It was my honor to interview the Travel Goddess, Samantha Brown. I first met her in person at the Travel and Adventure Show in 2016 and in 2023, I was a speaker at the same show! Find Samantha Brown’s Show, Places To Love on her website and visit her on Instagram. In 2024, it will be 25 years that she has been sharing her travels. As she says, “girl with the best job in the world.”
Good morning. This is Lisa Niver from We Said Go Travel and I am beyond thrilled that today I am with none other than the travel goddess Samantha Brown. Hi, Samantha.
Samantha Brown:
Hey, Lisa. How are you?
Lisa Niver:
Oh, my gosh, I’m so excited to get to talk to you. I have been watching you at the travel show for years, and years and years and I am so excited. I even wore this map in your honor that I got to also speak at the travel show this year. I thought oh, my gosh I’m speaking at the same show as the goddess.
I know that you’ve been such a generous speaker and you have just inspired so many women. I spoke with Alex after the Women’s Travel Fest where you were the keynote speaker. And she was saying how for many people it was their longtime dream come true to be able to be there and hear you speak. That you really inspire so many women to get out on the road.
Yeah, that’s probably what I am most proud of, and most shocked by in my career. I never thought I would be someone who people look up to. And I guess that’s why I do have the best job in the world is that I get told, on almost a daily basis, what my work has meant to someone else and that is phenomenally validating. So, not only do I have this amazing job, but the people that I have been able to be a part of their community in terms of whether they watch me on TV, or now they’re on social media or whatever it is. It’s just something I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be that person and I never take it for granted.
Lisa Niver:
I think that’s so beautiful. And as you said just now, and as it says on your Twitter bio, “girl with the best job in the world,” can you tell people a little bit about how did this happen? When you were little were you drawing on maps? Did you always want to be on TV? How did it happen?
Samantha Brown:
I went to college at Syracuse University for musical theater, and that’s what I wanted to be. I wanted to be an actress and I wanted to move to New York City, and so, at Syracuse I studied acting, singing, and dancing. And when you are in musical theater you are considered a triple threat, because you can do all three. And then I moved to New York City and I wasn’t threatening at all.
In fact, I was really bland compared to the unbelievable talent that is out there. Actually, I saw that you had Pauline Frommer as a guest and she was also in musical theater as well. I remember seeing her at the auditions, I knew she was a lot more successful than I was in theater, but you should ask her about that. So, we share that in common.
So, I just kept auditioning, and I got this strange job on the Travel Channel. I had to audition for it, to be their host for a new show called Great Vacation Homes. And my first reaction was what’s a host? Why am I auditioning for this? But I thought, okay, I’ll just get a reel because I wanted to go to Los Angeles to make it in sitcoms. So, that was my plan and I am so glad it did not work out. The Travel Channel really hit it off, I loved my time there, I had amazing experiences and I had a job I never thought I would have.
Lisa Niver:
That’s so inspiring. Because for a lot of us, when things don’t go how we planned, there’s often a feelings of being a failure or a mistake, but you’re saying it was the best thing.
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More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.
Journey into the World of Wanderlust: Samantha Brown, Travel Goddess
Lisa Ellen Niver
It was my honor to interview the Travel Goddess, Samantha Brown. I first met her in person at the Travel and Adventure Show in 2016 and in 2023, I was a speaker at the same show! Find Samantha Brown’s Show, Places To Love on her website and visit her on Instagram. In 2024, it will be 25 years that she has been sharing her travels. As she says, “girl with the best job in the world.”
Listen or watch our interview on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your favorite podcast platform
READ THE TRANSCRIPT BELOW
Lisa Niver:
Good morning. This is Lisa Niver from We Said Go Travel and I am beyond thrilled that today I am with none other than the travel goddess Samantha Brown. Hi, Samantha.
Samantha Brown:
Hey, Lisa. How are you?
Lisa Niver:
Oh, my gosh, I’m so excited to get to talk to you. I have been watching you at the travel show for years, and years and years and I am so excited. I even wore this map in your honor that I got to also speak at the travel show this year. I thought oh, my gosh I’m speaking at the same show as the goddess.
I know that you’ve been such a generous speaker and you have just inspired so many women. I spoke with Alex after the Women’s Travel Fest where you were the keynote speaker. And she was saying how for many people it was their longtime dream come true to be able to be there and hear you speak. That you really inspire so many women to get out on the road.
Samantha Brown and Lisa Niver at Women’s Travel Fest 2023
Samantha Brown:
Yeah, that’s probably what I am most proud of, and most shocked by in my career. I never thought I would be someone who people look up to. And I guess that’s why I do have the best job in the world is that I get told, on almost a daily basis, what my work has meant to someone else and that is phenomenally validating. So, not only do I have this amazing job, but the people that I have been able to be a part of their community in terms of whether they watch me on TV, or now they’re on social media or whatever it is. It’s just something I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be that person and I never take it for granted.
Lisa Niver:
I think that’s so beautiful. And as you said just now, and as it says on your Twitter bio, “girl with the best job in the world,” can you tell people a little bit about how did this happen? When you were little were you drawing on maps? Did you always want to be on TV? How did it happen?
Samantha Brown:
I went to college at Syracuse University for musical theater, and that’s what I wanted to be. I wanted to be an actress and I wanted to move to New York City, and so, at Syracuse I studied acting, singing, and dancing. And when you are in musical theater you are considered a triple threat, because you can do all three. And then I moved to New York City and I wasn’t threatening at all.
In fact, I was really bland compared to the unbelievable talent that is out there. Actually, I saw that you had Pauline Frommer as a guest and she was also in musical theater as well. I remember seeing her at the auditions, I knew she was a lot more successful than I was in theater, but you should ask her about that. So, we share that in common.
So, I just kept auditioning, and I got this strange job on the Travel Channel. I had to audition for it, to be their host for a new show called Great Vacation Homes. And my first reaction was what’s a host? Why am I auditioning for this? But I thought, okay, I’ll just get a reel because I wanted to go to Los Angeles to make it in sitcoms. So, that was my plan and I am so glad it did not work out. The Travel Channel really hit it off, I loved my time there, I had amazing experiences and I had a job I never thought I would have.
Lisa Niver:
That’s so inspiring. Because for a lot of us, when things don’t go how we planned, there’s often a feelings of being a failure or a mistake, but you’re saying it was the best thing.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW on WE SAID GO TRAVEL
LISTEN on APPLE PODCAST: MAKE YOUR OWN MAP
Lisa’s book: Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
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