Warning! These 7 Movies Will Make You Want to Travel Around The World

The inspiration to travel can come from anywhere including movies. From the epic plots to alluring visuals, movies don’t only provide entertainment while you watch them, but also invokes a strong desire to roam the world.

Imagine while you’re watching a movie, your screen is plastered with an amazing scenery that seems surreal. A stretch of brown rocky bluffs from the Grand Canyon, the green, hilly landscapes that are distinctively New Zealand or the view of a busy city street in beautiful Italy are bound to add on to your wish-list of dream destinations.
Is there a movie that will make you check your calendar and plan to leave for a vacation immediately? Besides the movies that have successfully prompted you to do so, Traveloka has put together a list of seven travel-inspiring movies for you to watch:

1. Into The Wild

Adapted from the true story of Christopher Johnson McCandless, Into The Wild has inspired many to start travelling. In the early 1990s, McCandless decided to leave modern living behind and return to nature. To start a life that is truly new, he even destroyed his identification cards and burned his money. McCandless wrote about his trip in a journal.

Into The Wild details McCandless adventures in epic cinematography. You will hold your breath as you watch McCandless successfully climb a mountain in Alaska and admire the view of mountain tops covered in blankets of snow as far as the eye can see. As the movie continues, it’s as if McCandless’ message is that you can enjoy beauty without disturbing nature. This is particularly evident in the scene where he is standing at the beach at twilight watching the birds fly up ahead or when he chooses not to shoot the game so as not to disrupt the current ecosystem.

2. The Way

“Come on, a father-son trip is gonna be fun,” Tom recollects his son, Daniel’s words. Little did he know then, that not taking the trip with his son would become one of his greatest regrets in life. Daniel passed away while attempting to finish the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James), a centuries-old pilgrimage through Spanish mountain country to the Cathedral de Santiago. Tom travels from America to France to collect his son’s remains and makes the decision to honour his son by finishing the historical journey.

Besides serving up a story that is both dramatic and emotional, The Way offers audiences an amazing view. Eight hundred meters of the French border heading to Santiago is anything but dull. Throughout the movie, you are treated with sceneries of the Spanish countryside, a forest trail, and invigorating clear-water rivers. You will also see how travellers and pilgrims from all over the world gather and interact in albergue (Spanish for ‘hostel’).

3. 127 Hours

The movie 127 Hours starring James Franco, was based on the true story of avid outdoorsman, Aron Ralston. Ralston was pinned by a dislodged boulder during his solitary hike in the Grand Canyon and ended up stuck for 127 hours. The quiet trail of Bluejohn Canyon (where it happened) and after more than five days with no contact, Ralston made the brave decision to amputate his own arm in order to free himself and survive.

Even though the movie ends on a dramatic note, you can still enjoy it from start to finish. The Grand Canyon’s landscape, especially the trails of Bluejohn Canyon are capable of making you want to book the next flight to Utah right at this second. One of the more thrilling scenes in the movie is when Ralston befriended two female hikers, guided them through a narrow path of rock and deliberately lets go, falling into a plunge pool of clear, bluish water.

4. The Lord of The Rings

Frodo Baggins’ adventures in the movie, The Lord of The Rings is sure to make your heart beat faster. In addition to the visually stunning battle scenes, this trilogy takes you on a remarkable journey of New Zealand’s naturally beautiful landscape.
New Zealand realised its tourism potential right then. The country’s department of tourism even turned The Lord of The Rings filming locations into a tourist destination. Here, you can step inside the hobbits houses in Hobbiton, stand atop the capital city of Rohan that had a full set built on Mount Sunday, or stop by Rivendell, the Elven town in Kaitoke Regional Park.

5. The Bucket List

Being on the verge of death will make you think twice about all the things you want to do before your time is up. This was how Carter Chambers felt in the movie The Bucket List. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Chambers writes a “bucket list” (things to do before he “kicks the bucket”) which was found by his hospital roommate, billionaire hospital magnate, Edward Cole. Cole helps Chambers cross items off the list, fulfilling his wishes that seemed impossible at first.
The film’s tagline reads, “You only live once, so why not die with style?” makes you think about the things you want to do before you die. This movie serves as an inspiration for you to write your own bucket list. Follow the adventures of Chambers and Cole as they climb the pyramids in Egypt, go skydiving in the Californian sky, visit the Taj Mahal in India, race cars and finally, enjoy an evening in Hong Kong.

6.Under The Tuscan Sun

Under The Tuscan Sun, a film adaptation of Frances Mayes’ best-selling memoir with the same name could be a good reference for you. In this movie, Frances is a 35-year-old writer with a seemingly perfect life that suddenly changes dramatically. Her marriage falls apart with her husband’s infidelity and she falls into a deep depression which resulted in severe writer’s block. Her best friend intervenes and encourages her to take a trip to Tuscany, Italy. While in Tuscany, Frances buys a villa called Bramasole on a whim and decides to stay there for good, under the Tuscan sun.

Frances’ travels across the continent was more of a holiday to recuperate, however, it turned out to be an experience that changed this woman’s life completely. Her decision to settle down in Tuscany renewed her passion for life and opened doors for new experiences. Through this movie, Frances invites you to join her on her quest for building a new life in a foreign place. This includes learning the local language, cooking local dishes and exploring against the backdrop of Italy’s mesmerising landscape.

7. Pendekar Tongkat Emas

A movie that’s made closer to home deserves to be appreciated too. Made in Indonesia, Pendekar Tongkat Emas is a film that doesn’t only offer a good storyline but uses high quality visuals too. Unfazed by the film-shooting-trends abroad, this film capitalises on the natural beauty of Indonesia, specifically the East Sumba Regency and East Nusa Tenggara.

This movie, which tells the tale of a scramble for the golden scepter (tongkat emas in Bahasa Indonesia) amongst students of the same silat (art of self-defense) master does more than get your adrenaline pumping. The combination of silat with Pantai Newa’s view and green hills that are soothing to the eyes can make you want to visit East Sumba. According to various sources, East Sumba has received more visitors after Pendekar Tongkat Emas was filmed there.

In fact, the movie is not only capable of engrossing the audience with its plot, it spoils you with stunning visuals and provides inspiration for future vacation destinations. Don’t you agree?

The next time you watch a movie that inspires you to travel, don’t worry. Visiting those destinations where the movie was made is no longer difficult. Traveloka is a place where you can book and pay for your flights to Europe, the United States of America, Africa and New Zealand. That’s not all, Traveloka offers special prices for flight tickets abroad (airline specific) through the Smart Combo feature.