Five True Story Films To Inspire An Adventure

180 Degrees South

After viewing this documentary who wouldn’t want to sail a stretch of ocean, shipwreck on Easter Island, surf a bit, then hike a mountain in Chile? Nobody splits a head open, or gets eaten by a shark, it’s just all good times in the great outdoors. Best part is the song: Here’s to Now, which really makes me want to get my adventure on.

Ride the Divide

I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to bike ride along a very goddamn long stretch of land. This documentary provides that vicarious experience (2700 miles from Canada to Mexico) without enduring gigantic, swollen cankles, as one poor woman did from too many days pumping pedals.

The Weeping Camel

This film is truly magical. And I’m not just saying that. The camel weeps, people, it weeps actual tears of sadness and/or joy and/or eye irritation. What’s not to love about the beautiful pink-cheeked folk of Mongolia, their abundantly weeping camels, the beautiful yurts and the ocean-flat landscapes?

The Titanic

Even though this one ends in blue-lipped tragedy, the events preceding the iceberg incident are worth it, don’t you think? Sometimes a passionate love affair is worth drowning for, isn’t it? (Subliminal self-promotion may be included in this review.)

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

This documentary has me itchn’ to move to San Francisco, become a homeless musician, grow my hair all scraggly, adorn huge untrendy spectacles and then feed and care for a bunch of wild parrots, some of whom are lovers named Picasso and Sophie. I’m particularly interested in the untrendy spectacles part—that sounds cool.

Torre DeRoche

Torre DeRoche is the author of two travel memoirs, Love with a Chance of Drowning (2013) and The Worrier’s Guide to the End of the World (due out September 2017). She has written for The Atlantic, The Guardian Travel, The Sydney Morning Herald, Emirates, and two Lonely Planet anthologies.