See It With Your Own Eyes

Sometimes a little imagination and a television set can be just as valuable as a plane ticket to some far off destination. Although you will never know what a country is really like without visiting it, you can use your imagination to visualize what it is like. Watching a program that focuses on different travel destinations or even foreign films can be motivating factors to visit certain locations you may have heard of or you never knew existed. Since we all are from different parts of the country you’d have to check your local cable provider for local listings. Chances are there are channels available with travel as their focal point.
I don’t doubt that some way or another we all live reasonable close to a video rental store. If you’re a member of one, check out the foreign films section. There are some foreign movies that I’ve seen so far that have whet my appetite for more traveling opportunities. Some examples include, “Motorcycle Diaries” which dramatizes Ernesto “Che” Guevara and his best friend’s cross-country adventure beginning in Argentina and ending in Peru. One historic landmark that was shown in the movie was the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. Even though I’ve heard of it before, I admit that I am a bit more motivated to visit it because of the historical perspective the movie focused on.
Other examples are the several movies I have seen that depict the medieval ages. Some make me want to hop on a plane to Wales or Scotland and see those immense historical castles with my own eyes . The latest non-foreign movie I saw that shows what I described was Kingdom of Heaven. Even though I don’t remember any scenes that took place in a castle, it still took place during the medieval ages.
Last, but surely not least, there’s Buck and The Preacher. This last one, a domestic cowboy film, ignited my interest in taking a journey back to the Wild West. Not only did I imagine what it would be like to cross the open plains on horseback, I may eventually take a Wild West expedition on a wagon train.
This activity can involve the whole family. If your family is one of the many families that have a movie time together, steer away from the traditional action, adventure or drama flick for a change and go foreign. If you do happen to visit a site that you saw in a movie, compare the actual site with what you saw in the movie. That should be interesting.