Board Thread:Virtual Tribal Council/@comment-10748506-20130626050559/@comment-27933088-20171208065031

I see a lot of interesting suggestions here, and personally, I might really enjoy some settings such as the vast wilderness of the Canadian shield, New Zealand, or the mountains of Peru. However, that means that it'll be cool, especially at night (yes, even during the summer). When it's cold, there's less skin shown. Skin is good for ratings. Case closed on those, unfortunately.

In terms of anything in or remotely close to the middle east, those will remain pipe dreams for the time being. It's simply not (perceived as) a safe region, and having a bunch of Americans walk around there (in those extremely conservative Islamic countries) in bikinis might not be the best way to go about things.

With regards to potential locations, I'd forward the following:

1. Japan: there are numerous smaller archipelagoes to the south of the four main islands that are minimally urbanized and would make good settings, allowing producers to take advantage of a different culture than the latin american, pacific islander, and southeast asian ones usually utilized. However, they may fall a bit too close to shipping lanes.

2. Greek Islands: There are hundreds of small, picturesque islands and while nice and warm, they provide a different type of environment and a new cultural setting for the contestants and producers. The main drawbacks that I see is that they may be a bit too developed at this point.

3. Kerala, India: Again, something culturally distinct from other seasons, while still providing that tropical goodness and exoticism that the TV people love. It's coastal without being a set of islands, and Indian, while not quite being 'mainstream' Indian.

4. Maldives: See above, just with more islands.

5. Malta: A truly unique destination: arid like the Australian outback, but with an incredibly rich history, from ancient temples to Roman villas, to knights, sieges, castles, swashbuckling piracy, remote monasteries and chapels, and unique language, cuisine, flora and fauna, and aesthetic. The main island is too urbanized, but the outlying islands much less so. Again, however, it maybe too tourist-oriented at this point, and too close to shipping lanes.