Roadtrip Nation

- Season 5

(2008)

Roadtrip Nation's first international series begins in Brisbane, Australia. Bruce, Kay and Brynn meet each other and the RV Spud for the first time. The team hits the road, interviewing transgender health advocate Amanda Dean and environmentalist Tim Winton along the way.

Fashion designers Juliana, Angela and Roweena Foong offer a unique perspective to Kay, who struggles with family expectations as the child of immigrants. The Roadtrip Nation team meets with professional surfer Layne Beachley, and member of the Stolen Generation Vicky Elwood.

The Roadtrip Nation team's interview with Minister of Parliament Tanya Plibersek leads to a breakthrough for Kay. The team then meets with Father Chris Riley, founder of Youth Off the Streets, along with radio host Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki.

Bruce snags a last-minute interview with actor/director Jo Turner and gets to do some improv as well, while human rights lawyer Julian Burnside reminds Brynn about the importance of training. Dance school founder Scott Cupitt teaches Bruce and Brynn to swing dance and Kay learns more about her heritage during an interview with Debra Salvagno of the East Timorese Women's Association.

Roadtrip Nation team meets with conservation scientist John Read and learns about the desert's delicate ecosystem, then heads to Uluru to sit down with aboriginal leader Bob Randall to talk about loss and letting go before they say their goodbyes.

Sean, Tim and Christina from the University of Miami prepare for their roadtrip across the US. In their first days on the green RV, they meet with jazz percussionist Bobby Thomas Jr. The team then heads to New York to talk to Bust magazine Editor-in-Chief Debbie Stoller and listen to her story of spending seven years of nights and weekends to build Bust into what it is today.

The Roadtrip Nation team spends time in New York, interviewing graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister. Then they head across town to meet with Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale of theatre company Backhouse Productions and get to freestyle rap. In Boston, sportswriter Joe Haggerty reminds the team that paying your dues plays a big role in getting to do what you love.

In Cincinnati, the Roadtrip Nation team meets with La Rosa's Pizzeria founder Buddy LaRosa, who tells them you can't get your feet wet unless you jump into the water. They spend time in the Midwest at Iowa's Corn Palace and at Mount Rushmore, then it's off to the Pacific Northwest to meet with worldchanging.org's Executive Editor Alex Steffen and classical radio host Edmund Stone.

As their five weeks on the road wind down, the Roadtrip Nation team heads toward San Francisco and interviews Author and Political Analyst Michael Parenti, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, and Zen Master Bon Soeng of the Empty Gate Zen Center. As they prepare to part ways, Sean, Tim and Christina talk about what they've learned, and Tim realizes there's lots to think about, but nothing to worry about.