Sometimes, the spirit is strong, but the body is weak.
If you're more in the mood to hibernate (and more into traveling on the couch lately), here are a few TV shows and films where the destinations are so prominent they'll make you think you've just stepped off the plane.
Our favorite thing about these shows? The locations are so loud and proud in their own right that its possible to mute the drama, and still watch in enthralled silence.
To be a travel show but not be a travel show is pure art.
'The Loneliest Planet'
Though 'The Loneliest Planet's title is an obvious riff off the Lonely Planet travel guidebooks, there's nothing like the spellbinding, largely untouched Georgian mountains to captivate film viewers in this piece.
Starring Gael García Bernal and Hani Furstenberg, this 2011 indie film is probably, quite honestly, one of the worst and most enthralling pieces of cinema I have ever watched.
Despite the fact that even Gael García Bernal couldn't save it, I still planned-and went-on a whole two-week excursion to the Caucasus mountain range and the country of Georgia based on 113 uninspiring minutes.
That said, mileage and tastes may vary: It was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and the BFI London Film Festival. Come for the accolades and the actors, but stay to immerse yourself in Georgia.
(The food is also incredible in Georgia.)
'Expats'
In much fanfare, Amazon Prime Video has released a new television series starring Nicole Kidman and, well, Hong Kong.
The story, based on Janice Y. K. Lee's novel, 'The Expatriates', covers three expat American women from varying backgrounds-notably, Mercy, portrayed by Ji-young Yoo, is a first-generation Korean-American abroad-all dealing with some type of personal tragedy in a place that is home, though not quite home.
Though reminiscent of 'Big Little Lies,' the show is particularly apropos showing a wide range of expats, and does not put all of them in a privileged, protected class.
(Arguably, though, Americans are still naturally economically privileged, considering the strength of the US dollar and the United States still has the some of the highest costs of living in the world. Even Portugal, a fan favorite, has become increasingly unaffordable due to the recent influx of remote professionals flocking there post-pandemic, driving up prices.)
However, the superstar here really is Hong Kong, with its lush, verdant backdrops, from the winding roads of Repulse Bay, the beaches of Lantau Island, to the draping views of the Peak and its cityscape. It's truly the closest thing to being in Hong Kong, and so piquant I can already feel the humidity crawl on my skin.
Personally, we're a little partially to this one in the fact in the fact that we did live there once, living these lives. (Four years. As expats.)
'The White Lotus'
Cue 'The White Lotus' theme song, because this show really is that iconic.
The most notable about Mike White's show is that for each of his seasons, each location really is present through the entire show, ranging from Hawaii, Sicily, and the upcoming season 3 in Thailand.
Thus far, in particular, our superstar favorite season of the show thus far has to be Season 2, set in Sicily. Never has the vibe been so... well, Italian.
Particularly, what this show does really well besides a killer script and fabulous acting, is the juxtaposition it consistently portrays between the visiting tourists and the residents that are employed to serve this people.
In fact, if anything, there are no more two unlikely heroines in the form of Lucia or Mia, the two ladies of the night (however annoying and naïve that they are), that inhabit the hotel property, looking for unsuspecting wealthy guests to prey on, and ultimately, being the heroines of the night.
Opening Spotify one-last-time.
'Before Sunset'
For the romantics, there's probably nothing more wistfully-eyed than Richard Linklater's 'Before Sunrise' series, featuring Vienna, Paris, and southern Greece.
It also just happens to star Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, all in age-appropriate and true-to-time revisits. It is the only film trilogy to our knowledge that follows two characters along nine-year arcs, revisiting it every actual nine years.
Our favorite in particular, is the second one, 'Before Sunset.' Though the dialogue is fantastic, and the script wistful, poignant and romantic, just like their two main characters, who explore all the wonderful tropes of boy-meets-girl-in-foreign-country, the one thing we can't forget is their walk around Paris, all the more poignant, encapsulated by a river boat ride along the Seine.
The beautiful golden hour, in combination to the soundtrack of a whispy French singer, draws in and seduces viewers during the entire movie. It's like you're right there.
