Don’t wait around. Don’t get old and make excuses. Save a couple thousand dollars. Sell your car. Get a world atlas. Start looking at every page and tell yourself that you can go there. You can live there. Are there sacrifices to be made? Of course. Is it worth it? Absolutely. The only way you’ll find out is to get on the plane and go. And let me tell you something. That first morning, when you are in your country of choice, away from all of the conventions of a typical, everyday lifestyle, looking around at your totally new surroundings, hearing strange languages, smelling strange, new smells, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ll feel like the luckiest person in the world.
– Jason Gaspero.
Monday, December 30, 2013 (DAYS 665 & 666)
While there are numerous lists of movies that have been compiled by everyone from travel bloggers to IMDB and other sources to provide inspiration to travel, I’ve put together a list of 10 movies that I feel fit this genre. I would not consider this list to be the best or even my absolute favorites films for encouraging travel, but just a few titles. Some may be more popular and well known, but hopefully there are a few titles that you find are worth checking out if you are seeking a bit of encouragement to get outside of your comfort-bubble by realizing that travel on all levels–domestic, international, long weekends, holidays, gap year, extended travel–is possible.
While there are numerous lists of movies that have been compiled by everyone from travel bloggers to IMDB and other sources to provide inspiration to travel, I’ve put together a list of 10 movies that I feel fit this genre. I would not consider this list to be the best or even my absolute favorites films for encouraging travel, but just a few titles. Some may be more popular and well known, but hopefully there are a few titles that you find are worth checking out if you are seeking a bit of encouragement to get outside of your comfort-bubble by realizing that travel on all levels–domestic, international, long weekends, holidays, gap year, extended travel–is possible.
| |  A MAP FOR SATURDAY: This documentary is from 2005 and follows, Brook Silva-Braga, a producer for HBO that left his cushy job to travel around the world for 11-months and does a great job of illustrating the differences, challenges, and excitement of extended travel. This certainly his closer to home for me, because I also worked in television for quite a few years and had a cushy job and life before leaving it all behind and I cannot continue to express how much I have grown and learned through my own travels and journey.  180° SOUTH: Jeff Johnson lives out his dream as he retraces the historical 1968 journey of Yvon Chouinard (founder of the clothing gear Patagonia®) and Doug Tompkins (founder of North Face®) to the incredible natural beauty of Patagonia in this inspiring documentary that will have you itching to travel to South America.  INTO THE WILD: The true story of Christopher McCandless, that after graduating from college abandoned his possessions, gave away his entire life savings of $24,000 to charity, and began hitch hiking towards Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along his journey he encounters a variety of people and experiences and even though he loses his life after reaching his destination, his journey of taking a risk and living out his dream is something that is inspiring, but also demonstrates a degree of caution.  THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES: A Spanish biopic from 2004 of the early life of the iconic Marxist guerrilla commander Che Guevara and his friend Alberto Grandado. The film follows their adventurous 1952 motorcycle journey from Buenos Aires to Venezuela from the memoirs of Che and what begins as an adventurous journey opens their eyes to the poverty of indigenous peoples throughout Latin America.  L’AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE: The French film that is translated as (The Spanish Apartment, in English) is the story of Xavier, a student that moves to Barcelona for one year as part of the Erasmus program that is a requirement for his future profession with the French government. After a series of events he finds himself living in an apartment with other students that are from all over Europe. In the end, after returning back to Paris he walks away from his first day working for the Ministry to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer. |
| |  EAT PRAY LOVE: Based upon the memoirs of American writer, Elizabeth Gilbert, the story of one woman’s search for discovery that takes her from Italy, India, and ends in Indonesia, the film, while many may consider it to be more of a ‘chick-flick,’ demonstrates the courage to set out on a journey unknowing where life may take you.  THE ART OF TRAVEL: Follows the story of 18 year-old Connor Layne, that upon learning of his future bride’s infidelity with his best friend, decides to travel solo to Nicaragua. Just before he is scheduled to return to the States and begin his first year of college he meets an American couple that invites him on their arduous trek overland through the Darien Gap from Panama to Colombia. While this is very much of an indie flick that can fall under the genre of a romantic comedy, it does show much of the excitement and life lessons that can be taught through extended travel.  A GOOD YEAR: Another romantic comedy, don’t judge me I’m not really a fan of this genre, but the film centers around a ruthless British investment broker, Max Skinner, that is motivated by power and greed. After learning of his uncle’s death and inheriting his estate in France, Max unwillingly must take time away from his career and travel to his uncle’s chateau with the sole intention of selling the vineyard, but begins to accept a more laid-back way of life. I think this film demonstrates that it truly is not the quantity in life, but the quality of life and that wealth does not bring happiness.  ONE WEEK: After being diagnosed with cancer, Ben Tyler, foregoes immediate treatment at the pleas of his fiancée to live out his dream of motorcycling across Canada–from Toronto to Vancouver Island–where he meets a variety of people along the way before ultimately deciding to follow his dream by becoming a writer. I thought this was an interesting film, because prior to leaving on my travels I asked many people what they would do if they were given a specific amount of time to live, and almost 100% of the time their answer was to travel to a specific country or around the world.  THE WAY: Written and directed by Emilio Estevez and stars his father Martin Sheen, the film is centered around Thomas Avery an American ophthalmologist who must travel to France upon learning of his son Daniel’s death who had began backpacking the Camino de Santiago (the way of St. James) a Catholic pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galecia, Spain. At first, Tom travels to France only to retrieve the body of his deceased son, but makes the decision to continue where his child could not by picking up his backpacking and beginning his own journey in tribute to Daniel. This was a film that my mom actually told me about while I was in Laos and after slowly downloading it, I could see why she found it to be an inspiring tale. |
MY RTW PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
Awake just past 7am, I’m attempting to keep quiet as the other seven people in my dorm are still sleeping, and I’m staring intently on my iPhone as I follow the live updates from the ESPN Gamecast of the Denver Broncos versus Oakland Raiders. Since watching the live televised version in Thailand is not an option, with each score I mime my excitement. Victory my friends, sweet, sweet victory as it has been an historical record setting season for the team I love and have grown up with as I notice the final score is 34-14, but at the half it was already 31-0. Some of the incredible stats that are now claimed by the Denver Broncos is being the highest scoring team in NFL history with 606 points and Peyton Manning holding the sole record for most touchdown passes with 55 and passing yards of 5,477. Well done fellas!
Awake just past 7am, I’m attempting to keep quiet as the other seven people in my dorm are still sleeping, and I’m staring intently on my iPhone as I follow the live updates from the ESPN Gamecast of the Denver Broncos versus Oakland Raiders. Since watching the live televised version in Thailand is not an option, with each score I mime my excitement. Victory my friends, sweet, sweet victory as it has been an historical record setting season for the team I love and have grown up with as I notice the final score is 34-14, but at the half it was already 31-0. Some of the incredible stats that are now claimed by the Denver Broncos is being the highest scoring team in NFL history with 606 points and Peyton Manning holding the sole record for most touchdown passes with 55 and passing yards of 5,477. Well done fellas!
Feeling excited with how the day is already beginning and hoping to be reunited later in the afternoon with my friend Natalie from Canada that I met a year ago in Nicaragua, I’ve decided to splurge and treat myself to the morning breakfast buffet at Seashell Restaurant Resort for 200THB ($6.05). The ocean view scenery with my meal could not be more serene, as I gather a full plate of scrambled eggs, French toast, a bowl of fresh cut watermelon and pineapple, and top things off with a cup of coffee and juice. I can’t remember the last time I had French toast and since this meal is equivalent to my normal daily food budget, I take a page from my cousin Mike and sit and indulge in a fair amount of gluttony with plate after plate of food. In between sessions of returning to the buffet, I text my older sister to see about Skyping, but unfortunately they are driving from Texas to Florida for a soccer tournament that my niece’s club team is participating in and so I get a chance to Skype with my parents for a bit. Often forgetting that I am 14-hours and a day ahead, they apologize as it’s beginning to get late in the evening back in Colorado and we say our goodbyes before hitting the buffet one last time. After a very satisfying brekkie, I notice that the clouds are beginning to bundle together, blocking out the sun and bringing in a stronger wind. No worries, I think to myself since I’ve brought my laptop and use this time to catch up on a bit of writing.
As the morning fades to the afternoon, the weather becomes more uncooperative and I decide to head back to the hostel in hopes of finding that Nat has arrived. Walking down the narrow brick pedestrian street that is shared with motorbikes and ATVs, it seems as though the restaurants are more full than normal on the account of the lack of sunshine. Several minutes later, I feel a few raindrops on my shoulders and rapidly pick up my pace, as I’m afraid that the clouds are about to unleash a torrential downpour that will drench the electronics I’m carrying in my bag.
Around 5pm as I’m laying in my dorm bed reading, I faintly hear a familiar sound echoing down the narrow concrete hallway. Hopping up out of bed, I walk down and as I reach the front desk reception area, who else but Natalie is standing there with a big grin on her face and we exchange hugs. Our reunion was supposed take place on December 28th, but due to flight interruptions from a winter storm, Nat has traveled from all the way from Edmonton she has been in transit for the past 48-plus hours. Famished and exhausted, she tells me that it’s been more than 24-hours since she’s last had anything to eat, so we take the short walk to Choppers Sports Bar and Grill for some dinner. Once she’s had a chance to be replenished with some food, we decide that we should organize our boat ticket for tomorrow (New Year's Eve) to the island of Koh Pha-Ngan, where we are planning to meet up with the new friends I’ve made on Koh Tao to say farewell to 2013. The one-way slow boat ticket is 350THB ($10.59) for the 58km (36 miles) two-hour trip across the Gulf of Thailand that also includes the 4km (2.5 mile) taxi ride to the pier and we are told to meet at the travel agency office at 9am for the 10am departure. Since Nat is absolutely exhausted and we are planning to return to Koh Tao on New Year’s Day, which means staying up all night since we are without any accommodation, we’ve decided to make it an early night to be well rested.
Unable to fall asleep as easily as Nat as she’s already passed out on the top bunk across from mine, I decide to go outside to message some friends and end up striking up a conversation with Thon, one of the hostel workers. As we sit on the steps, I learn that is from Myanmar (Burma) and works two jobs seven-days a week and has been doing this for the past two-years! Learning that his day begins at 7am at his first job before beginning his second job at Ko Tao Backpackers, which his shift finishes at midnight, he tells me that he does this to send money back to his family in Myanmar and plans to do this for two more years before returning to his country. Even though his English is a bit broken, we are able to have a great slow-paced conversation, as he tends to interrogate me with questions about growing up in the United States and what Colorado is like. In between breaks, I learn that he is a month younger than myself and is a Buddhist, which takes our conversation to religion and then on to politics, economics, being adopted, and a variety of other topics. Before I know it, the time is just before midnight and I apologize and tell him that I have to get some rest and tell him to do the same before he has to be at his morning job.
The last day of 2013, I awake to my alarm ringing through my headphones at 8am and head for one of the three showers that are shared between 32 people at our hostel. Thankful to find one shower stall free, it’s a quick soap up and rinse before packing a few things up and heading out to grab some brekkie before walking to the travel agency. Fortunately for myself I am not one that is prone to seasickness (knock on wood haha), and the boat ride is a smooth one, especially since we are on the slow boat, which only takes one-hour longer than the speedboats between the islands. Arriving in at Thong Sala pier in Koh Pha Ngan just after 10am, we stroll around the town exploring for a few hours before finding a small café, that ironically is playing Spanish music where both of us break out in to laughter as this completely reminds us of our time in Latin America, and grab a relaxing lunch. Since the friends I met in Koh Tao had booked a fancy hotel room at one of the resorts in Haad Rin (Hat Rin), Drop In Club Sunrise Hotel, we grab a taxi for 100THB ($3.02) from Thong Sala that takes about 25-minutes before we reach southwestern tip of the island. Climbing out of the tailback of the pickup truck, we wander through the narrow bustling streets and eventually make our way down to the beach. As we walk along the shoreline, we discuss how in just a matter of hours this beach will swell to a crowd of more than 100,000 people to ring in the New Year and I think of friends that have spent New Years in Times Square standing in the cold for hours, just to have taken part in that experience.
Around 7pm we arrive back at the hotel and being unable to connect to Wi-Fi, we inquire with the front desk of the room number for our friends. Since the registration booklet didn’t bother with writing down the last names of the guests, I notice that there are two ‘Sarahs’ that checked in on December 29th and after no luck knocking on the first of the two rooms, we make our way to the floor above and after a brief tap on the door we are reunited with the English girls getting ready for the evening. Since this was our meeting point a few hours’ later zee Germans (Niklas, Kevin, and Philip) add to the already overcrowded hotel room and there is an absolute frenzy of conversations bouncing around. After decorating one another with fluorescent body paint, others with better artistic skills than others, we head out just after 10pm. The entry fee is 100THB ($3.02) that includes a plastic wristband and as soon as we hit the beach, it’s wall-to-wall (or shoreline-to-shoreline) hordes of people. Thinking back to what places would charge in Denver for entry for New Years, this is a huge bargain. Keeping a close eye on one another, we feel safe within our group as we all stick together and the next thing we know–no countdown–just a loud British voice over a microphone announcing that it’s 2014 as series of fireworks light up the night’s sky. Hugs and European kisses on the cheek are passed around as we wish one another a happy New Year, but by 2:30am, Nat and I can’t handle the crowds anymore as you are constantly being pushed and swayed by the crowd. Locking arms and hands through the thickest parts of the crowd, we push our way through the people until we finally reach one of the narrow side streets and find an almost deserted Mexican restaurant and enjoy a late night (or early morning) meal.
Since we decided that our best option upon arriving at midday was to book our ticket back to Koh Tao, our only option was either departing at 7am, 12:30pm, or waiting until January 4th. We opted for the 7am boat back since it was the cheapest at 350THB and had made it back to Thong Sala with about 90-minutes before departing. Unfortunately, when I went to check us in, a woman asked me to wait to the side and a few minutes later came out from behind the covered stand and told me that the 7am boat was no longer an option. Tired and exhausted I explained to her that the entire reason we booked this immediately that afternoon was to ensure our return, but she told me that the only option was to wait for the 12:30pm boat or we could be refunded our money. After discussing our options with Nat, we decided to get a refund and ended up paying 150THB ($4.54) more for a ticket on the express boat back to Koh Tao that departed at 8:30am, but was also notorious for causing seasickness. Just glad to have a ticket in hand we boarded on schedule and originally selected seats on the top of the boat in the open air, far from the enclosed seating two decks below that was where most people got sick. After about 5-minutes of this, the wind was too cold and we headed to the deck just below us. Eventually I ended up finding a space on the ground next to a pile of thick ropes used to anchor the boat when docked and was fast asleep. Waking up as we were pulling in to the pier at Koh Tao, I noticed that there was a girl sitting next to me that was not Nat, but an unfamiliar face. Later, Nat told me that this girl had been vomiting in a bag next to me for the majority of the trip and was pale white. I knew that from the second we reached the open water and the engines kicked in at full speed that we would be in for a very bumpy ride. I told her that it was a good thing I was sleeping otherwise I would have been throwing up as well, because unfortunately for me if I see someone doing it, smell it, or even hear it, well, it’s game over for me. Whew, what a way to ring in the New Year is all I’ve got to say.
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