by Gina Scarpa

In just a few short days, Jeff Schroeder, of Big Brother and The Amazing Race, will head out on another adventure. He'll be circling the globe in just 100 days with absolutely no money in season 2 of CBS's web show Around The World For Free. In season 1, The Amazing Race's Alex Boylan visited 16 countries and now, it's Jeff's turn. The best part about the show is that fans are able to interact with Jeff, tell him where to go, offer tips, and even set him up with a ride or a place to stay. Today, we spoke to Jeff and the co-creator and Emmy nominated field producer Zsolt Luka in an exclusive interview about their upcoming exciting trip.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you want to do this show?
A. Jeff: Big Brother and The Amazing Race were amazing but before any of those things, my dream was just to travel the world. I think I was influenced by my grandparents and I just have it in me.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How is this experience of traveling the world going to be different than The Amazing Race?
A. Jeff: I think it's going to be a lot different. I'm not with my girlfriend, who is sitting right here. No disrespect, Jordan. It's different in a lot of ways. There's no race involved. This is enjoying life.
A. Zsolt: It's a lot more influenced by the audience. We really mean that.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When I read about the show, I was trying to think of people that I knew in other countries, places I could suggest, or tips I could give. Do you get that a lot from people?
A. Jeff: Absolutely! That's exactly how the show works. It's a small world. You ever bump into someone in a different country? It's like that! It's like making this small world true. I could be in, say, India and people would wonder how I'm going to get around but someone I know is connected to someone and that's how. It's going to be amazing.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Are there places that you're hoping to visit?
A. Jeff: There are definitely places that I want to visit. I want to see the whole world. It also has to coincide with what the audience wants to see, though. If it's on my direct path, that would be great. I've always wanted to see Australia. There are places in Asia that I haven't seen that I don't even know about. That's the excitement of this.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What did you learn from watching Alex and Zsolt on the first season?
A. Jeff: I think just the way they handled themselves. They seem like they were always in good spirits and excited about the moment. They went through their bad times but they looked like they were having good moments. Goodness is always right around the corner.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Are either of you concerned about your safety?
A. Jeff: That would be my first concern mainly. My mother is in my ear about the show and she wants me to be safe. Jordan wants me to be safe. If I had a concern, that would be it. Sleeping on the street and not knowing where I'm going to stay but that's also the excitement as well. You have to have a little danger to have an adventure.
A. Zsolt: We went out there with no security in season 1. It's a small crew. We were pleasantly surprised. We went out during the Bush era when maybe Americans were not received with open arms and we didn't face any hostility.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Jeff, will you be directly interacting with viewers and fans?
A. Jeff: The whole way! I'm going to be live 24/7. I'm going to have my satellite phone, computer, and the audience is part of the journey. I'm going to be live with them all the time.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think that perhaps you might like to host a travel show somewhere down the road?
A. Jeff: I would love to do something like that. That's my dream. I interact well with people. That's down the road, though. My heart right now is focused on the next 100 days. I'm gonna enjoy the moment.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are you doing to prepare for your trip?
A. Jeff: Right now, I'm having a beer by the pool. That's how I'm preparing! I'm just going to take the moment how it comes. Finding out about other cultures is great but being on ground level and experiencing it... I've always been a hands on kind of guy. I don't want to read a textbook. I want to learn as I experience it.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Anything else you want to mention?
A. Zsolt: I just wanted to mention that the interactivity of it. We wanted to break new ground with giving a lot of control to the audience. With people really staying online through social networks, you can literally get an up to the minute update through GPS tracking, through Jeff's Twitter update, and through Facebook. We can have be at a fork in the road and wait 5-10 minutes until the viewers tell us where to go. That's what I'm interested in. Our storytelling and the episodes that we're going to prepare are really when you'll see the world through our eyes but day to day, you're going to feel the pulse of this trip.

Around The World For Free premieres this summer on CBS.com. Check out the show and stay involved as Jeff makes his way around the globe.

(Image courtesy of CBS)

Follow Jeff at twitter.com/jeffschroeder23 and Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa