NOT Following the Oprah Itinerary in Australia!

Published March 17, 2011 at 7:00 am |

Australia is pimping out Oprah. Everywhere we went there were photos of her in the tourist attractions she visited. From the Aboriginals to the Sydneysiders, they all loved showing Oprah off.

Every time I chatted with the locals about my Australian itinerary , the response I always received was, “Oh, you’re following the Oprah Itinerary.” Almost verbatim, every… single… time.

The itinerary I speak of included these stops:

Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Melbourne
The Great Ocean Road
The Blue Mountains
The Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Bridge Climb
Daintree National Park
The Great Barrier Reef

All visited by Oprah and her crew.

But the truth of the matter was, I was not following Oprah’s Itinerary. She was following my itinerary! She knew that this trusted, travel blogger knew his sh*t and wanted to follow his lead. Let’s look at the facts…

On Monday, September 13th, 2010 Oprah announced on her show that all 300 audience members would be joining her in Australia in December.

On Monday, July 5th 2010 I created my itinerary and saved it on my computer. Add to that, the fact that I made my official announcement January 22, 2010. That’s almost a full 9 months before Oprah. Plus, I received the Lonely Planet Australia Travel Book as a gift in late 2009.

Just because she went to Australia first, doesn’t mean that she gets to take credit for it. Yes. My trip was overshadowed by Oprah’s and I’m a bit bitter about it. She gets all the attention and I’m perceived as the follower. I never even watched her Australian episodes anyway.

So I’d like to have it on record that adventureswithben.com inspired Oprah to travel to Australia. There I said it. Next time Oprah, you should just holiday in your suite at the Palace of the Lost City.

So that’s my perspective, but what do you think? Was Oprah following the adventureswithben.com Itinerary? Or vice-versa? Share by commenting.

I’ll see you out there…!

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Jason

March 27, 2011 at 7:59 am · Reply

Nice one Bed, usually I never follow any of the stars. I like your itinerary. Most of the times I stop at every possible place and try to find “hidden pearls” and communicating a lot with locals.

Ben

March 28, 2011 at 11:30 am · Reply

Thanks.

Kerry-Ann

March 18, 2011 at 3:18 am · Reply

It seems you have given us some evidence that you did plan the itinerary first. However, what about all those private chats that you had with her in the background while she was seeking your advice? Obviously her crew wouldn’t have been able to plan such a marvelous trip with out your input!
Kerry-Ann recently posted something special..From a local Samoan’s viewpoint

Ben

March 18, 2011 at 6:01 pm · Reply

Hmmmmm, a true travel ninja never reveals his secrets.

cynthia scarborough

March 17, 2011 at 10:39 pm · Reply

Hey Ben-I think you had the original plans. Could this be copyright infingement? Nah. You probably had a better time than Oprah did cause you didn’t have 300 people following you around hanging on every word and a camera crew running around shooting photos all the time. Sorry, I am not much of an Oprah fan. Think she has a bit of an “I” problem. BTW did you get to go to Tasmania on your trip? I’ve always loved it there. The Cradle Mountain area is fabulous!
cynthia scarborough recently posted something special..Natural Disaster Strikes Via An Earthquake In New Zealand

Ben

March 18, 2011 at 6:00 pm · Reply

Thanks Cynthia! I had way more fun than Oprah. She probably had people who had people who told her what to do and where to go. I made all my own (oooo, that’s an Oprah pun) decisions! Missed Tasmania. Next time.

Scott - Quirky Travel Guy

March 17, 2011 at 10:57 am · Reply

I’m glad you still followed your planned itinerary… I know some folks would have stubbornly changed things up just to make it seem like they weren’t following Oprah
Scott – Quirky Travel Guy recently posted something special..My experience in the Sears Exploring My America program

Ben

March 17, 2011 at 5:44 pm · Reply

Heck no Scott. I don’t care if it is Oprah, she’s not going to rain on my parade. Just don’t tell her I said that.