A Map for Saturday – Travel Movie Review

A Map for Saturday is an awesome documentary about what it’s really like to be a backpacker. Brook Silva-Braga decides to quit his job and fly out to Australia to begin a year of solo-traveling the world on his $20,000 savings. The documentary includes a lot of interviews from fellow travelers that Silva-Braga meets during this time and covers the highs and lows of living a nomadic life-style.

I have consistently seen this movie touted as the best travel movie ever and I can officially say that it’s for good reason! I highly recommend this movie to anyone who thinks that a traveling lifestyle is the right move for them, and I also recommend it to family members or friends who may not understand why it’s so important for you to fit all your things into a backpack and just go.

Silva-Braga interviews travelers as young as 19 and as old as 73 who stay in hostels and see the world while relying only on what they can carry on their backs. One thing I wish the movie had included more of is the beautiful scenery of the places he would visit. As a travel movie, this is focused much more on the lifestyle and the emotional impact of traveling than on any particular place, even though it includes 4 continents! I felt that the documentary had a lot of authenticity to it as Silva-Braga doesn’t shy away from admitting that at times he was bored or lonely or missed some aspects of home and wondered if it was all worth it. Watching him form romantic relationships especially, and then having to leave it all behind when it came time for one or the other of them to move on, was especially challenging. But saying goodbye is just part of life on the road.

The title of the documentary comes from the fact that when you’re on the road without a job, every day can feel like Saturday, and you just need a map to plan your next adventure. The movie made me sad and wistful and also wishing that I was staying in a hostel and making friends somewhere right now. I want the rush that comes from making best friends with someone you’ll only know for a few hours or days.

I recommend reading this post from Nomadic Matt’s blog first as it filled in some of the questions I would’ve had about how old the filmmaker is and exactly what sort of job he was walking away from to begin his year of travel.

I was so dedicated to seeing this movie that I actually paid $5 to rent it on Amazon Video when I couldn’t find a copy streaming online (not a good budget move, but I had a gift card!) and I don’t regret it! This is definitely a movie that I’ll be revisiting later and recommending to friends for years to come. And it’s already 13 years old!

What are your favorite travel movies? Have you seen A Map for Saturday?