t exactly Welsh male voice choir but this amounted to a mating ritual in which the villages made their choice of partner. Ian ended up drunk and was shown slinking off to bed whilst the ritual went on deep into the night!

The world of Globe Trekker is an interactive one with a great web site at http://www.pilotguides.com/tv_shows/globe_trekker/ . Here you will find links to buy Videos/DVDs and a whole range of books that will give advice on practical things like places to see, customs, climate details, places to stay and so on. There are discounts available on bulk purchases e.g. 25% off for buying a 4 video set. Without running into review of the site, there is shed loads of interesting stuff on here including details of Ian Wright’s new comedy-travel show - "Ian Wright Live", images from foreign lands and even music taken from all the various cultures and available in album and MP3 format.

As I mentioned earlier, the programme focuses on the more down to earth aspects of countries so don’t expect too much glamour but this does appear to be where the genuinely interesting people and places are. All corners of the globe are covered and recent programmes I’ve seen have been about Queensland, Australia and even a tour of bonny Scotland.

Personally, I am addicted to the TV programme and it’s given me lots of ideas on places I’d love to go. I can’t recommend it highly enough so if you do get a chance, give it a try!

Thanks for reading

Marandina

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