Amazing Race - Season 37

Sunday night, Sharon and I finished watching season 37 of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years. We finished season 32 in January of 2021, season 33 in March of 2022, season 34 in December of 2022, season 35 in December of 2023 and season 36 in March of 2024.

Season 37 premiered on CBS on March 5, 2025. It concluded on May 15, 2025.

It has been described as a "season of surprises", as each leg of the race includes a twist in the form of an obstacle or a unique task. New elements introduced this season include the Fork in the Road, the Driver's Seat, and Valet Roulette. Elements of the show that returned for this season include the double elimination leg, the Intersection, the Live U-Turn Vote, the Fast Forward, the Double U-Turn, the non-elimination leg, the Head-to-Head, and the Scramble.

The legs of the race included:

• Leg 1 (United States → Hong Kong)
• Leg 2 (Hong Kong → Japan) [Osaka → Kyoto]
• Leg 3 (Japan)
• Leg 4 (Japan → Indonesia)
• Leg 5 (Indonesia)
• Leg 6 (Indonesia → United Arab Emirates)
• Leg 7 (United Arab Emirates → Bulgaria)
• Leg 8 (Bulgaria) [Sofia: Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral - Tom visited in March]
• Leg 9 (Bulgaria → Italy)
• Leg 10 (Italy → Germany → France)
• Leg 11 (France → Germany → Portugal) [Porto]
• Leg 12 (Portugal → United States)

Best friends and gamers Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge were the winners of this season, while siblings Han and Holden Nguyen finished in second place, and married parents Jonathan and Ana Towns finished in third place.

My enjoyment of the season was somewhat marred by having to watch Jonathan and Ana. Jonathan had a terrible attitude and treated his wife horribly.

I particularly enjoyed the stops in Oska and Kyoto. These cities are on our list for a potential trip to Japan in 2026. Addtionally, we are both very interested in visiting Porto in Portugal. Holly and Van are on the Overseas Adventure Travel "Northern Spain & Portugal: Pilgrimage into the Past" trip that included a stop in Porto.

Season 38 was already filmed between March 17 and April 9, 2025. The teams reportedly traveled through the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, and Italy. This season will feature a unique twist: all the contestants are former houseguests from Big Brother, paired with a friend or relative.

Amazing Race - Season 36

Thursday night, Sharon and I finished watching season thirty-six of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years. We finished season 32 in January of 2021, season 33 in March of 2022, season 34 in December of 2022 and season 35 in December of 2023.

Though this season is the 36th to air, it was the 35th to be filmed. The season was postponed following the decision to air 90-minute episodes as a result of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. The episodes were re-edited to include cut footage. The season premiered on CBS on March 13, 2024 and concluded on May 15, 2024.

Filming for this season began on October 25, 2022, outside of the United States for a second time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The final episode was filmed in Philadelphia in mid-November. Much like the 33rd and 34th seasons, teams traveled by chartered plane. A charter was used to transport teams and production crew between locations to reduce personal interactions associated with COVID-19 infections. This This is the first season to visit Barbados and the Dominican Republic.

Boyfriends Ricky Rotandi and César Aldrete were the winners of this season, while military pilots Juan Villa and Shane Bilek finished in second place. Married couple Rod (former NFL player) and Leticia Gardner finished in third place.

The legs of the race included:

• Leg 1 (Mexico)
• Leg 2 (Mexico)
• Leg 3 (Mexico → Colombia)
• Leg 4 (Colombia)
• Leg 5 (Colombia → Chile)
• Leg 6 (Chile → Argentina)
• Leg 7 (Argentina → Uruguay)
• Leg 8 (Uruguay → Barbados)
• Leg 9 (Barbados → Dominican Republic)
• Leg 10 (Dominican Republic)
• Leg 11 (Dominican Republic → United States)

Although the use of a charter makes it somewhat pedestrian, I enjoyed the season. I particularly enjoyed the stop at the Botero Plaza in Medellín, Columbia. The plaza contains 23 sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. Donum Estates has one of his sculptures. Sharon and I haven't traveled in South America. This definitely needs to be on our travel list at some point.

Amazing Race - Season 35

Thursday night, Sharon and I finished watching season thirty-five of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years. We finished season 32 in January of 2021, season 33 in March of 2022 and season 34 in December of 2022.

Filming for season 35 began on June 13, 2023 in Los Angeles. Slovenia was visited for the first time in the entire franchise. Filming concluded in Seattle on July 8, 2023. The season premiered on September 27, 2023.

This season returned to using commercial flights instead of charter flights as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic on two previous seasons and season 36. Season 36 which premieres March 13, 2024 was actually filmed before this season in late 2022 and was pushed back following the decision to have 90-minute episodes.

Elements of the show that also returned this season include the Express Pass (last seen in season 29) and the U-Turn (last seen in season 32) in the form of a voting U-Turn, which was previously utilized as a one off-twist on season 31. The Scramble, which was introduced in the 34th season, also returned but was included in the final leg rather than the first leg.

Brothers and computer scientists Greg and John Franklin were the winners of this season, while best friends Joel Strasser and Garrett Smith finished in second place, and father and son Rob and Corey McArthur finished in third place. Sharon and I were rooting for the father and son and against the best friends.

The legs of the race included:

• Leg 1 (United States → Thailand)
• Leg 2 (Thailand)
• Leg 3 (Thailand → Vietnam)
• Leg 4 (Vietnam)
• Leg 5 (Vietnam → India)
• Leg 6 (India)
• Leg 7 (India → Germany)
• Leg 8 (Germany → Austria → Slovenia)
• Leg 9 (Slovenia)
• Leg 10 (Slovenia → Austria → Sweden)
• Leg 11 (Sweden → Ireland)
• Leg 12 (Ireland → United States)

Sharon and I were particularly excited by this season because it included Slovenia. Our Crossroads of the Adriatic trip with the Wongs in September '24 includes: Croatia; Montenegro; Bosnia & Herzegovina, and; Slovenia. We are going to several spots that they highlighted on the show. Additionally, we are planning to visit Sweden in July on our Viking Homelands cruise!

Amazing Race - Season 34

Wednesday night, Sharon and I finished watching season thirty-four of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years. We finished season 32 in January of 2021 and season 33 in March of 2022.

Filming for season 34 began on May 25, 2022, in Munich, Germany, making it the first time the American version started outside the United States. Jordan was visited for the first time in the entire franchise. Filming concluded in Tennessee in mid-June.

This season originally planned to exclude non-elimination legs for the first time in franchise history. However, after one team received a positive COVID-19 test and was removed from the race, the last team to arrive in the leg received the final departure time as a penalty at the beginning of the next leg. The first leg featured "a game-changing element" called the Scramble, where teams were told the locations of all of the tasks that they had to complete at the start of the leg and could complete them in any order.

Dating couple Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss (from Big Brother 23) were the winners of this season, while long-lost twins Emily Bushnell and Molly Sinert finished in second place. I was rooting for the twins.

The legs of the race included:

• Leg 1 (Germany)
• Leg 2 (Germany → Austria)
• Leg 3 (Austria → Italy)
• Leg 4 (Italy → Jordan)
• Leg 5 (Jordan)
• Leg 6 (Jordan → France)
• Leg 7 (France)
• Leg 8 (France → Spain)
• Leg 9 (Spain → Iceland)
• Leg 10 (Iceland → United States)

I was fascinated by the two episodes in Jordan. Petra is a lot bigger than I expected. Our second big trip planned for 2023 includes Isreal, Eygpt and Jordan!

Amazing Race - Season 33

Wednesday night, Sharon and I finished watching season thirty-three of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years. We finished season 32 in January of 2021.

Though filming initially started in February 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused production to be placed on hold for over a year and half. The race resumed in September 2021 with the same remaining teams but with a modified route through COVID-safe countries and with chartered travel. The season premiered on January 5, 2022, and the season finale aired on March 2, 2022.

This was the first season to not feature a U-Turn since its introduction in Season 12. Additionally, there was no Speed Bump penalty for teams arriving last on a non-elimination leg, and this was the only season (excluding The Amazing Race 8, which was run only in North America) to not stop in Asia.

Internet personalities Kim and Penn Holderness were the winners of this season.

The legs of the race included:

• Leg 1 (United States → England)
• Leg 2 (England)
• Leg 3 (England → Scotland) [suspended]
• Leg 4 (Switzerland) [restarted]
• Leg 5 (Switzerland)
• Leg 6 (Switzerland → France)
• Leg 7 (France)
• Leg 8 (France → Greece)
• Leg 9 (Greece)
• Leg 10 (Greece → Portugal)
• Leg 11 (Portugal → United States)

Sharon and I spend some time Saturday afternoon at Sea Ranch working on a wish list of trips. Greece and Scotland (hiking Hadrian's Wall) are definitely on my list. Sharon has gotten more focused recently on Road Scholar and Viking trips.

Amazing Race - Season 32

Tuesday night, Sharon and I finished watching season thirty-two of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years.

Season thirty-two featured 11 teams of two in a race around the world. It premiered on October 14, 2020 and completed its broadcast run on December 14, 2020.  It was originally filmed in November and December of 2018. This cast included former Carolina Panthers players DeAngelo Williams and Gary Barnidge, Olympic hurdlers Kellie Wells-Brinkley and LaVonne Idlette, professional volleyball player Riley McKibbin, college basketball coach Jerry Eaves and America's Next Top Model Season 21 runner-up Will Jardell.

The legs of the race inluded:

• Leg 1 (Los Angeles → Trinidad and Tobago)
• Leg 2 (Trinidad and Tobago → Colombia)
• Leg 3 (Colombia → Brazil)
• Leg 4 (Brazil → Paraguay)
• Leg 5 (Paraguay → France)
• Leg 6 (France → Germany, Berlin)
• Leg 7 (Germany, Berlin → Kazakhstan)
• Leg 8 (Kazakhstan → India, Hyderabad)
• Leg 9 (India, Hyderabad → Cambodia)
• Leg 10 (Cambodia → The Philippines, Manila)
• Leg 11 (The Philippines, Manila → New Orleans)

Sharon and I spent two weeks in the Philippines and in and around Manila in 2003. While we experienced the horrific traffic, I didn't recognize any of the places in Manila that the teams visited. Looking at a map, several of the sites were very close to the historic center of the city and the golf course where we were.

I continue to enjoy this show. We will probably go back and a couple more of the old seasons, particularly the seasons with Rob and Amber.

Season 33 started production on Feb. 22, 2020. Due to the global pandemic, CBS halted production after filming three episodes and making stops in England and Scotland.

Amazing Race - Season 7

Monday night, Sharon, Jack and I finished watching season seven of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years. With Boston Rob and Amber competing in the current season of Survivor: Winners at War, we decided to go back and watch them in an early season of the Amazing Race.

Season seven featured 11 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world. It premiered on March 1, 2005 and completed its broadcast run on May 10, 2005.

The legs of the race inluded:

• Leg 1 (United States → Peru)
• Leg 2 (Peru → Chile)
• Leg 3 (Chile → Argentina)
• Leg 4 (Argentina)
• Leg 5 (Argentina → South Africa)
• Leg 6 (South Africa → Botswana)
• Leg 7 (Botswana)
• Leg 8 (Botswana → India)
• Leg 9 (India → Turkey)
• Leg 10 (Turkey → United Kingdom)
• Leg 11 (United Kingdom → Jamaica)
• Leg 12 (Jamaica → Puerto Rico → United States)

This was the first edition of the Amazing Race that did not circumnavigate the world by traveling continuously either west or east while crossing each meridian.

I really enjoyed watching this season. Boston Rob and Amber made it to the final episode, but finished second. Although we will probably watch a few more of the old Amazing Race seasons, I think that next we will watch the season of Survivor that Boston Rob and Amber first appeared in together.

We were originally planning to visit South Africa this year. With the world upside down and sideways, the trip isn't going to happen. Africa and Turkey are still high on my list of countries to visit.