Lights, Camera, Location!

It is all too easy to find yourself stuck in a routine and to slowly come to recognise that maybe there is more to life. If there are reasons that you can’t escape the routine just yet, then sit back and enjoy some armchair travel. Be inspired and plan your own adventure. These are some of the movies that have inspired me to travel.

The Beach – Thailand

This story follows a young backpacker who leaves Bangkok for Thailand’s beaches and discovers an island community where he realises he has a lot to learn. This is probably one of the first travel movies that ‘spoke’ to me. As an impressionable teenager dreaming of seeing the world, Thailand looked exotic and interesting. Obviously I was hoping not to bump into the gun-toting drug barons though.

Out of Africa – Kenya

Based on the true story of Karen Blixen’s time in Kenya, epic Out of Africa entices viewers with sweeping shots of amazing scenery and unique wildlife. It really shows the beauty of Africa. As well as being inspiring it is heart-breaking too as it makes clear some of the difficulties of living overseas.

The English Patient – Egypt, Italy

When a pilot falls, burning, out of the sky into the Egyptian desert, at the start of the second world war, nobody knows who he is, but through flashbacks of his life, mostly as a desert explorer in Egypt, whilst he is being nursed in Italy, we uncover his identity. This is a sweeping love story, featuring some wonderful desert landscapes and insights into different cultures. It made me keen to explore North Africa.

Hideous Kinky – Morocco

Julia has a tough time of it in this movie, which is an autobiographical account of two sisters and their time growing up in Morocco with their adventurous mother, but is inspiring in her bravery. Marrakech and more remote parts of Morocco provide a colourful backdrop to her adventures and bumpy ride with Arab culture.

Into the Blue – Bahamas

When young scuba-diving treasure hunters discover a drug baron’s lost stash things turn nasty, in this fast paced adventure that showcases Nassau both topside and beneath the waves. This movie didn’t get the chance to inspire me to go to the Bahamas, as it was released after I had been living there for two years. However, I love revisiting Nassau whenever I watch this movie.

The Hangover – Las Vegas

Three groomsmen have drunken misadventures in Vegas ahead of the wedding day one of them. The bright lights and chaos of Vegas provide the perfect scene. Vegas is a crazy place and it is very easy to become drunk and dazzled by all the lights. None of my misadventures ever came in on this hilarious scale though.

Sex and the City – New York, Mexico

The Sex and the City movie (and indeed the series before) paints New York in a, mostly, glorious light. Which girl doesn’t want to have Carrie’s close circle of girlfriends, shoe closet, wardrobe and apartment, not to mention some of the men, all for only a few moments of writer’s block a day? (Seriously, how does she pay the bills?) The resort they go to in Mexico looks stunning too.

Amelie – Paris, France

If you didn’t already have a reason to visit Paris, Amelie will make you want to go. This funny and quirky movie follows a pretty, young innocent on her search for love and quest to make the world a better place. It proves the French have a sense of humour and takes advantage of lots of fantastic Paris locations.

A Good Year – Provence, France

This movie beautifully depicts laidback life in rural France and made me desperate to go to Provence. It is an amusing movie that certainly made me wish I could inherit an uncle’s chateau and vineyard in the South of France. Sadly my uncle doesn’t own any chateaux, and certainly none in Provence.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – The Cote d’Azur, France

Still in the South of France, but this time concentrating on the stunning Cote d’Azur. This movie is very silly (aren’t most Steve Martin movies?) but offers an amusing insight into the glamorous high life on the South coast.

Da Vinci Code – Paris, London, Scotland

If this is all sounding a bit gooey, then perhaps you’d rather see Paris as a crime scene. The Da Vinci Code’s religious conspiracy theory takes you to the Louvre, Westminster Abbey and Scotland.

The Euro Trip – Europe

This light-hearted comedy follows a bunch of American school-leavers on their quest around Europe searching for a penpal one of them mistook for a boy, but realises he might actually be in love with. The characters find themselves in all sorts of situations across Europe. The film plays on linguistic and cultural differences and there are lots of jokes at the expense of the naïve youngsters.

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox