20 Must-See Movies About Travel
Movies for those with a passion for travel…
OUTSOURCED (2006) – Todd Anderson gets the bad news from his boss: his job has been outsourced. Adding insult to injury, Todd must travel to India to train his own replacement. Through a series of hilarious misadventures, this charming, critically acclaimed romantic comedy reminds us that sometimes getting lost is the best way to find yourself.
THE ART OF TRAVEL (2007) – Conner Layne is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime, just not the one he planned on. Having discovered that his fiancée is having an affair with his best friend, he dumps her at the altar and heads off on his honeymoon solo. While experiencing the wonders that South America has to offer, he meets a friendly couple who are planning to cross the Darien Gap, a 100-mile-long streak of undeveloped jungle that separates Panama and Colombia, in record time with a ragtag group of foreigners. Conner decides to join the group of adventurers journeying through perilous landscape for the quest of a lifetime and gets more of an adventure then he bargained for.
EAT PRAY LOVE (2010) – A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to “find herself”.
INTO THE WILD (2007) – After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity, and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.
SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET (1997) – Heinrich Harrer is an Austrian mountaineer who is forced to be a hero for the Nazi propaganda. He leaves Austria in 1939 to climb a mountain in the Himalayas. Through a series of circumstances (including POW camp), he and fellow climber Peter Aufschnaiter become the only two foreigners in the Tibetan Holy City of Lhasa. There, Heinrich’s life changes forever as he becomes a close confidant to the Dalai Lama.
BEFORE SUNRISE (1995) – A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one romantic evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together. This movie’s sequel Before Sunset (2004) is also very good.
THE BUCKET LIST (2007) – The main plot follows two terminally ill men (Nicholson and Freeman) on their road trip with a wish list of things to do before they “kick the bucket.”
ONE WEEK (2008) – Ben Tyler has been diagnosed with cancer. Requiring immediate treatment, he instead decides to take a motorcycle trip from Toronto through the Canadian prairies to Vancouver Island. Along the way, he meets several people that help him reevaluate his relationship with his fiancée Samantha, his job and his dream of becoming a writer. The scenic backdrop of the Canadian landscape as well as an all-Canadian soundtrack serve as prevalent influences in the film.
HIDEOUS KINKY (1998) – An Englishwoman travels to Morocco with her two young daughters, where they deal with and adjust to the culture and people of the area. Told from the perspective of the youngest daughter, the story provides insight into the Moroccan atmosphere.
KISS THE SKY (1999) – After years of upward mobility, best friends Jeff and Marty have achieved the American dream and ended up disillusioned and restless. They concoct an overseas business trip meant to exorcise their demons, but it soon escalates into a full-fledged escape to a spectacularly remote tropical island in the Philippines where they both fall in love with the same free-spirited beauty. Throwing caution to the wind, they make the fateful decision to shed their families back home and set out to create a sexual and spiritual utopia.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED (2007) – Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman star as three brothers who have drifted apart over the years and try to re-forge their sibling bonds on a hilarious adventure across India.
THE HOLIDAY (2006) – Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other’s countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love.
SUMMER LOVERS (1982) – Michael and his childhood sweetheart Cathy go to Greece to spend the summer on the isle of Santorini where, despite his love for Cathy, he finds himself lured by Lina, a vacationing French archeologist. The three lovers find themselves forever affected by the most passionate and inspiring summer of their lives.
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (2004) – An inspirational adventure based on the true story of two young men whose thrilling and dangerous road trip across Latin America becomes a life-changing journey of self-discovery. (Spoken Language: Spanish; English subtitles available)
STEALING BEAUTY (1996) – The film focuses on an American teenage girl who travels to a lush Italian villa to stay with family friends of her poet mother who recently committed suicide.
THE BEACH (2000) – Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumors state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss – excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.
HOLY SMOKE (1999) – While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, beautiful young Ruth Barron falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru. Her desperate parents then hire PJ Waters, a macho cult de-programmer who confronts Ruth in a remote desert hideaway. But PJ quickly learns that he’s met his match in the sexy, intelligent and iron-willed Ruth!
A GOOD YEAR (2006) – A British investment broker inherits his uncle’s chateau and vineyard in Provence, where he spent much of his childhood. He discovers a new laid-back lifestyle as he tries to renovate the estate to be sold.
VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA (2008) – Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN (2003) – While on vacation, a just-divorced writer buys a villa in Tuscany on a whim, hoping it will be the start of a change for the better in her life.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
