Filling my passport with family, travel and bliss

Excuse me while I do the happy “I Met Phil Keoghan, Host of The Amazing Race” dance!

This is why I love travel shows — meeting travel legends!

In 2012, my hubby and I met the charming Samantha Brown, and last weekend at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show, we met the friendly and funny Phil Keoghan, host of my favorite show, The Amazing Race, and author of inspirational book, No Opportunity Wasted.

In a packed auditorium, Phil discussed his passion for life and philosophy behind No Opportunity Wasted.

In his book he states:

“No Opportunity Wasted is about learning how to live while you still have the chance;  about letting go of the handrails;  taking off your tie (and making taking off a lot more, while you’re at it);  and swerving off that predictable road you’ve been following for years – onto a strange and bumpy path that just might, with a bit of luck, get you lost.  It is about taking the time to enjoy experiences you’ve denied yourself.  But it is also about sharing experiences with other people you know.  And connecting with people you don’t know…beginning with yourself.”

He speaks from experience.  After a near death experience when he was 19, Phil has lived life to the fullest and has filled his life with new and exciting experiences including:

•  Drinking cobra’s blood
• Having dinner prepared by a 5-star chef cooked over molten lava on top of a volcano in Sicily
• Cycling across the United States
• Renewing his wedding vows underwater with a scuba diving priest
• Having a mold of his rear created (& using it as a salad bowl)… and
• Attending a friend’s wedding at a nudist colony

He truly lives by his mantra, “No Opportunity Wasted.”

He also discussed life as The Amazing Race host and how it can be as stressful as being a contestant in the race!

One time he was running late and actually passed the contestants just minutes away from the pit stop!   He also said that between the sleep deprivation and waiting for teams at the pit stops for hours on end, it’s not as glamorous as some might think.  And he oftentimes finds himself washing his hair on the side of the road…no beauty crew…he’s it!

Sleep deprivation turned Phil into human luggage
on a carousel in Hong Kong.

After a very enjoyable presentation, he headed over to his booth where he met his fans and handed out his No Opportunity Wasted energy & trail bars (which, by the way, are delicious!)

We didn’t have to wait long in line before meeting him.  My husband shook Phil’s hand first, & Phil chuckled and said, “They make you wear these things?” as he pointed to the required travel show wristband my husband was wearing.

I then shook his hand, & in a very animated, enthusiastic way (maybe a little too enthusiastic!) said, “It’s such a pleasure to meet you Phil!”

Pointing to my 2004 hard cover edition of his book No Opportunity Wasted, he commented, “Wow, this is an oldie!  This could break a chicken’s beak!”  We all laughed, & I said, “I’m old school.” (Or something like that…who knows, I could have said, “I’m a fool” for all I know!  LOL!

I then told Phil what an inspiration he was & how his adventurous spirit is something I would like to replicate in my life, and he said, “Well there’s no reason why you can’t!”

As he signed the book, there was silence.  I totally blanked & forgot the questions I wanted to ask & the humorous stories I wanted to share, but my hubby kept the conversation going.  I don’t remember what he said.  I just kept looking at Phil in disbelief and hoping he wouldn’t disappear in a poof of smoke.  Before I knew it, we were getting in photo taking position.

I mentioned earlier to my hubby that a funny “eyebrow” photo would be a great keepsake.  If you watch The Amazing Race, then you know of his animated eyebrow-raising when something peculiar or funny happens.

Phil happily obliged when my hubby requested an “eyebrow” photo.

 Phil’s definitely got the eyebrow action down.
(My hubby’s got some skills too!)

We thanked him again, exited the booth & looked at our photo.  I quickly noticed that something was missing…SMILES!

With puppy dog eyes at my hubby I begged that we go back & get one more photo where we’re actually smiling.

The line had grown significantly, & we had just seen Phil just seconds before, so we decided to ask the booth attendants if we could sneak in & get one more photo.  They happily obliged, but one man near the front of the line quipped, “Hey, you have to get in line!  Get in the back of the line!”  We explained to him that we just saw Phil & had indeed waited in line too, but we just wanted to take one more photo with him, & it shouldn’t take more than two seconds.

Before he could squawk again, the kind attendants let us through, & we laughed telling Phil we need a smiling photo.  Then I jokingly said, “Actually, I just want to put my arm around you one more time!”  He laughed, & we got our photo…all smiles!

 All smiles!  Thanks for exceeding my expectations Phil!

The attendant wanted to get one more photo of us & asked my hubby to take his glasses off.   Phil jumped in and jokingly said, “Geez man, glasses on, glasses off…what do you want from them?!”  But we told him that we were content with the photo, thanked him once again & exited the booth.

We then returned to the travel show fun where we entered contests, spoke to interesting people, filled our bags with brochures, pamphlets, pens and treats, spun prize wheels and won two big bucket of Danish cookies, one hat & one bottle opener,  got some ideas for future travel, and we even got interviewed for the Los Angeles Times website! 

Travel show goodies!

I’m not sure if they’ll use our footage, but they asked us questions like “What brought you to the travel show?”, “Did you win any prizes?”, “What would you tell someone who was thinking about going to day two of the travel show?” and the easiest question, “What was your favorite part of the travel show?”  The words “PHIL KEOGHAN OF THE AMAZING RACE!” couldn’t get out of my mouth fast enough! lol!

Los Angeles Times Travel Show

After a few more laps down the rows of travel booths, I realized that I never saw what Phil wrote in my book, so I quickly dug it out of the bag, flipped open the book & smiled when I saw this:

 Although we may never be contestants on The Amazing Race or hear Phil say “You are Team # 1!,” it’s nice to know that in his book, we are.  😉