By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
February 3, 2009
Melanie Brown knows a thing or two about traveling. As a member of the Spice Girls, Brown — or Scary Spice, as she was known — saw much of the world, thanks to multiple tours with the group. “It was great fun,” says Brown, 33. “I’ve always loved seeing bits and pieces of places and then kind of figuring out where I’d like to return for vacations.”
Brown, who was born in Leeds, England, currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband Stephen Belafonte and her two children. After competing on “Dancing with the Stars,” Brown began to put together ideas for a workout video that would be fun for “girlfriends to do together.” Her exercise DVD “Totally Fit” is in stores now.
“I always joke around that you don’t have to understand (my accent) to figure out what you’re supposed to do,” laughs Brown. “I tried to make sure it was easy to follow and something that you’d want to do more than once.”
FAVORITE DESTINATION: I love going back to England and seeing all my friends. Brazil is great ’cause it’s so vibrant and alive. But one of my favorite places is Egypt. We just bought a house there and also renewed our wedding vows there. It’s marvelous.
WHY EGYPT: The pyramids, the culture, the food, the dancing — it’s just an amazing country and the people are so wonderful. We felt at home there, which is why we made a home there.
FAVORITE MEMORIES IN EGYPT: I would have to say that the day of our wedding renewal was very memorable. We had about 30 family members and friends over and we took everybody dirt bike riding in the desert in the morning. It was surreal and so much fun. We all put our helmets on and rode for miles and miles. Then we stopped for some local food, which is so tasty. And then we rode camels afterward. Some of our friends thought that’s what we did every day! We loved that our friends and everyone that was important to us got to experience something unique that they hadn’t before.
BEING RECOGNIZED OVERSEAS: I’ve never had bad encounters with fans anywhere. They’ve all been really nice to me and have never been rude to my face. I love my fans. I do get recognized a bit, even in Egypt, but it’s not a bad thing. And there, we have a house with a view of a big golf course and a lot of privacy so I kind of have the option to see people and be seen by people or not!
PACKING LIGHT? NOT! I’m terrible. I have a bag for shoes and handbags, a bag for casual clothes and one for dress-up clothes. I tend to be prepared for everything ’cause usually when I travel, I have to do some work. When we travel with the kids, you need diaper bags, baby bags, everything! But I must say that I am a very quick packer, thanks to 15 years of packing for the road. I can pack for my husband, the two kids and me in under 25 minutes. I’m not joking. One thing that helps is that our wardrobes at home are very organized. They kind of have to be or I get a little nutty.
STAYING IN SHAPE ON THE ROAD: I’ve always been very active so I like working out. I don’t just walk up the stairs, I run. When I’m with the kids, though, I cheat and just take the elevator. It’s too difficult to do too much with small children.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT EGYPT:
CAPITAL: Cairo.
LOCATION: Egypt, which is about three times the size of New Mexico, is located in Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea.
POPULATION: 81,713,520. (According to the CIA Website, www.cia.gov.)
CURRENCY: Egyptian Pound (EGP). One U.S. dollar equals 5.61026 EGP.
To learn more about Egypt, check out www.egypt.travel. To read more about Melanie Brown, go to www.melaniebrown.com.
© 2009 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
