Anthony Anderson is a Hollywood legend at this point. The 11-time Emmy nominee, 8-time NAACP Award winner, dad of two, entrepreneur, and former star of the hit television show, Black-ish is constantly busy. Still, he recently decided to take some time out of his hectic schedule to embark on a six-week European vacation with his mother, Doris Bowman. He documented their experiences for his new show on E!, Trippin’ With Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris, which premieres this Thursday. Bowman and Anderson are pretty close, as they can be seen spending quality time together on Anderson’s Instagram page or nailing hilarious high-profile commercial spots. But this Euro-excursion had more to do with Anderson’s love and appreciation for his mother, as she gave up her dreams of being an actress to raise him. “Because of my mother’s sacrifices to get me to where I am today, I wanted to celebrate her and take her on this trip to experience the lavishness of being showered upon as an entertainer in the public eye. And that’s what we did,” Anderson said exclusively to ESSENCE.
Hailing from Compton, California, Bowman always had her sites set on visiting international locations, including Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but Anderson had the idea of venturing out to Europe because of the opportunity to see many different places and cultures in a concentrated period. “Why not take a European vacation? It’s something that, you know, my mother has yet to experience,” Anderson stated.
He continued, “Why not travel throughout the countryside of these places of London, Paris, Lyon, Cannes, Venice, Rome, and Florence, and have a great time? My mother is from the South Side of Chicago, migrated out West with my grandmother, and grew up in Watsonville, California. I grew up in Compton, California, so to come from those places to end up where we were with Kings and Queens and everybody in between. It was just a beautiful moment.”
Whether walking in African Fashion Week, eyeing the handsome male models, riding on a Vespa or in a gondola, or taking intricate cooking classes, Anderson and his mother had a ball experiencing new moments and memories together. Bowman especially appreciated living in the lap of luxury, staying in a castle, and being waited on by a butler. But more than that, she was stunned by her son’s many fans worldwide. “I loved the people who knew my baby and would walk up to us to ask for a picture with him and me. ‘Can I take a picture with you, Mr. Anderson?’ That makes me feel good,” she boasted.
The closeness of their relationship, the friendly banter, and the love between them are what audiences will see; however, more importantly, the dynamic mother-and-son duo showcases just how important international travel is with your loved ones to our community.
Anderson agreed. “I think it’s a great commercial for travel within our Black community. I’m a proponent of putting passports in youth hands from the inner city. When I grew up, all my friends spent the summer abroad. I grew up in Compton, but I went to a performing arts high school; my white counterparts would spend the summer abroad, and I would spend a week or two with Big Mama down South someplace. And that was a big shift for us. But I want the youth in the inner cities to understand that the world is much bigger than their block,” he says.
He continued, “This is how you cultivate worldly relationships by traveling the world, staying in youth hostels, and meeting new people. So when you’re out in the world, you never know when you may need that person again or call on that relationship. So I hope this is a calling card for people to travel internationally and understand the importance of traveling and making these relationships with people and places.”
Trippin’ With Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris premieres Thursday, June 22 at 10 p.m. ET on E!