Heading to Berlin? Check out these five films that will help you get a feel for the city, its history, sights, and sounds!

Good Bye Lenin!

Daniel Brühl gives a wonderful performance in this oddball comedy about the lengths a son will go to protect his mother. Few films have looked at the post-Wall era specifically so Good Bye Lenin! is a must-watch for those interested in the reunification period of Berlin’s history.

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The Bourne Supremacy

While not strictly set in Berlin, 2004’s The Bourne Supremacy features a few action sequences set in the Alexanderplatz area of central Berlin, which happens to be where we are staying during our trip to Berlin.

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The Lives of Others

2006’s The Lives of Others is a gritty look at the surveillance state in East Berlin. Set in 1984, a secret police agent is tasked with watching and reporting on the life of a writer, a task that quickly takes over the agent’s entire life. For those interested in a look at the lives of East Berliners in the late stages of the Cold War, this film is a must.

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Valkyrie

Moving back further in time, Valkyrie tells the story of the failed 1944 assassination and coup attempt by resistance members inside the Nazi party. Tom Cruise leads a mostly British cast (forgive the constantly wrong accents) in an action-packed tale of patriotism and heroism from within the ranks of Hitler’s Nazi establishment.

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Wings of Desire

If you see one film before you go to Berlin, let it be Wim Wenders’ masterpiece Wings of Desire. Featuring a tour de force performance from Bruno Ganz as an angel that becomes fascinated with the human lives he is tasked with watching over, Wings of Desire is a brilliant look at then West Berlin. My personal favorite scene takes place in the Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek) as angels Cassiel and Damiel observe West Berliners going about their day. This one can’t be missed.

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What films did we miss? Let us know in the comments below!

I’ve almost always been a backpack traveler. Ever since a long trip to England with a big, clunky suitcase, I’ve been a convert to the grab and go style of travel packing. Well, that is until I decided to try an Away suitcase. 

On our last trip to London, Kim and I gifted each other with one of Away’s “The Carry On”. I’d seen a lot of friends post pictures of rolling this neat little bag all over the world and wanted to see how it matched up against my lifestyle of carrying everything on my back. 

This is not a sponsored post. We paid full price for our Away bags and have not been contacted for a review by Away. Any links you see are Affiliate links which give us the commission to help run this site if you decide to buy anything, at no extra cost to you. 

Style

For Kim, we picked the Limited Edition “Paris” colorway that is glossy black with a midnight blue zipper and lining. I was lucky enough to get one of the Limited Edition collaborations with Star Wars in the Hoth colorway. The hard shell is a milky type clear look with a lining of probe droids that you can faintly see through. 

After I deplaned in London, I got no fewer than four comments from people on the Tube about how cool my Away bag looked. No backpack has ever gotten that type of recognition before. 

Kim’s glossy Paris colorway tends to show scratches a bit easier than my clear one so I’d recommend sticking with a more matte color. I didn’t baby my Hoth bag at all and it really held up and still looks brand new. 

Functionality

The Away bag’s built-in divider really helped compress and cut down on our packing. Like most people, I have a tendency to put a few more things in that I actually need on a trip and with the Away bags compression system and zippered divider, it was easy to get everything in and still stay organized. 

The front side is a zippered compartment that I opted to put things like shoes, my Dopp kit and bulkier items that might move around. The main compartment is covered by a compression pocket that I used for socks and boxers with shirts and pants underneath, cinched down to save room. 

I was immediately surprised by the amount of stuff I was able to fit in such a little bag. It's designed to make it easy to adapt to a Carry On Travel lifestyle. 

Ejectable Battery

I have a tendency to get to the airport pretty early. This usually means that I’m fighting off other passengers for the few available outlets at the terminal so that I can use my phone on the plane. This is where the TSA approved ejectable battery on the Away bag came in super handy. I was able to sit wherever I wanted while charging my phone and reading The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. 

Once on the ground in London, it was easy to eject the battery and drop it in our day bag for a quick phone recharge while walking around the Tate Modern. I’ve never really wanted this option in a bag before but it was super helpful on more than one occasion when we spent all day walking. Definitely a plus. 

Roll, Roll, Roll

As I carry more camera gear with me, it’s become increasingly common to carry two bags with me whenever I travel. I’ve settled into using the Peak Design 20L Everyday Backpack to carry my Sony a7Rii and accessories so any other backpack for clothes and books just didn’t make sense. 

With my Away bag and the built-in luggage strap on my Peak Design Everyday Backpack, moving from car to plane to Tube to walking has never been easier. I’m less tired since I don’t have to carry anything through the airport and switching back and forth is simple. 

My first stop in London was at Blackfriars Station. I was able to get out of the Tube, slip my backpack over the Away bag’s handle and roll right on over Blackfriars Bridge. The Hinomoto wheels on the Away bag are smooth and never once posed a problem, even when navigating cobblestones and streets. 

Ease of Use

Coming from using a backpack almost exclusively, I was surprised by how easy my Away bag made my trip. Rolling through the airport definitely made for less tired arms and it’s so compact that when I had to navigate stairs, it was light and easy. 

During our trip, we changed accommodations a couple times (Kim changed a few more since she mostly stayed with friends) and rolling through all types of terrain was simple. The divided compartments helped keep everything in place when opening and closing and the hardshell case kept everything safe and secure. 

Customer Service

On our way back from London, Kim’s compression pocket came loose from its bracket. Away has a Limited Lifetime Warranty, so we contacted their customer service and they promptly sent us a packing slip to send the bag back in for repair or replacement. It was a simple and hassle-free process. 

When I received my Away bag, the packaging lacked a British plug adaptor for the ejectable battery. A quick Facebook message to the company and they offered to ship me a replacement to where I was staying in London so I wouldn’t miss out on a single thing on my trip. 

Every step of the way we were contacted by a real person who did everything possible to make us feel like special customers. I haven’t experienced that level of customer service in a while. 

My only qualm would be that when Kim’s bag came back from being repaired, it was a bit damaged on the outside and the box it was in was barely hanging on. I imagine that was probably UPS’ fault, but it definitely could have been handled better.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a versatile bag that prioritizes ease of use and style, I’d highly recommend the Away Carry On travel bag. Its mix of functionality and style at such a low price point is hard to beat.

I look forward to traveling with mine for years to come. Away may just have converted me from a backpacking lifestyle. 

Last week we spent a few days in Austin, TX for a little gathering called TravelCon. To be honest, we were pretty overwhelmed going into the whole experience, being conference newbies and all, but the crowd couldn’t have been better.

On the second day, we were introduced to a couple who called themselves The Tipsy Gypsies. Nate and Marta Connella describe themselves as “a married couple who quit everything to go see and experience the world.” They also like to chronicle their adventures through film, photography, and adult beverages.

Nate is a pretty fantastic filmmaker and has had a few of his travel films featured on Lonely Planet, National Geographic, BBC World News and Travel+Leisure. I really love his style because you can see that he likes to get up close and personal with the culture and people. So many travel filmmakers today rely too much on cinematic drone shots and in Nate’s films you can really feel the atmosphere on the street.

Take the example below, a one and a half minute look at their time in Hong Kong. You can feel the hustle and bustle in the streets in a city that houses some 7.4 million people.

Travel and Food and Drink

There’s not much that will get you closer to a culture than by enjoying local cuisine and drinks. For a lot of people that means venturing out a little farther than most tourists and seeing the soul of the locals in their own districts. I love Paris, but if you never leave the touristy center, you probably haven’t experienced the real grittiness of the city and the people that walk its streets.

In 2016, Nate and Marta traveled through Portugal for a month, starting in the north at Porto and heading down south to Lisboa. “If a country's wealth were based solely on the kindness and character of its people, Portugal would be one of the richest countries in the world,” said The Tipsy Gypsies about their film The Spirit of Portugal.

Check it out below and experience Portugal through the eyes of The Tipsy Gypsies, then plan a trip for yourself. After all, this is a site for inspiration. Now get out and travel! And thanks to Nate and Marta for hanging out and talking travel. Y’all are the best!

Cover Photo by The Tipsy Gypsies.

Can't afford that around the world ticket quite yet? You're not alone, as the average $4,000 cost for a RTW ticket an put most people off who haven't extensively planned for it. Then there's the lodging, food and, well, lots of other things. So while you're saving up to go globetrotting on the ultimate adventure, try out some of these books to help keep the wanderlust stoked. You can even put them on a Kindle and bring them with you. 

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Love, Africa: A Memoir of Romance, War, and Survival

By Jeffrey Gettleman

Buy on Amazon

Africa

Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times writer Jeffrey Gettleman takes us on a trip into the life of an East African Bureau chief in Love, Africa: A Memoir of Romance, War and Survival. Gettleman spends most of the book talking about his two loves; Africa and his wife Courtenay. Part memoir of a foreign correspondent and part journal of a marriage taking place at different times on different continents, you can sense the push-pull that often comes with having multiple passions. Those looking for an analytical look at modern day Africa may be a bit disappointed as Gettleman leaves his journalistic tendencies at work in favor of a more rambling, story based memoir. What you miss out on in analysis, though, is more than made up for in the spirited adventures that take place against the backdrop of Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and more. 

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Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration

By David Roberts

Buy on Amazon

Antarctica

Okay so Antarctica may not be on everyone's list for a RTW trip, but it's still a continent. Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration recounts the unbelievable story of Douglass Mawson 100-mile solo journey to get back to his team at the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1913. Throughout the book you get to experience life on the ice via some never before seen photographs from Frank Hurley. One of only three that had left the camp three months earlier, Mawson battled blinding wind, snow, and starvation as he walked for 31 days, most of that with no companions. The fact that Mawson made it back to camp alive, even if he was almost unrecognizable, is a testament to the human will to survive in even the harshest of conditions. If adventure survival thrillers are what you like, Alone on the Ice will not disappoint. 

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From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia

By Pankaj Mishra

Buy on Amazon

Asia

The Asian continent is vast. Like it holds some 4.4 billion people kind of vast. In From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia, Indian essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra looks at the forces and ideas that shaped modern day China, India, and a majority of the Muslim world by highlighting three people; Jamal al-Din al-Afghani; Chinese reformer Liang Qichao; and poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. A timely book, Mishra has given a beautiful and accessible account of the "intellectual and political awakening of Asia" as colonial empires fell. A great read for those that like to keep up with current events and anyone wanting to visit China, India or the Middle East. 

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Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback

By Robyn Davidson

Buy on Amazon

Australia

Ever wanted to set out on a 1,700-mile journey across the Australian outback with four camels and a dog? Well, Robyn Davidson's Tracks might be the book for you. In 1977 Davidson started her journey from Alice Springs to cross the dessert of West Australia. The motivation for her journey isn't quite clear, which may be one of the reasons Tracks is so appealing. It seems that Davidson sought adventure for adventure's sake. There's no jilted lover story or mid-life crisis, just a strong, independent woman who saw a challenge and accepted it. The fact that she spent nearly two years preparing the camels for the trip shows the shear determination of Davidson. As an added bonus, you can check out the photo book Inside Tracks: Robyn Davidson's Solo Journey Across the Outback by photographer Rick Smolan, who met Davidson three times on her nine-month journey. They even made a film adaption in 2013 starring  Mia Wasikowska and Adam Driver. 

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Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First Venturers to the Vikings (Revised and Updated Edition)

By Jean Manco

Buy on Amazon

Europe

I'm a Europhile so when I found Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First Venturers to the Vikings by Jean Manco, I was hooked. I've spent countless hours digging through genealogy records to find out what part of England my family is from so any book that works backwards focusing on new research to find out exactly where Europeans come from is perfect for me. As a continent, Europe is usually subdivided in genres so finding a book that represented the whole was challenging. By looking to the past and understanding the roots of where each subset of European civilization came from, we can better understand the Europe of today. Equal parts archaeology, history, linguistics and genetics, Ancestral Journeys will make you want to dig deeper into your own family history, no matter what continent they came from. 

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The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America

By Bill Bryson

Buy on Amazon

North America

Enough has been written about big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City so for a change of pace, pick up The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America by Bill Bryson. A meandering chronicle as Bryson traveled (travelled if you're British) 14,000 miles on a road trip in search of the "true America" in the late 1980s, any fan of Theroux will be right at home. With an ever changing geography in cities, small towns and rural areas may seem more familiar in Bryson's account. A native of Iowa, Bryson had lived in England for almost ten years before the epic American road-trip that became The Lost Continent. As travel writing goes, this one ranks right up there with the modern greats. It'll make you wonder if''Missouri looked precisely the same as Illinois, which had looked precisely the same as Iowa.'' It'll also make you want to gas up your car (or charge your Tesla) and hit the open road. 

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The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

By David Grann

Buy on Amazon

South America

In The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, David Grann tells the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett in 1925 who, along with his son, disappeared into the Amazon in search of an ancient city. Grann journeys into the same rainforest as he tries to retrace the fateful steps of Fawcett and son and unravel the mystery left behind. Part Indiana Jones and part Unsolved Mysteries, The Lost City of Z will captivate you as Grann looks at new archeological evidence to find out if the city Fawcett and his son were searching for actually existed. A great read for any lover of history, mystery and adventure. 

What books would you recommend for each continent? Let us know in the comments below. 

Planing a trip is hard work, especially if it's to a place you've never been before. To take some of the work out of it, here are 5 apps that will help you get that dream vacation planned sooner rather than later, and hopefully save you some money while you're at it. 

Image via Google.

Google Trips

Billed as the ultimate travel planner and destination guide, Google Trips leans heavily on the rest of Google family of apps to create an all-in-one intuitive interface for your travel planning needs. You can organize all your trip information in one place and with its "Things To Do" section, find new experiences in your destination before you leave home. You'll have to login with a Gmail account, but the app does allow for multiple accounts to help keep work and play separate. Available for iOS and Android, you can learn more and download Google Trips here.

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Image via Hopper

Hopper

Sick of checking on flights to your dream destination daily? Well why not let Hopper do all the work for you. A simple app that can end up saving you lots of money on flight bookings, Hopper asks you where you want to go and then lays out a convenient price calendar for you to see average prices. Most fare prediction apps use historical pricing data but Hopper goes one step further, analyzing current price trends to map out the best time to buy. It's available on iOS and Android here. 

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Image via Journy

Journy

Only have two days in Venice and no time to plan? For as little as $25 per day, Journy's travel concierges will plan a tailored itinerary complete with hotel recommendations and special rates, restaurant reservations, activity booking and two rounds of revisions. Journy is great for weekend getaways or short stays, just make sure your in the US, Europe or Asia Pacific as it's light on destination in the Middle East, Africa and Australia and currently has no South American offerings. Right now Journy is available online and as an iOS app. 

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Image via ItsEasy

ItsEasy Passport Renewal

No one likes to wait in lines for anything, let alone to get your passport renewed. Earlier this year I discovered the ItsEasy Passport Renewal app that allowed me to take my passport photo right on my phone, fill out the app and pay for the whole process with my credit card. It was about as painless a process as I could imagine. ItsEasy charges $29.95 for processing forms, printing photos and shipping and it was well worth it. I even had a problem with my application and dealt with some really nice customer service people to get it resolved very quickly. ItsEasy is available on IOS here and on Android here.

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Image via The Basetrip

The Basetrip

While not exactly a native app, The Basetrip was just too cool to leave off the list. Head over to thebasetrip.com, tell them what city or country your heading to and you'll be treated to travel info like visa requirements, what type of electrical plugs, average cost of living, weather data, currency conversion rates and even tipping instructions. If you've never been to your destination before, it's a great place to start for packing, planning and getting in the right mindset. It's a web app so just bookmark it in your browser. 

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Have other travel planning app suggestions? Tell us about them in the comments below.