A Traverse City, Michigan family will spend two weeks roughing it in a Guyanese rural village as part of the National Geographic Channel’s “Worlds Apart” [ please note: link provided by LOSP web site ] television series. The programme takes different American families to live in remote places to experience the cultures first-hand.

According to an article [ please note: link provided by LOSP web site ] in the Traverse City Record Eagle, Jay and Maureen Berger and their three children - Ben, 17; Luke, 14; and Emma, 12 will fly to Guyana and then travel to an unidentified village to live with a host family, which also has three children

Jay said he doesn’t have many details but expects living arrangements to be “very basic.”

“That’s the premise of the show. There’s no electricity, there’s no plumbing. They’re taking a family that may not think they’re spoiled and seeing how they can interact with another similar family in a completely different culture,” he said.

On a previous show, an Oakton, Virginia family spent 14 days in a small, one-room hut in the Trobriand Islands, about 100 miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific. With no electricity or running water, they worked along side villagers, gathering food - and in one case killing a chicken - farming, fishing and experiencing the daily life of the islanders.

Until now, the closest the local family has come to adventure travel was a cruise to Alaska, Berger said. “And that was a pampered vacation, nothing like this,” he added.

Berger said his wife, a stained glass artist, applied to “Worlds Apart” in April after watching a segment about the show on “Oprah.” The Bergers learned a week ago that they had been selected, and found out on Tuesday night where they will go.

A National Geographic team arrived in Traverse City Wednesday to film at the Bergers’ house and to advise the family on what they need to take.

“It’s not like packing for 10 days here, but 10 days where you’re not going to do much washing,” said Berger, noting that the list includes mostly sandals, T-shirts and pants in deference to the country’s average temperature between 75 and 87 degrees.

Berger said the “Worlds Apart” adventure is an opportunity of a lifetime for his family and something his children are gearing up for.

The Berger episode is expected to air sometime in December, he said.