3 Awesome Movies About Travel

GUEST POST OVERVIEW: I love movies — especially movies about being out on the road. So does my friend Mark, who was happy to share his coworkers’ 3 favorite adventure travel films. Take it away, Mark…

Everyone loves a good movie.

Whether they inspire you or are just for fun, movies have the power to motivate and move you to try something new or see the world from a new perspective. 

A major source of their travel inspiration comes from both enjoying movies and reading books about adventure. We asked that the staff of FlightHub review their favorite adventure travel films so we could create a list of some of the most inspiring travel films.

Into The Wild (2007)

Into The Wild is the story of Christopher McCandless, a vagabond traveler who hiked, hitched, and roamed around continental North America in the 1990s, culminating in his death in the Alaskan wilderness.

A Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee, the film starred Emile Hirsch and was based on a 1996 book of the same name by Jon Krakauer.

While the ending is rather morbid, FlightHub believes this film captures the spirit of freedom one can gain through extensive backpacking and traveling. Blending the adventure and survival genre, Into The Wild combines both the euphoria and terror that can accompany open-ended adventure travel.

On The Road (2012)

The quintessential road tripping classic, On The Road is a story based on the travels of Jack Kerouac and his friends as they traveled across post-war America.

Considered the defining tale of the counter-culture movement, it’s literary predecessor, which was released in 1957, is considered one of the most important English-language books of the last 100 years.

While the film wasn’t received as well critically, FlightHub’s staff recognizes the importance of this story to both literary history and the essence of freedom that was popularized throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s and 1970s.

The Lord Of The Rings (2001-2003)

It may be another world, but Lord Of The Rings is, at the core of it, a series of road trip films with swords. The Fellowship, while taking different routes, is a diverse group works together to eliminate a common threat.

Based on a series of novels released between 1937 and 1949 by legend J.R.R. Tolkien, the series adaptions went on to become some of the highest grossing films of all time and won a combined 475 awards while being nominated for 800.

The crowning achievement came in the form of the final film, The Return Of The King, which tied for the most Academy Awards won by a single film with 11, including Best Picture, Best Director for Peter Jackson, and a multitude of technical awards. Maybe FlightHub is a team powered by nerds because this film was widely chosen as the best adventure travel film.

What is your favorite adventure travel movie?