Ian Wright, the Globe Trekker host on Discovery Travel and Living Channel, visited Taiwan earlier this week.
He has visited Taiwan on four previous occasions. Wright said he loves Taiwan's people, and judging by the popularity of the Lonely Planet programs that he hosts, those feelings are reciprocated.
"I was so surprised that so many people in Taiwan watch the show. Last time I was in a market, every five steps, people would call out to me. I'm a rock star here," Wirght said arching his eyebrow. "You're mad, absolutely, but I love you."
PHOTO COURTESY OF DISCOVERY CHANNEL
The backpacker host came to Taiwan last weekend to promote a new program, which is of a completely different ilk from those he has been doing for the past 12 years. Taking off his trademark slop jacket, he showed off a fine designer suit. After visiting Taiwan, Wright jetted off to Hong Kong to meet celebrity Karen Mok (
Has the tux changed Ian Wright in any way? "Suits are still like fancy things to me. I am not a different person. It's almost like an interesting experiment. It's just like I'm going to another world."
In the first episode, Wright barges into Karen Mok's life. He crashes her fashion shoot, hijacks her karaoke booth, plays the voice of an animated animal in a movie, eats her pudding and fights her trainer. How does he get away with such antics?
"Most of the time, everyone's there with the same purpose, and you've talked to people before you go on anyway. Everyone knows it is fun," he said, "I never ever use personal attacks, I try not to do that, it's too easy, but it's not fun."
Before becoming a TV presenter, Wright had traveled through Egypt for a couple of months, Nepal and India for seven months, Guyana for three months, hitchhiked though Ireland, and gone all around Europe.
Wright said traveling was an amazing lifestyle, but being away from home for seven months a year, he wishes he could spend more time in London. "It's not fun being left, doing hard work, doing all the laundry alone," he said.
The jovial Englishman believes that spending too much time pondering the imponderables of philosophy detracts from life's rich experiences. "Things come. Keep looking, meet different people, and exchange ideas. There is no rule," he said.
The globe trotter never worries about his backpack. "There is no secret, there is nothing mysterious about a rucksack. All you need is money, passport, a change of clothes, and forget the rest," he said.
"I never travel without my sketch book," said Wright, a long-time painting enthusiast. Though he doesn't think too much before hitting the road, on returning home he likes to reflect on his travels.
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