Celebrating the best travel movies ever (and what, exactly, makes them good)

“We are all one seat away on the train from meeting the person that could change our lives.” – Kevin Smokler

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Kevin Smokler do a deep-dive on travel movies, starting with a discussion of The Beach (2:00) before delving into what constitutes a travel movie (12:00); and their top travel and road movies, focusing on Into the Wild, Lost in Translation, and Before Sunrise (1:01:00).

Kevin Smokler (@weegee) is a writer, public speaker, critic, and author of Brat Pack America and Practical Classics. He speaks on the future of media and culture and his written work has appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Buzzfeed, and Vulture. He previously appeared as a guest on Episode 33 of Deviate, Why 1980s coming-of-age movies matter.

Notable Links:

• Before Sunrise (movie)
• Lost in Translation (movie)
• Sofia Coppola (writer-director)
• My Bloody Valentine (band)
• Jesus and Mary Chain (band)
• Into the Wild (movie)
• John Krakauer (author)
• Christopher McCandless (subject of Into the Wild)
• Sean Penn (director of Into the Wild)
• Almost Famous (movie)
• Thelma & Louise (movie)
• Trainspotting (movie)
• Easy Rider (movie)
• Motorcycle Diaries (movie)
• Walter Salles (film director)
• Southside with You (movie)
• Midnight Express (movie)
• Hostel (movie)
• The Straight Story (movie)
• The Way (movie)
• Stand by Me (movie)
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (movie)
• Grizzly Man (movie)
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (movie)
• Freaks and Geeks (television show)
• Danny Boyle (director)
• Roger Ebert (film critic)
• Travels with Charley (travel book)
• John Steinbeck (author)
• Che Guevara (revolutionary)

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

This episode of Deviate is also brought to you by AirTreks, an industry leader in multi-stop international travel. If you’ve ever planned a trip with multiple stops, you know that finding the right flights can be difficult. Between balancing travel logistics and cost, it often becomes impossible to build an itinerary that matches your travel goals.  AirTreks is a distributed travel company with employees working from all corners of the world to help with your flight planning, specializing in complex routes with up to 25 stops. The AirTreks website offers suggested pre-planned travel itineraries to help you get started, but can customize to fit your journey.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.