FILMS THAT GIVE ME SERIOUS WANDERLUST

I'm a huge wanderluster so you can understand why I love films about travel, they give me that big desire to want to drop everything, jump on a plane and travel the world. So here are my top 10 wanderlust films that inspire me to travel..


10. And While We Were Here

This movie is set in Naples, Italy which I would love to visit, I've been to Italy but Naples looks so lovely and this film really captures the beauty of Naples. Kate Bosworth plays a lonely wife lost in a dull relationship as she travels to Naples with her husband for his work. As he leaves her during the days to go to work, she explores Naples and ends up meeting a handsome, young American who totally changes her outlook on life. I love this movie as not only does it show beautiful Naples, but that travelling and meeting new people can totally change you for the better.

9. Hector and the Search for Happiness

Simon Pegg drew me to this film because I love him and also the fact its about travelling. Simon Pegg plays a psychiatrist who is tired of his boring life and decides to travel the world and search for what makes people happy (aka searching for his own happiness). In doing so he travels to so many amazing places including China, The Himalayas and Africa. I love that this film is a comedy with some serious parts of the movie making you want to cry. I just love that this film teaches you that there is more to life then working 9-5 and happiness is only achieved when you go through unhappy times.



8. 127 hours

How can this film not give you wanderlust? The amazing shots of the Grand Canyon are insanely beautiful, especially the sunset ones. The Grand Canyon is definitely on my bucket list and watching this movie makes me desperately want to go. This film is so inspiring as James Franco brings to life the true ordeal Aron Ralston went through and at the end when he frees himself it shows you how he still follows his dreams climbing Mount Everest and living life to the full, that's so inspiring!


7. Lord of the Rings

New Zealand. The backdrop on Lord of the Rings is so amazing you just wish you could be on a journey too exploring the mountains and rivers of New Zealand. I can watch all three films in a day, and then I'll feel totally inspired to travel.


6. Tracks

This is about the true story of Robyn Davidson, a young woman who in 1977 undertook a perilous solo trek across the stunning Australian outback. Her family and friends think she's crazy when she tells them her plan and some even think she'll give up but this only makes her more determined and she does it with only four camels and her dog for company. It's so inspiring that she went through this tough journey and made it to the Indian Ocean rewarded with life changing self-discovery.


5. The Way

The way is about a doctor played by Martin Sheen who travels to France after his son dies during a storm while climbing the Pyrenees to walk The Camino de Santiago. Martin Sheen's character decides to retrieve his son's body but ends up making the journey in homage to his son. While walking The Camino de Santiago he meets other people from around the world who have became broken in some way too and are travelling the route to find meaning in their lives. I loved this movie it made me cry, made me laugh and inspired me so much.


4. Wild

This is the true story of Cheryl Strayed who hiked more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail all by herself. Cheryl starts the journey with no hope in her life anymore, but the determination to leave behind her broken marriage and destructive behaviour. It's so inspiring to see her going through tough times and terrifying moments and just keep going and ending the journey stronger and healed.



3. Lost in Translation

Bill Murray + Scarlett Johansson + Japan.. makes the best film ever! The film is set in Tokyo, Japan one of the places on my bucket list! Bill Murray plays an actor working in Japan but can't speak a word of Japanese, Scarlett Johansson is also there to support her husband who is also in Japan for work. Both are feeling lonely in Japan but when they meet they create a bond with each other and explore Japan together. I just love how this movie shows travelling can form unlikely bonds with people you would never think you'd be friends with if you were back home, it shows you can meet all kinds of people while travelling to another place.



2. Eat Pray Love

This is one of my all time favourite films! It's a true story about Elizabeth Gilbert who has a serious case of wanderlust but feels trapped in her broken marriage and job. She decides to leave it behind and go on a journey. She starts off in Italy to eat, then India to practice meditation and find her spiritual side and then Bali to love! She makes new friends along the way, rediscovers herself and becomes a stronger person. This film inspired me so much and i would love to take the same journey too one day! Also if you love the film i definitely recommend the book, it's even better!


1. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is my favourite travel film ever! Whenever I want to feel inspired I watch this movie. It stars Ben Stiller who's my absolute fave and he plays Walter Mitty who is a bit of a daydreamer which I can totally relate to and deep down he wishes for a more exciting life rather than his daily job at Life magazine. In desperation to keep his job he needs to retrieve the picture for the cover of the final issue, in order to do this Walter travels to Greenland to find the photographer to get the photo. During his journey he leaves his comfort zone and jumps out of a helicopter into the ocean and fights off a shark, skateboards around Iceland, runs away from a volcanic eruption and climbs the Himalayas. After his journey Walter comes back a changed man, feeling more alive and happy. I love this movie so much, it inspired me to travel to Iceland one day and also to do more exciting things in life and really live it to the full.

ITALY PART FOUR - Venice

Venice is one of my absolute dream places to go so I just couldn't contain my excitement on the bus from Lake Garda to Venice which was about a 2 hour journey, I slept the whole way there as it was so early in the morning. It was also the hottest day since we'd been in Italy.

Once we arrived in Venice we then had to get a water taxi to get to the actually city. As the water taxi was getting closer to the city I got so excited seeing all the old buildings, the taxi was quite quick and we finally arrived. It felt so surreal to be in Venice, it is absolutely gorgeous, the buildings are so amazing and it helped that the weather was so nice too.

We got something to eat, some places can be quiet expensive so make sure to look at the menu's before you go in, after we ate we then began exploring, Venice is quite old fashioned, it has a 1950's feel to it as it has a lot of jazz/blues bars. I loved it, I felt like I was on a movie set, it was too surreal it didn't feel like a real place.

Every street is filled with music, people playing the violin, people singing opera, people playing guitar, a band were playing their music inside a clothes shop. There were lots of artists painting in the streets too, selling their art and the buildings looked like works of art, there was so much detail in the buildings. I loved how Venice is filled with music and art around every corner.

You can easily get lost in Venice, there are so many alley ways and turns and even though you try to remember the bridges you went across, they all near enough look the same. We got lost for quite a while trying to make our way back to St Marks Square.

We then decided to take a ride on a gondola to explore more of the city. The drivers were so lovely and have a great sense of humour, our driver even entertained us with some lovely singing! You see a lot more of Venice on a gondola, we noticed a lot of hotels entrances were on the canals so people had to get water taxis or gondolas to get to there hotels. I definitely recommend it even though it's a little pricey its worth it as you see a lot more and you will have the experience of going on one, I will always remember it.

People always complain about the smell in Venice, but I honestly didn't find it that bad, some parts smelled a little like sewage but it wasn't anything you couldn't handle, you hardly noticed it really.

Venice really comes alive at night, everywhere has something going on. Every bar has entertainment and a great atmosphere I really didn't want to leave but our taxi back was leaving at 11pm so we couldn't fully enjoy Venice's night life, maybe next time.

ITALY PART THREE - Verona

So one of the places I was really excited to see in Italy was Verona. Have you seen the film Letters to Juliet? Well it's set in Verona and it's one of my favourites so this was another reason i was looking forward to going, especially to see Juliet's balcony.

We got the bus to Verona from Lake Garda which was about an hour away. When we arrived we didn't know where to get off or where the city centre was so we got off anywhere. We ended up getting lost so had to buy a map from a little shop which helped us find where we needed to go.

We made it to Juliet's balcony which was packed with people, it was so busy! There were queues to get a picture taken on Juliet's balcony and queues to get a picture taken with the Juliet statue. It was such a pretty place though, it felt so romantic with the wall of love letters and love locks. Me and Michael bought a lock, wrote our names and the date and locked it onto the wall.

We then made our way to the Colosseum which was so amazing, I was so fascinated with how old it is and how big! I kept imagining how it was used by the romans so many years ago.

Read my next Italy blog: Italy Part Four - Venice 

Read Part One and Part Two of my trip. 

ITALY PART TWO - Malcesine

After spending some time in Lake Garda, we decided to take a bus to Malcesine which was only about half an hour away. A few people had told me about this place and said how beautiful it is so we decided to go.

As soon as I got there I was astounded at how beautiful it was. It was a small town with an amazing backdrop, it was like being in a painting with the mountains. We walked around and explored all the lovely little shops and searched for somewhere to have breakfast as we hadn't had time to have any that morning. We found a cute café that sold hot sandwiches and sat inside, I noticed that even though I tried to speak the best Italian I could the people where so friendly and they spoke English really well.

After having breakfast we decided we were going to take the cable cars up to the top of the mountains to get a good view, we saw pictures on the leaflets of the views from the top and it looked beautiful. When we got to the place where you get your tickets we saw the queue for the tickets and cable cars and it looked so long, it must have been at least an hour wait, Michael also wasn't feeling well either, so we decided not to do it.

Instead we bought tickets to visit Castello Scalligero which was a beautiful castle beside the lake. Michael still wasn't feeling well but he still braved the long stairs all the way to the top. The views were breath taking.. 

The castle reminded me a little of Game of Thrones, there was also a wedding going on and it looked gorgeous, it definitely gave me ideas of where I would like to get married one day.

Read my next Italy blog here: Italy Part Three - Verona 

Read Part One of my trip here