Alison Teal’s Wild Idea: To Travel the World, Thrive on Discovery Channel’s Naked and Afraid, and Make Movies That Get People to Pay Attention to Plastic Pollution and Protecting Our Environment.
There’s a reason Oprah Magazine calls Alison Teal the “Oprah of Adventures” and Time calls her the “Female Indiana Jones.” While you and I were going to regular school, she was riding camels and climbing in Nepal with her adventurous parents. After studying film at USC, she was invited to participate on the Discovery Channel show, Naked and Afraid. She not only survived 21 days with a guy in the wilderness naked (and then made a grass skirt and coconut bikini), but she used her fame from getting the highest Primaries Survival Rating) on Season One of the show to promote an important purpose, protecting our planet. Alison does it all with a ton of passion, a bikini and a pink surfboard. This episodes tells her story, to the tune of tropical birds signing behind her computer at her adventure house on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Highlights:
- 03:40 – How Alison came to be, with a quick mention about a hot, passionate night in Bolivia.
- 04:25 – How Alison was born on the floor of a log cabin in Colorado and her extremely adventurous parents.
- 07:50 – How Alison grew up with Ashtanga Yoga Guru, Pattabi Jois. The companies, including National Geographic, Columbia and more, that he father shot photos for.
- 10:35 – The places Alison traveled to as a kid, including camel rides through the desert and more..
- 13:10 – Some of the most profound places Alison has been to: India, Himalayas, Bali, and so much more.
- 16:25 – How Alison knows the Shaman from Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Eat, Pray Love, and grew up with him.
- 16:55 – Alison’s thoughts on “Magic.”
- 17:30 – How Alison actually met Disney’s Aladdin character in real life
- 21:20 – Why Alison wanted to learn so much when she finally went to school..
- 23:55 – How Alison makes her movies relatable, even to kids.
- 24:40 – How the Discovery Channel found Alison for Naked and Afraid.
- 34:55 – What happened when Alison got back from surviving 21 days with almost no food on an island. (There was a little PTSD as to be expected).
- 37:00 – How Alison used her newfound fame to promote an important cause, reducing plastic pollution.
- 39:55 – How Alison Went Back to Trash Island, What it is and How She Managed to Get things Done With a Pink Bikini and a Pink Surfboard.
- 48:00 – Alison’s surfboards, and how they are eco-friendly.
- 54:35 – Advice Alison would have given her 15-year-old self, including a memorable moment when she wore a hula skirt at a teen talent show. “Own who you are. Own it!”
- 57:25 – Why Alison doesn’t drink alcohol.
- 01:03:30 – What is coming down the pipeline for Alison, including a new book soon.