We're Filming Our 100th Episode - And We're Hitting the Road That Built America to Do It
Some milestones sneak up on you. Others feel like they were written in the stars — or, in this case, painted on a highway stretching 2,400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica. This spring, we are hitting the road to film our 100th episode of Travels with Darley — and we are doing it on Route 66, in the very year the Mother Road turns 100. Two sort of centennials. One unforgettable season. It doesn't get more poetic than that.
Celebrating 100 Episodes of Travels with Darley
We’re hitting the road and getting ready to film our 100th episode. Stay tune for more travel. More stories. And more open road.
100 Episodes. 13+ Seasons. A Whole Lot of Road.
When Travels with Darley debuted on PBS in 2016, the mission was simple: travel with locals, tell their stories, and show the world how much there is to discover when you stop being a tourist and start being a curious traveler. What we didn't fully anticipate was just how far that mission would take us — or how many lives, including our own, would be changed along the way.
Thirteen seasons later, we've taken viewers from Macao to Mississippi and from South Korea to South Carolina. And, yes, we’ve even included the state that is most people’s 50th for visiting, North Dakota, on multiple road trips! You’ve seen me free-dive with the Haenyeo sea women of South Korea — a UNESCO World Heritage community of female divers who have worked the sea for centuries. I’ve bungee-jumped from the world's highest commercial jump in Macau, climbed the world’s highest commercial climbing wall and traversed New Mexico’s Continental Divide Trail. One of my favorites, I’ve gotten to cook with some of the world’s best chefs, including in the kitchen of a two-star Michelin restaurant in Belgium.
Many of you have written to me about all of the beer I’ve tasted around the world! Thanks for the cheers via email and social! There have been lots of cocktails, too! I’ve sipped sake at the world's largest fish market in Tokyo, and traced World War I history by cycling along the Western Front in France, ending in champagne cellers with WWI graffiti art. Post off-roading in West Virginia, I found the best brewery at Snowshoe nearby, tried truly local wine in rural homes after hot air ballooning over the rock formations of Cappadocia in Türkiye, and even enjoyed whisky tasting for breakfast in Scotland…. because sometimes we have to film segments before the places even open to other travelers!
We've explored the American story in ways that textbooks rarely capture — from the music soul of Muscle Shoals, Alabama to the Creole culture of Martinique and Lafayette and the artistic landscapes of Santa Fe, New Mexico. From the cobblestone streets of Quebec City to the neon-lit diners of the American Midwest and Hong Kong, it’s been a scenic and meaningful trip! Along the way we've met James Beard Award winners cooking over with heirloom ingredients in Charleston, Paralympic cyclists in Huntsville, women changemakers rewriting the story of New Orleans, pitmaster legends in St. Louis, and a world champion log roller in Wisconsin. The backstory on that one is that when I came out of the water, there were a few leeches stuck to my feet! These are the adventures and people who make this show worth making and sharing, so you can try what you dare to conquer, too.
The Honors Have Meant A Lot — And None of Them Would Exist Without the Stories
We are proud to share that Travels with Darley has received many awards and accolades over the years, which makes us proud, but we are most proud to be able to continue to tell great stories and to now do so on multiple platforms amid a constantly changing world and media landscape. The series has evolved from its start in 2016 from a PBS series into a multi-platform storytelling ecosystem. We couldn't have done it without all of you who follow us and also share your stories and tips to fuel new ideas.
Some highlights over the years came over time, but one recent award win meant probably the most. Our director of photography, Greg Barna, who has been working with me on my PBS series and content since 2007 with my original series Equitrekking, just last year received the Silver Circle Emmy Award for a lifetime of achievement in photography. We think his 3 Emmy wins across Equitrekking, and his many nominations for Look Up with Darley had something to do with this honor! We couldn’t be prouder. So many of you who know us know that Greg and our small team are super talented, but this honor is huge… and well deserved.
That moment last fall on the red carpet, surrounded by our tight-knit team with Chad Davis and Evelyn Kwan Green, represented more than 15 years of traveling to document the stories that matter. None of that happens without the people in front of and behind the camera — and none of it happens without you, the viewers who keep showing up and keep traveling in our footsteps.
The Travels with Darley series has also been featured in Forbes, The Washington Post, TODAY, NPR and USA Today, and earned the Caribbean Tourism Organization Award for Best Travel Broadcast and the Inspiring Woman Award from Women in Philanthropy and Leadership. The content has transcended TV to be broadcast on networks in 85 nations around the world, and made it onto streaming platforms, airlines as in-flight programming on Korean Air, Starlux, WestJet, EVA Air and more .
We’ve reached a global audience of travelers and cultural explorers on iHeart, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon through the Travels with Darley podcast, now in another new season. We’ve told stories in a minute or less through social media that mattered, including a recent viral TikTok reaching 1.2M viewers with Hezekiah Watkins’ Freedom Riders story from the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Our sold-out theatre and museum events from Morris Museum to the Smithsonian related to our Revolutionary Road Trip episodes combining history and travel in the lead up to America’s 250th made us think that the untold stories we’ve captured should be available in other formats, too. This summer, we launch a print component with the “Revolutionary Road Trip” book, debuting June 30th in time for America’s 250th birthday. (please pre-order the book. It helps us get into more bookstores!)
So where do we go from here?
Episode 100: Route 66 at 100
We keep going—toward new stories, new places, and new ways to connect. This May, we are packing up the cameras and hitting the open road for the most symbolically charged shoot of our careers. Route 66 is a legendary highway stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles that became the gateway to adventure, guiding early travelers through breathtaking landscapes and untamed beauty. On November 11, 1926, US Highway 66 was established — and in 2026, the entire country is celebrating its centennial, with events, monument unveilings, and community celebrations happening in all eight states along the route. The timing of our 100th episode filming here, this year, is not lost on us, especially as we’ll be traveling along Route 66 in Illinois traversing that first 100 miles of Route 66 through places like Joliet, Wilmington, Pontiac and downtown Chicago.
Route 66 has always been about more than a road. It's about the mom-and-pop motels that survived the interstate era. The neon signs that still flicker at dusk. The diners where three generations of the same family have been serving the same pie recipe or prime rib since the 1950s. The artists, the dreamers, the roadside philosophers, and the communities that held on — and held together — when the rest of the world drove past.
That's our show! We'll be traveling with locals — the real keepers of the road — to uncover the food, culture, history, and human stories that make Route 66 what it is at 100 years old. And we'll be doing it as we mark a milestone of our own. We can’t be more excited that the stretch of this iconic highway that we’ll be covering for our 100th episode is in Illinois, stretching between Chicago and St. Louis and including that first 100 miles of The Mother Road. We’ve filmed along Illinois Route 66 before, so we know that this is one of the most iconic road trips we can capture and share, especially for our 100th episode.
Watch our recent Route 66 Illinois episode to see what we discovered along The Mother Road, poodle skirts and classic cars and all!
What This Season Is Really About
We've filmed all of these episodes because we believe that travel and this type of deeper, more personal and authentic storytelling changes lives. That when you sit at someone else's table, walk through their neighborhood, listen to the music they grew up with, and hear the story of how their grandmother survived something that should have broken her — something shifts. You see the world differently. You see people differently. You see yourself differently. That's what 100 episodes of Travels with Darley has been about. Because when we listen to other people’s stories, we learn, grow and have empathy. We also see things differently. Traveling can make us better people and that makes the world a better place!
We can't wait for you to see more as we travel along filming this new, iconic season!
Keep Exploring with Travels with Darley
Stay connected. Subscribe to our newsletter below so you're the first to know when this milestone season airs. And if you want to catch up before we hit the road, every season is available now on PBS, Amazon Prime, Tubi, and beyond.
A few photos from over the years filming in Little Rock. Costa Mesa, Metz, the Adirondacks, West Virginia, Tokyo, Fargo and beyond for Travels with Darley over the years! If you’ve missed any of these episodes, head to our YouTube to watch back content. Find episodes, too, on Tubi, Great Courses, Amazon, in-flight and on your Smart TV!
Have new places we should cover this year or next? Let us know!
