Movies and TV shows transport us to other worlds – but that escapism doesn’t always have to exist in the realm of fantasy and sci-fi. Sometimes it’s a lot of fun just to watch some of our favorite, everyday characters go on some amazing – or hilariously not so amazing – vacations around the world. Just like our TikTok and Instagram feeds getting flooded with images and videos of influencers flitting around the globe, sometimes these onscreen vacations can give us a pretty unrealistic expectation of what an average vacation should look like – not to mention some pretty intense FOMO. So let’s take a deeper look at some iconic on screen vacations to unpack how they influence our own ideas of what our vacays should be – and sometimes remind us how important it is to just enjoy the ride, wherever you are.

Money, Time, and… More Money

Travel expenses can start racking up quickly – from transportation to accommodation, food, event or attraction tickets, travel insurance, plus daily spending money for shopping and souvenirs. There are off season prices, budget flights, modest accommodations or rentals, or even driving instead of flying. But no matter what, these costs add up, especially when it comes to trips for the whole family.

Family vacations are all about having the perfect experience. …which is why they are notoriously stressful. It doesn’t matter if you’re going on a road trip to the Grand Canyon or just a few hours away to a water park, it requires planning and money. Disney vacations are some of the most expensive trips out there – and they’ve become defining childhood moments for some. They’ve staked out such an iconic, long-standing place in our popular culture that they basically sell themselves. And many of our favorite TV families make the trek to the ‘happiest place on earth’ – some more successfully than others… Episodes filmed at Disney properties are pretty common, particularly for shows on the Disney Channel or ABC. Even if they have some struggles along the way, there’s always a happy ending, making all of the struggle (and spending) all worth it. On Black-ish, Andre takes his family of eight to Disney World for the VIP tour guide experience, something he never got to do as a kid. They also stay at the pricey Animal Kingdom Lodge, so with meals and souvenirs, plus every other expense, this family getaway would cost over $20,000. Disney trips, and family vacations in general, on screen often fall into a similar storyline, of a parent finally getting the opportunity to give their children the trip that they never got to do when they were young, and in the process usually going a little bit overboard.

The Promise Of Freedom

One big aspect of the cinematic family vacay is allowing the teens and pre-teens go on their own adventures, where they have the freedom and privilege to do anything they want. Finding ways to get parents and authority figures out of the way is a staple in kid and teen movies and shows because it provides so much new opportunity for mischief and fun. These movies show the kids going off on their own while their parents are distracted (or sometimes completely absent.) Take so many Mary-Kate and Ashely movies, where they always seem to run into hot guys and end up solving a crime. Vacations, or extravagant school trips also present several exciting opportunities, especially if there’s only one chaperone. The Lizzie McGuire Movie definitely gave us impressionable young viewers false hope that school trips would have us going off with a handsome stranger on his moped and becoming a pop star. Little did we know that this unfortunately wasn’t the norm for a school trip.

As the media has told us over the years, particularly in the 90s and early 2000s, spring break is the ultimate time for teens and young adults to live it up. It’s another chance for unsupervised fun, only this time, there’s hard partying involved. On screen, characters usually travel to places like Cancun, Cabo, or Puerto Rico with a group of friends… though in real life this can be a lot more difficult unless you worked a lot and managed to save up (or just happen to come from money…)

Finding Yourself By Going Somewhere Else

Rom-coms are known for giving us unrealistic expectations when it comes to love, dating, marriage, working, and generally what adulthood should look like (or, at least, what we all hope it will look like.) But there are also some that prominently feature a beautiful location that conjures up even more grandiose ideas about what our flirty and fabulous adulthood should entail. Whether it’s a honeymoon or a post-breakup girls trip (or a mix of both), romantic comedies often showcase spur of the moment trips to all-inclusive resorts. Take Sex and the City providing yet another example of Carrie’s seemingly endless funds when she books her trip to Mexico. Even when Miranda protests, she ends up going anyway. (Though, to be fair, it was a non refundable trip.)

In The Holiday, two strangers swap homes and lifestyles over Christmas… for free. And they manage to drop everything and make travel arrangements in an unrealistically short amount of time. Getting on a plane and going to a new destination is often proposed as the answer to all life’s problems on screen. Divorce? Go “find yourself” while eating and drinking your way across Europe. Neglected by your fiancé? Travel around Italy while falling in love with someone else. We romanticize certain places, expecting a life-altering experience that will make you a more enlightened version of yourself. These soul-searching solo trips might be all about enlightenment and self-improvement, but they still come with a hefty price tag. But of course while travel can absolutely open your mind to new ways of thinking about your life and the world around you, it can’t fix everything – no matter how nice and fancy your trip might be.

The Privilege of Travel

As much as we all might dream of travel, the associated costs can mean it’s out of reach for so many of us. Not to mention being able to take time off of work or school! Going on a weeks-long vacation is a luxury, which is why we often see these types of extended trips being enjoyed by people with money to blow – ones who run their own company, or work as successful freelancers or influencers. Or, in Samantha’s case in the second Sex and the City movie, the kind of career where a last-minute, extravagant “work” trip to Abu Dhabi isn’t too outrageous. Similarly in Glass Onion, an unlikely group of friends are all invited to their wealthy friend’s private island in Greece, presumably all expenses paid. But it’s something almost expected rather than a special occasion.

Then there are people who don’t work at all, either because they’re lucky enough to retire, or more likely, they’re living off of generational wealth and trust funds like Dickie Greenleaf. Gossip Girl, one of the most iconic teen dramas, wasn’t exactly a show you watched to see the realistic lives of teenagers. With their families’ endless funds and no real responsibilities, it was nothing for Blair and Serena to jet off to Paris for a summer, the perfect place to forget about all of the problems haunting them on the Upper East Side.

“First of all, S, you didn’t go to school this year. And you haven’t had a real job in months. Life is kind of like summer for you.” Gossip Girl

In recent years, The White Lotus has been one of the top satires about the ultra-wealthy and their luxury getaways to very expensive all-inclusive resorts. Think daily Mimosa brunches and nightly dinner parties, entire days spent by the pool, at the spa, and in their restaurant. Season one’s filming location, the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea (which is also where Modern Family shot their Hawaii episode, is a real resort where anyone can stay… for thousands of dollars a night. A week-long stay can cost more than the average person’s yearly salary – and that’s not even including dining, spa treatments, or yacht rentals.

While just watching our favorite characters live the high life on these bougie getaways is a lot of fun, it can also influence people’s habits in real life. The post-pandemic boom of cultural tourism, or “set jetting,” has seen people specifically choosing to vacation where their favorite shows and movies are set, or filmed. Of course, this isn’t anything new – fans of The Lord of the Rings have traveled to New Zealand for years. But according to American Express’s 2023 survey, 70% of Gen-Z and millennial travelers said they had been inspired to travel to a destination after seeing it on screen. After the 2020 premiere of Netflix’s Emily in Paris, a highly-binged series during quarantine, fans flocked to the City of Love to have their French experience… only to feel disappointed it wasn’t exactly like the show, in what’s been called the “Emily Effect.”

Aiming for More Relatable Experiences

With social media, it’s easy to fall into the comparison trap when it comes to beauty standards, lifestyles, relationships — so it’s not surprising that 75% of travelers said they chose destinations based on the ubiquitous, #travelgoals photos in their feed. These curated images of majestic waterfalls, sandy beaches, and gorgeous mountain views are peak FOMO, often leaving us feeling down about our lack of travel.

But in the same way some influencers choose to open up and get real about the fact that their vacations aren’t always as perfect and fun as they’d like, many films and shows also aim to show more realistic depictions of traveling. Modern Family loved a vacation episode — but it made sure to keep things relatable by not overlooking the exhausting reality of big group vacations. Fresh Off The Boat shows Jessica and the kids joining Louis on a business trip which she suspects isn’t solely about work. And she’s right (of course!) Being a busy parent, any reprieve is appreciated. As always Jessica is frugal but also takes advantage of hotel amenities. Instead of relaxing, she’s making sure they get the most out of this trip…without any extra costs. But Louis shows her how to really embrace the leisurely aspect of a vacation.

Malcolm in the Middle is a zany but mostly realistic depiction of an average American family. When they go on a trip, it’s an investment and a rarity, one that shouldn’t be taken for granted…but usually is by the kids.

“Wealthy people can afford to have their vacations ruined, no big deal. They just pick up and they go again. Your father and I work so hard!” Malcolm in the Middle

The Middle’s Heck family wins a free Disney World vacation and tries to have the idyllic Disney experience… but instead runs into one problem after another. The National Lampoon Vacation franchise are the quintessential “vacation gone wrong” movies. And while there’s definitely some suspension of disbelief, the Griswold family’s wacky travel adventures are often pretty relatable on some level, especially when it comes to having too high expectations that quickly come crashing back down to earth/

Conclusion

Traveling vicariously through our favorite characters is a totally normal and fun way to escape from our own world for a little while. But as with everything else we see on screen, we just have to make sure that we’re properly managing our expectations about our own realities. Getting too caught up in FOMO and trying to recreate some extravagant on screen trip – or just being down on yourself because you’ll never be able to afford it – is the perfect way to ruin any vacation you are able to have. At the end of the day, vacations should be about exploration and fun and taking time for yourself, and even if they don’t end up being movie-perfect, that doesn’t mean you can’t still have an amazing time!