Author Topic: Departures Travel Series  (Read 5601 times)

The Fake Cheap

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Departures Travel Series
« on: March 18, 2015, 08:27:34 AM »

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone else has seen or watched Departures?  It is a great travel show for anyone interested in that type of thing.  The show follows 2 late 20ish Canadians as they leave everything behind to travel for a year.  The show is not exactly mustachian, but the guys visit non typical destinations and do a lot of tenting, and have a lot of great adventures.  My wife and I actually own the DVDs of the series and we find it's one of those shows you can watch over and over again.  It is also available on Netflix Canada now, at least seasons 1 and 2 are.  Check it out, I'm sure you'll like it!

-The Fake Cheap



kvaruni

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2015, 12:32:12 PM »
It is also available on Netflix UK/Ireland, so might be available in other places around the world as well.

Le Poisson

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2015, 01:03:27 PM »
I have a number of friends who have done very similar to what you have described, but by boat.

The sailing community calls it dropping out. A conversation at the sailing club (Ok, yacht club) would go:

"Hey I haven't heard from Larry and Kiki in a while, whats up with them?"
"Oh they dropped out for a year."
"Really! Where are they?"
"Last I heard, they were at anchor in the Azores waiting for a weather window."

How it works is sort of mustachian/anti mustachian.
1. Live on the cheap for a while and build up a stash
2. Sell your house and all your possessions worth anything and live in an apartment.
3. Buy a boat (prices vary incredibly widely from about $5,000 to millions) up to the task of sailing away, and then put everything at home on hold and move onto the boat.
4. Refit the boat and make repairs necessary. Go on test sails to be sure of the craft. Do heavy weather testing. Take any sailing, navigation, weather, communication, first aid, or repair courses that you need to keep yourself alive.
5. Enlist friends to take your mail or have it forwarded to the yacht club. Apply to work for an extended leave of absence or retire or quit.
6. Set up a side gig as a travel reporter or as a writer for Nat Geo. Or as a photographer etc. A very few folks are able to keep their old careers but spotty communications and absolute inavailability for an emergency conference call usually kills this.
7. Point your boat East, make a left at Gaspe, and go straight ahead until the butter melts.
8. See the sights, send postcards home. It is an incredibly cheap lifestyle once you are on the water. The only time in port is when you run out of food, otherwise stay at anchor for free. Fish for food. No accumulation of crap or you have no living space. Make relationships with other boats to form a loose safety net between ports.
9. Come home and publish a book  to recoup costs (often just a triplog - ie. google "Dove by Robin Lee Graham" or "Author Hal Roth")
10. With equity invested for X years while you were away, buy a new home.
11. Sell boat.
12. Return to life as normal. Or drop out again.

Hal Roth is (was) likely the best at this. His yacht (Whisper) came to be fairly famous and his repeated voyages and writing style were able to support him quite nicely. I wish I had the right spouse to do this, or something like it, but alas, I do not.

PEIslander

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2015, 04:04:15 PM »
I think I've seen all the Departures episodes. My favorite was the North Korea visit where the managed to get their North Korean handlers to let their hair down -- singing & drinking with them while cruising in a boat. Another favorite was their visit to Libya (before the war) -- it was like they were the only tourists in all of Libya.

The show is done with just three people -- the two hosts and one camera guy who sometimes appears on camera. The hosts have a gift for being very likable and the quality of the episodes is remarkably consistent for an unscripted show.

I agree with the OP ---- Highly recommended.

deborah

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2015, 04:26:01 PM »
7. Point your boat East, make a left at Gaspe, and go straight ahead until the butter melts.
A left at Gaspe would head you to the Arctic - it's going to take a long time for the butter to melt!

Le Poisson

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2015, 05:28:46 PM »
7. Point your boat East, make a left at Gaspe, and go straight ahead until the butter melts.
A left at Gaspe would head you to the Arctic - it's going to take a long time for the butter to melt!

See... that's why I haven't been able to convince my wife!

The Fake Cheap

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2015, 07:20:34 PM »
I think I've seen all the Departures episodes. My favorite was the North Korea visit where the managed to get their North Korean handlers to let their hair down -- singing & drinking with them while cruising in a boat. Another favorite was their visit to Libya (before the war) -- it was like they were the only tourists in all of Libya.

The show is done with just three people -- the two hosts and one camera guy who sometimes appears on camera. The hosts have a gift for being very likable and the quality of the episodes is remarkably consistent for an unscripted show.

I agree with the OP ---- Highly recommended.

Booze cruise!  Yeah the NK episodes are some of my favourite as well.  I also really liked Madagascar. 

I should have mentioned the camera guy as well, Andre.  I shouldn't have left him out especially considering the amazing footage he shoots. 

Nice to see another Maritimer here in the fourm.

PEIslander

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2015, 04:13:33 AM »
I also really liked Madagascar.

Was that the one where the kid had a home-made wooden bike? That episode was good! It seems the best are ones where they really make a strong connection with the people they meet. The ones where Justin suffered over leaving the girl he fell in love with were so powerful - very sad. It is amazing the emotion those three (Scott, Justin & Andre) communicate - even more amazing because it is unscripted.

I once saw Justin on an episode of 'Mantracker'.

FiTech

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2015, 04:17:47 PM »
My husband and I love Departures! We're working our way through Season 1 on Netflix (US). Good to hear there is a Season 2. Hopefully that comes our way soon.

arebelspy

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2015, 07:52:54 PM »
We started watching it a few weeks back due to this thread, but only got through about 3 or 4 episodes before deciding we're probably done with it.  Scott is cool, but Justin was far too annoying.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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nirvines88

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2015, 04:04:01 AM »
We started watching it a few weeks back due to this thread, but only got through about 3 or 4 episodes before deciding we're probably done with it.  Scott is cool, but Justin was far too annoying.

I thought the same thing initially, but I stuck with it and I am glad I did.  The places they go are too cool and the visuals too stunning to not enjoy it! 

I'm hoping they'll add season 3 to Netflix. 

boy_bye

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2015, 05:07:37 AM »
We started watching it a few weeks back due to this thread, but only got through about 3 or 4 episodes before deciding we're probably done with it.  Scott is cool, but Justin was far too annoying.

I got through one episode. Dude-bros are dude-bro-y!

Also I get bored watching things that are 100% dude- oriented after a bit.

Nothlit

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2015, 06:56:20 AM »
The first episode isn't great, but it gets better as the season goes on, especially once they run out of "old college friends" to visit and start actually exploring places entirely on their own. By season 2, Justin has matured in his attitude a bit and I actually started to like him more than Scott in some instances. The cinematography is just excellent, and the fact that it was all shot by one guy (Andre Dupuis) blows my mind. I ordered the Blu-ray set of season 3, since it's not on Netflix yet, and also their subsequent scuba-diving show, Descending.

arebelspy

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2015, 08:56:42 AM »
Good to know.  Maybe we'll give it a shot for another few episodes at some point.  Thanks nirvines and Nothlit.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

The Fake Cheap

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #14 on: April 26, 2015, 12:45:39 PM »

Scott is way more likeable than Justin, however Justin does come around and improves as the show goes on.  I should add as well that the first episode, the one where they go across Canada, is probably the worst in the whole series, in my opinion, so please watch at least 2 or 3 more.   

stlbrah

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #15 on: April 26, 2015, 01:08:46 PM »
I thought that Scott is kind of a tight ass, and would probably not do as well on the trip without a clown coming along.

choppingwood

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Re: Departures Travel Series
« Reply #16 on: May 05, 2015, 05:40:05 PM »
Scott is cool, but Justin was far too annoying.

Justin gets much less annoying in the second and third seasons, after the break-up with his girlfriend.

The most interesting episodes are when they meet up with people they know from home and then get to meet their families. The New Zealand episodes, Japan, India, Jordan.

 

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