We had squeezed into the final available seats on the chicken bus from Sonsonate to San Salvador. Having paid the higher fare ($1.10) to take the express bus, the journey to the capital was a little over an hour. "Thank goodness El Salvador is a small country" I thought, as my 6ft 2in frame contorted into a seat that was designed for an American schoolchild. 

The discomfort was soon forgotten (partially at least) as the movie was fired up on the two clunky TV screens. It was a British movie I'd never heard of and for once we were blessed with subtitles rather than the almost universal dubbed confusion. The film was completely forgettable, although it did help pass the time a little more quickly. What did surprise me was that the film would certainly have received an 'R' or '18' rating, yet was shown on a bus packed with families, tucking into their lunches and enjoying the action. Full frontal nudity, love scenes both gay and straight and a whole string of profanities that gave us a valuable education in Spanish! Nobody seemed to mind and the crowd around us were glued to the screen as we trundled along the highway. 

Of course we wouldn't get a film like that shown in public in the UK, but it did get me thinking about inappropriate movies for certain situations. Here's a selection of films I wouldn't like to see while travelling:

On a plane: 

Snakes on a Plane 

United 93

Flightplan

Lord of the Flies

 

On a bus:

Speed 

Any X-rated British thrillers (see above)

 

On a train:

Transsiberian (obviously about a specific train journey)

 

Before going on a hike:

The Birds (my mind always flashes back to this film if I see any birds congregating menacingly as we walk by)

Anaconda (admittedly less of a problem if you are hiking in English woodland)

 

While visiting Yellowstone:

Supervolcano

Dante's Peak

 

While on a cruise: 

Titanic (of course!) 

 

What is the last film you would want to see on your travels?