What is set-jetting and how do you do it?

You’ve probably heard the term jet-setter. It describes someone who travels frequently, internationally, and to hob knob socially with other wealthy people living their best posh life. A “set-jetter” and its verb form, set-jetting, is a play on words of the concept. Let’s check out exactly what that means and how you do it.

Set-Jetting Defined

A set-jetter describes someone who travels to locations where movies and TV shows were made. Some people also use it to describe people who visit places, or “settings,” featured in a book. However, I consider that to be more literary tourism so when I’m talking about set-jetting, I mean movies and TV shows.

How to Set-Jet

Unlike jet-setting, you can set-jet solo and you don’t have to be rich to do it. Although, as with most everything in life, having both company and money helps makes travel easier and more fun.

The money, in particular, comes in handy. Especially if you live in one country but filming happened in another. Maybe you want to visit the set of your favorite movie or TV show and its filmed abroad. (I’m looking at you, Game of Thrones.) Or maybe you simply saw a place that piqued your interest and made you wonder if it was real.

Take Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, for instance. On its list of 31 filming locations around the world, Travel + Leisure included the Bayon Temple in Cambodia. They explained how many fans are surprised to learn “the ethereal stone palace Angelina Jolie’s character travels to…was not a set built for the movie.”

However, even before the movie, the former Buddhist temple was a popular tourist destination for those who wanted to see the spectacular architecture and “face towers” firsthand.

Or maybe you’re a Star Wars fan and you’d like to take a trek to Tatooine —or at least Tunisia, the North African country where scenes of Star Wars: A New Hope were filmed. The abandoned sets are still standing!

A place that’s on my set-jetting bucket list is Hobbiton —and the haunted Waitomo Caves Hotel that’s near the Lord of the Rings set. Why not, right? If I traveled all that way might as well cram as much in as possible, right?

Finding Set-Jetting Locations

There are a few ways to find filming locations. And in some cases, it requires utilizing a combo of the following to precisely pinpoint your destination.

For instance, I started with number 3, IMDB, when I tried to figure out where The Night House was filmed. It led me to Syracuse, New York. From there I used number 1 to perform an Internet search in the hopes of narrowing it down even further or, even better, pinpointing it more precisely.

1. A Internet Search

Whether you use Google, Bing, or Duck Duck Go, an Internet search is usually the best first step to finding filming locations.

Maybe you have a certain spot in mind, or maybe you’re just looking for inspiratiaon in general. If that’s the case, you’ll find plenty of “popular filming locations” lists, like the Travel + Leisure one mentioned above, but here are some others:

• “From Spain to NYC: The Most-Used Filming Locations Across the Globe” (Hola!)
• 16 Popular Movie Filming Locations Worth Seeing in Real Life (Vacations Made Easy)
• 50 Iconic Movie Locations Around the World (Cheapism)

2. Film Location Sites

One that’s a particular plethora of information is Movie-locations.com. It lists film locations around the world for both old movies and newer ones.  (Which has come in handy a couple of times, including when I wrote about 13 haunted (and haunting) Alfred Hitchcokic movie locations.)

3. IMDB

If you visit a movie or TV listing on IMDB and scroll down past the “Cast” and “Storyline” parts, you’ll come to the “Details” section. That’s where you’ll find filming locations. Sometimes they give more specifics than others, depending on the movie or TV show.

A lot of times when I’m researching movie locations, IMDB is actually my go-to. If for no other reason than it gives me more info to target for an Internet search.

4. Reverse Image Search

How to NOW shared this great tip that I’d never considered trying for finding a filming location. But next time I’m stumped in a search, I plan to give it a try!

Check-In

Have you ever set-jetted to check out a TV show or movie location?