Best Travel Movies: That Inspire Travel & Adventure
- Aug 26, 2017
- 4 min read
Some people are moved by books, others are moved by film. So, I’ve put together a list of the best travel and adventure movies to help inspire you to take action. These are the best travel movies ever (in my opinion). You can watch these films over & over again,
. So here is my personal list of the best travel movies of all time.
1. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
This awe-inspiring film is based on the memoirs of Che Guevara, from a time before he became an iconic Latin American revolutionary. Guevara (Gael Bernal) and his friend Alberto "Mial" Granado (Rodrigo De la Serna, Guevara’s real-life second cousin) climb atop a motorcycle and ride across South America for eight months and over 14,000 kilometers. The trip inspired the rest of Guevara's incredible life. The movie will inspire you to learn more about the incredibly beautiful continent.
2. Into the Wild (2007)
This movie is the true story of Christopher McCandless, a college graduate who gives away his live savings and hitchhikes to Alaska. He meets all kinds of people along the way, each with their own stories. In Alaska, he heads out into the wilderness to live on his own. His life is filled with random adventures and experiences while he makes his way up to “The Last Frontier”. This is what travel is all about to me. Experiences, good and bad, make you who you are. And long term travel is FULL of new experiences. The key is to not completely get in over your head.
3. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
True story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China's takeover of Tibet .
4. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.
5. A Map for Saturday (2007)
A travel documentary that follows one man as he quits his cushy job with HBO to travel around the world for a year and live out of his backpack. It shows the different ways people travel, and gives an accurate picture of what it is like to vagabond around the world long term. You get to experience both the ups and downs of his trip at a very personal level. If you ever thought of doing something like this, the movie will show you what the experience is really like. It also shows you that anyone can travel cheaply if they really want to. The only thing stopping you is, well, you.
6. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
A film about three wealthy, spoiled brothers taking an overland train trip through India. They haven’t spoken in a year, and the trip is supposed to heal and bond them again. Initially it all goes wrong as they bicker and fight with each other. They are all suffering from depression, and pop pain killers like candy. When it seems like nothing is going right, their crazy experiences along the way finally put things into perspective. The ultimate goal of healing and rejuvenation starts to happen. They finally start to grow up and turn into men.
7. Life of Pi (2012)
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
8. 127 Hours (2010)
An adventurous mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive.
9. The Way Back (I) (2010)
Siberian gulag escapees travel 4,000 miles by foot to freedom in India.
10. The Way (2010)
A father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling the "El camino de Santiago," and decides to take the pilgrimage himself.
11. Wild (2014)
A chronicle of one woman's 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent personal tragedy.
12. One Week (2008)
Chronicles the motorcycle trip of Ben Tyler as he rides from Toronto to Tofino, British Columbia. Ben stops at landmarks that are both iconic and idiosyncratic on his quest to find meaning in his life.
13. Tracks (2013)
A young woman goes on a 1,700-mile trek across the deserts of West Australia with four camels and her faithful dog
14. Never Cry Wolf
A biologist is sent into the wilderness to study the caribou population and figure out why it’s on the decline. The suspect wolves but no one has seen a wolf kill a caribou. The film is based on the Farley Mowat’s autobiography.
15. 180° South
Jeff Johnson sets off on a quest to repeat the 1968 journey of Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia, finishing with an ascent of Cerro Corcovado.
These are the best travel movies ever (in my opinion). You can watch these films over & over again, and never get sick of them. Which ones are your favorites?
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