Travel & Movies: Always a Good Combination (Part I)
Let's be honest: the life's routine sometimes is bound to get stressing or monotonous. If you are not planning your next vacation for anytime soon, here is your chance to escape for a while.
These nine travel movies will take you on a journey around the world. You'll be envious of these soul-searching, adventure-seeking characters and the awe-inspiring sights and events they experience along the way. Be warned! These films might inspire you to anticipate your vacations or just to pack your bag and hit the open road.
1 - Motorcycle Diaries
The perfect film for those who think they have their entire lives planned out: The Motorcycle Diaries follows the young Che Guevara — an aspiring medical student turned notorious guerrilla revolutionary — on a journey through South America. His travels steer him away from a traditional path to pursue his true calling. Aside from the plot, the film offers an incredible lens into the South American landscape; as Telegraph puts it, "The cinematic treatment of the land is breathtakingly beautiful enough to serve as a travel advert for the entire continent." Well, not the entire continent. Brazil, the largest country in South America, is not part of Guevara's trip, maybe because it's the only Portuguese-speaking country, and quite different culturally.
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2. Into The Wild
Based on the biographical story of Chris McCandless, written by Jon Krakauer, Into The Wild is a story of wandering, a celebration of the road-less-traveled, and an ode to nature. Emile Hirsch plays Chris, a newly- graduated college student who rejects the privileged life that has been set out for him in favor of seeking purpose and excitement. The New York Times calls the character a "brave and dedicated spiritual pilgrim." The film is a soul-searching journey into nature and solitude.
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3. A Good Year
This is the perfect movie to watch with a glass of wine in your hand. After years of no contact with his Uncle Henry, London banker and bond trader Max Skinner learns that Henry has died intestate, so Max inherits a château and vineyard in Provence. Max spent part of his childhood there, learning maxims and how to win and lose, and honing his killer instinct (at chess, which serves him well in finance). Max goes to France intent on selling the property. He spends a few days there, getting the property ready to show. Memories, a beautiful woman, and a young American who says she’s Henry’s illegitimate daughter interrupt his plans.
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4. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Javier Bardem's strange love triangle with Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz offers not only a great story but an incredible tour through the modernist city of Barcelona. In Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen brings viewers to Las Ramblas, the stunning architecture of Antoni Gaudí, and the iconic Tibidabo amusement park. You'll yearn to feel the passion and excitement of Catalonian culture.
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5 - The Darjeeling Limited
The Darjeeling Limited is highly typical of Wes Anderson — it's quirky, lighthearted, and adventurous. The film, which follows three brothers' travels across India, reveals "one world worth visiting" — or so says the New York Times. Anderson's whimsical film unlocks a breathless vision of India not soon to be forgotten.
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6 - The Beach
Despite the fact that things go downhill for Leonardo DiCaprio and his new friends, the first half of The Beach is, essentially, every young, hard-working individual's dream. The characters live a paradisic life as they idle on a beach in Thailand far from civilization and reality. While the film eventually strays from its idyllic depiction, The Beach lures viewers to seek a similarly adventurous — if less fraught — atmosphere in the far East.
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7 - Up
Every Pixar film is loved by nearly everyone, and Up is no exception. The main character, Carl Fredricksen, a widowed balloon salesman, travels through the South American sky in a house uplifted by a larger-than-life bouquet of balloons. Audiences will surely be captivated by the dreamlike journey which introduces "alost world of weird and wonderful creatures." Up is a testament to the fact that it's never too late for adventure.
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8 - Y Tu Mamá También
Alfonso Cuaron's Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mother Too) is a coming-of-age story meets travel-narrative. In it, two teenage boys embark on a road trip through rural Mexico in seek of an idealized beach. Their journey is full of eye-opening experiences — drugs, poverty, sex, politics, and through it all "what they discover opens their eyes to each other and the world."
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9 - Eat Pray Love
Prepare to be inspired, envious, and (without a doubt) hungry to experience Julia Roberts' adventure through Italy, India, and Indonesia. While Roberts' character — divorced and unsatisfied — travels East to do some "globe-trotting and soul-searching," she introduces viewers to a world of friendship, faith, and mouth-watering Italian food. Eat, Pray Love is based on Elizabeth Gilbert's novel of the same title, which also might make you quit your job.
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Bonus - Le Fabulex Destin d'Amelie Poulain (Amélie)
Amélie is a shy waitress in a Montmartre café. After returning a long-lost childhood treasure to a former occupant of her apartment, and seeing the effect it has on him, she decides to set out on a mission to make others happy and in the meantime pursues a quirky guy who collects discarded photo booth pictures. A Classic.
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What are the must-watch travel movies on your list? Did you know you can take a tour of your favorite movies locations? Learn how to do that with a personalized tour of top destinations in the U.S.