Our team recently sat down with Natalie Preddie; travel journalist, TV host, and storyteller who believes the best trips begin where the resort ends. As host of Beyond the Resort, a new Canadian-produced travel series premiering March 1, 2026, Natalie and co-host Kayla Marie Williams explore a side of the Caribbean rarely seen on screen — one rooted in culture, community, and the locally owned Black businesses shaping these destinations. For Natalie, this is travel storytelling at its most purposeful.
Beyond the Resort asks us to explore culture, history and people — what’s one moment in Saint Lucia that changed how you think about travel?
Climbing Gros Piton with a local guide whose family has lived on and stewarded that land for generations changed the way I think about what it means to “visit” a place. He wasn’t just guiding a hike — he was sharing lineage, responsibility, and relationship to the land. It reminded me that travel shouldn’t just be about consuming beauty — it should be about understanding who protects it and what it represents. That moment reframed travel for me as participation, not just observation.
Photo provided by Natalie Preddie
How did co-hosting with Kayla Marie Williams shape the tone and energy of the series?
Kayla wasn’t a co-host — she was my invited guest, and that distinction matters. I brought her back to Saint Lucia after a very emotional earlier experience there, but now at a completely different stage in her life. The invitation was intentional. It created space for reflection, growth, and re-interpretation. Viewers get to witness what happens when someone revisits a place not just geographically but personally.
That lens shaped the tone of the series in a powerful way. It made the storytelling more human and more layered. Instead of just discovering a destination, we’re exploring how experience, maturity and perspective change what we notice and value. It becomes less about “what to see” and more about “how we see.” That emotional honesty carries through every episode.
Photo provided by Natalie Preddie
What inspired you to centre Black-owned businesses and community experiences in this series?
Because if we talk about culture, we have to talk about who is creating, sustaining, and investing in it. Caribbean tourism often highlights the destination but not the people building its economic and cultural future. Centering Black-owned businesses and community experiences is about accuracy, not trend, it’s about showing ownership, innovation, and agency within the region. That’s the fuller story.
What makes this travel series different from everything else audiences see right now?
We’re not chasing highlights, we’re chasing context. The series asks deeper questions about identity, ownership, history, and impact while still being visually beautiful and accessible. It slows down enough for conversation. We’re not just showcasing places, we’re in dialogue with them. That creates a different kind of travel narrative, one built on relationship, not just recommendation.
What’s a cultural experience from the show that you wish every traveller would try?
Sharing a locally rooted meal and learning the story behind it. When you sit with chefs, farmers, or producers and understand how ingredients connect to land, history, migration, and survival, food becomes cultural education. Eating becomes an act of connection. It changes how you value the place and the people behind the plate.
Photo provided by Natalie Preddie
What do you hope viewers change about the way they travel after watching Beyond the Resort?
I hope they become more intentional about where their time and money go. Ask who owns the experience, who benefits from it, and whose voice is represented. Choose local guides. Eat at independent restaurants. Support community businesses. Small decisions shape the impact of travel and they often lead to richer experiences too.
As a Canadian-produced series, Beyond the Resort feels especially timely. Why do you think Canadian audiences are ready for this kind of travel content right now?
Canadian travellers are increasingly values-driven and culturally curious. We are finally traveling beyond our usual destinations. We’re a multicultural country with deep personal ties to the Caribbean and beyond. Audiences want more than checklists, they want meaning, context, and connection. There’s a growing awareness that how we travel matters, and Canadian viewers are ready for storytelling that reflects that shift.
Photo provided by Natalie Preddie
This project clearly feels personal to you. Was there a specific experience, conversation, or moment during filming that reaffirmed the kind of storyteller you want to be at this stage in your career?
I’ve had the privilege of incredible travel experiences and access throughout my career, but filming this series was the moment I decided I needed to be more intentional about how I use that platform. The Caribbean is home for me, and I’ve long felt that many of our destinations (especially places like Jamaica) are flattened into stereotypes instead of understood in their full cultural, historical, and intellectual depth. They’re marketed through shorthand, when the reality is far richer and more complex.
One of the most reaffirming moments during filming came through food. Sitting with growers, chefs, and producers and understanding how what’s on the plate carries history, resistance, adaptation, and identity. Eating isn’t just consumption, it’s connection. It’s archive. It’s survival and creativity in motion. Those conversations reinforced that travel storytelling should not just entertain: it should restore context and dignity.
At this stage in my career, I want to use what I’ve built to centre the voices, businesses, and cultural knowledge holders from these regions. Not just to show where to go but to show who is shaping these places now, and why their stories matter. That feels like a more responsible and more honest form of travel storytelling.
