Hi fellow travel enthusiasts! I know it has been a while since you have heard from me. I am trying to keep travel relevant during COVID, but it is very challenging. First, a few words about what I have been up to. Then I want to share some shows I have been watching which have helped make me feel a little like I am traveling from my couch!
Like everyone, I remain stuck at home. While we wait for the world to reopen, I have been using my small business expertise with an earth-friendly lifestyles company called Kimberly House. Our focus is in making and procuring beautiful products using natural botanicals, and natural resources from around the world. We source primarily from the great natural resources of South Africa, so the traveler in me is loving learning about that part of the world. We are also very focused on sustainability, which I love. While I have always tried to practice good sustainable travel habits, I am looking forward to a more sustainably conscious future of travel. More on that coming soon.
Travel to Europe From My Couch
January and February are always the hardest months for me, the dead of winter in the Northeast make it very dreary. I usually chase away the winter doldrums planning travel adventures for both myself and my clients. Obviously, that is not happening this winter so I have been drowning my sorrows in some good TV series set in various places around Europe. Having watched almost everything in English, we moved on to foreign language TV and I was pleasantly surprised at how happy it made me feel.
I love watching shows in their native tongue (with subtitles where necessary). Being a linguiphile, I feel you can learn a lot about a culture by studying the language. Watching these shows, I learned how to curse in Spanish, brushed up on my college level French and pretty much only learned how to say ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ in Danish (spoiler alert- its hej and tak ). Here’s a little review of where I have been traveling from my couch.
P.S. If TV isn’t your thing, try reading to take you away to foreign places. Here are some of my favorite reading adventures in Europe, South America, and the US.
Couch travel to Spain
- El Desorden Que Dejas. Netflix (an 8 part mini series). Set in a small town in Galicia, this thriller mini series keeps you guessing until the end. It tells the story of a teacher who takes a substitute post in a small town high school. She quickly learns the person she is replacing has died under mysterious circumstances. In Spanish with subtitles.
- Élite. Netflix (3 seasons). A racy teen drama set in a posh private school outside of Madrid makes this series feel a little Gossip Girlesque. However, don’t be fooled, I don’t recommend watching this with the kids as it may get a little uncomfortable. The not-so high school characters engage in some very grown up activity including graphic sex, drugs and murder. I loved every minute of it! In Spanish with subtitles.
- Someone Has to Die. Netflix (3 part mini series). Short but enjoyable, this series is set in conservative 1950’s Spain during the Franco era. The high society Falcon family has it all – even the favorable eye of the Franco government. As they try to arrange the marriage of their first born son, everything falls apart. As the title suggests… someone has to die, but who? In Spanish with subtitles.
- Cable Girls – Netflix (6 seasons). This is on my “up-next” list. A Spanish period piece set in the 1920’s. The series follows the lives of 4 phone operators in Madrid working for the sole telephone company in Spain. Romance, friendship and mysterious pasts combined with the careful attention to details of the period are all a draw for me. I will be bingeing this one very soon. In Spanish with subtitles.
Couch travel to France:
- Emily in Paris. Netflix (one season). The timing for Emily in Paris was perfect. It was incredibly popular at a time where everyone needed to see something that created wanderlust. I love that Paris actually feels like a character in the show. The story is about a young woman who moves to Paris to provide an American point of view to a French marketing firm. The design and the nuances between cultures is not very deep, but highly enjoyable. Mixed French and English.
- Call My Agent or Dix Pour Cent. Netflix (4 seasons). I think of this show as the French version of Entourage except the protagonist is a woman. And the shenanigans are decidedly French comedy. Camille Cottin is human, flawed and likeable. In French with subtitles.
- Spiral or Les Engrenages. Amazon Prime (8 seasons) A French crime thriller series packed with action, strong characters and a fantastic setting. A study in the French justice system not unlike the police dramas of the US like The Wire, or Law & Order. Filled with the police drama of blackmailing cops, corrupt judges, and car chases. And a full 8 seasons! In French with subtitles.
Couch travel to Italy
- My Brilliant Friend. HBO (two seasons). I absolutely loved this coming of age drama about two young women growing up in a tiny, impoverished Neopolitan town. As travelers to small towns in Italy, I romanticize what life would be like to grow up there. The honest grittiness of life in this village is both enlightening and refreshing. The acting is superb. Mixed Italian and Neopolitan with subtitles.
- Made in Italy. Amazon (one season). Set in 1970’s Milan, this is a fun and colorful celebration of fashion. Think the Devil Wears Prada in Milan. It is high on my list of shows to watch in Italian!
Couch travel to Scandinavia
- Borgen. Netflix (3 seasons). Borgen is a Danish drama series that just gets better and better. Birgitte Nyborg is the first female Prime Minister of Denmark. Her strong ideals and self confidence make her a joy to watch. Bonus – it’s a great opportunity to learn about the workings of the parliamentary structure of much of Europe. In Danish with subtitles.
- Love & Anarchy. Netflix (1 season). A married consultant and a young IT tech play an office game of “dare” which, at times, gets out of hand. Light and fun. Set in Stockholm. In Swedish with subtitles.
Couch travel to Ireland/ England
- Fleabag. Amazon (2 seasons). A British black comedy by Phoebe Waller Bridge. At times uncomfortably and heartbreakingly funny. Phoebe Waller Bridge is a complicated woman trying to navigate life in London while dealing with the aftermath of a tragedy. In English.
- Broadchurch. Netflix (3 seasons). The death of an 11year old boy in a small seaside town in Dorset England sets off a series of mysterious events. While this British serial crime drama is officially in English, I recommend watching it with the subtitles on until you get the hang of the accent.
- Normal People. Hulu (1 season). Adapted from the novel by Sally Rooney. About two Irish teenagers and their on again, off again relationship as they enter adulthood. The acting is sublime and the raw emotion of a first love is heartbreaking. Set in Ireland and in English.
- Killing Eve. Hulu (3 seasons). A dark British comedy-drama set all over Europe. The series follows Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a British intelligence investigator whose job it is to capture psychopathic assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). It’s hard not to adore Villanelle and all of her fabulous wardrobe choices. A favorite to watch with the teens! Mostly in English.
Couch travel to Germany
- Dark. Netflix (3 seasons). The German version of Stranger Things, we watched this one with the kids and it had us all on the edge of our seats. Its mysterious and confusing and set deep in the Black Forest of Germany. Here’s how Netflix describes it. A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations.
- Unorthodox. Netflix (a four part mini-series). The true story of a young womans decision to abandon her Orthodox Jewish life in Williamsburg, and escape to Berlin. A fascinating story of rebellion and self-discovery. Also a novel. Mostly in English with a mix of German and Yiddish thrown in.