Movies are what dreams are made of. They make you laugh, they make you love, and they might make you want to travel.
I say this with conviction as my life was changed by a movie, namely Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. In that classic, Butch and Sundance (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) ran out of American banks to rob, so they moved, or perhaps fled, to Bolivia. In 1973, inspired by their exploits, I too travelled to Bolivia, with a bit of backpacking through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru on the way. This led me to the study and practice of tropical and travel medicine, and eventually to this website and blog.
Many other movies must have been people’s impetus to travel. Sideways probably enticed a lot of wine lovers to California. Out of Africa sparked interest in the games reserves of East Africa. Gandhi and Slumdog Millionaire attracted travellers to India and Seven Years in Tibet to, you guessed it, Tibet! Eat Pray Love must have boosted tourism to Italy, India and Bali.
Today I went to see The Way, starring Martin Sheen, the former American president, and his son, Emilio Estavez. To make a long story short , (I wish someone had made the movie a bit shorter) the movie is about Martin’s hike along the El Camino de Santiago trail in Northern Spain, to complete the dream of his son, who had tragically died in an accident on the same adventure. Understandably bereaved, Martin manages to cast a pall across almost the entire movie, though he does manage to shed some of his moreoseness towards the end. Hopefully his apparel supplier, The North Face, will not suffer from the exposure. He accumulates three hiking partners. An overweight but friendly Dutchman, a gaunt, Canadian chain smoker, and an initially psychotic Irish writer. While I would have thought the plotline would have allowed some insight into the less than ideal relationship between father and deceased son, very little time in fact dwelt on that potential aspect of the story.
Most of it had to do with the rugged scenery, the inadequate sleeping facilities, the abundant wine, and Martin Sheen rolling his eyeballs! Perhaps if Martin had become romantically involved with the much younger cigarette-addicted Canadian, things would have been a bit more exciting. Probably the greatest health risks encountered in this movie would be blisters, hypothermia and hangovers. But, if the silver screen entices you to India, Asia or Africa, malaria, dengue, diarrhea and much more await you.
So, there are many reasons why we travel. What we see in the movies is one of them. Check this one out if hiking, Spain, wine and father-son relationships intrigues you. My suggestion is that you rent or download The African Queen, even if you don’t plan to go there!