Travel host Samantha Brown has travelled through Europe and Latin America in the popular Passport To Europe and Passport To Latin America series.

Her latest show to debut on Discovery Travel & Living (StarHub Channel 16) last Friday at 9pm is Samantha Brown's Great Weekends 2.

The programme sees the seasoned traveller going to destinations such as Montreal, Canada and Big Island, Hawaii.

In town for the first time last week to film a new travel series on Asia, the chatty host revealed the secret to her perky persona on screen.

'I carry a jar of peanut butter everywhere I go. It's pure energy and essential emergency food. I can buy anything to dip inside and I'm good to go,' says the 40-year-old, whose husband, Kevin O'Leary, travels with her. They have no children.

Born in Dallas, Texas, Brown has been living in New York for 18 years and graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theatre.

She worked on commercials and waited on tables for eight years before getting a call for an audition - 'by chance' - for a travel programme.

'My performing arts background helped me since I am able to make things up as I go along,' says Brown, who does not need scripts for her shows. Six months into her hosting career, she decided that it would be the job for her.

'Initially I'd always wanted to break into the TV industry and perhaps act in sitcoms. But I realised that this is the job for me.'

With 10 years of hosting experience under her belt, travel has now become 'an obsession' for her.

Her best travelling experiences include holding a panda bear in Chengdu, China, and visiting a floating village in Vietnam.

She says: 'Honestly, I will go anywhere be it 200 or 10,000 miles. It's all about the human experience.'

1 What about Singapore fascinates you the most?

Singapore has always had a business-like image, but it's such a compact place for an intense Asian experience.

I love the food culture with the hawker stalls and you can eat incredibly well in a shopping mall as well.

In America, the food in malls is mostly fast food and very greasy.

I've been to Lau Pa Sat, Geylang Serai and Little India. It was great to be in that whirlwind of energy.

2 People say you have the best job in the world. Is it as wonderful as it looks?

It's even better. What you see may only be three minutes of a 12-hour experience for me.

We have so much access to what people can't do and we can end up spending whole afternoons in villages sightseeing. And we do actually stay in the presidential suites or special villas we film at.

But, of course, we don't show the 12-hour train rides. Also, everyone sees me getting massages, but I don't really enjoy them. I'm half-naked in front of an all-male crew, they are massaging only one arm and what's meant to be a hot stone massage are really cold stones. It's all for the camera.

3 Can you give your best tips for travellers?

When you go to a foreign place, put the map down, just wander around and let your natural curiosity guide you. We always overschedule our itineraries and we should never apply our fast pace of work to our holiday lifestyle. Treat your destination as a proper vacation.

Make sure you eat well and eat healthy. Try to eat a lot of greens.

4 What're the best souvenirs you've brought back from your travels?

An abstract painting that looks like the tip of Manhattan. I got it from Berlin, Germany, a hot spot for artists. I also buy wine for friends.

I'm going to bring back Good Morning towels from Singapore and change all the dishcloths in my house.

5 You're always trying new things. Do you have any fears?

I have a terrible fear of going underwater for activities such as scuba diving. But I'm forced to do it for the show.

What you won't see on camera is a whole crew surrounding me, in case I get a panic attack. I like to be in control and the ocean is not something I am in control of. The creatures there have such big teeth.

I almost conquered my fear when I was in Atlanta, Georgia. They have an aquarium the size of a football field with manta rays, hammerhead sharks and four whale sharks swimming around.

Surprisingly, I was at peace and in awe when I saw the whale shark rising up below me. But the next moment, I was hyperventilating and having a panic attack.

Other than that, I'd try anything and I'd eat anything.

6 What's the most unusual thing you've eaten in your travels?

Duck tongue in Beijing. I thought it would be all squidgy but when I bit into the soft bones of the tongue, it was really bad. I managed to keep it down. But later, the Chinese women said they wouldn't eat it either. I think it was 'bully the Western lady' day.

I also tried the fish eyeballs in Singapore and I liked it.

7 Where's your favourite place to go to?

My home, since I'm travelling 230 days in a year. In my free time, I'd be at home with my cat, which hates me because I'm not around all the time, and my dying plants.

I'll order Chinese and watch bad reality TV, which America has a lot of.

8 Complete this sentence. If I could live my life again, I would...

Want the same life I have now. I have no regrets. I do wish I could be more patient with myself in my personal life as I can be very impatient and love to be in control.

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Samantha Brown's Great Weekends 2 airs on Fridays at 9pm on Discovery Travel & Living (StarHub Channel 16).

This article was first published in The Straits Times.