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Darley Newman: A PBS Travel Empire Built On Horseback

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Darley Newman

By any measure, Darley Newman has a dream job. She is the star of an Emmy Award-winning PBS travel series, Equitrekking, in which she gets to ride horses in exotic locations around the world. Her newest show, Travels with Darley, sees her hiking in Guadeloupe, taking a road trip in the South and going island hopping in Hong Kong.  She recently branched out into Amazon Prime and has built a serious brand around horseback riding vacations. How did she do it? I had a chance to catch up with Darley recently and ask her.

Equitrekking

Darley, how did you come up with the idea for Equitrekking?

In high school I decided that my dream job was to host a travel TV show. I just wasn’t sure how to make that happen. I studied television and media, along with international business and cultures, at the George Washington University and took all manner of jobs in the production industry, working at CBS, on PBS FRONTLINE, behind the camera, on the radio, and more. All the while I searched for something unique to offer in the travel space. That idea was Equitrekking. While working in television in New York City and at the same time riding horses in the countryside, I began writing about riding for an equestrian magazine. This lead to the creation of Equitrekking.com, an equestrian travel-focused website. At a time when Internet video was just starting to take hold and YouTube had yet to be acquired by Google, I pushed video to my web visitors with the goal of showing them how, when one horseback rides, places can be reached that aren’t easily found by other means, all the while immersing oneself in nature, history and culture.

From there, it was a true grassroots effort. I pitched the idea of a horseback riding travel series to sponsors and was able to get generate enough interest to create a pilot episode that ran on a PBS affiliate, where it rated really well, which helped prove the concept for national distribution.

That was many years ago. I’ve gone on to create 35 half hours of Equitrekking, covering everything from riding at dude ranches in Colorado to saddling up with gauchos in Uruguay, to trekking through the Highlands of Scotland. The series has won three Daytime Emmy Awards and received eight nominations, broadcast for years on PBS stations across the nation and on networks in more than 85 nations.

What made the series unique has also made it popular. People now use the word Equitrekking as a verb, meaning to go riding for the purpose of discovery. I wrote a book about the adventures, have developed several websites and other businesses featuring resources for people who want to ride on their vacation. It’s been a lot of work, but I love it.

Equitrekking

You’re now offering horseback vacations through Equitrekking. Are these aimed at serious riders? 

There’s quite the mix in offerings. You can stay at a castle in Ireland and ride as little or as much as you like, or you can trek into the Jordanian desert for a more serious riding adventure. We aim to provide trips for both beginning riders and groups of riders and their non-riding companions. There are also trips for equestrians who wish to train in different disciplines, like a dressage training experience in Spain. All of the trips also combine local cuisine and culture to make for a well-rounded adventure.

For many years, we’ve also offered resources just to get people out there riding. I believe it’s a great way to experience a new destination. You’re out in nature with a local to guide you, so you are able to have a conversation and really learn about the place, its history, and often, its horses. You ride different breeds in different destinations and these horses can relay a lot about a land and its history, too. It’s a fascinating and exciting way to experience a destination.

We now have Equitrekking.com, EquitrekkingTravel.com and Top20Ranches.com.  Equitrekking.com features an online guidebook with a Vacation Guide with lots of choices for travelers looking to ride, and we hand pick travel deals from dude ranches and places to ride around the world on our Travel Deals page, which is unique. After riding the world for more than a decade, I’ve found the best places to saddle up. Many of these destinations are small, family run businesses with legacies and traditions that have been handed down through the generations, which are so worthwhile to support.

Trvels with Darley

Travels with Darley began airing in 2016. Tell us how that series began.

Travels with Darley has grown out of Equitrekking, which at its heart is about having authentic experiences with locals as the guides. That’s the premise of “Travels with Darley.” In each episode I meet local people to experience what’s most interesting and special about their area, including food, culture, history and outdoor adventures. I started Travels with Darley by filming video shorts while on location with Equitrekking and was able to expand it into a PBS series in 2016. We’re now up to 30 half hours of “Travels with Darley” and in addition to PBS, have just launched nationally and internationally on Amazon Prime, with much more to come that’s both innovative and challenging, but at the forefront of new media. In addition to exotic international locations, we’re exploring a lot more of the USA, which is timely and fascinating. We’re also filming in 360, which adds a whole new dimension to the travel experience.

Equitrekking

What are three of your favorite horseback rides anywhere in the world – and why are they your favorites? 

Riding the Ring of Kerry in Ireland is one of the tops. The lush patchwork countryside mixed with the bright blue waters along the Dingle Peninsula and old stone cottages that dot the trails and lakes is simply stunning. I also really love a good Irish horse, so this helps make for a sweet ride.

Even though I was charged by a young, brash bull elephant trying to prove himself (seriously), I would rank Botswana’s Okavango Delta as one of the world’s best places to explore on horseback. The largest inland delta in the world, horses are actually one of the most efficient ways to travel around this network of hippo-created water channels and islands. On horseback, you can swim from island to island and then trail blaze on your own, getting to places that many other travelers wouldn’t ever reach and doing so quietly and unobtrusively. You may see giraffes passing by, but also wildebeest, elephants, hyenas, lions and more. This is a part of Africa that’s truly special and undeveloped and seeing it on horseback is awesome.

The Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan is another top destination. I was able to ride with the Bedouin and gallop across the sands on an Arabian horse. Desert environments are much more diverse than many people may imagine and when you ride in the desert, you are really attuned to every sight and sound, much like a horse. Desert petroglyphs, a beautiful little bird called the Sinai Rosefinch and stunning canyons were just some of the highlights. Learning about my guide’s life in the desert–– raising a family and horses and competing in endurance races–– was so interesting. I’m still in touch with Atallah today.

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Equitrekking

The best travel tip you’ve learned after years on the road?

Roll with it. Travel is uncertain. Life is uncertain, so not getting upset or uptight when things don’t go as planned is key to happiness in general, and especially happiness as a traveler. Some of the best experiences you end up having may be unplanned. I’m a big believer in making the most out of each moment, which is one reason why I’ve worked hard to travel as much as possible and experience as much of the world as I can.

 

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