The Reluctant Traveler (2023–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Utah - full transcript

A great philosopher
once said, "The world is a book,

and those who don't travel
read only one page."

Well, I've gotta say,
I've read a few pages,

and I'm not crazy about the book.

I don't look forward to traveling
for a number of reasons.

When it's too cold, I'm not comfortable.

Ice swimming, naked?

- Yes.
- Well, that's a terrific invitation.

When it's too warm, guess what?

I'm not comfortable.

I can't move that fast.



But I'm 75.

- You need some help?
- No, I got it.

And maybe it's time to expand my horizons.

Oh, my God.

First time I've had my hand up
an elephant's ass.

On the plus side,

I'm staying at some unbelievable hotels.

Oh, my. This is spectacular.

The catch is, I've also agreed
to explore what lies outside.

- Watch your step.
- No kidding.

- Beautiful mountain.
- That's a volcano.

That's a volcano?

A world I've spent my whole life avoiding.

Whoa. Sadie.



Oh, my God.

Just surviving would be great.

This is the last time I have five vodkas
with a Finn.

This landscape is as alien-looking
as anything I've ever seen.

There's just a lot of nothing.

So much nothing.

And me.

This is my first time in the desert,

and I can honestly say,
it doesn't hold too much appeal for me.

I mean, granted the total lack of humidity
is good for my hair, and that's a plus.

But I don't think I'd wanna spend
a lot of time...

out here, to be honest.

And I know from experience,

just because the situation is bad,
doesn't mean it can't get worse.

Did I ever mention
I have a thing about heights?

Mr. Levy, sir. Good morning.

I'm Tony. I'm gonna be your pilot today.

- Tony. Eugene.
- Pleasure.

This is gonna be
a beautiful scenic flight.

I want you to be able
to look around and enjoy it.

I can't really look off a bridge.
So we'll see how this goes.

I'm thinking "Not well."
But I'm sure this is all perfectly safe.

This is a personal flotation device.

It would just go around the waist,
click together like so,

- tighten it facing out. Okay?
- Yeah.

Have you ever worn
a flotation device before?

No, never needed one.
Never come that close to death before.

- Sure.
- But it's good to know it's...

- That it's here.
- Okay.

We'll get seated and get on our way.

- Okay.
- Right this way.

Utah is the 45th state of the USA,

but I think you can sense
the real state I'm in right now.

Let the screaming begin.

It's called absolute terror.

Okay. Here we go.

God.

- It's a little shaky.
- How are you doing over there?

You know, not bad.
I'll be opening my eyes momentarily.

- Don't let fear paralyze you.
- Okay.

I haven't seen the view yet,
to be honest. I'm looking out now.

It looks like we're flying right
into that wall, Tony.

We're gonna shoot right over top of that.

Yeah, way over top of it.

Oh, my God.

Off to the right-hand side,

you're getting
the wonderful Horseshoe Bend.

I'm gonna roll us just a touch
to the right here

to give you the full experience.

Yikes.

That's a long way down, Tony.

Next stop, the beautiful Tower Butte,

towering above the landscape
about 300 meters above the ground.

- You're gonna land up there?
- Yes, sir.

I want to be able to show
you the views around this place.

Yeah, I've seen the views.
Much appreciated.

Not sure we need to land on them.

Here we go.

Tony,
I don't wanna tell you how to do your job.

Doesn't quite look big enough.

Oh, my God.

All right, sir. Welcome to Tower Butte.

I'd assumed things
would be less terrifying

when I got out of the helicopter.

I was wrong.

- Just watch your step.
- No kidding.

- Welcome to the million-dollar view.
- Wow.

All this land that we're looking at now,
would this be a conservation area?

We're actually on Navajo Nation land.

- This is Navajo land.
- Very sacred place for the Navajo.

Wow. So, looking at these buttes,

you get the sense that everything
was at this level.

That's exactly right.
About 165 million years ago,

where we're standing
would have been ground level everywhere

as far as you could see.

So, what's next?

Well, Tony thinks we should try
and plummet off the edge of this cliff.

We'll see how this goes.

All right, sir. Are you ready?

Okay. Here we go.

Oh, baby!

Yikes!

That was as close to falling off
a cliff as I've ever come.

All right, Eugene.
As we come around the corner,

you get your first view of the hotel.

The main resort's out in front of us here.

That right there?

You can hardly see it.

And there she is.

The Amangiri.
My home for the next few days.

The things I put myself through.

- All right, sir, welcome.
- Nice landing.

They tell me that "Amangiri"
means "peaceful mountain".

And at over $3,000 a night,
that's some pretty expensive peace.

Wow. This place is beautiful.

Hello. Welcome to Amangiri.

- Thanks. Hi.
- I'm Kauri. Nice to meet you.

Eugene. Nice to meet you.

Kauri is here to show me to my suite.

Oh, my.

And help pick my jaw up off the floor.

It's absolutely breathtaking.

After you.

This is nice.

This is our Girijaala Suite,

which in Sanskrit
means "mountainous ridge."

I just love the way this is done.
Look at this.

Even the umbrellas and the hats,
and the stick blend in with where we are.

It's like they took the color scheme
right from my wardrobe

and made a whole world out of it.

And then your private patio's here.

I love the way this hotel sits
in with the landscape.

Well, the land is very important
to us here.

We do try and embrace the cultural values
of the Native Americans.

I myself actually am Navajo.

So that's something
that I appreciate about the resort.

Well, that is something that I would love

to learn a little bit more of
while I'm here.

- Of course.
- That's for sure.

Now, this resort is built on federal land,

but it sits on the edge of
the Navajo Nation,

the largest Native American reservation
in the US.

It fits in perfectly
with its surroundings,

which is not a feeling I'm familiar with.

Look at this place.

This is spectacular.

I just can't imagine what it took
to build this oasis in the desert.

But thankfully I don't have to.

I'll leave that up to Marwan,
one of the hotel's architects.

So, this is the first epic view
you get since coming into the hotel?

Exactly. In a way, we wanted
to take the view away from you

because when you start to arrive
at the hotel,

you're pinched in between
this concrete wall and the existing rock,

and you're not quite sure
where you're going.

And then you come up these stairs,
and after taking it away, bang.

We wanted to provide something really,

- really dramatic.
- It's absolutely majestic.

How do you come up
with something like this?

Personally,
it comes from a lot of traveling.

Whether it's in Morocco or even in Japan,

and you look at kind of
a lot of vernacular architecture,

it's quite simple and basic
but to me very elegant.

So, that aspect of simplicity
can be very luxurious.

And do you think it is society craving
a simpler way to go?

I do.

And I think one of the reasons
this hotel has become so successful

is it brings people back to that.

Marwan has laid out the hotel in two wings

to ensure all 34 suites get to enjoy
the real star of the show.

The idea was, do this kind of, like,
cinematic window

- to get the drama of where you are.
- Right.

And, you know,
there is a history of the West, obviously,

that we're trying to pick up on.

- From westerns by John Ford...
- Yeah.

...Sergio Leone with the Panavision screen.

There it is.

This says John Ford to me.

It's like the whole place
is completely at one with the desert

in the same way that I,
just as completely, am not.

This is amazing

how this pool swoops around
this beautiful-looking rock right here.

For us, it was kind of about
how to abstract the landscape.

- Yeah.
- Basically, water, rock, sky.

We can't outdo these rocks,

but we can allow people
to appreciate them in different ways.

This is so brilliant

how you have picked up
every texture you can imagine

from the landscape around it.

This is a kind of break in the wing
where you get this slot canyon

and it gives you this nice view out.

And what are slot canyons?

They're these narrow
slivers of eroded rock

that are curving in different directions,
and it's all eroded by wind and water.

And the way light filters
through there is absolutely magical.

- Wow. Would love to see that.
- Definitely should see it.

To get to meet the guy
that designed this place

and have him take you around

and explain where
this whole thing started?

For me,
those are the kind of things I love.

I enjoyed it. I wonder if he did.

Maybe he's a better actor than I am.

Didn't know it was gonna be this cold.

Nighttime desert, cold but beautiful.

Geographically,
you can look around this place

and you have such
a strong sense of history.

It's as close to looking
at the creation of the planet

as any place I've ever seen.

The Native Americans
are the history of this country.

So, I think the connection

to their culture is something
I wanna know more about.

So I slept very soundly.

Full marks to the hotel.

But now the most important
part of my stay.

Breakfast.

When it comes to food,
I'm there in a big way.

It's my favorite part of the job.

- Erik.
- Hello. Good morning.

- Good to see you, sir.
- Good to see you as well.

So, do you cook a lot?

I barbecue.

I can't say I'm a cook
because there's too much involved.

So I just put some meat on a grill
and then I'm pretty good at that.

We're gonna make a pancake this morning.

- It's one of our staples a...
- Pancakes?

- Pancakes.
- Okay.

You'd think in a place like Amangiri,
you know, that you might find a...

Kind of a higher-end
kind of "foufou-ish" menu.

If it's too Michelin, for me,

it's sometimes tough
to find something you really want to eat.

That's right. A lot of the guests do like
that hometown feel.

Yeah.

Now I'm gonna go inside here
and reach for the hot pan.

All right. You got it.

Grab my clarified butter,

and then
we'll just pop it inside the oven.

So it sizzles in clarified butter
in a wood oven.

Oh, my God. This sounds incredible.

Don't let the homespun cooking fool you.

This place is the A-listers retreat
of choice.

The trouble is,
I know Erik is strictly forbidden

from revealing who they are.

Almost there.

This is the fun part right here.

Let's see if I can
subtly introduce the topic.

So, if I said, "Has George Clooney
sampled your pancakes?"

- You would say...
- I can't confirm or deny.

Can't confirm or deny.

Have you made a pancake for Brad Pitt?

I take that as a yes.

If I just gave you initials

and you just nodded, would that be...

I can say Eugene Levy was here.

How sweet is that?

- Little maple syrup on top of it for you?
- Yes, please.

I'm Canadian, maybe I didn't mention.

- Wow.
- Please enjoy.

Wow, is that good.

Awesome. Thank you.

- That is the most amazing pancake...
- Thank you so much.

...I've ever had.

And what did George Clooney say
when he had one of these?

Now, I've come here to have
a life-changing experience,

and these pancakes definitely qualify.

Ask a cardiologist.

But apparently, I've got to say goodbye
to Erik and venture out.

I'm dressing a little on the warm side

'cause I think the air actually
gets chilly out here this time of year.

Local guide Raymond is taking me
to see the natural phenomenon

which partly inspired
the design of the hotel.

It's a pleasure to be
with you this morning

as we make our way to the slot canyons.

I'm excited to see them.
Do you live in this area yourself?

I'm born and raised. So, you know,

this area here is really tied deep
to my roots.

I gotta be honest.

When I think of slots in the desert,
I tend to have Vegas in mind.

But Southern Utah has more of these
slot canyons

than anywhere else in the world.

Wow. This is incredible.

Look at this.

The geology of this rock
would be about 190 million years old.

Over the ages, the elements
have reshaped this landscape

that's all around me.

This is what happens
when nature creates its own cathedral.

And then you would have

high volumes of wind
that would create all this smoothness

that we would see right here.

How significant are these canyons
to the Navajo people?

There's a lot of different storytelling

that they have about these in my culture.

So they say that these canyons here are
actually shaped and carved

from everyone and anyone's adversity
that they may have faced in life.

So, when you have those moments
that you deal with adversity,

when you take those deep breaths that...

Wind.

It would carry that negativity,
that adversity,

it would blow it into these slot canyons.

- Turning negative...
- Into beauty.

- Thoughts into beauty.
- Yeah, exactly.

Looking at this place,

- I think those prayers have worked.
- Yeah.

Yeah, definitely.

What I picked up from Raymond
is that there's...

There's more here than meets the eye.

There's more going on here
than just history and geology.

- Good? Nice.
- Yeah.

I'm 75, Raymond,

and I can't believe
that it's taken me this long

to get to this part of the country,
and I'm almost embarrassed to say that.

The desert wind doesn't just sweep
away negative thoughts.

It's powerful enough to also sweep away
the reluctant thoughts

of a creature of habit like me,

because I have, and this is not
a phrase I'm accustomed to using,

booked an afternoon's outdoorsy activity.

Going horseback riding.

So I know what you're thinking.
Am I really a horse person?

I've never been a horse person.

I never know when a horse is happy.

Do you know what I mean?

You know when a dog is happy to see you.
But I don't know if a horse actually...

Does he wag his tail
when he's happy to see you?

But I grew up,
just about every television show

in prime time was a western.

You know, Roy Rogers, The Cisco Kid,
Wild Bill Hickok.

Let's go start my own western.

Hi.

Howdy.

How are you?

- I'm good. I'm Eugene.
- Good. I'm Brooke.

- Brooke, how you doing?
- Good. You wanna meet the horses?

Sounds like an odd game show.

- Who's this?
- This is Sadie.

Hey, Sadie.

- Is this my horse?
- This is your horse.

Okay. She can sense that, you know,
"We got a newbie."

No, she's very sweet.

The last time I was on a horse was about

50 years ago

- when I went riding with a friend.
- Okay.

And the two horses sideswiped each other.

- I got thrown off...
- Oh, no.

...but luckily we landed in brush

- and, you know...
- Didn't get hurt.

And I got up and I thought,
"Well, maybe they are too big to get on."

You look like you're ready to play polo.

A little spot of polo...

- Yes.
- ...and then off to cricket.

How's that?

- Good?
- Yeah.

And this is why cowboys
never wore glasses. Not a good look.

How's that feel?

Well, it kind of feels like a wishbone.

- Okay. The loose is go, okay?
- Okay.

- Yep, and then just lean back.
- That's a good girl.

Yeah, and then just put your heels down
when you stop.

All right. Are we ready?

Maybe the horse is ready. I'm not.

All right. Come over here, Sadie.

Whoa. Sadie.

- Whoa. Sadie!
- Okay, honey.

Tighten your reigns up.

Okay, so just keep your reins
a little tighter

- and then she won't do that to you.
- Yeah.

No. Come on, baby.

- Come on. That's it.
- There you go.

Yeah, totally in control.
That's the name of the game.

You gotta let 'em know who's boss, right?

Whoa.

Now, I'm told there are
seven miles of horse trails,

which for me would be
about six and a half too many.

I don't know whether I would have
gotten back on a horse,

but I'm doing my best trying to do things
that I wouldn't normally do.

Are you feeling like a cowboy?

I'm feeling like
the worst possible cowboy.

This is one cowboy that will never
have his own movie.

The only thing I'm missing
is chewin' tobacco and my gun.

We carry guns
to shoot the rattlesnakes and the coyotes.

Have you come across a rattlesnake
on a trail ride?

Yes.

That's it. Heart's palpitating.

For some reason,
Sadie decides to spare my life

and I get back to the hotel.

My bed seems to be calling,

but tonight I have front-row tickets
to quite the show.

A private stargazing session
with Navajo guide Mylo.

- How you doing, Eugene?
- How are you?

I am doing so great.

- Good to have you out here.
- Wow.

My job is to sit back and look up,

and I'm pretty confident
I can do that really well.

There anything up there
that's important to you?

You have a sense that
you're kind of relatively insignificant

- in the giant scheme of things.
- Yeah.

Well,
we're gonna explore that a little bit

according to some
of our traditional stories.

All right.

Earlier,
I made little wood chips over there.

If you can grab those,
I'll get these bigger logs and...

- Sure.
- ...we'll get warm.

When's the last time you built a fire?

Never.

Okay. Well, we're getting there.

You know where the North Star is at?

I should know where it's at.

I think it's in this...

- Yeah.
- ...general area.

It's actually right over there.

- That's what I meant.
- Yeah.

- And so in our creation story...
- Yes.

...that was one of the original first stars

that was placed
so it'd be the brightest one.

They said no matter where our people go,

they will always be able
to look up at night

to remember teachings that we have.

Is there a lesson
in what we're seeing up there?

My grandpa is such a wise man.

And one thing that he taught me
when I was a kid was,

we're made of the same material
as those stars.

He said, "Just remember, all these stars
are like all the people on Earth,

because when you connect that star
to this star,

multiple generations are connecting."

Grandpa always said
that we're all important,

just like every single star
that is out here.

Wow. That's very enriching, Mylo.

I said, looking at the stars,
I feel somewhat insignificant.

And I think what you're telling me is
that when you look out

into that vast night sky,
that I should feel significant.

Shouldn't feel lost.

Yeah, you shouldn't feel lost
because when you look up,

there are things up there
that can remind you that you aren't.

Would you like to travel with me?

Because I'm feeling really terrific
listening to you.

It's a great way to feel,
just feeling significant.

And the desert can do that.
It's a spiritual place.

I'm getting that.

Are you a spiritual person?

At my core, I am.

But I think the closest I've come

to relating that spirituality
to the land has been right here.

So, I think for me it's a good first step.

- Yeah.
- Thank you, sir.

This place has affected me in ways
that other places have not.

I understand the spiritual aspect of it.

I get it. I can feel it.
I can almost touch it.

You're feeling something.

And Mylo was very articulate
in laying that out

from the perspective of the Navajo Nation.

So it's my last day
and I've learned a lot.

Mainly that the desert
which you'd think is a hot place,

not so much.

Chilly night last night, wasn't it?
It was cold. Yeah.

Getting back to this place was
like the icing on a dry, sandy cake.

But before I head home,

I've received a special invitation
to visit the farm

where Mylo grew up
on the Navajo reservation.

Spiritually, our boundary
would be the Colorado River.

And so anything
on this side of it would be Navajo land.

And so, when we signed the treaty in 1868,

that's when the federal government said,
basically, "Here's your reservation."

And so that's what we now reside in.

Mylo explains that the name Navajo

is a Spanish adaptation of a Pueblo word
meaning "farmers of the valley,"

which still applies for many today.

This is my parents' place.
It's two miles from the highway.

And what was it like growing up
here for you?

It was everything. Your...

The major responsibilities
revolved around the family,

and my childhood was wrapped around
that and hanging out with my grandpa.

So, this truly
is a family homestead, right?

Yeah. There's my mom and dad's house.
Right there. The brown one.

- Wow.
- And then,

my sister's place is over here
to the right in the peach home.

- Well, Eugene...
- Wow.

- How big is your place here?
- It's a few thousand.

- Yeah, it's several...
- A few thousand acres?

- That's what I call a spread.
- Yeah.

We'll go see
what the update is on the sheep.

- You ready to get our shoes dirty?
- You have sheep?

Yeah. Look there's the sheep.
See them right there?

Let's actually go this way
to chase them back in.

We've got one pretty wild-spirited sheep.
His name is Wilbur.

He's not my biggest friend.
So hopefully he doesn't ram into us.

If he's not your biggest friend,

- what's he gonna think of me?
- I don't know.

This is already sounding exciting.

Okay. We're just gonna herd them back
into their little corral here.

- There it is. Okay.
- Yeah.

Well, that's easy enough.

Well, sometimes it is. Sometimes it's not.

- I don't think...
- There's one already taking off.

Uh-oh. Wrong way, kids.

Uh-oh.

Had the sheep been better behaved,
I could have showed you what I can do.

What's the expression? Herding?
Herding sheep? Herding sheep.

They're cruising.

I'm known as a wrangler.

You know, wrangling things.
It's like my middle name,

Wrangler.

As my wife, Deb, would call me,

the "Kosher Cowboy" is back.

This is just playing
into my strength out here.

I'm glad I have an opportunity
to show off a few skills

that most people
don't get a chance to see.

Mylo, I can't move that fast. I'm older.

We're never gonna get 'em.

- Boy, did they take off.
- Yeah.

- Why?
- They saw you and me

and they were like, "We're gone."

The sheep ran as soon as they saw me.

Did they see a movie
they didn't particularly care for?

- They're on the run. Yeah.
- They're still going.

Are they gonna come back on their own?

I mean, they know to come in here

because we've got mountain lion,
foxes, coyote. So...

You have mountain lions?

They're more towards
the rocks you see over there.

These rocks right here?

- Yeah. So the...
- Well, what do you mean, "way over there"?

We have a pig. You wanna go see Lulu?

I'll take a look at a pig.

- Oh, my. That's a big pig.
- Yeah. She's a big girl.

Lulu.

If you go in there and pet her,
she'll squeal. She's funny.

You can pet me in certain places
and I'll squeal.

The sheep are back.

Just took a while
for my authority to sink in.

Hey, there we go. All right.

And let that be a lesson to you.

You don't go running off unless
you're given permission, understand?

Yeah.

So this is their feed.
You wanna go in there and dump some in?

Okay, kids, mealtime.

Meal... No.

I found Wilbur a little pushy.

- Okay, you know what?
- Just bring it over this way.

These animals are spoiled.

- That's like ice cream to them.
- There... No, kids.

You know, you think of sheep
as being gentle, lovely thing...

No, this is like a bull.

Okay, you know what?

We've gotta teach these animals
some manners.

- Okay.
- No, there's nothing in here.

How important is it to keep
the traditions alive today?

It's vital to retain these things.

I love to say I'm deeply rooted
in the land, you know?

When we're born,
a piece of our umbilical cord,

you know, that's put into the ground

to connect us instantly
from our birth back to Mother Earth.

And so to not have much
of that in one's life,

I can see why somebody may feel
a little bit lost.

The Navajo are a matriarchal society.

The women control the land
and own the livestock.

And the great thing about this way
of working is, things get done properly.

Eugene, this is my mom. Shimá.

Shimá, hi.

- This is my sister, Patricia.
- Yeah. Hi.

- This is Desree.
- Hello.

- Desree, nice to meet you. Eugene.
- Yes. Good to meet you.

- Yeah.
- Lauren, my wife.

Nice to meet you, Lauren.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

I saw some little ones around here...

They're actually all over there.

Our family tree almost 200.

200?

- Yeah.
- So, when you have a family get-together,

- there's a lot of people.
- Yes.

- A few.
- You need...

It's a long buffet table.

Yeah.

The things we learn,
we definitely pass on to our kids

so that they can carry these teachings
and these lessons forward.

That's the important thing.

Is just keeping our culture
and our language and our heritage,

especially our ceremonies alive.

- Keeping it alive.
- Yes,

and teaching our next generation
who we are,

because our grandparents are the ones
that hold that tradition for us

and a lot of them have passed.

And it's been tough
because we are people of, you know,

just...

- of culture that we gather...
- Yeah.

...and it's been hard.

My nephew Owen
is just a fantastic young man,

and he loves to dance.

So with hoop dancing,
you gotta use your imagination.

And you'll notice the different movements
that he's making,

he's also showing different types
of animals as well.

Well,
it's been a pretty amazing afternoon.

Mylo is an incredible young man
and he has an amazing family.

I mean,
watching Owen and looking over at Mylo

and seeing his eyes welling up.

- It makes me proud of Owen...
- Yeah.

...to keep this alive. Yeah.

I can see it in your eyes, Mylo.

Yeah.

Owen, amazing.

- Amazing!
- Good job.

- Wow!
- Nice job, Owen.

Yeah.

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

I really didn't know much
about Navajo culture before this,

and this is a big eye-opener for me.

- We're happy to have had you here. So...
- Wow.

- Yes.
- As part of our grandmother's teaching,

we present you this necklace.

There you are.

A part of our culture
and our language will always be with you.

- Thank you.
- This is amazing.

This is really special.

The desert is a lot of nothing,

but there's so much in that nothing.

It's history, and it's geology,
and it's the people who have been

on this land for 15,000 years.

So, it was kind of an honor for me
to be on this land with them.

If I had come here on my own,

I probably would have loved staying
at the Amangiri

and would have spent most of my time
on the resort.

But there is a world outside
the resort here

that I'm glad I got a chance to see
and discover.

And the friends that I met
in the Navajo Nation,

I think was probably the biggest...

highlight and the greatest discovery
that I had here.