TELETRENDS

Escape to Reality production in Khao Lak, Thailand.

ESCAPE TO REALITY

If you think it's a vacation... think again!

One ravaged country.  Ten average tourists.  Thirty days.  Can they make a difference?  Are they up to the challenge?

You lost your job.  Your spouse took off.  Life lacks meaning.  It's time for a big change.  You drop everything and go as far away as you can.  Helping people of a desperate country is just what the doctor ordered.  But this vacation is no day at the beach!   It's "Survivor" meets "Extreme Home Makeover" meets "The Amazing Race."  Fish out of water take on a huge assignment as part of a real world volunteer vacation.  Will it be the time of their life or the vacation from hell?   

"Escape to Reality" is a 6 x 60 HD reality travel series that follows ten volunteers going through major personal transitions who leave their unfulfilled "real" lives behind and embark on a "vacation" like no other.  The vacation: one month of volunteering on an extremely challenging humanitarian mission in a developing country.  The ten characters are carefully selected for the journey.  They must get to know each other, roll up their sleeves and work together.  Unexpected events and relationships develop.  Each episode has drama, conflict and epiphanies.  Each person is on a quest.  Will they find what they are looking for?

Two charismatic, experienced travelers lead the experience.  They are part tour guide, part parent, part therapist and part of the story.  Each series tackles one major project in a developing country: a new medical clinic, school or orphanage, rebuilding after a disaster, a life-sustaining business venture.  The team must learn to work not only with each other but with the local people.  They have exactly 30 days to get the job done.  After that they must pack up and go home.  They must stretch their budget or money will run out.  Will they leave proud and elated or will they head home with unfulfilled promises?  Most importantly, how will they change and grow?  These volunteers will face one of the most grueling, eye-opening, heartfelt experiences of their lives.  We root for them, we are embarassed for them and we witness their profound transformations as they become part of something much bigger than themselves.