With only 2.5 years to go until our big getaway the time has come to begin planning. Ideally we would probably only save & plan for about a year, maybe a year and a half but we’ll be traveling with our young son and the timing is important. We decided that missing grade 4 would be the best for him. And with grade four being so far out it gives us the bonus of time. Time to save, time to plan.
Part of our planning is learning, watching a ton of YouTube clips, travel shows and even movies. Here’s a decent list of films from Matthew Karsten, many I’ve not yet seen. I’ll be watching A Map for Saturday sometime in the next couple days – based in his recommendation – and will give it a mini review here.
A Map for Saturday is a travel documentary that follows one man as he quits his cushy job with HBO to travel around the world for a year and live out of his backpack. It shows the different ways people travel, and gives an accurate picture of what it is like to vagabond around the world long term. You get to experience both the ups and downs of his trip at a very personal level. If you ever thought of doing something like this, the movie will show you what the experience is really like. It also shows you that anyone can travel cheaply if they really want to. The only thing stopping you is, well, you.
180 Degrees South is a documentary that follows the adventure of a group of friends as they travel to Patagonia in the spirt of their heros. They pack their surfboards and climbing gear as they sail and drive along the South American coast, learning about the losing battle against industrialization and the destruction of the natural world. Modern commercial interests fed by the growing human consumption of disposable goods is ruining our planet, and the film shows what some brave people are doing to try and stop it. The movie’s beautiful scenery and fantastic soundtrack mix together with a strong message and travel adventure to create a true work of art.
Life Changing Trip
Having done some long term travel before, I did six months in Australia when I was 24, I know very well that it can change the tack that your life is on. As for my son – I know his mind will be stretched in all sorts of ways. I read a snippet in the vagabonding bible by Potts that really hit home, the quote by Bertrand Russell.
Adventurous men enjoy shipwrecks, earthquakes, mutinies, conflagrations and all kinds of unpleasant experiences. They say to themselves, for example, ‘so this is what an earthquake is like,’ and it gives them pleasure to have their knowledge of the world increased by this new item.
With that in mind, I’ll be sharing plenty of videos on why we should travel – complimented by my own once we hit the road. Here now is Lee LeFever discussing travel.
http://youtu.be/qhtlvoLCe6k