These Shocking Documentaries Will Make You Reconsider Travel

This may be an eye-opener that travel is not all that glamorous.As a reality TV junkie, I’m addicted to drama. But when I’m looking to switch it up while waiting for new seasons of Real Housewives or Love is Blind, I turn to documentaries that feel more fiction than real. The only criteria is that I don’t like gore or violence (no serial killers, please), which narrows my focus to scams, travel, and disasters. Tinder Swindler, A Toxic Love Story, Sweet Bobby, Fit For TV, Social Dilemma, and Unknown Number have kept me up late at night. However as a traveler, I’m fascinated by real-life events that have rocked the travel industry. Warning: These are not the documentaries to watch if you want travel inspiration; quite the opposite, these show a raw side of travel that might put you off. 1 OF 8 'Aftershocks: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake' The three-part series about the Nepal earthquake in 2015 is a heart-breaking story of disaster and survival. The earthquake was a devastating disaster that killed over 8,000 people. This series takes you to three different locations where locals and travelers face this tragedy together. But what really makes this heavy is the contrast: tourists are rescued and brought back home, while locals lose their family members, their homes, and their livelihoods. Callous comments made by tourists in the face of this tragedy also struck home, and I could sense the privilege and entitlement in those moments of grave despair.In light of the recent flash floods in Nepal, this documentary hits particularly hard. 2 OF 8 'Trainwreck: Poop Cruise' Remember the 2013 Poop Cruise? Carnival’s Triumph brought 4,000 passengers for a roundtrip from Texas to Mexico, but on its way back home, a fire broke out in the engine room and the electricity got cut off. For four days, the ship drifted in the Gulf of Mexico with no air conditioning, no lights, and no plumbing until it was towed to shore. The documentary reveals shocking details of how passengers survived on the stinking ship with sewage in the hallways and passengers having sex on the deck. 3 OF 8 'Downfall: The Case Against Boeing' Before the Alaska Airlines doorplug incident, which placed aircraft manufacturer Boeing under the microscope, the company was embroiled in many controversies. Between 2018 and 2019, two Boeing 787 Max aircraft crashed, killing 346 people. This documentary digs deeper into the company and these major incidents, while tracking its negligence to increase profits. An interesting study of how corporate greed took precedence over safety and human lives. 4 OF 8 'Class Action Park' Love theme parks? They are way safer now than than Action Park was in the ’80s. The New Jersey park was notorious for its no holds barred approach. The documentary explores the wild place with its dangerous slides, untrained staff, and poor safety standards. It was known to be the most dangerous amusement park in the U.S. and with good reason—at least six people died here and many were injured. 5 OF 8 'The Last Tourist' What’s the cost of travel? The tourism industry is flourishing, and travelers are increasing year on year. But the consequences of tourism are hard to see, and difficult to reflect on. Apart from overtourism, which is sending living costs shooting through the roof in impacted cities, the industry also stresses the environment, exploits animals, hurts local communities, and turns children into entertainment. The Last Tourist is a documentary leading travelers to do better and travel more consciously.Related: If You Think Traveling to Visit Orphanages Is Helpful, It’s Time to Reconsider 6 OF 8 'MH370: The Plane That Disappeared' Airplanes do not disappear out of thin air. But that’s what happened in 2014 when a Malaysian Airlines flight with 239 people on board vanished. A three-episode documentary takes you through all the theories, conspiracy and otherwise, as the search for the plane and what happened to it continues. A chilling event in aviation, it is a profound mystery but an even greater tragedy. 7 OF 8 'Fyre Fraud' The moral of the story here: don’t believe everything you see on social media. In 2016, celebrities, influencers, and social media bigwigs marketed a music festival, called Fyre, in the Bahamas, which was scheduled the following year. Cut to 2017 and the participants became a laughingstock on the internet when the festival failed spectacularly, and organizer Billy McFarland was convicted and jailed. What happened in between is relayed in documentaries by both Hulu and Netflix, and it is depicted more as a comedy than tragedy, though locals on the island suffered greatly. Sadly, the influencers who paid thousands of dollars to be part of this didn’t receive much sympathy instead became fodder for memes.Related: Please Don’t Go to This Festival 8 OF 8 'The Trapped 13: How We Survived the Thai Cave' This 2022 Netflix documentary documents the rescue of 12 school boys and their football coach who got trapped in a cave in Thailand. The boys, aged 11 to 16, narrate the story of their rescue from the Tham Luang Cave in 2018 after they went missing following football practice. The team spent more than two weeks in the cave before they were safely brought back by a team of hundreds of divers and Navy SEALS from around the world. It’s a miracle, something you might see in a superhero movie. But it is also a reminder that nature can turn on you within moments.Related: The Thai Cave Where 12 Boys Went Missing Is Now a Tourist Attraction and We Have Questions