Samantha Brown

“Most people would kill for Samantha Brown’s job. The Travel Channel host spends 230 days a year covering about 100,000 miles for shows like “Samantha Brown’s Great Weekends”, now in it’s second season.

She is also wrapping up “Samantha Brown’s Destinations” and “Samantha Brown’s Asia”. Her last trip? To Indonesia. It took her 36 hours to get home. “The trip began on a horse and cart, then a boat, a car, and 4 plane rides later I was home,” she says.

Like any seasoned traveler, Brown has learned a thing or two about cultural differences over the years, especially about what to pack to blend in with the locals. “I know that what works for job interviews also works in travel,” says Brown. “First impressions mean a lot and looking good has a lot to do with that.” Taking cues from the local style does more than make you more comfortable, she says, it also protects you.

“You want to dress as close to as the locals do if only as to not be targeted as a tourist with a nice camera and wallet full of money and credit cards, even if you have neither,” says Brown. But what works on one continent doesn’t necessarily work on another.

In Asia and the Middle East:

Cover yourself appropriately, everywhere you go. Americans love their casual summer attire-shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, and flip-flops-in warm weather, but in much of the world there’s no temperature high enough to justify donning what’s considered “beach wear” while sightseeing. Brown herself made this mistake during her recent travels in Southeast Asia. “I showed up in shorts and tank tops and realized that, while appropriately dressed for heat, I was inappropriate for the culture,” she says. “Most of Asia is very conservative in dress and in exposing of skin.”

Be careful when dressing exactly like the locals though — you may miss some of the subtleties. Brown learned that lesson on a visit to one of Bali’s temple ceremonies. “I tied my sarong, then I helped with my male cameraman’s only to find that I had tied his ‘the woman way,’ ” she says. “All the men laughed at us and we had a great chuckle, too.”

In Europe:

Don’t pack sportswear unless you’re hitting the gym. There’s no denying that the cliché is true — you can easily pick out the American travelers in Europe by their bright-colored clothing and sneakers. “Lily Pulitzer works well in Palm Springs, but not in Florence, Italy,” says Brown. She also advises travelers to leave the athletic shoes at home. “As a whole, Europeans dress in an extremely high-end and tailored fashion,” explains Brown. “Both women and men devote a large part of their income to clothing.”

In Latin America:

Avoid attention-getting outfits. “Here you actually want to be a lot more understated. Muted colors and jeans will get you in just about anywhere,” says Brown.