HE was a successful sports TV producer in New York - racking up industry experience early in his high school days, and working his way to an Emmy award in 2002.

At the age of 25, he enjoyed flying first-class, four class hotels and the luxuries that urban life could afford, like a US$100 haircut.

But for Brook Silva-Braga, time was running out.

"I see myself speeding down the tracks that lead towards children, a mortgage and a same job for 30 years. Those aren't bad things but I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to them now," he says.

"I'm afraid if I don't do things I can now, I'll never be able to."

So in 2005, he decided to quit the job he "worked so hard to get", and embark on a yearlong journey traversing 26 countries on four continents.

Taking with him 30 pounds of camera equipment and just five pounds of clothes (one pair of pants and three T-shirts to be exact), Brook directed and produced A Map for Saturday - a 90-minute film documenting his own journey in the contextual subculture of solo, long-term travel.

From his starting point in a mid-summer Australia to making his return home from Argentina, Brook forms friendships, encounters travel hiccups, counts his dollars and cents, does the mandatory sightseeing and falls in love.

His personal testimonies are keenly intertwined with those of other travellers in the film - it is almost a fellowship of sorts within this group of journeymen (and women), who share a yearning to discover something more in life and to live in the moment.

Now 28, Brook leaves for a four-month long adventure in Africa this February, with another 'map' - this time to drive from Morocco all the way to South Africa.

I know it's difficult to conceptualise a year's worth of being on the road to simple vignettes, but could you share with us one, or two 'high' points of the trip?

Some the greatest 'highs' came right at the beginning of the trip because that was when I discovered I wouldn't really be alone for the year. I was in Australia and I found other people in a similar situation - far from home and all alone. We bonded in a really special way and I realised how wonderful my year away would be.

Other than returning home, what were the 'low' points?

The 'low' points - just like the 'high' points - have to do with the people you meet more than anything else. The hardest thing was saying goodbye to such good friends and knowing you would never see them again. And then there were times when you didn't have any friends and that was bad too.

It was interesting though, how both the good times and the bad times made less of an impact the longer I was away.

Other than getting robbed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were there any other dangerous encounters?

There were a couple dark alleys in India, which made my heart beat faster and a few parts of South America where I had to constantly watch my back. But one of the great lessons of travelling for a long time is to realise how safe the world generally is, how friendly the people usually are, and how similar we all are.

The most amazing thing I ate on the road was...

My favourite foods immediately come to mind: The massaman curry at the Green Papaya restaurant in Koh Phi Phi, Thailand; the heaping plate of Indian food from a Delhi street vendor, the thin-crust pizza near my hostel in Rome.

The most amazing person I met was...

That's a very hard question but the one who comes immediately to mind is a man named Will who I met in Brussels, Belgium. He was traveling around the world just like me except he was a diabetic cancer-survivor who was 73 years old. It was inspiring and humbling to meet someone who rebutted every excuse my friends at home had about why they couldn't travel.

I didn't think I was going to get out of this...

Maybe I'm naive but there was never a time I thought that. What you learn as you encounter so many difficult situations in so many different places is that somehow things always work out.

So that night in Ireland when every bed in town was taken ended well. After 15 or 20 phone calls I found a hostel with a vacancy and I met a fellow traveller in my room. We went out to the pub and met lots of great Irish folks.

Relationships formed on the road - transient, volatile yet extremely meaningful - tell us more about that.

Explaining what it's like to be alone on the road is like trying to explain what it's like to be hungry to someone who has never had an empty belly. You can't even explain it to yourself except when you feel it.

So when you're alone very far from home you are able to connect to people in a way you can't in your home country. It's a fast, strong connection you make and it's like no other friendship.

How do you think you have changed after this trip?

I'm not sure people change when they go away as much as they adjust, and when we come back home we adjust back to the environment we return to. But while I was away I became quieter, better at meeting people, more aware of the world around me.

How did you travel 'backpacker-style' with 30 pounds of camera equipment?

Well because I needed to carry the camera, microphones, batteries and other equipment I could only carry a very small amount of clothes. I had one pair of pants and three t-shirts. So everything fit in a normal sized backpack and I was able to travel like all the other backpackers.

What are some of Brook's travelling tips?

It's always a good idea to check the weather conditions in the place you're going because the seasons may be quite different than what you assume.

It's smart to scan a copy of your passport and keep it in your e-mail folder.

And the golden rule of packing for a long trip is to keep it light! If you need something while you're away you can probably buy it where you're going.

Also, find out what fees your bank charges for foreign transactions, they can vary widely and it may be worth opening an account with another bank.

Your film is certainly aspiring, and I see many people taking up the gauntlet and doing likewise. What advice would you give them?

To answer that question I'd like to quote my friend Robert who travelled for ten months and says this at the end of the documentary: "I would love to go traveling again and if I met anyone who was debating about whether to do it, go do it. Because one thing I learned when you're away is that you only regret the things you don't do, not the things you do."

What's in the pipelines, in terms of travel and work for you?

This is actually a very exciting time because next week I'm leaving for a four-month trip through Africa with the plan to drive from Morocco all the way to South Africa. It should be a great adventure and I hope to return with an interesting film.

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You can catch the second of a two-part series A Map for Saturday on February 3, 7pm on the Nat Geo Adventure channel. Part one will air on February 21, 5pm.

Nat Geo Adventure is available on Ch 73 for Singapore Starhub cable television subscribers. Show timings and channel numbers may vary across countries - do check your local listings!

A Map for Saturday premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival in March 2007 before a sold out audience of 500, resulting in three additional screenings at the festival. The film was honoured at the Memphis International Film Festival with the award of "Best Documentary".