And we’re back to virtual traveling through the tube (though in real life we’re currently on a six-hour drive from Gold Coast to Port Macquarie)! Today, five more travel bloggers share flicks that don’t blatantly state “Hi, I’m a travel film”, but inspired them to explore the world anyway.

After that long weekend vacay burning a hole in your pocket, grab a copy of each so staying in this coming weekend won’t be so bad.

3 Idiots

Josiah of Lakas Ng Trip:

“One of the 3 bestfriends suddenly disappeared after graduation in an engineering college. When the other two got a lead on where their friend was, one emergency landed a plane and the other left his home with only a shirt and his underwear. They then found a not-so-good friend from college where their journey begins around the breathetaking sceneries of India only to find their friend.

The story is done with intermittent flashbacks on the present day and their wacky adventures in college where they learned a lot about life, pursuing their dreams and how they can be the best at what they do.

This movie made me realize that travels should not always be planned. Sometimes you just need to stop what you are doing, go out and do the things you want. There are a lot of flashbacks in your life that will happen during travels and those will make you realize if what you did in the past episodes of your life was good or bad.”

Sin Nombre

Dennis of Nomadic Pinoy:

“Released in 2009, Sin Nombre is a very gritty, emotionally-charged movie tackling “greener pastures” for two different Latino characters who meet by chance on a rail journey to the United States. The girl (Sayra), prodded on by her estranged father, goes north to escape poverty in Honduras while the boy (El Casper) is trying to escape from the shackles of gang violence in Mexico.

Captivating cinematography brings the audience up close to the dangers that illegal immigrants from Central America face as they embark on a hopeful journey to a better life in the States. This voyage honestly mirrors that desperation and melancholy so many people face which oftentimes and painfully so, end up in defeat.

This kind of journey may not be everyone’s cup of tea but Sin Nombre effectively depict hopes and dreams as a long road full of potholes. So raw, so sad, yet so beautiful.”

Outsourced

And another fave of Dennis:

“This was the movie (besides Slumdog Millionaire) that got me wishing for a plane ticket to India. It’s hilarious, candid and a great peek at the cultural rift between the West and East. When an entire call center department in Seattle was outsourced to India, Todd Anderson (played by Josh Hamilton) was sent to train his Indian replacement at a remote location. The cultural shock he encountered on arrival in Mumbai – like hiring a taxi and catching a train – was just a prelude to the many experiences that many other travelers to developing countries encounter. Todd’s naivete on so many things outside America becomes apparent even as he tries to Americanize the accents of the Indian call center agents. In no time, the Indian characters all around him – especially the outspoken co-worker Asha and his friendly replacement Puro – made him more at ease with the customs while at the same time gaining a traction on the very reason why he was sent there in the first place.”

View From The Top

Lloyd of The Lost Boy:

“View from the Top’s plot is amusingly simple. Here is a small town girl Donna (Gwyneth Paltrow) who wants a job away from her hometown. When her boyfriend breaks up with her through a birthday card and she quits her job, she got inspired by a TV interview with Sally Weston (Candice Bergen), a retired star flight attendant. Donna packed her bags and started her dreams up in the air as a flight attendant at Sierra Airlines, a regional carrier. She knows she has bigger dreams, so she went to Royalty Airlines. The road was tough though, as she was conflicted between her career and romance, but nothing stopped her from achieving her dream of flying to “Paris, first class, international.”

With REALLY bad reviews, people have dismissed this as an offensively horribly movie, but this movie inspires me. I also want to be a flight attendant for the travel opportunities, and flying simply amazed me. I just know that my dreams are up there and in different places around the world.”

Amelie

Kara of Travel Up:

“The French film Amelie inspired me to look at everything – both in travel and life in general – in a more positive light.

Set in a beautiful red and green-tinted Montmartre, Paris, the film is a about how a highly imaginative but shy waitress changes the lives of people around her, while struggling with her own isolation. The movie brings together a cast of interesting characters, including Nino, a young man who Amelie is drawn to because he strangely collects discarded photographs from passport photo booths and pieces them together.

Amelie finds joy in simple pleasures and concocts complicated plans in order to help the people around her. Through her schemes, she helps her father pursue his dream of going around the world, gives closure to a neighbor who thought her husband abandoned her years ago, and plays practical jokes on a bullying neighbor to make him question his sanity.

I love the idea of a world where ordinary things can be extraordinary – how discarded photographs can be one’s treasures, and a garden gnome can travel the world. I’ve always been a pessimist and an introvert and there was a time that I dreaded talking to people I didn’t know. In a way, this movie inspired me to go beyond my comfort zone, take more risks and open up more. Now when I travel, I relish the experience, focus on the positive highlights and just let go.”

Cast Away

Dane of Tramping Philippines:

“Its a movie about a fed ex superior that unfortunately got his plane struck down by a storm. He eventually washed up the shore of an uninhabited island and discovered that there’s no one else there to help him survive other than, of course, himself

It got me sort of inspired by the way he tries to survive without the technology of our present time. The things he do I try to emulate while we’re on the mountains. For example, I actually dont bring lighters and matches during climbs, instead I have a flint. And I start to create fire using nothing but ol mother nature himself. haha. Its pretty weird but learning survival stuffs kinda helpful as a climber and actually helped me realize how some things can be made through natural materials.”

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