A New Type of International Storytelling

Travel TV has at all times proven us the place to go. Rarely has it proven us why.

That’s what we wished to vary with “World of Travel” — a brand new type of storytelling that explores the center of every vacation spot via its previous, current and future.

We created the present to not promote you a trip, however to disclose the humanity behind a spot — its music, its ache, its pleasure, its resilience. It’s about connection, not consumption.

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The concept was born in 2020, throughout a second when the world felt unsure and we have been looking for which means. After months of overlaying the George Floyd protests, I accepted an invite from Cybelle Brown to go to Stonefield Villa Resort in St. Lucia. What began as a brief escape grew to become one thing deeper.

Kolyn Boyd had simply purchased a digicam — extra out of curiosity than intention — and started filming as we explored. The conversations we had there, surrounded by the Pitons and the heartbeat of the island, reminded us why storytelling issues. It wasn’t concerning the view; it was concerning the individuals who make the view doable.

That journey planted the seed for “World of Travel.” It confirmed us that journey isn’t nearly crossing borders; it’s about crossing into another person’s story — and discovering your individual reflection there.

From there, we constructed a crew that shared the identical perception: that the way forward for journey storytelling isn’t about luxurious or lists, it’s about empathy. We wished to discover how historical past, tradition and identification form the way in which folks transfer via the world.

In Turkey, we adopted the trail of historical management — tracing how empires as soon as dominated religion and commerce and the way that very same spirit now fuels fashionable commerce and medical tourism.

In Colorado, we examined its Native American roots, how the state’s outdated seek for gold nonetheless echoes via its economic system and tradition in the present day, and the lasting influence of marijuana legalization.

And in South Africa, we traced the journey of a diamond — from the earth to a bride’s finger — uncovering the uneasy steadiness amongst magnificence, extraction and legacy.

At every cease, we met individuals who expanded our understanding of what journey may very well be.

We filmed not as vacationers, however as witnesses — folks humbled by the privilege of being welcomed into another person’s world.

That meant asking the tougher questions: How does colonization form a nation’s concept of paradise? What does sustainability imply when survival is at stake? And how do you honor a rustic’s story with out turning it into your individual?

In some ways, “World of Travel” grew to become a mirror for our personal evolution. Becoming dad and mom in the course of manufacturing shifted all the pieces. We started to see every vacation spot not simply via a lens of discovery, however legacy — what sort of world we would like our daughter to inherit, and what tales will train her to see folks absolutely.

We realized that probably the most radical factor we may do in an business constructed on consumption was to decelerate, hear and present reverence. Every body grew to become an act of gratitude — for the storytellers, artists and on a regular basis dreamers who flip their corners of the world into classes in magnificence and endurance.

Travel has at all times been about motion. But this present taught us that it’s additionally about stillness — about stopping lengthy sufficient to see a spot for what it really is, and what it may well train us about who we’re.

Because at its core, “World of Travel” isn’t only a TV present. It’s a reminder that the world will not be one thing to be conquered or consumed. It’s one thing to be in dialog with — and to look after.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Lindsey Granger and Kolyn Boyd are the co-creators of “World of Travel,” a sequence that explores the previous, current and way forward for extraordinary locations across the globe. You can watch the primary episode on St. Lucia here, and future episodes every Wednesday at 4 p.m. EDT on The Hill’s YouTube page.

Lindsey Granger is the co-host of “Rising.” Kolyn Boyd is a movie director based mostly in Washington, D.C. Catch complimentary podcasts each Thursday at 4 p.m. on The Hill’s YouTube channel.

The premiere episode of “World of Travel” in St. Lucia was sponsored by Daytrip and Stonefield Villa Resort.