Five Great Travel Documentaries to Binge While Social Distancing
With both the U.S. and other world governments enacting restrictions on movement meant to slow down the spread of Covid-19 by limiting person to person contact, many people are now stuck indoors while the social distancing measures are in effect. Travel has also suffered greatly, with airlines and hotels cutting staff and scaling back operations. With travel being off the table for the immediate future, we wanted to share a few of the programs we had watched recently that will hopefully help fill the wanderlust gap during this difficult time.
1. Parts Unkown
It’s now been almost two years since Anthony Bourdain’s passing, and for us it is still sometimes emotional watching the show given how much of an inspiration he was to both of us. What remains though is that Bourdain managed to turn the formula for episodic travel narratives completely upside down. His show portrayed art, culture, politics and history all through the lens of cuisine. One of the most notable things about Parts Unknown was that although Bourdain was ultimately the “star” of the program, it never felt like it was about his travels and experiences, as much as it was about him acting as a conduit for others to tell their story in their own words. That is why we feel it will forever be one of the best travel series on tv.
12 seasons, 104 episodes. Available via CNN go, Hulu, Youtube Tv, Amazon Prime Video and Apple Itunes store.
2. Travels With My Father
You’d be forgiven if you hadn’t before heard of UK comedian Jack Whitehall, but if you haven’t you should definitely check out his travel series on Netflix. The series consists of three seasons following Whitehall and his highly conservative British father trekking across Asia, Europe and the West Coast of America, all the while getting into a number of interesting situations. It’s apparent that many of the situations the pair find themselves in are setups, but comedic gold all the same as the father and son duo are great foils to each other. What is definitely authentic though are the interactions the two have throughout the series, and it makes for a humorous and heartfelt travel narrative.
3 Seasons 13 episodes. Available on Netflix.
3. Street Food
Much like Parts Unknown, Street Food is a documentary series that tells the story of the food dishes from around the world that are made and sold at small stalls. It captures a lot of the same feeling, but allows all the vendors to tell their own story, through the story of the food they are creating. The cinematography gets special mention, as it is a beautifully shot and produced program, letting you almost feel like you are standing on the street yourself. Right now there is only one season covering Asia, but every episode will leave you wanting more.
One Season, 9 Episodes. Available on Netflix.
4. Dark Tourist
Dark Tourist is unlike any other travel show out there, in that it covers the destinations most people wouldn’t want to visit. Dark Tourist is an examination of some of the weirdest, most dangerous, and off-the-wall tourist destinations by kiwi journalist David Farrier. Although this isn’t your typical travel show, it is certainly addictive, in an almost voyeuristic fashion, with each destination covered being more weird than the last. Some of the highlights include a trip to the Fukushima nuclear exclusion area, a trip to an extreme “torture house”, and a tour covering Jeffrey Dahmer. We think a lot of people may be put off by Farrier’s dry kiwi delivery, but we were hooked on the series.
One Season, 8 Episodes. Available on Netflix.
5. The Dawn Wall
Although not technically a travel documentary, The Dawn Wall follows climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson’s attempt to scale a previously unclimbed portion of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. It’s an inspirational story, and does a great job displaying the grueling challenge both Caldwell and Jorgeson go through during their climb, but the other star is El Cap itself, and the beauty and grandeur of the mountain is just as much part of the story as the climbers trying to scale it. It certainly had us looking forward to our next trip to a national park and into nature.
Available on Netflix, Youtube, and Amazon Prime Video.