Yup, being a travel show host is just as cool as it looks

This question originally appeared on Quora.



What is it like to be a travel show host? I want to know if the job profile is really as fun as it looks like on TV.



Answer below by Janet Hsieh, television show host (Discovery, TLC) and actress.

There are several types of travel show hosts, so I can only speak for what I do on my show Fun Taiwan/Fun Asia (on Discovery Travel and Living Channel).

Pros

I get paid to do what most people who save up holiday days and hard-earned salary do when they’re not working. And I love rubbing it in.

I also get free stuff. Lots of free stuff — including: amazing off-the-beaten-path experiences, overnights in ridiculously luxurious hotels, tons of exotic foods (though sometimes that includes tarantulas, centipedes, half-fertilized duck eggs, tree worms, etc.), and meeting some pretty extraordinary and entertaining people around the world. There's also the occasional illness that takes me out of commission for a few hours/days. Read more...

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