The Stunning Transformation Of Travel Host Samantha Brown

Not unlike Rick Steves or the late chef-turned-travel host Anthony Bourdain, New Hampshire native Samantha Brown is a force to be reckoned with in the travel TV sphere. After getting her start on Travel Channel's "Great Vacation Homes" in 1999, Brown brought massive viewership to travel TV, becoming a notable face within the genre.

Brown was also one of the few women traveling hosts to achieve such success in the field. In turn, she showed women that although there are difficult places to travel alone, it is possible. In a 2023 interview with People, Brown acknowledged her importance to women throughout her decades-long career. "When I meet younger women, who started watching me when they were 11, and they were like, 'You were the only girl on TV.' It's a shock because I'm like, 'Oh, I never thought of it like that,'" she said. "But to be that person for people and for girls to see themselves in travel, or to realize they could travel alone, or maybe even do a career, that has been the greatest gift — that I'm looked up to, and I'm a real inspiration for other people."

Speaking of gifts, it's been a gift to watch Brown's star continue to shine. In addition to building an impressive career and paving her own path in the travel show world, she has also built a strong family unit. This is the stunning transformation of Samantha Brown.

Born in Dallas on March 31, 1970, Samantha Brown spent the bulk of her childhood in New Hampshire. Given her line of work, one may assume that Brown and her family were avid adventurers. However, that wasn't exactly the case. "Growing up in New Hampshire, we were close to Canada so we went there; we'd go to Cape Cod for the summer and Pennsylvania, so I'd never really traveled," she told The Art of Gallivanting.

Though they didn't branch too far out with regards to excursions, Brown has fond memories of the road trips the family took in their Pontiac station wagon. As she recounted to Johnny Jet, she vividly remembers other drivers getting upset with her dad's penchant for tailgating. "So me and my sisters, we would count how many times we were given the finger," she laughed. 

When Brown went to college, she considered studying abroad, but ultimately did not venture out for a number of reasons. As she told Condé Nest Traveler in 2018, money was tight, she was scared to travel after classmates were killed in the tragic bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, and the Gulf War complicated things further. "For me to go somewhere else so far away — even if it was London — was scary, big-time scary," she recalled. "At 18 years old, I remember thinking, 'I'll never travel.'"

In high school, Samantha Brown discovered her love for the performing arts. As a result, she intended to pursue higher education in that specific field at Syracuse University. After earning a bachelor's degree in musical theater, Brown moved to New York City with hopes of becoming an actor. During a 2023 interview with Lisa Niver, however, Brown suggested that this didn't quite go as planned. "At Syracuse, I studied acting, singing, and dancing, and when you are in musical theater, you are considered a triple threat because you can do all three," she stated. "And then I moved to New York City, and I wasn't threatening at all. In fact, I was really bland."

When she decided her musical theater chops did not quite cut the muster, Brown switched her area of focus from theater to sketch comedy. While also splitting her time working as a waiter, Brown went on numerous auditions, trying to find her big break with little to no success. 

In a 2014 video profile on the Women You Should Know YouTube channel, Brown explained how taxing this period of her life was. "I definitely pursued it on my own," she said. "You try very hard to get an agent, and I couldn't for a good eight years, and waited on tables, and really struggled, wondering why I went to school for theater if this was going to be my life."

Although Samantha Brown didn't find success as an actor, the soon-to-be travel expert did appear in a slew of commercials. Her work in the advertisement world caught the Travel Channel's attention. In 1999, the network was in the process of creating their 1999 series "Great Vacation Homes," and they invited Brown to audition in Jacksonville, Florida. 

In an interview with Afar, Brown shared that actually getting to the audition was a little tricky as she'd ironically run into traveling issues beforehand. After arriving at her connecting airport late, Brown had to basically chase down her next flight. 

Though she was too late to board the regular way, the plane had not yet taken off. So, the gate attendant suggested Brown head out to the tarmac and see if anyone could help her get on the flight. One thing led to another, and before she knew it she was literally standing in front of the plane to try to get the pilot's attention. It was a bold move, but it worked. "I stretched out my arms and said, 'Please,'" she recalled. "The pilot looked down and gave me the thumbs up. I got on the plane and as soon as I sat down, I knew that I got the job. I felt so good about the decision and the balls it took to put myself in front of a plane that I just knew nothing was going to stop me."

After landing her gig on the Travel Channel, Samantha Brown appeared to successfully find a balance between working as a host of an ongoing traveling series while simultaneously maintaining a healthy personal life. In 2006, it was announced that she tied the knot with computer specialist Kevin O'Leary at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge, Maryland. 

Given her full-time travel host gig on the Travel Channel, ranging from "Great Vacation Homes" to "Passport to Europe," one might assume finding time for a relationship could be difficult for Brown. However, in an interview with Daytime TV's Cyndi Edwards, she spoke candidly about how she and O'Leary make it work.

Even with her hectic schedule, Brown suggested that balancing her marriage was easy due to their shared interest in exploring the world. "My husband travels with me a lot," she said. "He'll join me and that absolutely helps. We do not go two weeks without seeing one another. He's an avid traveler as well. I think he's a better traveler than I am, and so, he understands my job because it's actually tougher for the person who's home." What's more, O'Leary happens to be an executive producer of Samantha Brown Media, Brown's production company. 

After "Great Vacation Homes" hit the small screen in 1999, Samantha Brown quickly became a staple for the Travel Channel. As someone who made an effort not to come across as a know-it-all travel expert, but instead as a curious and relatable television host, Brown was called upon for several Travel Channel projects like "Girl Meets Hawaii," "Great Hotels," "Passport to Europe," "Passport to Green Getaways," and more. Her influence throughout travel TV as a whole was evident in 2010 when Brown checked off a major milestone.

That year, Brown celebrated her 10th anniversary on the network as a travel guide and television personality. To commemorate their time working with Brown, the Travel Channel aired a marathon of her hour-long specials  the following week. While network general manager Jonathan Sichel praised Brown for her work, the seasoned travel host also took the time to thank her fans and the network for giving her the space to fully indulge in her passion. "The past ten years has been an incredible journey — literally and figuratively," she expressed in a statement, per PR Newswire. "Meeting and interacting with people around the country and around the world has been both a life-altering and humbling experience. I'm excited to uncover the adventures that lie ahead for me in the next decade."

From 2010 onward, Samantha Brown began to take well-deserved breaks from her work on the Travel Channel. Soon enough, she started expanding her family. 

In 2012, Brown and Kevin O'Leary announced that they were expecting twins. In an interview with CNN, Brown opened up about her pregnancy. "My husband and I have wanted children now for many, many years, but as I always joke, the best form of birth control is having your own travel show," she said. "So, we had to take a little bit of a break from the show to make sure that the babies could happen, and it did. When we found out it was twins, we just felt so blessed because we thought we would only have one child. When you have two, it's like a sale: two for one!" 

On January 17, 2013, Brown gave birth to a son, Ellis James, and a daughter, Elizabeth Mae. Since then, Brown has committed herself to spending time with her family. Although her children had a grasp on what she did for work by the age of 3, Brown told Yahoo Life in 2022 that she doesn't let her work take over her life. "I'm always trying to balance that professional travel life and also just being a real human being for the people you love in your home," she expressed.

If there's one person who knows their way around a good suitcase, it is Samantha Brown. After all, she's been offering advice on what to pack, what never to pack, and how to pack for years; time-saving travel hacks are right up her alley. It seemed only natural that she would eventually get into the travel gear market. 

In 2011, Brown released her own line of luggage. As part of the Home Shopping Network's (HSN) online store, her collection included everything from suitcases to overnight bags. "I want to help travelers simplify their lives as they experience the world with luggage that's functional and fashionable at accessible price points," Brown said in a statement, per HSN. 

Fast forward to 2016 when Brown launched her own line, Samantha Brown Luggage. The range offered a variety of accessories in addition to the suitcases that were released in 2011. Brown's luggage line only continued to grow thanks to the influx of supporters getting their hands on her products. With HSN being a main collaborator for the brand, 2018 saw the company help her brand reach global status as her luggage line was found throughout various department stores in America and — later in 2019 — Canada. As of 2024, you could still find Brown promoting her luggage line on her social media platforms, as well as clothing items such as scarves and ponchos. 

In 2017, Samantha Brown left the Travel Channel after almost two decades. On a 2024 episode of "The Financial Confessions," Brown spoke about why she felt it was the right time to part ways with the network. "We kind of left at a point where Travel Channel was changing deeply, and they were going away from even travel programming as well as even women hosts," she said. "So, I still really wanted to do what I did and I knew I was good at what I did and so, I believe someone brought up the idea like, 'Well, why don't you do like what Rick Steves does?'" 

Though Rick Steves has since slowed down after receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2024, the renowned personality is a veteran of the travel show game. His work inspired Brown to create the PBS series "Places To Love." In a 2023 interview with People, Brown expressed how grateful she was for this new chapter. "I am in charge of who I am. I have all control over the show," she stated. "Before, with the Travel Channel, I was a hired host, and so I had no say in the editing. I had no say in what we did, where we went. And that's fine, I signed up for that. But now it's all what I want to do and all my approach to travel."

From its conception, Samantha Brown's "Place to Love" was met with praise. She not only recreated the regular programming she used to do for the Travel Channel, but did so with only her husband, Kevin O'Leary, and their production team. Just a short two years after she parted ways with the Travel Channel, Brown snagged two Emmys for outstanding travel/adventure program and outstanding host for a lifestyle, children's, or special class program. Throughout her two-decade-long career, this marked the first time she'd been awarded by the organization for her work as a travel expert. Brown took to Facebook following the special night to share her gratitude for earning those awards. "This is an incredible acknowledgment for what has sometimes felt like an insurmountable effort to raise funds and create a travel series that shows travel's strength, purpose, and beauty," she wrote. 

Brown's "Places to Love" also received Emmy nominations in 2020, 2022, and 2024. After learning about her nod in 2024, Brown penned a lengthy post on Instagram — alongside a photo of her holding up her two awards in 2019 — expressing how important her 7-season-long series meant to her. "'Places to Love' is a travel series that I pour my heart and effort into non-stop. ... It is an amazing feeling when this huge recognition comes through," she said.

2020 was a tough time for just about everyone thanks to COVID-19, as the pandemic had a negative impact on mental health and overall well-being across the board. On a 2021 episode of the "Women Who Travel" podcast, Samantha Brown noted that she had a difficult time adjusting to the travel restrictions. "It's just been really rough," she said. "I mean, I guess I always knew that I loved to travel, but I didn't realize just the necessity that was just so engrained in who I was to be somewhere else." 

Her absence from travel TV wasn't too long as Brown would begin to iron out the details of how she could rework her programming to ensure she didn't break any pandemic safety rules. As the nationwide shutdown slowly allowed wiggle room for those who wanted to travel, Brown got back to filming her hit series. On October 23, 2020, she took to Instagram to share the good news. "Back to work shooting 'Places to Love' for the first time since March!" she wrote. "Shooting a travel show during the pandemic is no easy feat but with all safety protocols in place, we can keep a crew of seven and the people we highlight, safe."

As of 2024, Samantha Brown is enjoying her life as a self-employed travel host. With "Places to Love" gearing up for its 8th season, Brown has kept herself relatively busy sharing various travel tips with her followers on social media, as well as fielding travel questions on numerous platforms. By all accounts, she's figured out how to navigate the ups and downs that come with being in the public eye — but it definitely took some time. 

Though she seems to have a relatively have a happy-go-lucky attitude about what sure seems to be a dream job, Brown shared on a 2024 episode of the "Zero to Travel" podcast that her early experiences with fame weren't always easy. When host Jason Moore asked about what it was like being a public figure, Brown got real about some of the less pleasant sides. "There was a time — kind of the height of my Travel Channel career — where, you know, if I was doing like a Disney World shoot, and I had cameras so it was very obvious ... and just being inundated, and never being able just to stop, and people taking pictures of you while you're eating," she said. "It's a very very strange experience. I did not enjoy it at all and I don't miss it at all."