Travels With Darley talking about SEASON TEN!

 

Thank you to Travels with Darley for joining me on my podcast!

Lisa and Darley at the NYC Travel and Adventure Show Feb 18, 2023

Recognized in Forbes for her “PBS Travel Empire,” Darley Newman is the creator and host of Emmy Award-winning series “Travels with Darley” and “Equitrekking” broadcast on PBS, Amazon Prime, Ovation TV JOURNY, Wondrium and networks in over 85 nations. Having led production teams in over 25 nations and 26 states, her filmmaking adventures include traversing one of the world’s largest salt pans in Africa, free diving in South Korea, swimming with sharks in Dubai and biking the WWI ‘red zone’ in northeast France. Her series takes viewers to remote and stunning locations to reveal fascinating global cultures, adventure and cuisine, and inspire viewers to break out of their comfort zone to learn more about the world. She’s received six Daytime Emmy Award nominations, for hosting, writing, producing and best series, and has been honored with two Telly awards and the North American Travel Journalist Award. She recently completed her 10th season and 59th half hour of “Travels with Darley.”

Check out Season 10 of Travels With Darley:

Travels with Darley Season 10 Promo from Darley Newman on Vimeo.

Darley-Newman.com

DarleyCNewman.com

Travels with Darley 10th Season Special Edition T-Shirt https://www.darleycnewman.com/shop

Follow Darley on Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn // TikTok // Facebook 

Darley Newman and Lisa Niver at The Mar Vista Sept 16, 2019

Lisa Niver:

Good morning. This is Lisa Niver from We Say Go Travel and I’m so honored to be here today with Darley Newman. Hi Darley.

Darley Newman:
Hi Lisa. Good to see you again.

Lisa Niver:
In a short amount of time we’ve been so lucky to be together in real life in Los Angeles, in New York. Who knows where we’re going to meet up next besides here on the internet.

Darley Newman:
Maybe Türkiye?

Lisa Niver:

I hope to go with you there. Congratulations first of all on 10 seasons with your PBS show. That’s really incredible.

Darley Newman:

Thank you. We’ve done a lot of episodes now. 59 half hours. I’ve written a lot of scripts.

Lisa Niver:

It’s really impressive. Congratulations just to even get started at all — let alone to get to 59 episodes. I know that you’ve done a lot of different things with video, with production, with travel. Tell people a little about how you got on this path because I’m sure you have people come up to you all the time and say you have my dream job.

Darley Newman:
Oh my gosh. Totally. You know, it is a dream job. It’s a lot of work but I love it. I figure if I’m going to be working every day anyway I might as well work on something I love and get to travel. That’s really why I started the series. I caught the travel bug early and I wanted to try and see the world and thought if I have to be in an office every day how am I going to go out there and see the world. I don’t want to wait until I retire. I want to do it now.

So, I came up with the idea for my first series on PBS which was Equitrekking and did 35 half hours of and went horseback riding all around the world and learned so much doing that series and really felt like the theme of what I was doing is similar to what I’m doing now with traveling with locals and getting those insights from people who live in the destinations.

That’s what I do with Travels with Darley and now we’ve been everywhere from Los Angeles to Little Rock Arkansas and Türkiye and Istanbul and France and a lot of different places but through that local perspective on what it is like to really live there and be there and also the history and culture and, of course, the food because food is so important in life in general.

Lisa Niver:

You really have covered so many places but say a little bit more about how you first caught the travel bug. Did someone in your family take you on an adventure or did a teacher inspire you? Did you get the bug in school or you read a book, how’d it happen?

Darley Newman:

So, I’ve always been really curious about things in general and always asking why, but I was able to take a trip in high school. I actually went with my friend’s family on a European cruise and it was amazing. It was a smaller cruise ship. It was luxurious. We went to France. We went to Italy. We went to Greece, and I’d never been to Europe before and I was in ninth grade and it was really life changing. The food was amazing and the architecture, the history, and I thought wow, I’m just seeing Europe for the first time.

I had been to Mexico and Caribbean but hadn’t been to Europe before and I thought there’s a whole world out there that I would love to experience and see. I mean, not even just in Europe. I went on to go to Asia and other places but I really caught the travel bug then. I had a couple trips with my family to do different adventures but getting to go to Italy and try Neapolitan pizza in Naples for the first time and seeing all the ruins in Greece, I was like wow this is something I really need to experience and I’m enjoying learning so much more about other cultures as I get to these places.

That’s how I got started. It was being invited on a trip and saying can I go. Yes. Okay. Wonderful.

Lisa Niver:

Well, you know what’s funny is that’s actually a lot of how I also got started. I went on a cruise in the Mediterranean with my family and saw a lot of similar things. Of course, I went on to work on the ship and you went on horseback…so, were you horseback riding as a child, is that how you got started with Equitrekking?

Darley Newman:
I actually started horseback riding at summer camp. One of the things I loved going to camps as a kid is you could try so many different things. I was doing archery and karate and theatre and painting and pottery, but horseback riding was an activity that I just really gravitated towards and being able to learn at a young age. I was six years old. I was one of the youngest campers there and in the mountains of North Carolina, and just really fell in love with being outside on a horse. I’m sure the mountain air and the beautiful scenery didn’t hurt.

I mean, there’s something just special about exploring on a horse and being with horses in general and they have such a different demeaner. Everyone says that horses really reveal a lot about you when you interact with them and I think that’s been really true, and I’ve seen that more and more as I’ve gotten those experiences because I do horseback riding adventures now with Travels with Darley as well and I’ve done a lot of stuff on the ground like ground work with horses and also riding and it’s just such an amazing experience.

Lisa Niver:
Wow. That is all incredible. I’m curious since you started so young– people always ask me what could possibly still be on your bucket list. I know that you still have a lot on your bucket list, because the more places you go the more places you see. Where are some of the adventures you really want to still tackle?

Darley Newman:
I definitely want to do more travel within Asia. I haven’t been to Thailand yet. I got to go to Cambodia, which was an amazing trip but Thailand would be on my list not only because I love to eat Thai food and I’d love to go over to Thailand and try some more authentic Thai cuisine but because I hear such great and fascinating things about Thailand. That’s definitely on my list. More of Asia in general. I would love to venture throughout South America a bit more. I’ve done Uruguay but getting over to Argentina I think would be really fascinating and of course they’ve got a great horse culture there, wonderful outdoor scenery.

I think just experiencing more of these different things. Antarctica might be on my list but it’s not as high. A lot of people are going to Antarctica right now and doing these expedition cruises which is a bucket list item for so many people. I think I would like to do that but I have a lot of other places that are a bit higher ranking right now. So, hopefully I can juggle my schedule to get to all of them or at least figure out some film trips to these spots.

Lisa Niver:

Well, it’s so amazing. how do you pick? I know season 10 has amazing things. Like you were in a sidecar and sometimes you were in costume and you flew in the treetops. How do you figure what’s going in the next season? Are you already working on season 11 or how does that work?

Darley Newman:
I am. I’m always looking for something distinctive in the destinations now. It started really a couple of years ago when I did this year where I did some really extreme adventure activities. I did the world’s highest commercial bungee. I swam with sharks in Dubai. I did the world’s highest commercial climbing wall in Reno, Nevada. I feel like the adventures started to seek me out because then people heard I was doing these adventures and then they would say… You can do a zipline roller coaster in the eastern townships of Quebec which is what I just did on this recent season which was really fun actually and also cycling through the trees.

There’s also a lot of unique things out there if you start to look in different locations. I definitely look for those when I’m planning a new season and then I always intertwine. I’m looking for more exotic foods and interesting foods now too that have a story behind them. I feel like anything that has a good story can be fodder for a great travel adventure and a lot of those places are open to the public and accessible. Those are places I look to profile because as you know people want to watch and go to those places, whether they’re looking at your podcast or hearing about it on my show. It’s something that they can go and recreate, and I think that’s what makes it really cool.

Lisa Niver:
Yes. I agree with you. I love that you were in costume in Quebec and the cycle car. I think it does make such good television moments and I like that you’re looking for stuff people can go and do because sometimes people say to me I saw what you did. Can I do it too.…Have you done the Edge Walk at the CN Tower in Toronto?

Darley Newman:
I haven’t been there yet. No.

Lisa Niver:
Unfortunately, the day I was there it was raining but they still go in the rain. It’s only cancelled for lightning. I like what you said about adventure searches you out because when I was just in New York at the conference with you –someone said to me– have you done the City Climb? So, I did the skyscraper climb in New York. I don’t know if you’ve done it yet.

Darley Newman:
No. Is that over The Edge?

Lisa Niver:
YES! The Edge in Hudson Yards. We should have gone together. That would have been so fun.

Darley Newman:

We should have. That would have been awesome.

Lisa Niver:
Next time I come we’ll do an adventure.

Darley Newman:
I love it. I love it.

Lisa Niver:
I agree with you it’s important to find adventure. What do you say to people who see your adventures and say I could never do that. Like what would your advice be to people who want to take a bigger step to being a bit more brave?

Darley Newman:
Well, of course everything is personal. Something that I do, someone else may not do and vice versa but I think it’s important to sometimes get out of your comfort zone whether that’s going on a trip to France to try to learn the language and that might be a true adventure. Or going to take a cooking class somewhere. Those are all things that are so personal but I think stepping out of your comfort zone every once in a while is really good for you because it’s amazing how much it teaches you about yourself and about other people in the world.

I was surprised at how emotional I got when I did the bungee, even during it. It was really an emotional experience and I thought it would just be scary and adventurous and I’d be filled with adrenalin, but it really made me emotional…well, probably because my life flashed before my eyes that I was like why am I doing this.

Lisa Niver:
Oh my gosh. It was the first time you ever did a bungee jump?

Darley Newman:

This was my first-time bungee jumping.

Lisa Niver:

And you did the highest one!

Darley Newman:
It’s in the Guinness Book of World Records and you go off of the Macau Tower. So, it is an actual tower with concrete and a city beneath you. So, it’s not like you’re in New Zealand and there’s water beneath you. You’re going with your arms out. You go face first and it’s pretty intense. It’s super intense. I don’t know if I could do it again. I’m just going to be honest. I did it. It was intense. My adrenalin was — I can’t even tell you. The whole rest of the day I was jacked up. I was like what are we doing next? What are we doing next?

Lisa Niver:

I think that’s good for people to hear because I think that there’s a perception that you’re not afraid of anything and you just do everything and that’s not true for any of us, and you know, I still get lost. I still get confused. Sometimes I have a flight delay. Everybody has the same kind of drama with travel. We don’t have secret super powers.

Darley Newman:
No. It’s all about your perspective on things. I did know that was relatively safe. It’s pretty safe to do that, the bungee. I wasn’t so worried that I was really going to die, but when you’re doing the jump and you’re very focused on this because I want to follow the instructions properly so I don’t hurt myself.

Lisa Niver:

That’s another good point for people listening or watching that we are not doing stuff unattended. We are going to places that have a safety rating. At City Climb, the two cables can hold two rhinoceros and I said I’m pretty sure I weigh less than one rhinoceros, so I’ll be okay. It’s not like somebody has got a piece of twine and we’re jumping off of buildings. These are things which we feel are good risks.

Lisa Niver:
They are good risks.

Darley Newman:

Again, it is something that when you’re in a location and you can do that adventure and it’s not really in that many other places or it’s really nowhere else– then it does make it special. That’s why I say yes to a lot of those things because I think when else am I going to be here and get this opportunity and I made it to this place far far away from my homeland. Let’s just dive in. Yeah. Let’s do it.

Lisa Niver:

When you’re out and about is everything planned in advance? Are you seeing what you find with locals? What’s your style?

Darley Newman:
When I’m filming for the show, Travels with Darley, I’m doing a lot of stuff that’s planned but a lot of stuff does come up that’s just not planned because that’s the nature of travel. That’s the nature of weather changing and somebody getting sick that you’re with. In Hong Kong, I ended up at the Hong Kong medicinal doctor buying herbs with my location fixer guy who was sick and he wanted to go to that doctor. So, I got that whole experience of what is it like to go to the Chinese doctor, and he actually checked me out and prescribed some herbs for me to help me sleep better when I’m traveling and I thought wow, and we filmed it and we put it in the show. So, that was totally unplanned.

A lot of the food stuff can be unplanned too. I was just in Mexico at the International Folk Art Market and I’m saw this sign in the distance for the New Mexico state cookie, the official state cookie of New Mexico. Of course, we have to do that. We have to have the New Mexico state cookie and the family who started the business was there. The whole family was there. It was a great opportunity to meet them and hear the story and we filmed that too. A lot of stuff is definitely planned. A lot comes up. It’s just fun and interesting when you’re in a new location and you can see it and experience it.

Lisa Niver:
And what’s the New Mexico state cookie like?

Darley Newman:
It’s called the Bisco chito and in different parts of the state they actually say it and pronounce it differently but it’s almost like a shortbread cookie, but they do all of these different iterations of it. So, you can get one that’s like a spicy jalapeno and a cheesy one and all these different ingredients that go into it but it’s a recipe that’s pretty old in New Mexico. It comes over originally from the Spanish who came over that way. So, there’s a lot of history behind it and a lot of fun fodder around the legends attached to it and all that stuff, and meeting the family who got it into legislation and legislated as New Mexico’s official state cookie. These people are dedicated to that cookie. So, no better place to try it.

Lisa Niver:
What an incredible moment. In New Mexico, didn’t you also do some pottery?

Darley Newman:

I actually did pottery in this season in Cappadocia in Türkiye and that was…I was out with the Einstein of pottery. That’s another one where I knew I was going to do a pottery segment in Avanos and go to Cappadocia which is known for its pottery but I didn’t know that I would get to have him on camera because we didn’t know his availability. So, sometimes you’re just lucky and it works out. With today’s schedules it’s hard to sometimes get people that you want to be there.

I was lucky to have him, and his name is Jay Gallop and he’s really well known throughout the world and has this awesome studio there and has workshops and classes. He’s trained a lot of female potters and pottery was traditionally male oriented in Türkiye. Now a lot of women are doing it because they’ve come to Avanos and learned the craft there. I thought that was a neat story and that’s how he met his wife. She was there trying to learn pottery. They ended up getting married, having kids, and she helps with the family business.

I got a little bit of a lesson with him even though I’m not great at pottery. I hadn’t done it since I was a child at my summer camp experience.

Lisa Niver:
Wow. I also do pottery. I saw that picture and I thought I really want to do that. It’s something so special to take mud and make art. I’m so glad you got to do that.

Darley Newman:
It was really interesting Lisa. I think you would like it because also the clay there is really special. It has a mix of volcanic soil and they get different soil from the mountains and they mix it and when they add the water he held it up to my ear and I could hear it almost crackling. It was almost like pop rocks in the mud. It has a different consistency. So, it’s pretty interesting to be able to work with it. That’s one of the reasons why the pottery there is so unique and special.

Lisa Niver:

Well, I can certainly see why you’ve had so many episodes and so many Emmy awards because you just exude the excitement about the place, and I know I really want to go and I know everyone else wants to go. Can people travel with you? Do you lead groups or how do they find you?

Darley Newman:

You can’t travel with me yet though I’ve done some special things where people have won the opportunity to come on some of our filming adventures. I might do some stuff coming up, so stay tuned about that! But, for right now, I’m mostly traveling and connecting with people on social media. I’m doing a lot of live streams as I travel, which I think is fun. So, on Facebook and I also work with Smithsonian Associates and I livestream out about destinations. I just did one from Bordeaux over the summer. In Colorado, I did one.

So, I’m on location going live and sharing it out on different platforms and people follow along and get to interact and that’s where you really never know what’s going to happen because not only can the technology fail but you’re just out in the world. We were walking through Bordeaux down the promenade down by the water and we’re just literally on a live stream. I was there with one of my friends who’s French and we go live. So, we had it planned out, but you can’t really plan everything for that either. That was definitely an adventure.

Lisa Niver:
Tell us more about what’s happening with Smithsonian. You’re doing lectures?

Darley Newman:
I do. I’ve been doing a series where I do a deep dive into different locations. I just did one on Bordeaux and I’m on for an hour and a half teaching about the place and sharing my tips for what you want to do while you’re there, insider information, and I bring on live guests who are experts…they’re tour guides or they have knowledge of the history.

When I did one in Quebec, I actually brought on the guide that I used in Quebec City. When I got dressed up, because you can take his tour and he does these different festivals and he’ll bring a costume for you, so you can be historically accurate when you’re walking around and it was really fun. I mean, I have to say I looked a bit ridiculous.

Lisa Niver:
No. You didn’t look ridiculous. I saw a picture. I thought you looked super cute.

Darley Newman:

I enjoyed the experience. I said I’ll wear that outfit while I walk around, and I was walking around Quebec City and it was so funny because we were standing out anyway because we were filming this. So, we have our cameras going but this woman was yelling at me from Petit Champlain which is one of the famous shopping streets and she called out my name and I looked over and it was a girlfriend from college I haven’t seen in 20 years, and she recognized me and she was there with her family on vacation. So, it was fun to reconnect, but she never would have seen me if I hadn’t been in costume or filming but I feel like if you’re going to be in a costume people might say hi to you.

Lisa Niver:
It’s really impressive. So, you’ve been to 85 nations. Is that right?

Darley Newman:

My show has been broadcast in 85 nations.

I’ve been to a lot of destinations and I’ve been to a lot of the USA. I do a lot of the US if you watch both series. I just did Delaware as a state. I’ve done North Dakota, Alaska. I’ve done New Mexico a couple of times. So, I’ve been to a lot of US destinations and I’m trying to hit as many of those as possible because I think sometimes people overlook what’s right here. Especially we learned that during the pandemic. I think everyone started to travel more in their own areas or close to home. I think it’s important to do and I’m looking forward to continuing to get to new states that I may have been to before myself but then to film them. I think it’s great to share that content and information with other people.

Lisa Niver:
I’m ready to go travel with you. We should do a show together. One time when Darley and I were together in Los Angeles we showed up wearing the exact same outfit, so we’ll add the picture because that was so funny, but tell everybody — if they want more which of course they do –where can they watch your show and how can they get connected with you?

Darley Newman:
You can watch Travels with Darley on your local PBS station. It’s on Create TV which is a PBS lifestyle channel. It’s also on Ovation TV’s journey which puts it onto the apps. Through their own apps, Samsung TV, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire. And then I’m also on social media doing a lot of lives and content through @DarleyNewman and Facebook at Travels with Darley.

Lisa Niver:
Can you give us a hint of where you’re going or is it a secret?

Darley Newman:
I’m going back to Alabama. I had done two episodes on the Civil Rights trail there two years ago and I’m going back to focus in on food. When I was there, I got to eat some of the world’s best barbeque in Selma, Alabama but I’m going back to cover food throughout the state and do some other adventure activities. Then I’m going to Louisiana and I’m going to be doing a lot along the east coast right from my home area of New York and beyond, so it should be an interesting season.

Lisa Niver:
Oh my gosh, that’s so exciting. So, one thing I’m putting on your bucket list is to do a cooking class in Thailand because I think that you would love it and also just to say the most giant thank you. It was so great to see you recently in New York, and I hope everyone will watch your show everywhere and follow you on social media. So, thank you Darley Newman from Travels with Darley — we’re sending you good thoughts to go to Thailand and thank you so much.

Darley Newman:
Thank you Lisa. I appreciate it.

Lisa, Darley, Angel and David celebrating TRAVELS with DARLEY in Los Angeles, Sept 16, 2019

PODCAST LINKS

Amazon Music/Podcast

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c0965f2f-6888-4d59-b4fe-052c79dda3de/episodes/1fd38192-621d-4abf-9a22-7f680f02aabe/make-your-own-map-are-you-ready-to-be-brave-travels-with-darley-talking-about-season-ten

Apple Music/Podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/travels-with-darley-talking-about-season-ten/id1669157721?i=1000604350233

Audible Podcast

https://www.audible.com/pd/B0BYKCT15F

iHeart Radio/Podcast

Lisa Ellen Niver

Lisa Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries on six continents. This University of Pennsylvania graduate sailed across the seas for seven years with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Renaissance Cruises and spent three years backpacking across Asia. Discover her articles in publications from AARP: The Magazine and AAA Explorer to WIRED and Wharton Magazine, as well as her site WeSaidGoTravel. On her award nominated global podcast, Make Your Own Map, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors, and as a journalist has been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and two National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty-two times. Named a #3 travel influencer for 2023, Niver talks travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, her YouTube channel with over 2 million views, and in her memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.

2 responses to “Travels With Darley talking about SEASON TEN!

  1. Hey Lisa.i personally take this opportunity to tell you that,how could you make it to visit all this countries?I think this is your passion that is in built.or this is your hobby,I appreciate and love your lifestyle. You seem to have alot of knowledge on ethics and cultural livings of people in different origins.respect

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