Where do you find travel inspiration? What makes you think, “I want to go there!”? Is it a picture in a magazine or hearing about your friend’s experience? Is it reading a travel blog or seeing some scenic location in a movie? Have you ever been inspired by a book or story? I have, and it’s a great way to gain inspiration for travel.
If you think that people are not inspired to travel by such things consider the influence of movies. The Lord of the Rings is a popular and well known piece of literature. From a travel standpoint, however, the movies had a greater impact. As a fantasy the books do not relate to any specific location, but the movies were filmed in a specific location, New Zealand. As people watched the movies, interest was created by the beautiful landscapes. Not surprisingly New Zealand became a popular destination for fans of the movies. A whole new type of tourist landed in New Zealand looking for the landscapes they had seen on film.
In the 80s and 90s a number of popular movies used Astoria as a backdrop for their stories. Do you remember Short Circuit, Kindergarten Cop, or The Goonies? These were among the movies made in Astoria. Fans soon arrived in the city to check out the locations. Personally I can’t say that any particular movie has inspired me to travel. However, I do remember a few occasions when my wife and I sat through all the credits because we wanted to know where a particular movie had been filmed.
TV shows can also provide travel inspiration. We like to watch British TV shows, and I have occasionally looked up places on a map that I saw in a show on TV. Hopefully it’s the real place they are showing. Those of us in Seattle know that shows that are supposed to take place in Seattle are often filmed in Vancouver BC.
The location of one Canadian show has always interested us. The Republic of Doyle is about the adventures and misadventures of a private detective. The show takes place in St. Johns, Newfoundland. There are often shots throughout the show of brightly painted houses. We have found ourselves intrigued by the setting. We have looked it up on the map and have talked about visiting the area along with some of the other parts of eastern Canada. So far we have not taken that trip, but the show has pushed us further in pursuing that plan.
While movies and TV shows generally have a greater fan base than most books, literature can also inspire travel. Here are some of the books that have inspired me to think about travel.
The island of Guernsey, a British island off the coast of France, was unknown to me. The only time I heard the word Guernsey was in relation to cows. Then I recently read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Through the novel I learned about the island which is part of the British Channel Islands. The story is a unique account of the occupation of Guernsey Island by the Germans in World War II. Reading the story piqued my interest, and I looked it up on the map and checked out its tourism page. It sounds like an interesting place to visit so it has now become a place on my “like to visit” list.
One book series that I have been reading for some time is The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency by the prolific English author, Alexander McCall Smith This is a book full of interesting characters whom I have come to know and appreciate. The books are not full of murders and violence but offers other mysteries for the characters. The stories take place in the country of Botswana, Africa. I was not exactly sure where the country was when I began to read the series, but it has become a somewhat familiar place to me now. The main character, Mma Precious Ramotswe, loves her country and often waxes on about the beauty and wonders of her homeland. Through reading the stories I have come to appreciate both the beauty and the challenges of this African country.
I think that is part of the reason I was interested in visiting Africa. My trips to Zambia and Malawi in the last few years have been in the same general region as Botswana so I feel I have a bit more of an understanding now about the stories. In the meantime, I would still love to visit Botswana and see more of what I have been reading about.
Another of Smith’s series that I have followed is the The Sunday Philosophy Club. The main character, Isabel Dalhausie, is a philosopher living in Edinburgh, Scotland. She helps people solve some of the challenges and dilemmas in their lives. Since Edinburgh is Smith’s hometown, he describes the city with great detail. He takes one down specific streets and talks about specific buildings and locations. Reading that kind of detail really intrigues me and has given me a desire to visit Edinburgh. While I have always thought Scotland would be a great place to visit, reading this series has elevated my desire even further.
Another place I read about that made me think I would like to visit is Tasmania, the island southeast of the Australian mainland. The fictional book I read talked about the mountains and valleys on the island, and it seemed to be a really beautiful place. Of course it was an historical fiction books so it might be quite different there today. However, if we ever return to Australia, I would definitely consider a trip down to Tasmania.
I have actually visited one place that was inspired by my reading. It was in Ireland. I had been reading the Sister Fidelma series. Sister Fidelma was a member of the community of St. Brigid of Kildare in Ireland in the mid-seventh century. She was also an advocate of the court which meant she would be called to various locations to help solve murder cases and other tragedies. The series took place in various places around Ireland, but she was part of the family that ruled the regions around Cashel. She considered Cashel her home and some of the books were set in Cashel.
The Rock of Cashel is now a ruins, and when we went to Ireland, it was a place I wanted to visit. I made sure that it was part of our itinerary. I had read that there was even a society that met in Cashel that was a fan club for the Sister Fidelma series. We did go to the Rock of Cashel. It was definitely a ruins so it was a little hard to see the grandeur of the place. It was in some ways a bit of a let down, but at least I got to see it so there is no wondering about what I might have missed.
I think that one book that has inspired a lot of travel is the Bible. Many people have made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Jordan River, and other locations mentioned in the Bible. But it’s not only places in Israel that draws pilgrims. Visiting the cities that Paul encountered on his missionary journeys is another popular travel option. Some of those cities are in ruins while others are still thriving today. Again this is another trip I would like to be able to take some day. However, this is a trip I think best done as a tour so it is more expensive than I normally like to spend, but one can hope.
So what has inspired you to travel? Is there a movie you saw or a book that you read that caused you to think, “I want to go there.”? Have you traveled to a place you read about or saw in a TV show? I’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts. You can share them in the comment section below.