Storming (and making sense of) Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Beach, 20 years later

“The movie does feel so dated…and yet, there’s a part of me that can relate to traveling across the world, landing somewhere, finding yourself surrounded by what’s all too familiar, and wanting something more. I think that sort of theme is still probably as relevant as ever.” – Jim Benning

This episode of Deviate focuses on the 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio movie that was based on Alex Garland’s book, The Beach. Rolf begins by reading his essay Storming the Beach (6:00), followed by a discussion with Jim Benning on post-modern travel and the differences between the book and movie (42:00); the impact of social media, and previously, Lonely Planet, on travel (1:08:00); and authenticity of travel in 2019 (1:35:00).

Jim Benning (@jimbenning) is a travel writer and co-founder of the online travel magazine World Hum, which eventually was acquired by the Travel Channel. His work has appeared in such publications as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, BBC.com, and National Geographic Adventure. Jim now serves as editor-in-chief of Texas Journey and as a features editor of Westways for AAA publishing. For more about Jim, check out http://www.jimbenning.net.

Notable Links:

• Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, by Rolf Potts (collection of travel stories)
• A spy on “The Beach”, by Rolf Potts (travel dispatch)
• Live from the trans-global Beach Nation, by Rolf Potts (travel dispatch)
• The Significance of Salon Travel, by Jim Benning (article)
• Bill Bryson (author)
• Salon (online magazine)
• Don George (writer and editor)
• Alex Garland (writer and director)
• Andrew Macdonald (film producer)
• Lonely Planet (guide book publisher)
• DiCaprio Swims With the Plankton in Paradise, by Elvis Mitchell (film review)
• Khao San Road (Bangkok backpacker ghetto)
• The Place to Disappear, by Susan Orlean (article)
• The Same River Twice: Bangkok in Three Acts (Rolf on Khao San Road in 2010)
• Thailand bay made popular by ‘The Beach’ to remain closed for two more years (article)
• Banana Pancake Trail (travel route)
• Legend (Bob Marley and the Wailers album)
• Henry Rollins (musician)  
• Six random insights from Henry Rollins’ 2018 Travel Slideshow
• Tamarindo, Costa Rica (beach town)
• Endless Summer II (movie)

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

This episode of Deviate is also brought to you by AirTreks, an industry leader in multi-stop international travel. If you’ve ever planned a trip with multiple stops, you know that finding the right flights can be difficult. Between balancing travel logistics and cost, it often becomes impossible to build an itinerary that matches your travel goals.  AirTreks is a distributed travel company with employees working from all corners of the world to help with your flight planning, specializing in complex routes with up to 25 stops. The AirTreks website offers suggested pre-planned travel itineraries to help you get started, but can customize to fit your journey.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

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