Broads Abroad: Longtime N.L. besties film reality travel show

An adventurous and witty pair of longtime friends are hoping to share their love of travel with audiences everywhere through a new reality travel show called Broads Abroad.

Linda Goodyear is a St. John's dentist. She said over the past few years her interest in travelling had blossomed into a passion, and she realized she wanted to find a way to document it.

"I've actually even got to the point of calling it a 'precious commodity.' You have to save, you have to plan. I still print my pictures and do photo albums," said Goodyear. 

"I wanted to get to a point that I could film it moving, and I wanted to capture it with videography."

Knowing that a travel show would be more fun with a friend, Goodyear met up with Brenda Lee in their hometown of Corner Brook in February. Lee was getting just ready to retire after 27 years as the owner of The Orchid flower shop. The timing, she said, couldn't have been better.

"It was a great opportunity and adventure. I was about to retire not knowing what I was going to do and there it was — I was doing a travel show," said Lee.

Broads Abroad

Goodyear, 60, and Lee, 53, decided to go with the tongue-in-cheek name Broads Abroad, and hopes it will appeal to an emerging demographic of female travellers over 50.

"We're a little bit of an older generation," Goodyear said with a laugh.

"One of my thoughts for the show is when you're a little bit younger you have different priorities of what you want to see. When you travel with people, you're a little bit more shy. Now we're a little more mature, a little older."

The pair left from St. John's later that month and flew to London for the first leg of their adventure. When it came to selecting their travel itinerary, the pair wanted to keep it as spontaneous as possible.

"We just made a list. We wanted it to look like it was a random pick and I mean, where do you go? Do you throw a dart, or pick it out of a hat?" said Linda.

"We opened a book and got a page and it turned out to be Snowdonia, Wales."

Episode one

The two took turns filming each other while in transit, and hired film crews to follow them around on the ground. They soon discovered that being friends for more than 30 years made for an interesting, and entertaining, dynamic.

"We have our little mishaps. We make up and get back together, but when you're friend's as long as we have, you can get through that," said Lee.

The first episode is set to premiere at a private screening in Corner Brook on Friday. Based on the audience's reaction, the duo hope to sell the show to a network. They'd like to film more episodes and eventually travel to places like Africa or other parts of Europe.

If nothing else, the pair said they'll always cherish the memories they made abroad.

"We might be 85 in the old age homes still giggling and putting the show on," said Goodyear.

"We'll always have that for sure."

With files from the Corner Brook Morning Show