Travel has become the new club for millennials.
Anytime you scroll through your social media feeds, you’re bound to see someone’s overseas adventures in a foreign country. Everyone wants to experience the best that a city can offer, and Queen Latifah’s new mini-series for the Travel Channel, The Best Place to Be, will show you how celebrities experience the top destinations in the world.
Latifah is executive producing the one-hour episodes alongside her business partner, Shakim Compere, for their production company, Flavor Unit. Each episode will have a celebrity sharing the hidden gems of their favorite travel spots. Anthony Anderson will take viewers to Barcelona, Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen will go to Hong Kong, Mary-Louise Parker will venture to Kenya and you can follow Latifah throughout Rio de Janiero.
The multi-hyphenate Hollywood maven spoke to The Huffington Post about how The Best Place to Became about.
“The premise of it was something that Shakim came up with based on my life,” she said.
“When I go on vacations I travel to different places around the world and oftentimes I’m with friends of mine who hip me to the cool places to be and things to go to. And for a lot of celebrities, this is our only little break to escape and kind of be normal without the spotlight. And so, we want to share that place with the world and tell them about their secret spots, because we want to see it through their lens.”
Due to social media, there appears to be a rise in Black people traveling internationally. There are now travel groups and companies targeting people of color along with brands sending influencers on overseas trips. Some may argue this “rise” in Black people traveling isn’t new, but just wasn’t documented by the mainstream.
“Sometimes it takes the media a minute to catch up and actually care about what we’re doing,” said Latifah.
“But we know what we do, and we know we love to take a vacation and get away and just enjoy life. But I’m hoping the show will just give them more places to go and stretch their horizons even further. I love to be in a land where I don’t speak the native language, but people are people no matter where you go.”
Like many seasoned travelers, Latifah recommends going off the “beaten path” to get a more cultured experience.
“You’ll have a much more richer experience when you travel like that,” said Latifah.
“If you really want an experience that’s gonna stay with you for your life and you can come home, tell people who maybe can’t get there at that time. It’s so much more rich and deep and fulfilling than what you would do if you hung around the pool all day.”
Check local listings for when The Best Place to Be airs.
