TRAVEL EDITOR’S NOTE I’m optimistic once we are again allowed to travel we’re going to see a tourism boom not seen since the 1960s. Until then, be safe and avoid any unnecessary travel. For those looking to travel vicariously (or seeking to plan your next trip once we have a new normal), we asked freelancer Jay Gentile to update his list of the best travel shows to binge watch. I’d also like to thank those who have shared their travel stories and postcards — I’ll share them with our readers when I can. Travel Dave Pottinger, [email protected]

VancouVer Sun Saturday, april 4, 2020 paGe c10

Starring Vancouver travel journalist Robin Esrock, and Julia Dimon, Word Travels takes viewers into the world of travel writing in a show spanning 36 countries. Word Travels Best online trAvel shows 10 Now is the perfect opportunity to discover a new favourite program to feed your wanderlust while sidelined at home, writes Jay Gentile.

Anthony BourdAin: do, and visits with local militia PArts unknown groups to learn about the Second Long regarded as the travel Amendment. They also spend show against which all other time on Chicago’s South Side at travel shows are judged, Antho- a rap video shoot, explore why ny Bourdain changed the game Portland is the strip-club capital in food-focused television the of the United States, and throw minute his award-winning show their own street parade in New debuted on CNN in 2013. While Orleans. many have tried, no one has been able to uncover the soul of word trAvels: the truth a place and its people quite like Behind the Byline the legendary former chef and Although it is listed on Amazon author. as World Travels, the correct With effortless cool and name of the show is Word Trav- respectful curiosity, Bourdain els. The world of travel writing is uses food to open up discovery of explored and demystified in this a place and its people across all Amazon Prime travel series star- corners of the globe. While his ring Vancouver travel journalist oft-imitated masterwork Parts Robin Esrock, and Julia Dimon. Unknown is no longer stream- Filmed in 36 countries spanning ing on Netflix, it is currently six continents over the course of available for purchase on several three seasons, the series follows platforms, including YouTube the seasoned pros as they search and iTunes. Benjamin Rich, of YouTube’s Bald and Bankrupt, makes a new friend in Belarus. NeTflix for travel stories with unique angles they can sell to their BAld And BAnkruPt boozy with the locals or ride behind destinations that most unPlAnned AmericA editors. This entertaining YouTube questionable modes of transport would never think to visit, from Sometimes the best way to see This includes profiling the series follows British traveller (including a dodgy freight car in Iraq and Afghanistan to North a place is through the eyes of a Indigenous female wrestlers Benjamin Rich as he explores Mauritania) along the way. He Korea and Iran. You will come foreigner. Such is the case with of Bolivia, exploring one of the little-visited destinations across showcases a side of the world away with an entirely new per- the Aussie trio of Nick, Parv, world’s oldest circuses in Latvia, the world. Mostly focused in that few ever see, packaged with spective on these destinations and Gonzo, who explore unique and swimming in the crater former Soviet states like Moldova a playful sense of humour and after watching Fisher interview aspects of American culture of a chocolate mud volcano in and Belarus while also including irreverent charisma that makes friendly locals, film beautiful you certainly won’t find in the Colombia, among other adven- travels from India to Africa, Rich his show close to irresistible. landscapes, and showcase a guidebooks throughout their tures. In addition to providing (often under the screen moniker daily slice of normal life in these four-season Amazon Prime trav- the viewer with interesting Bald) shows no fear as he explores indigo trAveller countries. elogue. information on the destinations, some of the world’s most danger- If you want to learn about the Some of Fisher’s addition- Their eye-opening, hipster-ap- they also offer behind-the-scenes ous neighbourhoods just looking world beyond the headlines, turn al adventures include getting proved tour of the American details on how they file their to make friends and get a better to this YouTube channel from banned from filming in public in underground includes stops at an stories and navigate ethical understanding of the local people. New Zealand globetrotter Nick Venezuela, spending “one day as off-the-grid community in New issues like promoting tourism in He is also unafraid to decry Fisher. The affable Kiwi show- a tourist in Somalia,” and going Mexico, a strange encounter with lesser-developed regions. government corruption, get cases the humanity and beauty hitchhiking across Ethiopia. a “cannabis shaman” in Colora- see travel shows on C11 travel Saturday, april 4, 2020 VancouVer Sun c11

Tales by Light is a National Geographic series depicting the journeys of acclaimed photographers as they travel to remote destinations to tell the story behind the image. Netflix zest for adventure travel shows from c10 series (produced in collaboration with Canon) depicts the journeys Somebody Feed Phil of acclaimed photographers as “I’m exactly like Anthony they travel to remote destina- Bourdain if he was afraid of tions to tell the story behind the everything,” Everybody Loves image. Raymond creator Phil Rosen- In its quest “to capture disap- thal says he told Netflix when pearing worlds” while providing pitching his food travel series, imagery that could help save Somebody Feed Phil. endangered species and cultures Indeed, Rosenthal proves the from Utah to Ethiopia, the series anti-Bourdain in this nerdy but takes the viewer along for the ride lovable travelogue full of dorky as the photographers chronicle outfits and flaccid dad jokes that ancient death rituals in India and plays out in low-impact fashion indigenous clans in Papua New over two six-episode seasons. Guinea in between efforts to pho- Exploring well-known locales tograph elusive snow leopards in like Venice and New Orleans the Himalayas and human-friend- sprinkled in with a few more ly sharks in the Bahamas. With eccentric offerings like Cape different experts in the fields of Town and Tel Aviv, Rosenthal’s nature photography, adventure show lacks the sharp point of Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father is a classic odd-couple pairing. Netflix sports photography and even view or journalistic insights of underwater photography often Parts Unknown but makes up for rotating between episodes, this it with an infectious optimism show will put your Instagram and earnest desire for human travel selfies to shame. connection. The show’s cheesy theme song declares Phil “a hap- breakFaSt, lunch & dinner py and hungry man,” and maybe In a style that comes off as that’s exactly what the world something akin to a mash-up of needs right now. Parts Unknown and Jerry Sein- feld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Jack Whitehall: Coffee, this Netflix original series travelS With my Father finds celebrity chef David Chang In a classic odd couple pairing, (creator of the Netflix food travel 31-year-old British comic Jack series Ugly Delicious) hitting the Whitehall and his prim and prop- road with a rotating cast of celeb- er 79-year-old father tour South- rities as they seek to explore the east Asia and eastern Europe over food and culture of various des- the course of three seasons in Someone Feed Phil follows Phil Rosenthal in this nerdy Three Australians explore unique aspects of American tinations across North America, this Netflix original series. Taking but lovable travelogue. Netflix culture in Unplanned America. AmAzoN Prime Africa, and Asia over the course advantage of a “gap year” for of four food-packed episodes. season one, they tour Cambodia, isode third season has them enterprise of “dark tourism” in in Kentucky (where visitors are That means watching Chang Thailand, and Vietnam, with the wandering the States from L.A. to this wholly unique eight-episode voluntarily tortured.) Proving getting stoned with Seth Rog- fun-loving Jack eager to partake Vegas, with stops along the way docuseries, which has him touring that travel isn’t all eating pasta en as they stuff their faces in in playful activities like parkour for acting lessons and naked yoga. the sites of Jeffrey Dahmer’s mur- in Italy and taking photos of the Vancouver, exploring Marrakesh while his father, Michael, is lust- ders in Milwaukee, hanging out Eiffel Tower, this show is a must with Chrissy Teigen, uncover- ing after fancier accommodations dark touriSt with death cults in Mexico City, for fans of the macabre. ing great food in a Los Angeles than the ones Jack books. If your vacation itinerary and exploring the slums of South bowling alley with Lena Waithe, They both seek to deepen their involves trips to creepy aban- Africa among other activities. taleS by light and wandering Phnom Penh relationship through travel and doned cities and barren nuclear The show succeeds mainly in If a picture is worth 1,000 with Kate McKinnon. While teach other things along the way, testing grounds, Netflix series its ability to shed light on untold words, this Australian docuseries you might not walk away with with Jack getting his father to Dark Tourist may be your stories and settings like a “sui- might end up being longer than the most comprehensive under- loosen up at times (they even get (clearly sugar-free) cup of tea. cide forest” in Japan (where over the Bible. Through the course standing of each destination, the matching tattoos at one point). New Zealand journalist David 100 bodies were found in 2013) of three six-episode seasons on show is compelling and rarely The recently released two-ep- Farrier explores the budding and an “extreme” haunted house Netflix, this National Geographic lacking in entertainment value.

Travel brieFs Thrill rides come ally opens its season on May 1, comments to make the sessions Canadian buoy, still recording “My heart is breaking for all to living room but that has been postponed even more interactive. To check temperatures and relaying data of us today,” she posted. Stuff. until at least mid-May. it out, follow @TravelSaintLucia via satellite, came in with the tide co.nz said the passengers burst As the world rides a roll- on Instagram. at White Park Bay, Northern Ire- into a round of applause over er-coaster of bad news related Caribbean isle brings land, the Daily Express reported. her farewell message. Appleton to COVID-19, Canada’s biggest sunshine in dark times Canadian gizmo among was part of a New Zealand-based amusement park is riding out U.K. beach relics Flight attendant’s trans-Tasman operation that is the storm with virtual thrills. Saint Lucia is bringing a little tearful farewell being shut down by the airline as Canada’s Wonderland, north of sunshine into the lives of vaca- A Canadian research buoy that the COVID-19 pandemic devas- Toronto, is reminding self-isolat- tion-starved Canadians with a was still transmitting data has A New Zealand flight attendant tates the aviation sector. ers that all its 34 rides and coast- social-media travel series. The washed up on a British beach. has spoken of her anguish over Andre Ramshaw ers can be experienced online, Caribbean island is inviting Other oddities found along the the grounding of nearly all inter- through its YouTube channel. “If people to follow the series on In- U.K. coast: sonar equipment national air travel in a heartfelt you’re self-isolating or stuck with stagram as the coronavirus pan- from Texas, fly spray from Rus- farewell message shared with the kids at home and looking demic crushes holiday dreams sia, Prohibition-era rum from passengers. In a tearful video on for something exciting to do, we around the world. Virtual guests the U.S. and a litter bin from an Facebook that is sure to strike thought we’d offer up the rides at will be able to make a tropical English city 110 km inland. The a nerve with flight crews every- Canada’s Wonderland and bring cocktail with locally made rum, list was compiled by the Brit- where, Cassy Appleton said her the amusement park to you!” the cook up an authentic Saint ish charity the National Trust, emotions were “indescribable” attraction said in a statement. Lucian dish and discover yoga which oversees the 1,200 km of after being told she was losing The virtual rides offer a point- and meditation sessions amid its coastline in England, Scotland her job. The video shows Apple- of-view perspective of its 16 dramatic mountain range, the and Northern Ireland, as part ton delivering her final on-board roller-coasters, 11 thrill rides and Pitons, the Saint Lucia Tourism of a drive to protect the marine announcement with Virgin Aus- Authority said. Online partici- environment and encourage tralia during a flight to Dunedin, AAron SAunderS seven family rides, the park said. Ports Bows pants will be able to submit live litter-picking by visitors. The on New Zealand’s South Island. + Canada’s Wonderland tradition- will return