Searching for a way to fulfill your wanderlust?
“There are lots of ways to travel and dream about the world without leaving your home right now,” says television host and producer Darley Newman of PBS’s Travels with Darley. Follow the globetrotter as she experiences the food, culture and history of various destinations. Episode reruns air weekdays at 3:30 pm through June 3 on NJTV.
“From quirky adventures like surfing in Dubai to dipping into hot springs in Japan and visiting glaciers in Alaska, our world is so varied and fascinating,” says Newman.
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Due to the coronavirus, we may not be able to pack our bags and jet off on a new adventure right now—but Newman has a few at-home recommendations for eager travelers.
She’s keeping busing by looking through photos and videos of past trips and creating digital scrapbooks. Newman also proposes sharing some of these memories on social media “as a way to help others dream and learn.” Beyond reminiscing, explorers can also indulge in trip planning, she suggests: “Take the time to look at itineraries and places you might want to visit in the future and learn about them.”
Newman first became enamored with traveling during a European trip when she was a freshman in high school. Growing up in South Carolina, Newman loved horseback riding. This passion led to her first series, Equitrekking. The Emmy-winning PBS show let her journey around the globe on horseback. Since, she’s created other travel series, including Travels with Darley. Both are available on Amazon Prime.
In her new season of Travels with Darley, Newman traverses South Korea—one of her favorite excursions yet. She chowed down on Seoul street food, went horseback riding on the beach and spent some time on Jeju Island, known as the Hawaii of Asia.
“I met a community of women on the island, called the Haenyeo, who for centuries have gone free diving in the sometimes chilly ocean waters to harvest seafood,” says Newman. She had the opportunity to dive with them—wetsuit and all—in November. “Though I was super cold, it was such a cool adventure to get let into their community to experience their challenging but rewarding way of life.”
She adds: “It’s one of the privileges of traveling and telling stories for a living.”