Tags: born to explore, travel tv, travel shows, richard wiese, tom seligson, susan farewell
Our Executive Editor and Publisher, Tom Seligson, has always worn another hat. He's a long-time television producer. His latest project combines his love of travel and adventure with his experience telling vivid stories on television.
The new weekly series, which he is writes and executive produces, is called Born to Explore. It airs Saturday mornings on ABC (check local listings for the exact time in your area).
Seligson gives us the inside scoop on how the show is produced and what sets it apart from any other travel show you've ever seen.
FarewellTravels: Tell us about Born to Explore. What kind of show is it exactly?
Seligson: Born to Explore takes viewers on adventurous trips all over  the world. Each episode is centered around a mission. A typical mission may be learning how the Inuit in Labrador survive (despite being surrounded by bears), what is it about manatees that makes them such beloved creatures, or whether our host, Richard Wiese (right), has what it takes to live life on the Tiwi Islands, where the local aboriginal people still live as hunter-gatherers.
FarewellTravels: Who is Richard Wiese?
Seligson: Richard Wiese is someone who’s literally been an explorer all his life (hence the title of the series). He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro when he was eleven, and has since climbed it more than a dozen times, often leading inexperienced climbers to the top. He was the youngest president of the Explorers Club in its history. He has been a television correspondent for more than twenty years, specializing in science, meteorology and adventure which comes in handy on the new series. What also makes him a good host for television is his willingness to do almost anything to tell a good story. On the Tiwi Islands episode, he caught and then cooked and ate a snake. He fished for Barramundi in Australia, and raced a camel for the first time, also in Australia.
FarewellTravels: How much emphasis does the series place on wildlife?
Seligson: A lot of our episodes feature wildlife. We have a show on the legend of the Rainbow Serpent, which includes crocodiles and other creatures. We actually go out and capture a crocodile so he can be relocated.
In Belize, Richard swam with sharks and helped to capture and tag manatees. Later this season, we’ll be trekking in Uganda in search of gorillas.
But we don’t always travel that far from our base in Connecticut. We shot an episode about the bears and red wolves of North Carolina. They live in a wildlife refuge only ten minutes from the Outer Banks. Most vacationers don’t even know they’re there. The bears are all over the place, and the wolves there were literally brought back from extinction. It’s an extraordinary story.
FarewellTravels: How is Born to Explore different from other travel shows on television?
Seligson: Our primary difference is the emphasis we place on what we call “cultural geography.” In all our shows, we introduce the viewers to the cultures of the different people in our stories. For example, in the manatees’ episode, we wanted to explore the Mayan connection to manatees. We spent some time in a traditional Mayan village, where the people still live like their ancestors. The viewers get an intimate look at a culture they may have only read about. 
Another difference is that we’ve taken the testosterone out of adventure travel. Unlike Man Versus Wild, where the host is always pitting himself against the elements, testing to see whether or not he’ll survive, in Born to Explore, it’s rarely just a question of whether Richard will successfully stare down a gorilla, or wrestle with an alligator. He might do those things, but he’ll also learn how to make tortillas from scratch from a Mayan mother, or spend time with Inuit kids in Labrador.
FarewellTravels: Since you’re the Executive Producer, any interesting behind-the-scenes stories you can share?
Seligson: When we were filming the Rainbow Serpent episode, we had to travel through a very isolated section of the Northern Territory in Australia. We were on a rarely traveled dirt road. Within a half hour period, we got lost, stuck in the mud, and had to remove fallen trees from the road. We were also surrounded by wild fires on both sides of the road. Also it was the middle of the night. Though this certainly had all the elements of an adventure, let’s just say we were pleased when we finally arrived at the camp where we were staying. 
FarewellTravels: Anything else you want to add?
Seligson: Only that I’m proud of the shows we’ve done so far. I think viewers will come away with a better appreciation of the culture of the different countries we visit. So far we’ve been to Belize, Labrador, and Australia. Shortly, we’ll be heading to Iceland, and then Botswana and Uganda. Later in the year, it's Morocco and maybe India. That’s the great thing about a show like Born to Explore. Literally, the whole world is our stage.
Photo credits: Courtesy of Born to Explore TV |
