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Welcome to the Travel Transformation Podcast, where we talk all things travel and all things transformation. I'm Jessica Grace Coleman, your host – I don't think I've said that in the past couple of episodes, so I thought I'd better mention it for anyone who is new to the podcast –and today is just going to be a quick solo episode where I talk about travel shows and movies that will give you the travel bug. 

I wanted to talk about this because it may seem like a little thing – like we all watch TV, we all watch movies, and then we move on with our lives – but TV shows and films and books… and I'll do a separate one on books, probably, at some point… they've probably impacted me more than anything else, other than hearing stories straight from the mouths of my friends and family members and digital nomads of places they visited, which always makes me want to visit them and makes me add to my giant list of places I want to go to.

But yes, I can watch a show and immediately want to go to the place that they went to. But it's not just seeing a location. A lot of it is watching a show and getting the motivation and the inspiration to go somewhere, or getting the encouragement to go on your own solo trip or to step outside your comfort zone and try something new.

And there are so many shows that I'll be here forever if I go through all of them, but I just made a list of some of the ones that immediately popped to mind. So if you haven't watched these and you want to be inspired to go somewhere, or if you just like watching travel shows, then this list is good for you. 

I was also in one of my interviews, with Erica Forrest, and we talked about this a lot, about how just watching stuff about the specific place you're going to before you go – and getting a real sense of the layout of a place or the history of a place or ideas of where to visit ¬– it can not only prepare you for your trip, but it also adds to the excitement and the anticipation of a trip. 

And studies have shown that the happiness we feel going away somewhere, it's not just the actual trip itself; it's before we go, and it's when we come back and we're sort of reflecting on it as well. So these TV shows are a great way to get in the mood for where you're going, to find out about places, to get inspiration for different places you want to go to that you haven't booked to go to yet, and they're also great to watch when you come back from a place and you see that there's a specific episode on a certain place that you've just visited, as it's always nice to see what everyone else thinks of the place you've just been to. 

Okay, so in the interest of this being a quick episode, I haven't made lots of notes on this like I usually do. I've literally just written down the titles of shows that I remember watching, and I'm just going to talk about each one. Hopefully I won't ramble too long. And it also depends how much I can actually remember of the shows I've watched, because some of them I haven't watched for a long time.

The first one I definitely can remember – because I am currently watching it at the moment – and it is The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy. It’s on Apple TV, which I don't have, but I've used the free trial to watch this show. Actually, you can watch if you've never signed up for Apple TV before; you get a free episode of something, and you can also sign up for a free trial for a week. Obviously, I'm not condoning just signing up for a week and then leaving – I would never do such a thing like that – but sign up for the free trial. 

I personally am binging the whole series – there are only eight episodes – before my week is up. But Apple TV also has great shows if you want to stick with them after that. Severance in particular, is not travel related at all, but it's a really good show on Apple TV – just to let you know if you want to stay with them.

But anyway, I watched this because I'm obviously a huge travel fan. I'm also a huge Eugene Levy fan. If you've heard me in other episodes talking about my favourite TV shows, one of my favourite shows of all time is Schitt's Creek. It’s amazing, and it was created by Dan Levy, who is Eugene's son, and Eugene – and they play father and son in it as part of the Rose family. And I just love it so much. It's such a comfort show. It's really funny because of its great one-liners, and it has a great heart to it. 

Anyway, I'm not talking about that. I've already gone off on a tangent here, I'm sorry! Okay, so basically, the producers contacted Eugene Levy and said, “Would you like to go on a travel show? You get to stay in great hotels all over the world.” And his first reaction was, “Yeah, really great hotels all over the world sounds amazing!” And then he was like, “Oh, wait, but I don't like travelling, and I don't like trying new things, and I don't like stepping outside my comfort zone. And, yeah, this is just not going to be a good show.” And they figured out, well, actually, it would be a great show because that IS the show. He's a traveller who hates travelling, and I think it really works as a format.

Actually, even though I love travelling, I can relate with Eugene on certain things because, in the introduction, he says he's not good at travelling. If he's too hot, he's uncomfortable and doesn't have a good time. If he's too cold, he's uncomfortable and doesn't have a good time. And I was just sitting there going, “Yep, I can relate with that!” I'm not good in extreme weathers either.

But anyway, it's really good. There are eight episodes, and he goes to places like Lisbon, Portugal, Tokyo, Finland, Venice, South Africa, and some others – I can't remember off the top of my head.

My favourite so far – I haven't watched the last episode yet – but my favourite so far was the Finland one. The activities he got to do were amazing. He went husky sledding. He actually drove the sled at one point. He was in the back of another sled with this dog on his lap and a load of reindeer following him, which is a great shot, and just all the animal stuff… I'm really into. And he did vodka tasting. What's not to like? He floated in an ice lake in, like, a big puffy outfit thing and it looked really fun, and he actually had a really good time at the end of it. And he talked to some people there and they sort of made friends with him. And it was all about being grateful for the simple things in life like nature and animals and family, and it was just very sweet.

But as I was watching this series, it occurred to me that if you're not sure of the kind of place you'd like to go to – if you're not sure of where you want to go next, or if you're not sure in general what you like, if you haven't travelled much, and you're not sure what kind of place you'd like to go to – watch each episode and make a note of the things you would enjoy and would not enjoy and pick which place is your favourite out of the whole eight episodes. And I think that will tell you a lot about the kind of place you want to go, because he's gone to lots of different places in this show.

I was actually surprised to find that my favourite one out of all of them was Finland – as I'm not great when it's super, super cold. But just the snow, the beautiful views, the sledding with the huskies, the sun, the vodka, all the animals… I’m not so into eating reindeer burgers or anything like that, but yeah, I think the Finland episode was my favourite one, and that has made me think, maybe I need to go to Finland… maybe I need to go to all those countries in that area!

So I think it's a really good exercise to figure out what kind of thing you actually do like, without having to go to all these places yourself if you don't have the money, if you've not done much travelling or that kind of thing. So, yes, highly recommend The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy on Apple TV. 

Okay, the next one is an oldie but a goodie: An Idiot Abroad, which is Karl Pilkington and Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. This was years and years and years ago, and they send him off in various places and just let him be himself, which is a self-proclaimed idiot. Some of it isn't very PC, but that's just Karl Pilkington and of the time, I guess; maybe they wouldn't get away with some of the things today. I don't know.

It's been a while since I watched it. It's also a book. It's very funny and you get to see a lot of places in a way you might not think about seeing them – and from a perspective that you wouldn't usually have because he really does think about things in incredible ways. He really does have completely incredible viewpoints on things, and is very funny. 

Next is The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals on Netflix. I think there are two seasons and it's – I can’t remember their names because it's been a while since I watched them – but it's a guy and two ladies and they basically go around the world looking at the best and most unique Airbnbs. And they do a budget option, a luxury option, and an ‘out there’ option with lots of different stuff. I watched this over the lockdowns with my friends Vicki and Ruth; we watched them remotely using, well it was called Netflix Party at the time, but it's called Teleparty now. And we were just super jealous of all these places they were going while we were locked down, and we kept saying, they are so jammy to get this job, literally flying around, staying in these incredible places. 

One I particularly remember – because I added it to my list, and it's really good to add to your list of places you want to go to because they're all on Airbnb – was in California in the desert, close to one of the towns they filmed a lot of the Wild West movies, the Westerns, in, and it's basically a fake Wild West town that you can hire. And it's super expensive, so you would need like a group of 30 people to do it, but there's enough room for 30 people, and you can hire the whole town. And there's a saloon, there's a wedding chapel, there are all your houses… and you can also hire ye oldie costumes, and you can hire a photographer and they come round and take pictures in the saloon and stuff. 

And if it's you and like 30 of your friends – not that I have that many friends, though I'm sure I could gather them together – I think that would just be a really cool, unique place to go. Again, I'm not a desert person, but I think I could make an exception for this. The saloon is what sold me on it, really. Just imagine having your own saloon, you and your friends in a Wild West town in the middle of the desert while you're dressed in your ye olde Wild West clothes – amazing! Anyway, that's The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals on Netflix. 

Next is Travel Man, which is a British show on Channel Four. It used to be presented by Richard Ayoade, who I love. He's from The IT Crowd, he plays Moss. But now it is presented by Joe Lycett, who is a UK comedian. And yeah, they basically choose one of their famous friends and go away for, usually, a long weekend. I think it is usually a city, but other places as well, and they do some random things and it is quite funny.

It's great to get to know a place before you go there. Actually, one came out on Channel Four literally a few days before I went to the Basque Country last year, and they went to Bilbao and San Sebastian, which are both places I went to – actually, I flew into Bilbao. And this year I'm going to Bilbao and also San Sebastian for five days with my friend Deanna after the pop-up Sun and Co. coliving place, so that will be great because I loved San Sebastian from the very brief trip I went on last time. 

So it was great to see their version of how you do ‘48 hours in the Basque Country’ before I went. That's how I heard about calimocho, which I did not know about before that and which I tried in the Basque Country because I saw it on Travel Man. It’s basically a drink which is half red wine – and they usually use quite cheap bad red wine, don't use the good stuff – and half coke, like Coca-Cola. And it sounds disgusting, but it's really not. It's like velvety and smooth and a bit dangerous because it just tastes like Vimto. But yeah, it's a calimocho cocktail, equal parts red wine and cola-based soft drink. I would recommend. 

The next one is Down To Earth with Zac Efron’s two series on Netflix. In the first one, he travels around the world with his friend. In the second one, it was filmed during the pandemic and he was stuck in Australia. So when they could, the rest of his film crew and his friend flew over to Australia and they did the whole thing in Australia. So there are two seasons and it's all about looking at sustainability and how we can care for the environment while travelling and how we can look after the world, really, as we go forward. So it's really interesting. 

They look at lots of interesting businesses and different sources of power and all kinds of things, and it's not at all what you would expect Zac Efron to do after being a Hollywood movie star, but it is really interesting. And what I like about it is they obviously have a very tight-knit crew with them, so whenever they go somewhere and someone makes food for them, the whole crew gets fed as well – and they sort of film that as well, and you can hear them laughing and whooping in the background and stuff like that. And it's not just Zac Efron and his friend who is presenting it, it's like a whole group. And it seems like it would be a really fun crew to be a part of, so I like that part of it as well. So that's Down To Earth with Zac Efron on Netflix. 

The next one is America Unchained by Dave Gorman, which is really old, but I just recently read the book America Unchained and then found a very dodgy version of the documentary that accompanies it on YouTube. Like a really dodgy version, but I can't find it anywhere else. Let me know if you can.

It's his road trip from the west coast to the east coast of the US, and he can only spend money at mom-and-pop shops, so he doesn't want to give any money to ‘the man’. So that means accommodation, petrol, and food. It’s actually quite sad because this was filmed quite a few years ago now, and even when he was filming it, he came across so many mom-and-pop family-run businesses that were no longer there. And I can imagine that a lot of them from that film and the book are gone now, so that is really quite sad. 

But it's a good thing if you like Dave Gorman, his kind of sense of humour. He's from my hometown; he went to my high school. Not the same time as me, but it's quite cool that at least someone famous came out of our high school. So that's America Unchained by Dave Gorman. And I recommend the book as well, because obviously that goes into a lot more detail about his trip and it's very funny. 

The next one is Sue Perkins’ Big American Road Trip, and I believe this is on Channel Four. It was last year, and it's just a miniseries – there are just two episodes. It was Sue Perkins kind of exploring the whole van life thing, and the van life lifestyle I find really intriguing. I do like my home comforts, though, so I haven't tried it out yet. But the idea of just going on a huge road trip across America in a van, you don't have to sort out accommodation, that kind of thing… it does sound quite appealing, especially in the places she went to.

So there are two episodes, one in California and one in Colorado. And I love Colorado. It's where I lived for a year. It's so beautiful. But so is California. And, yeah, she just hangs out with a load of van lifers, and it's all about the lifestyle and the community and it's really interesting. So that is Sue Perkins’ Big American Road Trip on channel four. 

The next one is Breaking Dad, which is Bradley Walsh and his son Barney, and they go to various places in an RV, and Barney makes his dad, Bradley – who's an actor, a UK actor – do lots of things that he does not want to do, basically. So it's quite funny, but I like watching it for all the places they visit. It's been a while since I saw an episode, so I can't tell you that much about it, but it's called Breaking Dad.

As I said, there are so many more TV shows out there and it doesn't even have to be travel related. Like, Emily in Paris on Netflix is one of my guilty pleasures, and it's actually what reignited my desire to go to Paris. I've been twice before, but with high school on an art trip, so we didn't really get to do what we wanted to do, but it was enough to make me want to go back and go by myself so I could do what I wanted when I wanted. And I'm not sure I would have booked that trip last year on the back of my Spain trip if I hadn't watched Emily in Paris. 

So if there's a TV show that's set somewhere you want to go, but it isn't necessarily a travel TV show – if it's just like a drama or a comedy or sitcom or something – then I highly recommend watching that. You might get some ideas of where to go, or it might just give you some inspiration to book that trip.

I also just wanted to mention a few films before we go because obviously there are a lot of films out there as well that are either travel related or based in a location that might make you want to go there, or might be good research for if you are going somewhere. 

The first one is Eat, Pray, Love, which I saw a few years ago. But I only read the book last year, Elizabeth Gilbert's book, and it's about her transformation over a year. The ‘eat’ bit is set in Italy, the ‘prey’ is in India and ‘love’ is in Indonesia. The three Is. And yeah, if you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it, but it might make you want to quit your job and go on a soul-searching journey for a year.

Now, I've put The Beach here mainly for their location in Thailand. It's beautiful. It made me and my friend want to go to the islands that it's filmed at, which we did. But we went during rainy season, so it wasn't exactly the paradise that it looks like in the film. There is a bit of a sad thing about this because since The Beach came out, the Beach beach – which I can't remember what it's called currently – in Thailand, I think they had to close it because so many tourists were going after seeing The Beach that it was kind of messing things up. So that's the other side of, obviously, tourism and travel that we need to keep in mind. 

But I think as a general snapshot of Thailand, it's a really great film if you ignore the whole going mad, slightly cultish aspects. It's been a while since I watched it, but I used to be obsessed with the book when I was younger. It was so good – by Alex Garland – and The Beach stars Leonardo DiCaprio when he was younger and has a great soundtrack as well. 

I've also put Into The Wild and Grizzly Man. And on first thoughts, these aren't films to watch to make you feel good in any way. I don't want to give you a massive spoiler, but I think everyone probably knows by this point, if you've heard of Into the Wild – the book or the film, which was based on a real story, Chris McCandless – it doesn't end well, like, at all.

It's actually quite horrifying and scary and sad. But it's set in Alaska and it is beautiful. So I would say if you're heading for Alaska, then watch this film… but maybe not, especially if you're going on your own, because it might put you off. But as a general, general snapshot of Alaska in that part of the world, I think it's worth watching. 

And also Grizzly Man, also in Alaska, but this is more of a documentary. So Grizzly Man is a documentary from 2005 by German director Werner Herzog. I never know if it's Werner or Verner – but he's kind of a notoriously interesting, eccentric fellow – looking at the life of bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell. And again, it's in Alaska (that's where he went) and it is fascinating. Again, doesn't end well, as you could probably tell from someone who gets up close and personal with grizzly bears, but it's definitely worth watching. It is actually a really brilliant documentary. Just very sad, obviously.

Maybe watch these two after you've come back from Alaska. Into The Wild and Grizzly Man – they just popped into my mind while I was making this list.

Okay, this is meant to be a quickie, but I've been going for like nearly half an hour now. When I edit it down, hopefully it'll be shorter, but okay, one last thing before I go. There's a film called The Right Kind of Wrong, which is a romcom, and it's not a particularly good romcom, I have to say – I wouldn't recommend it for the storyline, I really don't remember much about it, so that says a lot – but it has two good things going for it. So the main guy starring in it is Ryan Kwanten. I don't know if I'm saying that name right. Kwanten. Ryan Kwanten. He was in Home And Away, and he was Jason Stackhouse in True Blood. So if you ever watch True Blood, you know that he's a very good-looking guy.

So that's one reason to watch it. The other reason is the amazing scenery. It is set and filmed in Banff in Canada, Banff National Park. And as soon as I watched this film, I added Banff right to the top of my bucket list. The only reason I haven't gone yet is because it's quite pricey, so I want to save up and do it properly.

But I remember watching this film and immediately googling the location where it was filmed. And if I do that, then I know that it's probably going to go on my bucket list. And it's just absolutely insanely beautiful. Like, it doesn't seem real. So I think I might have to watch the film again, actually. But again, not a hugely brilliant romcom by any means, but worth it for Ryan and for the scenery.

This has gone on a bit longer than I thought, but maybe it's given you some ideas of things to watch and some ideas of how to watch things. So, if you're watching a show or a film about a particular place, ask yourself, Is this somewhere I want to go? And, if you do, then make a note, obviously, of anywhere they go and the things they do. 

Sometimes it might not even be the location you want to go to. You might just see someone doing a really cool activity or doing something outside the box, and you might want to add that to your activities bucket list rather than your travel bucket list. I have many different bucket lists.

So, yeah, I'll put the names of all the TV shows and the films I mentioned in the show notes, and let me know if you want me to do similar podcast episodes on other things to do with travel, like books or podcasts or anything like that. I didn't mention Levison Wood in this, but his TV shows you should definitely watch as well. Okay, I'm going to stop because I'm just never going to finish.

That's it for now. Thank you for listening, and until next time, I'll catch you on the flip side, bye!

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