Meeting Samantha Brown – My Travel Idol

Since it’s that time for the Travel & Adventure Expo in San Diego again. I wanted to share a moment that made my life so much more awesome. (I’m sure you already know, but check out the video below [Yes, that did rhyme])

(Please excuse the shake in my voice when I ask her a question, I was talking to my travel idol, you can only image all the nerves running in body)

So with that being said, I kept telling myself that 2014 was going to be my year (just like every other year is) and I truly made sure it was. I did some amazing things and accomplished so many awesome goals (Europe, job promotion, etc). Today, I want to share with everyone another great moment of my 2014 year.

I want to share a little story of one of the many reasons why I decided traveling was going to be one my life goals. It all starts with one person. Samantha Brown.

Yes, we all know her as the ‘girl with the best job in the world’, because let’s face it, she does.

But for those of you who actually have no idea who this woman is (shame on you as a traveler if you do not) here’s a quick little bio of her. For a full bio, just check out her website here.

Samantha Brown is a travel channel host for The Travel Channel since 2000. She hosted programs like Great Hotels (my favorite), Passport to Europe, Great Weekends, etc. She’s the “all-American girl next door” with a very upbeat personality that people from all over love to watch.

Now, Samantha Brown, she’s my travel idol. I started watching her on Great Hotels and thought she was the coolest woman on the planet. She got to stay in all these beautiful hotels around the world, for free I must add, and that’s how I got this big ol’ fixation of whenever I go to hotel rooms to look at the entire place and see if I got a beautiful room and what kind of amenities it had.

I’ve been watching her since I was a little girl and have always thought of her as a successful travel channel host, something I’ve always dreamed about doing. I mean I even decided to go onto the hosting route by getting my degree in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Radio, Television, and Film. So videos and writing is my life.

Whenever I watched her on-screen it made me want to be at that place she was talking about, ride that ride she’s on, eat the food the locals call great. So forever I’ve always had a thing for trying to document all my travels and show the world all the cool places I’ve been to, no matter how small or big they are.

So thank goodness for the internet and for blogging, I officially have my jumpstart to achieving my dream of becoming a travel channel host. While I have not been to any super awesome cool off-the beaten path places, I have been to quite a few places that I believe people can enjoy seeing and reading about. I can only hope that with my blog posts of videos, photos, and writing that it’ll make you want to travel the world and really get out of the box some people live in.

As I read in some random astrology book at Barnes and Noble, as a Libra I tend to stick to reality and not really take risks or go out of my comfort zone. So I’m great to go to for a reality check, but apparently I have a hard time at dreaming big and achieving them because I apparently think I would never make it, so why bother when I’m comfortable.

I don’t want to be known as someone who never took risks in her life, I want to put my two cents in this world we live in and really take risks that people can remember me by. And along with that, I want to invite people to come along for the ride and experience the successes and failures I will embark when I get out of my comfort zone and travel the world.

My biggest dream, which has become my reality, has always been to travel. And to add to that, I want to travel and capture every moment of it and share it with the world because like Samantha Brown, I want to inspire people to jump out of their comfort zones and take risks and travel the world and tell other people’s story along the way.

While I may be stuck in my hometown, there is a lot more to it than I can imagine. I need to appreciate that and then keep taking steps to achieve my dream of being a travel host and exploring the world and taking you all along for the ride.

So, what I want to do is thank Samantha Brown. She helped open my eyes to the big world we live in and to travel into the unfamiliar no matter how scary it may be. And best of all, to do it with a smile on my face.

She has been my inspiration to being a travel host and is still a big idol of mine. While I had a very awesome and great 2014 year, I assure you every year for now on will be better and better. I finally met the lady who inspired me to document all my travels and share it with the world and really take all the risks in traveling just so I can enjoy the beautiful and unfamiliar world we live in.

If you haven’t already checked out the video above, well go back and view it or you can check it out on my YouTube page! I mean I finally met and even got to talk to and make a video with my travel idol at the Travel & Adventure Expo that was held at the San Diego Convention Center earlier this year and that, in my opinion, is awesome!

I still can’t believe I was able to meet her this year, let alone make a video with her as she wished me good luck on my travels to Europe.

Cheers to all my travelers and to Samantha Brown who deserves a round. She is my inspiration. And I can only hope that I can inspire people to take risks and travel the world as much as she did with me. So keep dreaming big and work hard my travelers! Remember that I believe in you. 🙂

Cheers xx

I met Samantha Brown at the Travel and Adventure Expo Shows. Their shows run from San Diego to Washington DC. San Diego has two shows on 02/14/2015 – 02/15/2015. For other expo show dates, please refer to their website.