“Americans don’t travel. They’re scared of the world and fear the unknown. All they’re concerned about is the money they make at their boring jobs to pay for the massive houses they don’t need. They don’t care about seeing the world.”

I heard these words at the Nicaraguan border crossing as I made my way to Costa Rica. I’ve been to many places and heard this same criticism aimed at Americans many times before. The person who said this to me was American, like me. The other times I heard these words they were also spoken by Americans in foreign countries. But is it true? What’s really going on here?

Distractions are everywhere. It’s easy to get caught in even the most mundane attention grabber that wants your time. Once they have your attention, it can be difficult to get it back.

Advertisements are a great example of this. They don’t make your life any better by watching them. They don’t give you any real world benefits, yet their ability to grab people’s attention is amazing. Think about how much time you’ve spent watching them. What could you do with all of that time?

Shrines are found in most religions around the world. They’re different from temples in that they hold a relic or cult image which is worshipped. Since a place is designated a shrine solely from the object inside, anything can be considered a shrine.

In fact, over the 5000 years or so that people have been marking places as shrines, just about everything has been made into a shrine. Shrines have been made out of caves, churches, tombs, people’s yards and personal shrines even exist in homes or businesses.

Some of these absolutely incredible shrines you need to see.

The pressure to conform is everywhere. People want you to be what they think you should be. This pressure can come from parents, media, the workplace or even friends. But the fact is you are in control of your life. Therefore, you decide what’s best for it.

Chances are, there are things you want to do in life, right now, that you aren’t doing. Think about it for a moment and pick one that really sticks out in your mind. Now follow these steps to set you on the path to do what you want.

I got a great response to the first half of this list. If you haven’t read the first half yet, I suggest you start there. Many people were just as moved by these travel movies as I was. I know that there are more travel movies out there since I got some great recommendations for more and I wish I could include them all, but that would probably make this list massive.

Now that we’ve seen New Zealand through Lord of the Rings, France with Amelie and just about everywhere else with Indiana Jones, let’s see where else there is to go in this second half of the list.

Movies have the power to take us places we’ve never seen before. And sometimes, they inspire us to actually get up and see those places for ourselves. Many of the movies on this list use the country they filmed in so well that the movie wouldn’t even be the same without it.

With all the travel movies out there, it’s inevitable to miss a few. So if you know any that I missed, let me know. In the meantime grab a bag of popcorn and prepare to travel the world from your couch. These are the movies that inspire you to travel.

What would you do with only a short time to live? I’m sure you’re familiar with this question and have probably asked yourself this before, but I’m going to do things a little differently. If you’re like most people, your answers will be things like travel, spend time with family or something crazy and exciting, but I’m going to go a little deeper. 

There is a difference between a life of dull existence and a life that is interesting. One of the best ways to escape the dullness and to make your life more interesting is by pushing yourself into newer things.