Travel and videography are two of Linda Goodyear’s biggest interests.
“I’ve never spent money on travelling that I’ve regretted,” said the St. John’s dentist, who is originally from Corner Brook.
“You learn about cultures and the places and then when you get home you appreciate more what you have.”
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Videography is something she’s gotten into in recent years and has studied how to write screenplays at the New York Film Academy.
When trying to find a way to combine the two she came up with the idea of doing a travel reality show.
She said mature women over 50 are one of the largest demographics of travellers right now.
Her thought was to write the show with them in mind, showing them the places they could visit.
She’d already filmed some of her travel adventures on her own, but this would be bigger.
During a recent visit home to see her mom, Joyce Goodyear, Goodyear went out for drinks with her friend Brenda Lee.
She talked about the idea with Lee, who offered some suggestions on things to include. As the conversation continued, Goodyear suggested that Lee go with her.
Lee, former owner of The Orchid, was getting set to retire and agreed.
Goodyear returned home and started to put the plan together.
Goodyear is 60 and Lee is 53, and as she thought of a name for the show something struck her.
“We’re broads, old broads, going abroad,” she said. And so, she came up with “Broads Abroad” for the show’s title.
A week later everything was set for the two to travel to London and Wales, including having someone from Wales hired to film some of their trip.
The two friends of about 30 years started out in St. John’s with some pre-trip filming before leaving for London on Feb. 16.
Armed with a list that Goodyear made of things she wanted to see and do the pair started checking off items over a period of about two weeks.
They went to art galleries, restaurants and had high tea at The Savoy in London.
They rented a car and drove to Wales where they visited a slate mine. The pair spent about 10 days of the trip around Wales working with a videographer and filming themselves.
Goodyear said they tried to be comprehensive in the places they visited, capturing “The highlights of a particular destination.”
Like any reality travel show, there had to be more to it than just the places they visited and things they saw.
“It’s got to have a story.”
Goodyear said the show becomes about how two people get along and how they travel.
Unlike younger people, Goodyear said she and Lee are at an age where they can express themselves more freely and they are good at it.
Lee said the result was a lot of banter and craziness and even some mishaps.
The trip was something new for her, as her ideal trip is a cruise versus Goodyear jetting off to somewhere like Vietnam.
The highlight for her was seeing a Welsh men’s choir rehearse.
“And coming back still taking to one another.”
Once back in St. John’s, Goodyear hired two editors to put the show together.
The finished product will have its premiere in Corner Brook on Aug. 24.
The travellers have put together a private screening for about 120 people.
Goodyear calls it a test audience who will help judge the piece in terms of it being informative and entertaining.
“At the end of it you want people to say I’d love to see an episode of that, I’d like to see more of this show.”
Her ultimate goal is to try and sell the show to a broadcaster and the first episode features trailers of other trips — Russia for the World Cup and China and Mongolia — with other broads that could make for future episodes.
