By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
February 28, 2012
There are many lifestyle shows about travel, but Darley Newman has tapped into a unique niche. The host, writer and producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series “Equitrekking,” has combined her love of exploring with her passion for horses.
“I think some people thought that the idea was a little crazy at first, but it caught on,” says Newman, 33, who resides in Bethesda, Md. “I travel to these beautiful, natural and off-the-beaten path locations not normally covered in the media, and I do it with local people who are sharing their favorite spots you won’t find in a guidebook.” Newman also is the author of “Equitrekking Travel Adventures on Horseback” (Chronicle Books, $27.50).
Q. What untapped destination should people know about?
A. Cappadocia, Turkey, is a unique place I’ve visited twice. It’s one of my favorite places. It’s a lesser visited vacation area with these amazing old villages and underground cities carved out of the area’s soft volcanic rock. Cappadocia’s landscapes are dotted with fairy chimneys or hoodoos, these wild rock formations, which have sparked many local legends. I felt like I was horseback riding on another planet at times, as we’d trot through small pockets of vineyards and come upon centuries-old churches, hidden in these rocky outcroppings. There’s spectacularly tasty, locally-produced food and interesting history.
Q. How old were you when you took your first trip?
A. When I was five, my family took a big road trip along the California coast. My granddad had passed away and he wanted his ashes spread in different places out West. It sounds depressing, but it was inspiring. I remember crazy Lombard Street (in San Francisco), seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and at the end of a long day falling asleep under the table in a restaurant in Chinatown. We went to Disneyland, too.
Q. When did you get the travel bug?
A. The trip that really sparked my interest in seeing the world was my first trip out of the country. In ninth grade, I went with a friend’s family on a cruise to France, Italy and Greece, also spending a few days in Rome. I fell in love with Europe, especially the romance and history of Italy, and I adored the excitement of discovering new places and people and learning things you can only experience from firsthand travel. From then on, I was hooked.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. Costa Rica. I love the diversity of outdoor activities and the fact that conservation is still upheld in so many places. Growing up on the shore, beautiful beaches have a special place in my heart. I was amazed to see bright macaws, iguanas and crocodiles and loved the volcanoes and hot springs.
Q. To someone who was going to Costa Rica for the first time, what would you recommend that they do during their visit?
A. Take a hot-air balloon ride over the Costa Rican rainforest at dawn. We filmed it for our show. We glided over the treetops just as the jungle was waking up, hearing a chorus of howler monkeys and seeing birds, sloths and other wildlife. It was a really cool way to experience the rainforest and get in tune with nature without disturbing it.
Q. What are some of your favorite cities?
A. New York, Florence, Italy and Seville, Spain. In college, I spent six months living with a family in Florence on a study abroad program and fell in love with the art, wine, cappuccinos. … I studied Italian, art and film there. It’s a magical city. There are so many wonderful museums, churches and restaurants that I didn’t even get to see and do everything in six months! I recommend seeing Michelangelo’s David while there, buying a leather jacket around the Piazza San Lorenzo, having a cappuccino with the locals standing up in a cafe in the morning, a gelato in the afternoon and taking in the views of Florence from beside the Etruscan ruins at Fiesole, a great picnic spot with stunning views of the city.
Q. Do you pick up languages quickly?
A. Foreign languages do not come easily to me, but my Italian was OK by the end. I wanted to stay! I’ve been twice to Seville, another destination with great ambiance. Tapas hopping, eating prosciutto sandwiches slathered in tasty local olive oil in the morning, the architecture and getting lost in the winding streets can’t be beat.
Q. Where have you traveled to that most reminded you of home?
A. I grew up in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and there aren’t many places that I’ve visited that are like Myrtle. I guess the closest would be the beach area of Punta del Este, Uruguay. It’s a vibrant beach stop for people all over Uruguay and Argentina.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Japan and Peru top my list right now. I’d like to travel more in Asia in general. Japan fascinates me. I want to go see Tokyo with locals who can take me to eat the best sushi, sing karaoke and get to know the city from their perspective. I’m interested in people’s daily lives around the world –– what do they do for fun on the weekends, what is important to them and their families, what do they eat. From my research on Peru, it seems like such a colorful and culturally rich destination. I want to hike and horseback ride to Machu Picchu and meet the locals who live off the grid in the mountains.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. Facial cleansing pads, which are great on a plane, for long days outside or if you’re camping and don’t have access to a proper bathroom, which are all usual travel experiences for me. My iPhone, which is useful for photos, fun videos and for catching up on shows and movies I’ve missed during plane rides. I also use the ambient noise app when I’m in a place where unfamiliar night sounds make it hard for me to fall asleep. I always have a few granola bars on hand, because you never know when you might be served food that’s too exotic or be waylaid somewhere and need energy. And sunglasses.
Q. What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?
A. The best was eating dinner with my future husband on Ile Saint-Louis in Paris. We went to this restaurant where the woman who greeted us and then waited on us was also the cook! It took forever, but it was really romantic and quaint and the food was delicious. The worst was being thrown from a moving train around Lake Balaton in Hungary. I had to come back to the U.S. and get ankle surgery and have some permanent scars from the accident. I was backpacking through Europe, so this was a real drag. Also those Hungarian countryside hospitals are not a place you want to have surgery. It’s why I now have evacuation insurance, though my travels have gotten no less risky. I was lined up in a crowd of people to get off at this stop by Lake Balatan. The train was only stopping briefly at each location. The train started moving before everyone had gotten off and someone in front forced the doors back open and people started hopping off the train. It was sort of a crowd surge situation and the people behind me really wanted to get off, so I got pushed off while it was picking up speed. I had on a heavy backpack and landed twisting my ankle really badly and scraping my knee and elbow along the gravel ground. An old Hungarian man who went off in back of me broke every bone in his foot. I saw him at the hospital. It’s not the greatest story, but it’s sort of laughable now. They wanted to do surgery in the hospital there, which I didn’t want. I did bring back the x-rays to my doc at home and he was like–– where did you get these?! This was 10 years ago, so I am sure the trains and hospitals have improved.
Q. What makes you want to return to a destination?
A. The people are the main reason that I return to a destination, because they truly bring it to life and make me love that place.
Q. What would be your dream/fantasy trip?
A. I’d like to go back to Italy for about a month or more. I’d maybe rent a villa or an apartment somewhere in Tuscany and take lots of side excursions. I wouldn’t even mind working from there, which actually makes it a feasible dream trip with the ability to do work remotely these days. I’d take cooking classes, write and soak in the local culture.
Q. What is your guilty pleasure when you’re on the road?
A. I’m often in places that are totally off the grid, where I can’t plug in or connect, which is a guilty pleasure, since at home, I’m often working, answering emails or on social media. In Botswana’s Okavango Delta over the summer, the largest inland delta in the world, I had very limited connectivity at the safari camp and no electricity in my tent. It’s one of the most wild and untouched place on the planet––a place where animals truly rule. It was really nice to be unreachable, even for a short time. I truly relaxed and enjoyed the adventure of spending time viewing elephants, fishing and eating dinners by candlelight. After a few days, I didn’t want to go back home.
Q. What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
A. I do quite a bit of research, mainly by talking to locals on the ground in the location to which I’m traveling or corresponding with people who’ve already been there. This firsthand information is vital. I read a lot too, not just online, but biographies and journals from historic travelers and explorers. When I travel, I feel like a modern day explorer, as I’m often exploring places only reachable by horseback. I enjoy hearing about what that place was like a hundred years ago or more and the challenges travelers of old faced from nature.
Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. New York City is my favorite weekend getaway. I used to live there and have many good friends who still do that I visit frequently. I’ll never get bored of just walking around the city. I have so much fun trying new restaurants, visiting museums, shopping and experiencing the exciting vibe of the city. There’s so much to do and it’s so convenient from the DC area. It’s really nice to see a place like New York with local friends too, as they always have something new to show me, granting an insider’s view of New York.
Q. How much do you get to explore when you’re on location for work?
A. A ton. We usually spend a week per half hour episode that we film and because I’m traveling with locals for each show, I really get to know each place in depth. It’s my favorite way to travel. Depending on the destination, I also try to add on days after the shoot to relax and explore further. It’s not always possible, but in places like Hawaii, Turkey and Spain, how can you not?
© 2012 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
