Updated 2/16/2019 | February 16, 2019
I remember the first time I watched the movie A Map for Saturday. It was amazing. Utterly and totally amazing. The movie was recommended to me by a fellow traveler, and chronicles a man’s round-the-world trip back in 2005. It is filled with interviews from other backpackers and very accurately captures the highs and lows of travel.
Over a decade later, it’s still the most accurate movie about long-term travel.
For anyone who has ever backpacked or traveled for a long time, it’s an easy travel movie to relate to.
What I like the most about the movie is that it shows what life on the road is actuallylike, with all the ups and downs. The movie was filmed long before the age of social media, back when people had no real idea of what long-term travel was like. People assumed it was either some luxurious escapade or a grubby, dirty adventure where you slept in rat-infested hostels in far-flung corners of the globe.
A Map for Saturday shows what travel is actually like. No filters, no forced agenda. Just an honest look at budget travel.
That’s why I love it.
Check out the trailer:
The movie did such a good job of capturing the emotions of travel, from the tough goodbyes to culture shock to the fear of coming home.
Here are 7 things I think the movie did a great job of covering:
1. Instant friends
People always ask the same question of solo travelers: “Don’t you get lonely?” The truth is, you are never alone. On the road, you constantly meet people. You get into hostels, and you find instant friends. It’s as though you’ve known each other for years because you are each there for many of the same reasons. Moreover, you each fill a lonely void in the other’s life. And for that day, week, or month, you and your fellow travelers are best friends.
2. Why we do it
Why do we travel? Interviews with all the travelers in the film echoed a common theme – “We don’t want to look back and have regrets.” All these travelers felt that there was more to life than just the cubicle, and they could see the trajectory of their lives — wives, homes, children. There were no surprises. None of them wanted to be 50 and say “I wish…” The movie hit the nail on the head here. Sure, many people feel that way, but these travelers took the plunge. It’s hard to motivate yourself to travel, but they did. Why? Because we only live once, and no one wants to look back and say what if?
3. Turning into a lifelong traveler
Brook, the main character, says at the end of the movie that he took this trip to get travel “out of his system”. Then he’d come back, get a job, and live the life society wanted, but he found that instead of getting it out of his system, he just got more addicted to travel. Now he can’t go back to the way things were. He’s different. He can’t picture life without travel. When you talk to travelers, you hear the same thing: they are now travelers forever.
4. Saying goodbye
This is the hardest part about long-term travel, but the movie did a great job of showing what these goodbyes are like — and how emotional they can be. In the beginning, it is tough and you make promises to always stay in touch. But, as you travel, you get used to goodbyes. You say them every day and become numb to them after a while. Finally, you realize that while you shared perfect moments with your instant friends, you will never be able to recapture those moments, and you probably won’t see those friends again.
The advent of social networking sites has made it easier to stay in touch, but the reality is that we move away and move on to different lives. As Brook says, the longer he was home, the less frequently the e-mails came. I’ve always found it hard to say goodbye, but in the end, you realize that memory is the important part.
5. The “impending doom of home”
All good things must come to an end. As your trip comes to an end, all you can think of is, “I’m going home,” and it scares you. All you’ve known for a year or more is the traveling lifestyle. It becomes a way of life. Hostels, trains, buses, hassles, instant friends. Then as quickly as it started, it’s over. As one woman described it in the movie, there is a sense of impending doom and anxiety about going home. We want to go home, but deep down, we don’t. Maybe it’s because we realize there’s more to life than we knew before. I’m not sure, but whatever it may be, no one ever wants to go.
6. Burning out
After a while, you become numb to it all. “Ohh another waterfall?” “Another historic building?” After seeing so many beautiful things in the world, things lose their wonder. You should be impressed, but you’re not. You get sick of meeting new people and having the same conversations over and over again. Saying goodbye. Making promises to see each other. It was something I could relate to.
At the end of my first RTW trip, all I wanted to do was go home. I couldn’t be bothered to meet new people; I had already met so many. I was burnt out. After 18 months, I’d seen so much that being in Australia wasn’t exciting. It should have been, but it wasn’t. All travelers go through it, and I liked how Brook talked about it.
7. Being home
The hardest part of travel is coming home. It’s weird being back. Few people can relate to your experiences, and most don’t want to hear about them. The world stayed the same while you were gone, but you changed. And that’s the hardest part – realizing that nothing is different. You expect that life changed while you were away. A year is a long time, and then you come home and realize your world never moved forward. It was shocking to me.
In the movie, you hear from travelers about how once the honeymoon of catching up was over, all they wanted to do was get back out there. Home was suffocating. It feels as though you aren’t moving. After a week home, all I wanted to do was leave again. Being home is sometimes a lot harder than being away.
My only complaint about the movie is the video quality. When the movie came out, the quality was great. But video production has advanced in leaps and bounds since then and the video quality just feels a little dated (which you’ll notice if you watch the trailer below). Beyond that, I think it’s still the best travel movie out there.
If you want to understand why travelers do what they do and what it feels like to be out there, then watch A Map for Saturday. It’s as close as you can get to backpacking without leaving home!
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Julie
“He’d come back get a job and live the life society wanted him but he found that instead of getting it out of his system, he just got more addicted. Now he couldn’t go back to the way things were. He was different. Now he couldn’t picture life without travel.”
That line really resonates with me. It’s entirely possible to build a life of travel instead of a life around 2 weeks of vacation days.
Gurran
I saw Brooke’s movie about a year ago and I’ve shared it with some of my friends and the only one’s who “get it” are the one’s who’ve spend over a month on the road. I like his movie. It definitely describes the life i lived on the road as well.
Good review.
Do try not to watch his movie too often as it becomes hard to settle back into life beyond travel…
Elizabeth
Thanks for the tip. We will definitely check out that movie. And you’re definitely right about traveler burnout. I remember being in Berlin and not going to a single museum because I was so sick of museums; now of course I feel a tinge of regret…
Stevo
Thanks for the tip. I’ll ask the helpful lady at the DVD store to “find” it for me.
Theresa
Sounds like we’ll have to check out this movie. From having lived abroad for a year at a time on two separate occasions, I can relate to some of it already. Personally, we’ve decided to combat the “home is the same” issue by not returning to where we live now and settling somewhere completely different. I have no idea where, and I have no idea if that will help or for how long, but it should be interesting if nothing else. It at least, won’t be exactly the same.
Christine Gilbert
How, what a great review. I wish I could get a copy of it!
NomadicMatt
@theresa: That’s my plan too!
@ Julie: The whole movie resonated with me!!!
@anthony: I watched it twice too!!
@elizabeth: I got burnt out too with all the history of europe. I ended up in Amsterdam and did not visit one thing for a whole week….felt very refreshed
@steve: this one might be hard!
@greg: Great to see you dropping by greg!! It’s been too long!! I was getting misty eyed at the movie too. It made me sad to be back but happy to be leaving.
Quickroute
I see this documentary won a lot of awards and is rated 8.7/10 on imbd.com – ok I’m sold!
Anthony
I found out about this movie on vagabondish.com. When I bought it and watched it with my friends, they all had their heads in the clouds, so I can relate with Gurran. I enjoy it very much, as I was watching it yet again yesterday.
Christy
Oooo I’m going to go check that out!
Cuckoo
Hmmm sounds like a good movie. Must watch it.
And you are so much right about that ‘burning out’. Happens so many times especially if it is something I don’t admire very much like museums or paintings.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful tip on movie with us.
NomadicMatt
@marco: I have heard of into the wild. it’s supposed to be amazing. I do plan on seeing it one day.
Erica Johansson
I hadn’t heard about this documentary before. Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to watch the DVD.
Marco van de Kamp
I am going to watch that movie, sure thing.
I watched the movie: Into the wild. It is an impressive story about a traveler.
After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.
Ngoc
Thanks for the tip. I will definitely watch this movie!!!
Turner
Read the book Into the Wild first.
Tanya
Wow, I have to see this movie! I’m feeling just about all of those things you described in the list.
Helen
so glad that you watched it!! i’ve never seen a movie capture the backpacking lifestyle so well!! for those that want to buy it, i know you can get it from its website.
thanks for sharing your reflection matt!!
Sherrie
And here I thought it was just me!!! Every single comment I found myself nodding and going so true! I must find that movie.
Wendy-Escape NY
Must check netflix for this. Into the Wild was good. It was based on a book written by Jon Krakauer of Into Thin Air fame, an excellent read although I hear the movie was awful.
NomadicMatt
@sherrie: we’ll i’m giving a copy away if you enjoy my contest!
@turner: I plan too!
@wendy: Not sure if there is a copy there but you could enter my writing contest and win a copy!
Amanda
Hey Matt! The site is looking great! This is the second time I’ve heard about A Map for Saturday – I will definitely check it out. Into the Wild is great, as well. Chok dee on your new adventure!!!!!
Ant
You know those times when you take an awesome photo of a landmark and you think to yourself ‘that is so original, I’m gonna sell that and fund my travels with it…’ then you post it on Flickr or your blog or whatever and then you realise four billion people have taken the same shot.
Well.
Thats what I felt like when I read your review. They’re MY THOUGHTS! How has he stolen my entire philosophy on travel and its contestants, and then managed to spin them into a DVD and sell it to a distributor!? haha, I haven’t seen A Map for Saturday, though I’ve heard of it before through The Lost Globe last year. It’s the DVD all backpacker say they’ll make, but this guy did it. Is there room for another one? No seriously, do you think there is a market for this kind of thing; factual documentaries? Because I’m sure as hell there’s enough creative kinds on the road to make it happen.
NomadicMatt
@ant: you could make another one but you would need a different angle. Maybe more focused on the adventures? I don’t know. I’m not very good at film but I think another would work though I doubt it would reach the same success as this one did. The first is always the most successful.
Thanks for the link to the review. It was very good.
Shannon OD
Wow, this is the first that I’ve heard of this movie and I am excited to watch it – I’m in the home transition period and it’s exactly right, the rest of the world here has stayed close to static…and so it’s back out on the road again as soon as possible. I really look forward to hunting this down, should get me out of the post-travel blues for some time! 🙂
Ashman
Aaah! I want a copy. It sounds like a good film to show your friends who don’t ‘get it’ like some people said here.
It’s going to answer the big question a lot of people ask me ‘How do you do it?’
NomadicMatt
It’s an amazing movie. I show everyone on the road! They all love it.
Hethir
I will check it out. I wish Netflix carried it. Not able to find another option besides buying the DVD.
Trang
Does anyone know where the movie can be rented? Its on netflix but the queue is veryyyy long. Ive been waiting for a couple of months!
Jennifer
Any idea where I can watch this remotely? Thanks