Travel Inspired Books, Movies, & TV Shows
Personally, whenever I arrive home, I want to continue traveling. I want inspiration for my next journey. I want to get lost from the daily routine. I want to be swept away by characters and people and far-off lands that I can see myself with. Therefore, I am continually searching for the best books, movies, documentaries, television shows, podcasts, or whatever else I can get my hands on, and I want to pass them on to you. Do you have any favorites? What literature has inspired you? Contact me and let me know so I can add it here (and, selfishly, so I can enjoy it, too!)
Books
The Lost Girls: Three Friends, Four Continents, One Unconventional Detour Around the World by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbet, & Amanda Pressner
When I picked up this book at the library, I was bit overwhelmed by its page count, but by the end of those 500+ pages, I found myself wanting more. The story is about the three authors finding themselves stuck in everyday life, so they make a pact to travel the world for a year together. They describe the truthfulness of what it truly means to be a backpacker: noisy dorm rooms, helpful locals, on-the-road-romances, the inevitable "bumps in the road," how certain people and places can change your life, and how to love travel again when it has become your norm. It fueled my wanderlust, and (honestly), it was nice to find an entertaining novel about women traveling somewhere other than Europe. I would recommend this to anyone who has traveled in the past and wants a few good laughs or those who are still dreaming about their first adventure.
When I picked up this book at the library, I was bit overwhelmed by its page count, but by the end of those 500+ pages, I found myself wanting more. The story is about the three authors finding themselves stuck in everyday life, so they make a pact to travel the world for a year together. They describe the truthfulness of what it truly means to be a backpacker: noisy dorm rooms, helpful locals, on-the-road-romances, the inevitable "bumps in the road," how certain people and places can change your life, and how to love travel again when it has become your norm. It fueled my wanderlust, and (honestly), it was nice to find an entertaining novel about women traveling somewhere other than Europe. I would recommend this to anyone who has traveled in the past and wants a few good laughs or those who are still dreaming about their first adventure.
Movies
The Way by Emilio Estevez
My fiance and I stumbled across this movie on Netflix while babysitting our friends' six month old child and decided to put it on while she was taking a nap. Boy, am I glad she slept well that afternoon, because our eyes were glued to the television screen. Although the ending wasn't as climactic as I was anticipating, it was a moving and thought-provoking film. Tom (played by Martin Sheen) is an optometrist in America that finds his son's decision to travel the world a stupid and silly one. (How many of us can related to that, huh?) Unfortunately, Tom's world comes crashing down when he discovers that his son has passed away in a tragic accident in the French Pyrenees. When asked why his son was there, Tom is told that his son was making the pilgrimage of "The Way of Saint James." Tom then decides to embark on the pilgrimage himself to honor his son's wishes of finishing the journey. What he doesn't know, however, is the profound impact it will have on him as he encounters all that backpacking has to offer: hostel living, unlikely friends, making mistakes, being invited into a family's home, and most importantly: personal transformation. If you have Netflix and a couple of hours, I definitely recommend spending them watching The Way.
My fiance and I stumbled across this movie on Netflix while babysitting our friends' six month old child and decided to put it on while she was taking a nap. Boy, am I glad she slept well that afternoon, because our eyes were glued to the television screen. Although the ending wasn't as climactic as I was anticipating, it was a moving and thought-provoking film. Tom (played by Martin Sheen) is an optometrist in America that finds his son's decision to travel the world a stupid and silly one. (How many of us can related to that, huh?) Unfortunately, Tom's world comes crashing down when he discovers that his son has passed away in a tragic accident in the French Pyrenees. When asked why his son was there, Tom is told that his son was making the pilgrimage of "The Way of Saint James." Tom then decides to embark on the pilgrimage himself to honor his son's wishes of finishing the journey. What he doesn't know, however, is the profound impact it will have on him as he encounters all that backpacking has to offer: hostel living, unlikely friends, making mistakes, being invited into a family's home, and most importantly: personal transformation. If you have Netflix and a couple of hours, I definitely recommend spending them watching The Way.