How to Become a Travel Show Host

People often ask me how to get a job as a travel show host. Although there is a lot more work involved than most realize, I'm very grateful to have my position and voice. Becoming the host of a travel show was a pinnacle moment. I felt like my whole life had funneled towards that destiny.
When opportunity came knocking I didn't think, "I hope I get it." Instead, I realized, "I am this guy." I had accrued a life full of decisions that shaped me into the ideal candidate. Although there are many ways to cook an omelet, these are some of those decisions I made and the path I took:

1. Travel a bunch -If you want to get a job related to your passions, dive right into them first. Want to be a photographer? Shoot the hell out of everything. Want to be a mechanic? Monkey with every part of your car and volunteer to help fix your friends' cars. If the passion persists your "why" should start to take shape. I always selected my jobs based on ability to travel. My first gig was an English teacher in Colombia. That career led me to Italy and West Africa. Then I switched gears, becoming a flight attendant. Working minimal hours I used the flight benefits to visit over 50 new countries. My "why" formed as I realized I liked the man I was becoming: More accepting of others, more aware of myself, more courageous and inquisitive. This process not only gave me the drive to press on, it also fostered the desire to share this conciousness-expanding magic with others.
2. Get a heap of "on camera" experience - My flight attendant years ended as I moved to Tokyo and later China. There, as a decent looking foreigner with a modicum of talent, I was on camera almost every day. It's one thing to record yourself with a selfie stick. It's another to deliver when you're on a tight time frame and a heap of people are staring at you expectantly. Getting comfortable with this process gave me the ability to speak personably to the camera even in high pressure situations. It also made me aware of my angles and finding the light. 
3. Move to Los Angeles - This is arguably less important now than it was when I made the big move. There is something to be said, however, for living in the beating heart of "the industry." You'll rub shoulder with the right people and you'll be available for in-person auditions. Unless you've already got a big name nobody is going to Skype interview you for a role. As a bonus LA is a fantastic place to live once you get to know her: Top tier opportunity, entertainment, and nature. 
4. Learn to audition well - An audition is a very unique form of performance. In a very tight amount of time you need to sell yourself. You've got to come in hot. Take a class and audition for as many things as you can, even if the role isn't ideal.
5. Stay in the game - LA flushes the pipes more than a Calcutta public toilet, but the people who persist and hold onto the rim get rewarded. 90% of the folks I met when I arrived in LA were gone just a few years later. But casting directors now knew my name. They'd give me a familiar nod as I walked in. I usually didn't get their jobs, but I always made them look good in front of the clients. They wanted me to succeed. Nothing warms the heart of an Angeleno like the news of a big part going to someone who put in their time (See Stephanie Courtney (Flo the Progressive Insurance lady) or Jonathan Goldsmith (The most interesting man on the planet according to XX)). Whatever you have to do to keep your dream alive, I encourage you to do it. If Brad Pitt could dress up in a Pollo Loco chicken suit to stay in the game, you could swallow the humility of taking crappy side jobs. The whole process will make you hungrier. It keeps you around for the phone call that's coming one day. My phone call arrived almost 3 years after I sent in an audition video. If I'd had been living a different life I would have missed it, but I was on a break from shooting an MGM grand promo vid, which was a lot more fun that all the plates I shlepped around at CPK.
6. Stay inquisitive - Even when you're not hopping on flights and crossing borders, keep the traveler spirit alive. The truth is you could do a whole SE Asian tour and barely scratch the surface (eating banana pancakes and hanging in the hostels), or you could go a few blocks from your house and find a scene that is everything that travel is about. Going deeper is always better that going farther. You can go deep right in your city by reading, meeting unique people, saying "yes" to unique experiences, and poking around.
7. Create your own content - I was a little late to this game, but now I'm fully on it. When I have something I want to share, even as mundane as a cup of coffee, I post it. Even if nobody watches it keeps me in the flow of creativity and production. Speaking of flow, a great book called the Soul of Money suggests that dinero, like water, needs to flow to stay fresh. Flow it back into your passions. Recently I've dropped a chunk of my cash into two new projects: Destination Unusual and Food Relay. Without a penny yet earned they've both been richly rewarding experiences.

If yo want to become a travel show host I wish you the best on that journey. Keep in mind that most people I've met in LA who came to "become famous" are long gone. If you want to host a travel show simply because you "want to travel and get paid for it", you only have a piece of the puzzle. You've got to have a "why" and you'll only find it by living the life, discovering yourself, and cultivating a higher purpose before you begin to broadcast.