After reading post after post about how Andrew Anthony is awful, boring, arrogant, not as good as Bourdain, etc etc I finally felt like I should speak up. Lighten up! First of all, AA is not trying to be Bourdain. His attitude is completely different: goofy Canadian guy with dry, boyish humor versus tough, worldly New Yorker with an acid wit- where are people even getting this comparison?? I saw a few Travel Channel spots featuring AA talking about Bourdain, but HELLO, the Travel Channel probably created those b/c they were hoping to snag some of Bourdain's viewers and turn them on to the new show. Just because the Travel Channel might have been hoping for some overlap in audiences doesn't mean the shows have to be exactly alike! So maybe no one is learning any really major life lessons from Life's a Trip, or even learning very much about the countries AA travels to, but who cares? That's not the aim of this show. Not every show on this channel has to be profoundly enlightening. And besides, I don't think Andrew Anthony is doing any harm. The people on the show seem to be in on the joke, so why aren't the viewers getting it? Can't we just have a little fun, a little travel-related humor?? Don't any of you ever laugh on vacation? Why all the self-righteousness?

I agree that some episodes have been a bit slow (the one where he was alone on an island, for example), but the episodes that were more focused and resonated with AA on a more personal level (such as the Scotland episode) were good, honest lighthearted fun. Not every show on the Travel Channel has to be about breaking down barriers and gaining deep insight into the world around us. Don't get me wrong, I love shows that really expand my horizons, help me learn, and make me think, but they can't all be that way. Come on, this is a channel that features hour upon hour of programming about Disneyland and Las Vegas, so everyone needs to stop acting like they're so incredibly offended by a show that's just supposed to be fun. If you hate the show, maybe you're not part of the Travel Channel's target audience for this particular program. Change the channel and stop hating on one of my favorite new shows!