Set-jet-vacation!

One of the greatest delights of fiction is its ability to transport us to an alternate universe — one that might or might not resemble the one we locate ourselves in, and one that we know exists just outside the realm of tangible reality. Trust humankind, however, to find a way of bridging this gulf between fact and fiction through a new kind of sensory experience — ‘set-jetting’ or pop-culture travel, the latest entrant into the ilk of popular holiday trends that lets you enjoy a real time vacation in locations you know and love from fictional franchises like movies, books and television shows. From the actual film sets of Harry Potter and The Hobbit to the vast natural landscapes that form the backdrop of Game of Thrones, the list of places that let you imagine with greater immediacy and vividness the stories you love while physically soaking in the scenery within which they occur, is endlessly magical.

“Nothing can ever compare to the feeling that overwhelmed me as I stood in the Gryffindor common room inside Hogwarts on my recent visit to England,” affirms Delhi University student and self-confessed Potterhead Sahana Saikia as she recounts her visit to the set of the Harry Potter film series last month. “You have to understand, this is a very different kind of experience that I’m referring to. I knew I was standing inside something that had been manually constructed,” she shares.

She goes on, “I knew it had been built for the purpose of shooting a film based on a work of fiction. That aspect of reality never left me. That aspect of reality, in fact, made my surroundings infinitely more special because of how it impregnated them with the energy of imagination. I felt like I was physically standing inside the story I have loved and lived vicariously through the pages of a book. It was such a beautiful intersection of fact and fantasy! And this is something only those who have read the series will really understand — the idea of standing inside the Great Hall, looking across the long house tables and raising your eyes to the ceiling to see if it really does mimic the sky outside!” she exclaims.

Similar sentiments are echoed by media professional Megha Verma, also a Potterhead but a bigger fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, whose prequel was recently released in the form of a five-part motion picture series — The Hobbit. “I had dreamed of what Middle Earth would actually look and feel like ever since I read the book – the Shire in particular, with its tiny houses, little round doors, lush greenery and clear blue skies and this is what motivated me to seek out and go for the Hobbiton movie set tour in New Zealand. Going from the book to the movies had been one thing, but actually standing in the Shire myself was simply surreal. There are no words to describe that sensation. Just walking through the Hobbit holes, the Mill, the Green Dragon Inn and so on, was like weaving myself into the narrative I already knew so well. And the natural landscape surrounding the set is so, so stunning!” she shares.

Talking about the trend in general as it is taking shape in India at the moment, Hari Nair, founder and CEO of HolidayIQ avers that besides international destinations, a lot of destinations within the country are also attracting greater footfall lately on account of their association with recent or older works of cinematic or literary fiction. He says, “We have found that people in India are travelling more often during the year now, taking several shorter breaks and looking at destinations based on more than just scenic beauty. They are also going for more experiential holidays with greater interest in off-beat destinations, exploring pop culture tourism/set-jetting and other experience-led activities with greater enthusiasm. While some destinations have been influenced by Bollywood movies and others by books, there are some in particular that have been receiving a lot of attention of late: the mustard fields near Gurgaon (popular for the shooting of DDLJ); Dona Paula in Goa (Dilwale); Alwar in Rajasthan (Karan Arjun); Amber Fort in Rajasthan (Jodha Akbar), Ladakh (Into the Wild), Kodaikanal (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), Hampi (The Art of Happiness) and many others. We have, in fact, noticed a marked growth in the interest in pop-culture tourism over the last 18-24 months.”

Rajeev Kale, President and COO at Thomas Cook India Ltd. points out that as we stand today, the scope of set-jetting is not restricted to the choice of destination alone. “Movie inspiration is not merely about the location, but also about creating allure for travel trends such as self-drives (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara), cruising (Dil Dhadakne Do) and bicycle city tours (inspired by Anushka Sharma in PK). As far as the destinations go, in recent years we’ve witnessed a shift of interest towards off-beat cities due to their having been featured in movies, television shows and books, such as Corsica in France (introduced to the average Indian by Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Tamasha), Bruges in Belgium (Dilwale), Prague in Czech Republic (Rockstar), Spain, Scandinavia, Turkey, Budapest, Vienna and so on,” he concludes.