Travel Movies That Inspire

I am not a big movie buff or binge watcher, so if a few months ago someone would have told me that I would be soon writing a blog recommending movies to watch, I would have been highly surprised. But these are some movies that really inspired me and that is why I wanted to share a bit about them and recommend everyone to watch them, even people who are not explicitly into the travel field, because these movies are not just about travel, but so much more. They are about bravery, courage, humanity, not giving up even in the face of extreme adversities and even the simplest of battles of life.

14 Peaks & Everest

14 Peaks is about inspiring everyone by telling the journey of ‘Nims Dai’ who sets a target to complete all fourteen 8000+ metre peaks in seven months. The man who sets an example for all of us and teaches us that life is bigger than the limitations put on us, and that we can always break through these limitations. 

14 Peaks is about real lifetime grit, it is about pushing human limitations, dreaming for the bigger purpose, believing in yourself, and making the impossible –  possible. It teaches us so many life lessons but at the same time reminds us how important even such small things like the Sherpas getting their recognition are.

And, these two movie are not just about bravery and courage and not giving up, they are also about humanity, about selflessness and about caring for another’s life enough to risk your own. 

Bravery doesn’t even remotely describe what those guys had to do to go back up to rescue someone. You finally summit one of the most dangerous mountains on earth and now you are going back up. It is literally like leaving the chance of your survival on the roll of the dice.

Thus, I believe, the mountains test just not your strength and stamina, but your character too.

When climbing down the Everest, Rob Hall refused to leave Doug Hansen behind. He made Doug complete the summit even when he knew they were way past the deadline. Similarly, Nims tried to get the climber down with him from Kanchenjunga. All these moments made me feel such utmost respect for these two people that I cannot even start to describe. Honestly, it even made me sit and wonder what I would have done in such a situation. A lot of us consider ourselves helpful and selfless, but I think it is in such moments that the strength of character is tested the most. That’s why I think they say that if we want to know a person we should climb mountains with them, hike with them, trek with them, summit with them.

After watching these two movies, I have utmost respect for everyone who has even attempted climbing any of these high peaks. I think I would equally like to see the journey of someone who attempted but couldn’t do it and learn what goes through the mind frame of this person before and after the attempt.

Into The Wild

This movie focuses on the journey of Christopher McCandless whose way of thinking and living is very different from his parents or any other people around him. This protagonist tells us how the joy of life actually comes from encounters with new experiences, and hence there should be no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon. Alexander Supertramp, as he likes to call himself is a person who believes that stability and comfort weakens our soul, and its very core is formed by feeding it with adventures and passion. When I watched this movie, I found it astonishing how there were so many actions, thoughts and belief of this person that I could relate to at the utmost depth and at the same time how I felt running away from civilization may not be the solution after all, something he himself realizes by the end of the journey.

True happiness does not rely in materialistic aspects of life, at the same time our happiness to a certain extent will always be linked to people, whether strangers or close ones. Well, it’s hard to describe the depth of this movie in a few paragraphs. One has to watch, to know.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD) & Tamasha

While some people consider YJHD a cliché, I think they ignore the kind of influence that this movie had on our generation specifically in terms of promoting trekking. What I love the most about this movie is how it teaches us that no one path is correct. While some of us like the comfortable, stable life, others seek adventure, and none us are wrong or right. We would be though if instead of going all in, we try to follow the path laid by the society or following the dreams of someone who is not us, which is something I feel is very common in our society.

Tamasha is not really a movie focused on traveling, but it is one of the most inspiring bollywood movies that I have watched. What it inspires is passion, by giving us such a harsh but true reality check. Like Ved, most of us live two lives, one which we think we are ‘supposed’ to live, doing what we ‘should be doing ideally’ and the second what we really want to do, following our dreams and passion and breaking all the shackles. An even worse scenario is when people live only one life, but it is about going with the flow, living by the norms set by the society, ‘School, college, higher studies, high package, marriage, kids, grandkids, the end’. I see so many of my close ones doing the same. Not even stopping to think for a second if they are really happy or they are just living lives as robots. This movie is always going to be really close to my heart and I would want everyone to watch this movie as many times as it takes to sync in the message it conveys.

All time favorite quotes from the movies

‘I am the Usain Bolt of 8000 metres’ – 14 Peaks

‘Sometimes when you feel you are fucked, you are only about 45% fucked’ – 14 Peaks

‘The mountain doesn’t say you are black, you are white, you are weak, you are strong, it has one rule for everybody, if you give up, you die’ – 14 Peaks

‘I’m climbing Mount Everest, because I can, because to be able to climb that high and see that kind of beauty that nobody ever sees, it’d be a crime not to’  –  Everest

‘It’s not the altitude, it’s the attitude’ – Everest

‘You are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God’s place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things’ – Into the Wild

‘And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind death stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head’ – Into the Wild

‘The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure’ – Into the Wild

‘Tu right nahi hai Naina, bas mujse bahut alag hai’ – Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

‘Main udna chahta hoon, daudna chahta hoon, girna chahta hoon, bas rukna nahi chahta’ – Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

‘Jitna bhi try karlo kuch na kuch toh chhootega hi, toh jaha ho wahi ka maza le lete hai’ – Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

‘Khud par daya karna band karo, aur khud se pyaar karna seekho’ – Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

‘Kahi par pahuchne ke liye kahi se nikalna bahut zaruri hota hai’ – Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

‘Ek baar ek hero tha, usne bahut mehnat se padhaai ki, engineering ki aur phir usne naukri ki, aur phir woh yun hi naukri karte karte ek din margaya. Pasand nahi aayi ending? Toh badal do, tumhaari apni kahaani hai’ – Tamasha

‘Kise chahiye mann ka sona, aankh ke moti? Kise padi hai andar kya hai?’ – Tamasha