On CNN International

'UNUSUAL' IS THE NEW USUAL
Something unusual happened to me last week. I got invited onto CNN International's morning broadcast with Anjali Rao to talk about 'unusual travel.' That meant make-up, sitting with other guests in a compact 'green room' and talking with one's fiancee (a Hawaiian living in Las Vegas) before staring into a blank monitor and talking about life in the world's coldest city (Yakutsk, Russia), so-called 'dark tourism' experiences (including cemeteries, the World Trade Center and Auschwitz), before plugging the funny things you find around the corner in Paris: sewers.

Some of these ideas are rather extreme, but the idea of doing things unusually -- be it volunteering a day or simply going to secondary attractions (perhaps Laos instead of Thailand, Lisbon instead of Barcelona) -- is becoming a growing norm as travel 'catches up with itself' and more travelers are feeling comfortable going further than every before.

Above is a short behind-the-scenes video of my CNN debut if you're interested. Or go here.