From Robert - Raw Travel TV

Since a child growing up on a rural Tennessee farm, I’ve been a voracious reader of books about characters in far off lands. Places I always dreamed that someday I’d be able to visit.

As an adult, living and working in New York City, I continued to feed this habit of escape through books, travel magazines and travel shows. Thanks to the Internet, I began researching possible exotic locations, the more foreign the culture and exotic the location, the better.

For me, international travel began as a way to escape the stress of running a growing television production and syndication company. Leaving a select few friends and family with a “secret” email address for “urgent issues” only, I’d set off for as many days as I could afford to be away (usually a week or less) on an exciting and often sparsely planned adventure to a new destination and just get lost.

While traveling, I noticed I became not only more relaxed, but regained a sense of wonder and curiosity that I had not felt since I was a child on that farm in Tennessee.

I’ve read that a human’s senses are hyper aware when visiting a place for the first time, hearkening back to our primitive selves when our survival instincts kicked into overdrive and warned us to be more aware in new surroundings. I believe it.

When my eyes see something they’ve never seen before, my nose smells a foreign aroma, my palette tastes a new flavor, an intense physical and mental reaction occurs. The dull and routine gives way and my entire thought process changes.

However, most of the time a place’s appeal comes not from the natural beauty, exotic taste or smells and historical sites, it comes from the people. The connection with people, some of whom you don’t even share a common language, but are still able to communicate non verbally, is by far the sweetest part of travel and the part that has changed my life forever.

After a trip I’m more aware of the world around me. Ironically, though my place in it seems more insignificant than ever, that somehow is a comfort. I feel both humbled and empowered to do more to help others than ever before.

The further I travel it seems the deeper the connection to my fellow human being. When I return home and read or hear on the news of some natural disaster or some political or human rights travesty, I no longer feel disconnected like it doesn’t impact me.

Even if I’ve never visited a place, hearing about others’ struggles impacts me more now. I can more easily imagine myself in their situation and understand, but for the luck of geography, I could be suffering their same fate. I see much more tangibly how we are truly “all in this together” and this no longer sounds like a cliché. I’m more empathetic to others in the world while at the same time more thankful than ever for my own friends, family and life.

My experience with travel is not unique. I know from talking with countless other travelers that such is the very common impact of authentic travel experiences. Today we are blessed to be able to travel like never before in the history of mankind. Especially those living in the U.S., whose passports allow us a mostly unencumbered freedom to travel to almost anywhere on the planet, a privilege most Americans unfortunately take for granted.

Raw Travel is a show that hopes to help, in some small way, change all that. To encourage Americans to get rid of the fear, understand that it’s ok to go somewhere and not speak a word of the language or understand fully their customs. To show people that you absolutely don’t have to be famous or wealthy to travel, you just need a passport, an adventurous spirit and an open mind to have a life changing travel experience.

In 2010-2011, I was finally able to do what I’d longed to do for some time, long term travel. I gave up my New York City apartment, put all my belongings into storage, and pursued my 3 biggest passions: Travel, Punk Music and Video/Film Production. As incongruous as they may sound, these 3 passions fit together in a unique combination that just plain works. I reconnected with a few trusted and talented folks I’d worked with before and we headed off on an unscripted adventure.

One of the many happy by products of this was a little project that turned into a big project called "Raw Travel". With limited resources (finances and crew) we produced 4 episodes independently. While the shows are certainly not perfect, and there is much I want to improve moving forward, I think and hope they are entertaining and enlightening for the right audience.

As we work to line up our distribution and resources to hopefully produce future episodes, please check out the Raw Travel Trailer, visit our Blog and join us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with our news and progress. No matter where you live or where your travels may take you, I wish you many safe (but hopefully not TOO safe) and fulfilling journeys!