The Traveller's Magazine
With Walter Salles new film coming out, “On the road,” we thought we’d celebrate by taking you on a journey to San Francisco to the museum dedicated to Jack Kerouac, one of the most important American writers of the 20th century.
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The Beat Museum
This museum is dedicated to what Jack Kerouac used to call the “Beat Generation,” a group of writers, artists and thinkers who got together in San Francisco in the 1950s and whose spirit for freedom, tolerance and compassion made their movement known worldwide.
Original manuscripts and first additions from the epicentre of the era can be found on display at the museum, as well as handwritten letters, personal effects and cultural ephemera.
According to the New York Times, The Beat Museum is among the top cultural institutions in the United States, alongside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the American Natural History Museum and the Brooklyn Museum.
- Open: daily from 10am to 7pm
- Address: 540 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
- Admission: $8 for adults, $5 for children
- More info: contact@kerouac.com
From literature to film
If you haven’t seen the official release trailer, check it out below. “On the Road” follows the steps of a couple of Americans, Sal Paradise and his travel companion Dean Mariarty. Originally the quasi-autobiographical novel was written by Kerouac in just three weeks on a roll of 36-metre paper. You’ll recognise the three main actors: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart.
Hit the road Jack!
If this road trip inspires, we recommend you check out the map by Michael L. Hess from the Littourati blog which traces, quite accurately, the original trans-American route by Kerouac with notes for each leg of the journey.
What is your favourite travel book, turned movie?
