Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Born in Mexico and raised in the United States, actress-singer Katie Barberi fondly recalls a childhood where her family moved to dozens of cities in both countries to accommodate her parents’ careers. “I loved it,” says Barberi, 40. “I’m sure my love of travel is tied to all the different places we lived.”
Born in Sao Paulo to Korean parents, author Samuel Park is a dual citizen of Brazil and the United States. “I left Brazil at age 14 (for Los Angeles), so my Portuguese is pretty fluent, even though I don’t have any Portuguese-speaking friends,” says Park, 36. “But I watch Brazilian soaps obsessively every day! So I can understand the language as well as I did 20 years ago. My Korean, incidentally, is quite weak, and much worse than my Portuguese.”
As a kid, Sara Moulton didn’t know she wanted to be a chef, but she says her mother did. “When my parents took me on a trip to Europe, I not only loved all the food we ate but I took notes about it,” says the New Yorker, who may be the only chef whose work has been name-checked by the Beastie Boys. “I even wrote about what I ate on the airplane. I was a typical teenager, but I guess I always was really interested in how food was made.”
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.
When bill collectors called the Crews house, they talked to Kambri, the hearing child of deaf parents. Today, Kambri Crews, a 40-year-old author, having watched her charismatic father beat her mother, tells her compelling life story filled with love, hope and fear, in her thoughtful and sly memoir “Burn Down the Ground” (Villard, $25). One of the more unique places that Crews travels to is the Texas prison where her father is serving a 20-year sentence for the attempted murder of a girlfriend.
A senior Washington correspondent for the Fox Business Network, Peter Barnes spends a good chunk of the year flying around the world. He’s also a children’s book author and publisher. Barnes, 53, and his wife, Cheryl, are the founders of VSP Books. Their next literary collaboration, “Liberty Lee’s Tail of Independence” — a tale about the Declaration of Independence as told from a mouse’s point of view — will be in stores this May.
Singer-actress Ashley Brown originated the title role of “Mary Poppins” on Broadway. She reprised the role in the national tour, receiving the 2010 Garland Award for that performance. Her television special “Ashley Brown in Concert: Call Me Irresponsible” also won a 2011 Telly Award. Brown is currently performing in Kern and Hammerstein’s musical “Show Boat” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and “Speak Low,” her CD of American standards, is available now.
Versatile actor David Cross’ plan for world domination is simple: recruit fans at a young age so that he’ll have a steady stream of residuals. He’s kidding, sort of. The star and creator of IFC’s “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret,” Cross also has a young fan base, thanks to his movie roles in “Megamind,” “Kung Fu Panda” and the “Alvin and the Chipmunk” franchise. Cross, 47, is also known for his work on the TV series “Arrested Development.” Engaged to actress Amber Tamblyn, Cross is an avid traveler whose bucket list includes visiting places such as Moscow, Warsaw and Lisbon.
Brother Guy Consolmagno — a staff astronomer and the curator of meteorites at the Vatican Observatory — travels about 100,000 miles each year, splitting his time between Tucson, Ariz., and Rome. The planetary scientist also gives 40 to 50 talks annually at universities, schools and parishes around the world. “Indeed our founder, St. Ignatius, once said that our vocation is to travel,” he says. “Certainly, I do!”
When Samantha Brown was growing up, her family took road trips to visit nearby family, but that was about it. So when she got the opportunity to work with the Travel Channel, Brown “realized that my input would be as a layman. I wasn’t an expert traveler like Rick Steves or Rudy Maxa, but I could show people that if I could navigate my way around Nicaragua, they could, too.”