The Traveler's Guide to Life, Episode 1, Premiered, Featuring Gluttonous Man V. Food Host Adam Richman

The Traveler's Guide to Life, Episode 1, premiered on Travel Channel Wednesday night, featuring Man v. Food host Adam Richman. The show over the course of 30 minutes covered the some of the favorite travel memories of several entertainment and sports celebrities like Joe Wengert, Melora Hardi, and Andre Ethier. Adam Richman has found some time between stuffing unhealthy food in his cheeks to actually gauge the various travel musings of "rich and famous" via The Traveler's Guide to Life. Unfortunately, this show has lots of vignettes but very little substance to them. It's like hopelessly gorging at all the offerings of a pizza buffet, something that's definitely in the spirit of the host of Man v. Food.

The Traveler's Guide to Life, Episode 1, Featured Too Many Soundbyte Memories of the "Beautiful People" Amidst Adam Richman Commentary

When a show is only a half hour in duration (including commercials), one would hope for some ample coverage of one, or at the most, a few things to just ponder. But with ten different people sharing their memories and the commentary of Adam Richman, the program really spread itself thin as the people shared very brief soundbytes, which exuded innocence and authenticity albeit ever so briefly. Actress Melora Hardi went backpacking around Europe with a Eurail Pass after graduating high school. She reminisced about her times in Italy, especially the coastal town of Sorrento. Writer Joe Wengert remembered his time on the Jersey shore, where he and several other kids stayed in the same dumpy hotel room and went crabbing, then cooked their catch and ate it in their sleeping quarters. Major Leaguer Andre Ethier gave a brief account of his time in Texas minor league baseball, where he spent lots of time in buses and hotels for several months during the season when the flags stood out straight because of the Texas gusts, though he got to experience "pure baseball."

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin discussed one of his real ultimate travel adventures of being on the first moon landing, which he found to be quite a fateful experience, as revealed on Episode 1 of The Traveler's Guide to Life. Writer Chad Gajadhar did a study abroad program in Spain, and while in Valencia, he ate some paella that contained a rabbit head, grossing him out. TV host Andrew Zimmern talked about canoeing an Ecuadorian river where he came across indigenous peoples who hadn't caught up with the modern times.

Jordan Romero is currently the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. He briefly discussed his trek up the great mountain and recalled calling his mother from the summit on Episode 1 of The Traveler's Guide to Life. Rob Stewart, an avid shark lover, went to the Galapagos Islands when he was roughly 19 years old. He was so excited about being at Darwin Island, but it reinforced his quest to help save sharks after seeing that sharks were even being hunted there, too. Actress Constance Marie went to Bora Bora with her fiancé. She was overwhelmed by the utter blue of the water and how sharing a song with her bellywarmer touched her deeply.

Finally, editor Erick Henson recalled taking his family to Costa Rica. They were interested in seeing a local rodeo, and Henson soon discovered that there's no official rodeo clowns to save the rider, but instead, the audience gets to play rodeo clown. For Henson, it was a scary experience trying to ditch the bull. A second episode of The Traveler's Guide to Life followed, discussing favorite travel memories of childhood.

The Traveler's Guide to Life Is Long on Offerings, but Short on Substance like an Adam Richman Orgy of Junk Food

Unfortunately, this attempt at making a redeeming travel program is pretty lame. The Travel Channel show premiere used cheap "Etch A Sketch-like" drawings as backdrops as the people shared their travel memories. They had little time to really discuss the meaning of travel, just passing anecdotes. It's the equivalent of the gluttonous Adam Richman going through plate after plate of hot wings or fatburgers without really giving it any thought except between burps. The programming of the Travel Channel has deteriorated so much over the years where the shows are more focused on shock value (like Adam Richman's grotesque gluttony) than offering substantive travel insights.

Sources:

"Travel," The Traveler's Guide to Life, January 26, 2011