There are celebrities with TV travel shows who just canB次元官网网址檛 wait to show you where they came from or push the limits of their bodies or go out of their way to locate a perfect recipe. Then thereB次元官网网址檚 Eugene Levy.

The B次元官网网址淪chittB次元官网网址檚 CreekB次元官网网址� star admits heB次元官网网址檚 not really a fan of the cold or the heat. He doesnB次元官网网址檛 really like eating strange things and, well, insects freak him out. HeB次元官网网址檇 rather stay home, to be honest.

B次元官网网址淣ot only do I not love traveling, IB次元官网网址檝e got a very low sense of curiosity,B次元官网网址� he says during an interview. B次元官网网址淚 do not have an adventurous spirit. And IB次元官网网址檓 actually thinking, well, arenB次元官网网址檛 those things you need to host a travel show?B次元官网网址�

Not necessarily, and so welcome, to Apple TV+B次元官网网址檚 the unlikely wedding of a droll and cautious host with some of the most beautiful places on Earth.

During the eight-episode series, Levy swims in a frozen lake in Finland, walks around slot canyons in Utah and explores a rainforest in Costa Rica. He also visits Italy, Japan, the Maldives, Portugal and South Africa, even going on safari and enjoying a gin and tonic as he does.

The more uncomfortable he seems, the funnier the show becomes. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 the more Great Indoors type of guy,B次元官网网址� he jokes to his guide in a forest in Costa Rica brimming with thousands of species of animals, what he calls B次元官网网址渁ll those tiny threats to life.B次元官网网址� While ice fishing in Finland, he notes drily: B次元官网网址淗earty and resilient are two words that have never been used to describe me.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 hoping this appeals to seasoned travelers that might watch this and chuckle,B次元官网网址� he says later in the interview. B次元官网网址淏ut also to people who, like me, donB次元官网网址檛 travel extensively, are not fond of traveling, donB次元官网网址檛 have that sense of adventure, so to speak B次元官网网址� that they will see me as a kindred spirit.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭he Reluctant TravelerB次元官网网址� was initially a show pitched as a way to feature hotels with remarkable views that morphed into one which really shines when Levy leaves them to go into the culture heB次元官网网址檚 visiting and is changed.

In Utah, he stays in an elegant property overlooking the Colorado Plateau where rooms go for more than $3,000 a night but finds a real sense of spirituality visiting his Navajo guideB次元官网网址檚 modest homestead.

B次元官网网址淭he memorable thing for me, by and large, are the people that IB次元官网网址檓 running into,B次元官网网址� Levy says. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 hoping that this is one of those shows with a nice kind of different personality.B次元官网网址�

In Finland, Levy rides a snowmobile, goes ice fishing and ice swimming, eats reindeer and attempts husky sledding B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淗ow do you say slow down in dog?B次元官网网址� he asks B次元官网网址� and ice swimming. He finds Finns deserve their reputation as some of the happiest people on Earth. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e never met people that were any happier and donB次元官网网址檛 know whether being big vodka drinkers has anything to do with it,B次元官网网址� he jokes.

Levy landed the job by trying to talk himself out of it. Executive producer David Brindley recalls he and Apple executive Alison Kirkham were on a phone call trying to lure Levy into hosting a travel show and listening to him explain how he was the wrong man for the job. They were in stitches.

B次元官网网址淲e all have fears about certain things and we all have things that scare us and we sort of wish that we could do something about them, but we never do. And Eugene has just given himself over to this process,B次元官网网址� said Brindley. B次元官网网址淎nd, as a result, maybe he doesnB次元官网网址檛 enjoy absolutely everything that he puts in his mouth or every activity that goes on, but itB次元官网网址檚 had a positive influence and heB次元官网网址檚 come away a bit of a different person.B次元官网网址�

The 76-year-old actor with bushy eyebrows and round glasses joins a crowded field of celeb travel hosts, which includes Zac Efron, Chris Hemsworth, Will Smith, Stanley Tucci, Macaulay Culkin and Ewan McGregor.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of travel shows around the world and rightly so. TheyB次元官网网址檙e gorgeous and theyB次元官网网址檙e escapist and theyB次元官网网址檙e beautiful,B次元官网网址� said Brindley, chief creative officer at production house Twofour. B次元官网网址淏ut launching a new one, you want to find something that has a unique selling point, that has the chance to do something a tiny bit different that will just grab peopleB次元官网网址檚 attention and also that feels relatable.B次元官网网址�

So in South Africa, viewers will get a kick out of watching Levy nervously reacting to wild animal noises, seeing his first warthog B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭hat is not a pleasant-looking thing!B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and playing golf among hippos. He collects a fecal sample from a tranquilized elephant and charmingly bottle feeds a baby rhino. B次元官网网址淭hat was a very, very cute experience,B次元官网网址� he says.

To keep Levy fresh, he and his team would visit two locations at a time B次元官网网址� spending one week in each B次元官网网址� and then break for a few months before reuniting for another set of visits.

Levy consulted over the list of possible locations for the first season and says he got more adventurous each time. B次元官网网址淎s the series went on, I was kind of rolling with the punches,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檒l see how the viewers take to it.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press