So the chance to pop on over to Hawai'i's big island has presented itself, and I'm super-excited about it, and one of the ways I am keeping my spirits up through the always-depressing month of February is by planning the trip. I am sort of familiar with Kaua'i, but I've only ever been to the big island once before and I can guaran-damn-tee you, we will not be staying at the Mauna Kea this time, so I'm sort of starting from scratch.
Although Bigisland.org has been very helpful, I am also looking for recommendations in re: specific beaches and what not, and I thought, "Hey, didn't Samantha Brown do a series, Girl Meets Hawaii, where she hit all the islands? Would not the Travel Channel website have links and information on this?"
Answer: the Travel Channel would not. If you use their internal search engine, you get nothing. I had to find the Girl Meets Hawaii page via an external search engine. And then, I just sort of admired the layout, because clicking on any of the links gives you a 404.
What is even more interesting -- albeit frustrating, if you, like me, have watched any of Samantha Brown's previous shows* and thought, "Hmm, I must follow that up online" -- is that the Travel Channel seems to be deep in denial that they've ever aired anything beside Passport to Latin America. I very distinctly remember Samantha Brown's Passport to Europe series. So did the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, what with them giving Samantha Brown an Emmy for the series. Yet if you go to the Travel Channel and type in "Samantha Brown Europe" in their search engine, all the results lead to you video clip links ... that redirect to a general video portal. I had to go to the Samantha Brown entry in Wikipedia, then to the cites at the bottom, to find this well-hidden guide to the series.
Sadly, the Wikipedia savants were unable to unearth similar gems for Girl Meets Hawaii. I went to see when -- or if -- the show was on, and the listings were, shall we say, less than useful. Also, they're inaccurate: a set for the new Michael Palin show Across the Iron Curtain was listed as Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
The reason I'm so cheesed about this: because the Travel Channel is really screwing up an opportunity to grab loyal customers who will tune in to their shows and haunt their web sites. I think many food shows do it right. For example, if you're watching Good Eats on Food Network, you can then go to the site and easily find the recipes referenced in a specific episode. Watching hooks you; web-surfing keeps you coming back again and again. You begin to rely on the brand because you know it will deliver what you need when you need it.
For something like travel, it works similarly: watching gives you the enticing visual invitation, and web-surfing should give you the information you need to follow up and learn more. (Or book your trip.) Instead, the Travel Channel seems to offer very little support to its shows, and you end up with third-party destination guides that are nothing like what you saw on TV.
I know that different shows are created by different production companies. What I don't understand is why someone at the Travel Channel hasn't managed to get corporate buy-off on the idea that all its shows, past and present, should have some sort of uniform web presence. I don't understand why the Travel Channel hasn't managed to make "a well-supported show site" part of a standard contract with any production company. As of now, the haphazard travel information linked to the shows, the rotten search tool and the poorly-maintained legacy links only make me less likely to ever consider the Travel Channel's site as a resource.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to unwind by watching some Big Island web cam footage. I'll get my recommendations later.
* And you should. She is like the Rachel Ray of travel, able to burble amiably at a camera with complete unselfconsciousness, willing to do all sorts of crazy tourist stuff just to show the audience what to expect, genuinely pleased or thrilled or anxious about what she does (or else acting on a level with Dame Judi Dench). Although Michael Palin is my favorite TV travel guy, Samantha Brown leads the distaff division.
Oooh, this is an interesting point to me because it seems so obvious that while the Travel Channel thinks that its product is entertainment and therefore not worthy of archiving, it really is information and worthy of cataloging. It's the old pulp paperback argument transferred to the video age!
But hey, Lisa--my sisters have both been to Hawaii in the past year, and one is going this month to a wedding in the company of massive Hawaii hounds. I can see if they have any leads.
Posted by: Kerry | 2008.02.07 at 17:50
I am a Rick Steves girl, myself, but that won't help much with Hawai'i.
Posted by: Maria | 2008.02.07 at 20:58
I've been to the Big Island twice, and used Hawaii The Big Island Revealed, by Andrew Doughty. I can't whole-heartedly recommend it, as the organization of it can be frustrating, and the tone can be annoying, but their information is really damn good. Lots of details about the best tucked-away beaches and hikes and so on.
I love the Big Island -- the volcano, the rain forest, snorkeling with sea turtles, everything.
Posted by: Becky | 2008.02.07 at 23:21
Wow, that is a terrible web site! (Travel Channel's, I mean.) You're right, they're really missing out on web-using audience participation/reference!
Posted by: Stephanie | 2008.02.08 at 08:03
If you go, you gotta look out for the 6-gilled giant monter shark.
http://swimatyourownrisk.com/2008/02/06/monster-6-gill-shark-caught-on-film/
Eeeeekkkkkkk.
Posted by: Erin | 2008.02.08 at 13:05
I LOVE that you're still reading that site. That kills me.
I saw seven-gill sharks at Monterey last weekend!
Posted by: Lisa S. | 2008.02.08 at 16:36
Oh, I totally recommend the Farmer's Market in Hilo. Wednesdays and Saturdays I think. They have these coconut filled buns that are amazing. My sister and I went with her two boys, who were 18 mos and 3 yrs old at the time. We reserved the first and last nights and camped the rest, roaming the Island in a minivan. Both boys were in diapers and bottles, and it was certainly an adventure. I wish we could've spent more time at the Volcanoes National Park, but given the age of the boys, that wasn't doable and much of their camping facilities were too primitive for us - we needed running water at least. You'll have a blast regardless.
Posted by: Jen | 2008.02.09 at 06:02
I wanted to second the recommendation for Andrew Doughty's books, although I have only read his Maui and Kauai guides and the Big Island one may not be of the same quality. I find his tone to be a little too peppy sometimes and read like marketing copy, but he knows Hawaii like the back of his hand. The books are durable and have good maps, and if an attraction is overhyped, he will be honest and tell you that it's not worth your time and/or cash.
He presents redundant information in different chapters, but he's just slicing the data in a different way. For example, the same beach may be mentioned in the section on snorkeling and the section on Poipu, but I find that useful. Sometimes I'm in Poipu and I want to know what's there, and sometimes I want to snorkel and want to know where I should go. This felt intuitive to me, but I can see how it might look disorganized.
And it's full of color pictures. I love reading words, but when I'm choosing where to spend my limited vacation time, I want to have a clear idea of what I'm getting into. Maybe other people like seeing a waterfall for the first time when they get there, though.
Posted by: cirocco | 2008.02.09 at 07:07
Eric's mom lives on the Big Island. I agree that Big Island Revealed by Andrew Doughty is the best Guidebook I've seen. My two favorite things are going to watch the lava flow into the ocean at Volcanoes National Park and hiking in Waimea. However the lava views vary and last year the Waimea trail was closed when I went. It doesn't matter though, there's a lot to do.
Posted by: Maxwell | 2008.02.11 at 17:28
I couldn't agree more. The Travel Channel website is terrible. My husband and I are finally starting to travel now that our children are a bit older and I would love to have access to info from "Girl meets Hawaii", "Great Hotels", etc. But there's nothing on the TC website. I've even tried to buy the series on DVD. Target and Amazon have "Great Hotels" for sale but it's currently listed as "unavailable" and has been for months and months. I've spoken via phone to a customer service rep at the Travel Channel. He seemed both uninformed and uninterested. If anyone knows where I might Samantha Brown DVDs please post the info. It would be a great EBay opportunity for someone. Wake up Travel Channel execs!!!!! There's money to be made.
Posted by: Billie | 2008.02.18 at 14:47