Best Travel Movies to Inspire Wanderlust

No travel blog is complete without a travel movie list!

A good travel movie is hard to find, but when you find one, it inspires the traveler's soul deep inside of you. This list is compiled from my hundreds of travel movie experiences to bring you the very best. These are in no distinct order, simply the randomness that is my mind....

1. The Way
   
   Filmed entirely in Spain and France along the Camino de Santiago, this amazing quiet jewel of a film makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you want to fly off to Europe and start walking the Camino immediately.
   
   
   
   
   http://www.theway-themovie.com/film.php
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Into the Wild
   Say what you want to about a spoiled city kid who recklessly travels into the wild only to (spoiler alert; but who hasn't heard this story!?) die in the wild; this movie speaks to the very soul of wanderlust. Just try not to eat the wrong shit and die alone. 
   
   
   Oh! And the soundtrack heavily features Eddie Vedder and his hauntingly poignant call-of-the-wild vocals. If you don't have it, go get it now!
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. The Art of Travel
   Finally a travel movie that my brother and I can agree on. Seduced by the title, this movie was a lucky find on Netflix one night. This movie is set in the Darien Gap (a place I'd never heard of), an undeveloped swamp and forest region of Panama and Colombia. The story is wild and adventurous; the landscape is harsh and beautiful. Plus, the last scene of this movie is the best thing ever!
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448993/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
   
   Proving that adventures don't have to stop once you hit your senior years, this movie is set in the most photogenic place of all, India. I had to watch this one - it had all the elements of a good movie - India, Dame Judy Dench, romance, India...
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1412386/ 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. The Long Way Round
   
   Two famous actors take their love of motorcycles and traveling on the road as they attempt to drive from London, heading east to New York city. Impossible you say? Watch the movie; learn of new cultures; see beautiful sights.
   
   http://www.longwayround.com/
   
   
   
   
6. The Long Way Down
   
   They loved it so much, they did it again! Ewan and Charley head from the northern tip of Ireland down to Capetown, South Africa. Never has Ethiopia looked so incredibly beautiful!
   http://www.longwayround.com/journeys_long-way-down.htm 
   
   
   
7. 180 Degrees South
   
   I first ignored this one thinking it was a surf movie. Then at the suggestion of a coworker, I looked again. This movie is so visually appealing, it brought me to tears. Watch it and learn some fascinating facts about the men who pioneered the art of rock climbing (I bet you own their gear....), and then sold it all to help a nation and the whole planet. Easily one of the most underrated travel movies, watch this one ASAP.
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1407927/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Before SunriseThis is easily one of my all-time favorite movies, and its set in the oh-so-photogenic town of Vienna, Austria. (Completely random sidenote.... My mother claims that if you want to see European castles, you MUST hit Austria and Germany.) This movie was literally filmed while walking the city streets at night. It has taught me many things, but the most important one is that sometimes you need to simply walk around and soak in a city when traveling. Its not all about tourist traps. Pick up a camera, grab your favorite person, and start walking around your town. See what you see.
   
   

   

   Ugh, who doesn't love this?!

   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112471/
   
   PS - open 2 bottles of wine with your best girlfriend, and watch Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and soon Before Midnight (coming any day now to DVD!)
   
   
9. Out of the Wild: Venezuela
   
   Ok, so not a movie.... this one is a reality show. But it seriously rocks! Watch it and be amazed! Because of this show I now want to trek across this region of Venezuela.
   The first 2 seasons of Out of the Wild are in Alaska, and they are just awful. Don't waste your time...
   
   This is a Discovery Channel show and for some reason it has no website. Whatever... Here's a kick ass photo that offers the feel of the show.  
   
   

   

   and I don't know who took this pic... I got it here - http://imgur.com/gallery/z2wcy

   
   
   
10. Out of Africa
    
    
    
    A classic, this movie very slowly builds Africa as a character to fall in love with. For a film starring Robert Redford (love), to fall in love with the continent before the leading man is almost unimaginable.
    
    Now if only I could visit colonial Kenya in the mid-1900s with a guy who flies his own plane, I'd be set for an adventure!
    
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089755/
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. Away We Go
    
    Guaranteed to make you cry, want to marry Jim from The Office, and go in search of your soul's home. OH! and it has a fantastic soundtrack. Buy it now, thank me later.
    
    
    
    
    http://www.focusfeatures.com/away_we_go
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. One Week
    
    In all honesty I don't remember this film, BUT I gave it 4 stars on Netflix so it's gotta be good. Check it out and get back to me.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104806/?ref_=sr_1
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. Kon Tiki

          M and I stumbled upon this on Netflix one evening. We had no idea what we were in for, having       never heard of either the explorer, the book, or the original movie that won an Academy Award 50+ years ago. It was amazing! Basically a story about an explorer who floats a raft from Peru to Polynesia to challenge conventional 1940s wisdom that Polynesia was discovered by Asians. I haven't seen the original movie, but this 2012 remake is great. Its full of gorgeous ocean scenery, very tanned blond Nordic men with increasingly bushy beards, and great animal encounters.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613750/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm

I'm sure I'll think of more later, and I can't wait to add new movies to the list as they're released. Come on, Focus Features! Get creative!

Anyway, when wanderlust strikes but your budget is small.... stay home and watch a good travel movie. :-)

Will They Survive the Heat? no! the Cold!

My newest package of seeds came in the mail yesterday!

I want to get a jump start on my spring planting so I went ahead and ordered now. Basil, roma-esque tomatoes, mark twain heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos for M, and we will again attempt green beans.  This year I'll start the seeds in January/February. Stay tuned for more adventurous gardening attempts.

But have no fear, I am also attempting winter gardening. Carlsbad is in the southern half of the US, but gets some good snow and cold, so I'll try some quick growing stuff, and some plants that like to overwinter. Scallions, spinach, and broccoli. Yes, I'm attempting broccoli again but this time I'll cover the plants with pantyhose in an attempt to thwart the evil white moth that lays worm eggs all over my crops.

Keep you posted!

Labor Day Weekend - Fort Davis, Davis Mountains, Alpine, and live music!

M and I headed down to Fort Davis and Alpine for a quick overnighter on our 3-day weekend. We had planned to camp out in the aspens near Ruidoso but then we found out that Labor Day weekend was a favorite of the 3-wheeling ATV crowd. yuck! Soooo we headed south instead.

We drove through some fantastic mountains (yes, Texas has multiple mountains....).

highway running through Davis Mountains State Park

Looking down onto Fort Davis National Historic Site

First we hit Fort Davis National Historic Site, which was crowded and boiling hot. I was hoping it'd be a bit cooler but what can you expect in west Texas in August!

M and I poured over all of Fort Davis's newly upgraded exhibits. You can take the park ranger out of the park, but you can't take the park out of the ranger! My favorite part of the visit was the porch swing. Its been a very long time since I've relaxed on a porch swing. I spent my childhood on the porch swing of our beach house. The sound of the chains creaking, along with the seagulls and the drone of I-10, always lulled me into bliss. M could make me ultimately blissful if he could manage a porch swing at the house.

Fort Davis's most awesome porch swing

blissfully enjoying the swing

weird repetitive view of the officers quarters

My OTHER favorite part of Fort Davis was the hospital. Getting to view all the horrid torturous medical equipment that was "state of the art" in the mid-1800s is fascinating to me, and nauseating to most other people.

After Fort Davis and a quick scenic drive up to Davis Mountains State Park, we drove down to Alpine to check into the cheapest motel Alpine has to offer. I've stayed in some amazingly cheap places, so my standards are pretty low. (There was the place that advertised "Meat Burgers", with "meat" meaning whatever they found along the road; the place where we barricaded the door at night to sleep because the locks didn't work well; and then there was the I-10 truck stop that dad insisted we could get a good nights' sleep in the van) This motel wasn't too bad. It had the basics... the 'ice machine' was an igloo in the check in area that the owner filled each morning with ice from the gas station across the street, the pool had been filled in with concrete and fenced off years before, etc...

M and I went looking for a place to have dinner before hitting the bar for some live music. We tried 3 places that said they were open only to find them closed... I Yelped them properly. The 4th place didn't have any vegan options and was too expensive to have a sub-par meal. We even tried a diner that Yelp warned was constantly out of regular menu items. And yes, they were out of the only thing I could eat... salad. So we finally found ourselves, hungry and grumpy, at McDonald's ordering salads behind some fairly vicious people who were lamenting the broken soda machine.

After a fantastic dinner of McD's salad, we headed to the Railroad Blues for some live music. Talk about a small town - the first person we saw when we walked in recognized M as "Copperhead Guy". M studied snakes in grad school, and worked closely with locals. The band, the Lonesome Heros, was fantastic and very friendly. We're now Facebook friends. :-)
We had a great time and I had too many apricot beers (Shout-out to Corree!).

The next morning we tried our hand with eating in Alpine one last time and hit the no-salad diner. Their waffles completely make up for the lack of any type of vegetable.

We took a different scenic route back up to Carlsbad....

Border Patrol Blimp... who knew?! M says they keep it tethered to the ground. It floats a few hundred feet up in the
air, light up at night for all the illegals and smugs to see.... yay for tax dollars!

Of course we had to hit the Marfa Prada! It was actually crowded with
motorcyclists and other on-lookers

All in all, it was a fun quick getaway.... we'll hit the aspen slopes of Ruidoso next time.



ps - Fort Davis's gardener must be amazing...

I have Rosemary envy... look at the size of this monster!!!