Frank McKay
Frank McKay has traveled the world, traveled the world, and continues to travel, so much so that he has earned membership to the Travelers Century Club, given to those who have visited more than 100 countries. McKay has visited 106 countries. No, 108. He sometimes forgets.
“I've been to six continents and all 50 states,” said MacKay, 57, a Rocky Point resident and former president of WABC Radio's Long Island chapter, and former host of “Turning Point with Frank MacKay,” which began on NBC Nonstop and has also aired on WCBS Radio.
He enjoys traveling with his wife and four children, but he often travels alone, and some of those trips have been wild. Really wild.
“I was in Ukraine for five days after the war started,” said MacKay, who spent another 10 days in countries surrounding Ukraine. “I visited both Israel and Palestine on the same trip. I've been to the African continent four times. I love being in the jungle.”
Some of his trips are purely for fun, while others have a bit of work thrown in. For example, he was going to Antarctica, and in preparation he bought $500 worth of polar gear.
“I was in Christchurch, New Zealand, scheduled to catch a flight to Antarctica to help unload supplies for scientists,” MacKay said of the trip that was cancelled at the last minute.
“I've been fortunate to have relationships that allow me to gain experience,” said MacKay, who met seven presidents as chairman of the New York Independence Party, “and I've been to every major league baseball stadium.”
An award-winning nationally syndicated radio host, MacKay has interviewed more than 6,000 celebrities, written eight books and serves on the boards of three universities, including Touro School of Law.
Travels of MacKay's magnitude are bound to produce some strange tales, and one from his journey to the Caribbean was the 100th country he visited.
“We stopped off on St. Barts, but it was a holiday weekend and we couldn't find a hotel or a hostel,” MacKay said. “We had money in our pockets but nowhere to stay. It was the day before Easter on the resort island and hotel rooms were $6,000 a night, but we still couldn't find one. We ended up sleeping on the street next to the ferry terminal. Luckily, it was a safe island, but there was a 57-year-old man sleeping on the street.”
He's also found himself in some sticky situations.
“I got detained at the Nicaragua-Honduras border,” he recalls of a bus trip that was caused by mindlessly taking a photo. “We were on a Tica bus and everything was fine. We were stopped and some guys got off the bus. Some guys were selling water for a dollar so I got off to get some water. About two hours later a border patrol came out with a stack of passports so I took a photo of him with all the passports because it was a funny shot. The border patrol seemed to go crazy. He was furious and was screaming at me.”
An older local standing next to MacKay whispered to him, “This is big, big trouble.” And he was right.
“One guy started pushing me,” MacKay recalled. “Another guy was yelling and swearing at me. He told me to sit on a chair. He threw me against a desk and I stopped breathing.”
Finally, a security guard yelled at them to stop – someone had discovered that MacKay was registered online as a journalist – and after more shouting and accusations, the guards finally allowed him back onto the bus.
“I really thought they would be angry because we were late,” MacKay recalls, “but they were apologizing. They took about 30 Salvadoran men off the bus, some of whom had visible bruises after being strip-searched, and they were apologizing.”
Though he's willing to take risks, one thing McKay never does is put his family at risk while traveling. Sometimes his wife, Christine, and their children travel with him, and the itineraries and hotel rooms on those trips vary widely.
“My wife and daughter get angry at me because they think I'm taking too many risks,” MacKay says, “but my three sons understand.”
Despite having visited over 100 countries, he has no plans to stop.
“My favorite country is still the United States, but I really loved Tanzania,” says Makei, who has lived in a country he's only been to once. “I've been on safari in Tanzania four times. Wherever there's jungle, I go. There are places in Uganda where you can get close to gorillas and chimpanzees. I'd love to go.”
And maybe he will: after all, he is the type of guy who can travel if he has a passport.
“It's like a drug,” McKay says. “Traveling gives you a high.”
After all, there is still Antarctica.
Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and co-publisher of Dan's Papers.
