While travelling for a TV show sounds like the ultimate dream gig, for some of this year’s Travel Guides stars, they have been confronting their biggest fears.
So far, we have watched the Guides immerse themselves in local experiences in South America, Africa, Indonesia, and the South Coast of New South Wales.
And while some activities have offered enviable views that belong on postcards, some have been stomach-churning for the cast.
Speaking exclusively with New Idea, Matt and Brett broke their golden rule by going on a hot balloon ride through the Serengeti, which they said they’d “never do”.
Both scared of heights, Matt simply said, “What goes up must come down.”
“It’s just a wicker basket held up by air that’s created by these flames; it’s something we thought we’d never do, but we jumped in and got in the basket,” he tells us.
Thankfully for them, it paid off because they got to watch thousands of animals migrate across the continent!
However, they told us that, unlike other Guides who then went to the South Coast, they weren’t given the option to do the cliffside picnic, where a narrow platform was suspended off the side of a 40-metre cliff.
And they’re happy that they weren’t!
Dorian Calleja, on the other hand, who’s been open about his fear of heights on the show, chose to do it.
He also pushed his nerves aside to descend into a 60-metre sinkhole in the Jomblang Cave in Indonesia… and clung to Kev the entire time!
“There have been a few times over the years where I’ve said no to height activities and always been hit with the FOMO (fear of missing out) immediately after, and these two activities I just really wanted to push myself,” he tells us.
“But also with the Jomblang experience, I was definitely intrigued by the adventure factor of repelling into this big beautiful canyon and then exploring further into the caves – it just sounded like an experience I didn’t want to miss out.”
