On Fire in Taipei

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By way of introduction:

I am that guy. The one you see on TV and think:

Three and a half years ago, a car ran me down at an intersection and broke my knee. It hurt. Not in a “I’m disappointed in you” kind of way. In a “give me the effen morphine!” kind of way. For my pain, my insurance company awarded me $20,000. I was about to turn 30, and my career was flailing, along with my relationship. So I cashed it in, put my stuff in storage, and went to backpack the world, on a tiny budget and a round the world ticket. One year later, I had been to 28 countries, and written for a couple major newspapers. Two years later, I had been to Central America, rocked the Trans-Siberia Railway, along with a national speaking tour. To finance the continuation of my dream, I slept on couches, and ate a lot of cheap pizza. A short while later, I pitched a TV show. The stars aligned, the fates smiled, angels broke out in hymn. Word Travels is a half hour show that follows the lives of two travel writers around the world. You can watch it on OLN in Canada, and National Geographic Adventure in over 40 countries. Over the next 12 months, I’ll be visiting 26 countries on 6 continents, with a TV crew to capture my experiences. I am stunned just writing this. This all happened, essentially, by accident. But I suppose someone has to get paid to travel the world. Might as well be me. These reports will give you some insight into a life of travel, on the road, on camera. I call them Modern Gonzo, since Gonzo is about the best word to describe my world of adventure. I hope you enjoy the trip as much as I do.

Sunday night, the band is still playing when I kiss my friends goodbye, climb into my car, deposit it in the underground parking of my parent’s apartment, and get dropped off at the airport approaching midnight. My mom and dad are used to me coming and going. I might as well work at the airport. The crew gathers for the 2am EVA Airlines flight to Taipei. There are six of us in total. With a slight shake-up of directors, these are the people I’ll be spending just about every waking moment with over the coming months. Four of us are veterans of season one, which took us to 12 off-the-wall countries, including Venezuela, Ethiopia and Lithuania. We know the score of a life in motion. My co-host is Julia Dimon, who writes a weekly travel column for METRO in Canada. We met in Turkey on my first trip around the world, and have become unlikely partners on this escapade. The fact that we are so different, as people and as writers, gives the show its appeal. Shooting us is Sean Cable, a tall, shiny cameraman of legendary status within the industry. Although Sean is known as one of the best sports shooters going, he’s also an artist capable of capturing images that saucer the eyes. Paul Vance (pronounced as one word, Paulvance) is our sound guy, our ears. He is born and raised in Whistler, and is therefore laid back to the point of horizontal. Chris Mennell is our production packhorse. Nicknames abound, as they do on these kind of shows. Chris is called Chewie, although I confess I can’t remember why. He looks like a young Tom Berenger, and lives on an orchard in the B.C interior. Directing a couple episodes, including Taiwan is Jordan. He’s a former comedy writer, sharp with the wit. I round out the crew. Esrock. Ing. The Free World.

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