Films That Inspire Travel

Before I travel somewhere new, I like to get my hands on movies set in my destination. Before Barcelona, Vicky Cristina Barcelona; before Stockholm, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

A great film can inspire us to travel to a place we never thought to explore. It can also satisfy our wanderlust when we can't get away.

I've selected 17 films with a strong sense of place. Some focus on the journey, others on the destination. Sit back and watch, be inspired, then get off the couch and see these places for yourself.

Europe
For a delightful Parisian dreamscape ... Amélie (2001)
For a pilgrim's journey ... The Way (2010)
For an epic night in Vienna ... Before Sunrise (1995)
For a hilarious con through the French Riviera ... Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
For a movie that shows the beauty of Italy even in b&w ... Roman Holiday (1953)
For a quintessential British rom-com ... Notting Hill (1999)
For a little seduction and Spanish guitar ... Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Asia
For a colorful stay in the twilight of one's life ... The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
For a transformative and offbeat train journey ... The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
For an unlikely friendship in an unfamiliar land ... Lost in Translation (2003)
For an epic adventure to Petra ... Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

The Americas
For an 80s action-adventure through Colombia ... Romancing the Stone (1984)
For an appreciation for Pinot Noir ... Sideways (2004)
For a cross-Canada journey by vintage motorcycle ... One Week (2008)
For a midcentury modern thriller ... North By Northwest (1959)
For a place to call home ... Away We Go (2009)
For a love letter to Downtown Los Angeles ... 500 Days of Summer (2009)

What movies have inspired you? Let us know and you might see your favorite film in a follow-up post.

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

[images via imdb, collages & top image by @heatherlovesit, map via maps-kid.com]

Hotel Travel Quirks

[trip style = any]

Hyatt Place hotels surveyed 1,000 travelers on their secret behaviors, favorite amenities, frequently forgotten items, breakfast preferences and in-room fitness or spa rituals. We love a good infographic and we love to trade travel tips, so we're taking the opportunity to share our own quirks and rituals on the road. Do you sneak in a quick workout or smuggle an extra meal from the continental breakfast? Do you roam around in the buff or jump on the beds? Let us know if you have any quirks and rituals of your own.

- Do not disturb! Chief Trip Stylist Trish rarely has her room cleaned to give housekeeping staff a break and to avoid tidying her room to have it cleaned.

- I always place my suitcase off the floor on the luggage rack, while Trish keeps her clothes and cords in small piles near her suitcase so she doesn't spread out too far and forget things when she checks out. 

- Upon arrival, after taking photos of the untouched room for Instagram and Trip Styler, of course, Trish checks for bedbugs behind the mattress. She does this no matter where she stays because creatures don't discriminate between 1 and 5 stars.

- The survey showed that 1 in 5 adults conduct work calls in the nude or in their underwear, with males more likely than females to take business calls in their birthday suits. 

- Trish embraces both jungle and arctic temperatures; she cranks the heat during the day, but sets the A/C between 68 and 70 at night.

- In a recent interview for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Dame Judy Dench revealed that she travels with a bath plug since an extended stay at a New York hotel when she couldn't figure out how to operate the bath.

- It's not surprising that free WiFi is the most-desired amenity for travelers. It's almost always free at 3-star business hotels and boutique hotels geared at the social media set. To score free WiFi at major brand, high-end hotels, look into joining their rewards programs, like the Fairmont President's Club or Starwood Preferred Guest program.

- Most hotels don't offer toiletries worth taking home, but W hotels offer Bliss foaming face wash plus lemon and sage hair and body products, Ace Hotels provide Malin+Goetz and Rudy's Barbershop products and Faimont properties supply Le Labo. Stock up on soap!

- Trish is a crazed fan of in-room Nespresso. Is there anything better than arpeggio roast in the morning? Speaking of European-style perks, seek out and take advantage of hotels with complimentary happy hours for a pre-dinner tipple. 

- An amenity missing from this survey is reasonably-priced parking in urban areas. Check Trip Advisor and Yelp for nearby parking deals when hotel parking is too pricey, or price out the potential benefit of a hotel just outside town with free hotel parking plus daily downtown parking.

- I'm guilty of often omitting pajamas and leaving behind phone cords. But the good news is that hotels often have a drawer FULL of iPhone cords, so it pays to be nice at check-in in case you need to borrow a cord or two. And you can always go without pajamas...

- Most hotels, like most airlines on long-haul flights, provide free amenities like toothbrushes and razors at the front desk. 

- Mr. Trip Styler exercises in his underwear to avoid sweating through his clothes. I assume he's planking and crunching in his room, not the gym...

- Unless she's in Nairobi, Trish likes to start her day with a run to get to know the area. If she's staying at a Fairmont, she takes advantage of their Fairmont Fit program, which provides workout wear to President's Club members. For more healthy travel tips, check out our Healthy on the Road archives.

- I pack sheet-style or sample-size hydrating masks and apply them the night I arrive at my destination. Drop by the local Sephora or department store for a mask sample if you forgot to pack your own.

- When the hotel coffee isn't of the locally roasted variety, Trish and Mr. Trip Styler seek out the coolest nearby coffee shop for their caffeine hits. Their staff are often a valuable resource for restaurant suggestions and local happenings.

- Many hotels offer complimentary fresh fruit in the lobby or the breakfast bar. I always grab a couple extra punches of Vitamin C for the road.

- If you find yourself in Southeast Asia, the Middle East or Europe, take time to indulge in the near-heavenly breakfast options, normally included in your hotel rate.

- While traveling in Croatia, I stayed at a hotel that charged $100 more per night for double occupancy over single occupancy, for the same room type. One day, I went down to the gorgeous breakfast buffet and the next day my friend went down. We each packed a little extra in napkins for our friend. Breakfast is just not worth $100.

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
Using Hotel Room Amenities Like Macgyver
Face Masks for Frequent Flyers
Kinderhop :: Making Hotel Rooms Work
Healthy on the Road :: Underwear Exercises
Healthy on the Road :: Forethought & Discipline

[infographics via hyatt place, top image of tara stiles via nypost]

A Space-Age Spa

[trip style = spa + sun + beach + luxury]

"Tell me if you feel a tingle," my aesthetician told me as she gently pressed a NASA-developed red LED light and impulse microcurrent into my skin. Part of me wanted the space-age machine to steam and sizzle every time it touched me, but my wish to feel an eletro-jolt was not granted. The K-Lift skin-tightening facial at Willow Stream Spa in the Fairmont Kea Lani works without searing.  

I first heard about this marriage of {outer} space and spa last year when I was speaking to the Fairmont Maui's team about Willow Stream's new technologies and its multi-million-dollar reno. When I heard that they held one of only a few NASA-developed age-management systems capable of re-educating muscle tone, triggering DNA regeneration and fading my sun spots, I almost booked a one-way ticket to the Valley Isle. I would have, save for being in the final stages of pregnancy with Baby Styler.

When I arrived on the island two weeks ago, I had a clear directive: Get this facial {in addition to crunching on shave ice and watching the sunset with a cocktail, of course}. My rationale: If NASA can build the technology to send humans to the moon, I have no doubt they can tap into the fountain of youth.    

In search of skin that appears as smooth as Baby Styler's bottom, I arrived at the spa early to take advantage of the hydro facilities {a Eucalyptus steam and a trio of rain showers mimicking the island's tropical rains} and the DIY mud bar, which infuses local ingredients such as volcanic ash into body masks. Coated in mud and dripping from eucalyptus mist, I considered hiding in the towel hamper at closing so I could continue my spa-cation into the night. 

Trip Styler Tip: If you need a vacation from your vacation, secure a day pass to the Willow Stream Spa. Hydro bliss costs a mere $25 for Fairmont President's Club members {$55 without membership}. 

Inside the treatment room, the facialist applied a tingly exfoliating multi-acid peel and targeted my age-prone areas with the machine, capable of yielding a non-surgical facelift effect.

At the end of the techno-treatment, my skin sage asked "how do you feel?" I replied "fizzy and fabulous; my face feels like it just gulped a bottle of carbonated water!" Later that day, one of my friends described my skin as looking plump and fresh, and I noticed a visible overall improvement. So, I guess you could say I achieved lift-off.  

[Photos courtesy of Fairmont Kea Lani, a hotel I've stayed at for eons, and a treatment I wanted to investigate—and was gifted—for light years. Mud bar photo by @tripstyler.]

Jetset Style :: Aloha Wear

[trip style = beach + sun]

Who's to blame for the Hawaiian shirt's bad rep? Tommy Bahama? Magnum P.I.? Dads everywhere for their dressed-up vacation look? Kitsch is back, and this time it's not just for dads or the tropics. If we believe GQ Magazine, Oahu might be the new capital of fashion.

Chief Trip Stylist Trish, who's currently camped out on Maui, has seen her fair share of island fashion. She met a couple on the ferry to Lanai last week who own more than 50 matching sets of aloha wear. They loved visiting the Islands so much that they moved to Kauai, where they match their palm fronds and hibiscus flowers in peace every day. And aloha, as it happens, translates to peace.

Trip Styler Tip: Look for Trish's favorite locally designed beachwear brand, Otaheite Hawaii {see photo above}, at their flagship store in Wailea, in boutiques across the Islands and online.

Now for a little history lesson: Made iconic in the 1950s when Elvis took Hawaii—and the rest of the world—by storm, the Hawaiian shirt goes further back than America's tiki craze. Hawaiians went without shirts altogether before missionaries came to the Islands and introduced them to bark cloth shirts and muumuus. Then, when the tourists came in the 20s, small tailors made them custom pattered shirts to bring home as souvenirs, and Hawaiians began to wear the shirts for special occasions. In the 30s, a native Hawaiian with a Yale business degree became the first mass producer of the shirts and gave them the name by which they're still called by locals today, aloha shirts.

Say "Aloha" to aloha wear.

Men
Clockwise from top left: Gitman 3-D short sleeve shirt, Burkman Bros hawaiian scenic printed shirt, Sandro printed poplin shirt, Gitman aloha camp shirt, Freemans Sporting Club slim-fit floral-print shorts, Ovadia & Sons palm-print shirt

Women 
Clockwise from top left: Mara Hoffman cutout tie back dress, Brave Soul hawaii tropical 2-piece set, Ted Baker tunic dress, Otaheite Hawaii hulali mini, Daisy Street crop top, House of Hackney giant canvas tote, Mikoh printed bikini

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
Jetset Style :: The New Tunic
Jetset Style :: Kimonos
Jetset Style :: Summer Swimwear Trends

Picture Maui

[trip style = luxury + active + beach + sun + food]

Maui: A place where sunsets stop traffic, coffee comes iced and swimsuits outnumber pants.

I've been to the Valley Isle more times than I can count for the aforementioned reasons, once for a three-day weekend when I needed a quick dose of sunshine. 

This time I'm here for most of April, checking out hotels, restaurants and the island's coolest landscapes. I'm meeting up with my fellow Expedia Viewfinders this week to share A LOT of aloha in pictures, on TS and on the Viewfinder. 

So far I've been living aloha all over the island, including a three-day trip to Lanai {a 45-min ferry ride from Maui} for a stay at the Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay, and now I'm at the Fairmont Kea Lani.

Check back here for best-of updates over the next few weeks and in the meantime follow the hashtag ‪#‎PictureMaui‬ on Instagram and Twitter for an all-Viewfinder virtual island tour. To find TS photos, search #TSaloha.

Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay

Fairmont Kea Lani

[photos by @tripstyler]