I first learned about “A Map for Saturday” on a BootsNAll thread started by someone looking for movies or TV shows about the lives of backpackers. Immediately intrigued, I asked a friend to add it to his Netflix queue.

The 90-minute documentary chronicles Brook Silva-Braga’s travels through four continents and over 25 countries. Throughout his trip, Silva-Braga forms relationships and interviews several solo travelers, aiding in telling the story of his life as a vagabond and the places he visits.

“A Map for Saturday” expertly explores the range of emotions associated with long-term travel — beginning with departure and a family’s worries about their child, moving along to relationships on the road, backpacker’s fatigue and wrapping up with naturally, the conclusion of an epic trip. Through each backpacker (all hailing from different parts of the world) and his own self-discoveries, Silva-Braga captures the depth of the backpacking experience despite it being billed as every day feeling like a Saturday.

The documentary had the potential to feel forced, as 30 pounds of camera equipment easily creates a certain sense of self-awareness among interview subjects. However, Silva-Braga is able to maintain the free spirited nature of long-term travel with candid interviews in addition to his own thoughts throughout his narration of the journey. This is best captured in scenes with Jens, the backpacker whose T-shirt reads “You can choose the color of your life” and decides to rent a beat up van to drive to Melbourne from Sydney.

What the film doesn’t portray as well as it does emotion is the culture and interactions with locals throughout each destination in his around-the-world journey. The locales end up being used more as a backdrop for the nightlife and beach bumming, rather than making use of the opportunity to display them as cultural epicenters filled with foreign languages, foods and historical sites. The most insight into the daily lives of locals is a conversation with a Nepalese guesthouse owner. The owner explains how the unstable political environment shies travelers away from Nepal as a backpacking destination. It is in this compelling scene that a raw connection between a backpacker and his surroundings is finally felt.

“A Map for Saturday” is worth seeing whether you’re the backpacker or know someone who is. I’ve since purchased the documentary and plan to show it to people who question my motives or don’t quite understand the vagabonding movement. Silva-Braga manages to grasp the spontaneity, wonders and hardships of long-term travel in a manner that is both informative and entertaining.