In 2015, almost nobody was talking about Morganton, North Carolina, or the Linville Gorge — the "Grand Canyon of the East." A decade later, the county's tourism revenue has grown faster than almost anywhere else in the state, and the gorge now requires weekend permits because of overcrowding. This is what happens when a hidden gem gets found, told from footage of the place before it was.

Visit California invited me on a five-day water adventure through my own home state. The real reason: damage control. Weeks earlier, an oil spill had devastated the Santa Barbara coastline, and the destination needed proof the wildlife had come back. Jet skis, a super pod of dolphins, and a Guinness World Record surf event later, I understood I wasn't just making a fun water-sports episode — I was part of a crisis communications campaign.

Nobody invited me to Lexington to make a travel show — I was there to speak at a conference. But I had a camera and a show to feed. Four episodes came out of one offered day: America's first commercial winery, a thoroughbred horse farm where a single horse can sell for half a million dollars, a VIP tour of the University of Kentucky basketball facilities, and the Distillery District revival. This is the episode where I learned you don't need a press trip to make content — you need the instinct.