the secret life of walter mitty is actually a short story written in the 1930s with its plot based on the captivating power of maladaptive daydreams.

stiller’s film, fine though it was, wasn’t even hollywood’s first adaptation of the story.

sorry, OP, but to call a walter mitty story one about travelling the world to find oneself is to call star wars a movie about an interstellar truck driver and his huge dog.

Walter Mitty isn’t a story about a man pushed to travel solo.

It’s a story about a man who leads a very mundane life, causing him to have an active fantasy life. He’s the definition of gray in the real work, but in his mind he’s colorful and adventurous.

As he makes ever increasing daring and risky decisions in real life, his fantasy life begins to fade. As you watch the movie, he goes from day-dreaming in every scene, to day-dreaming only sparingly, to not day-dreaming at all. His life ends up fantastic enough that he no longer day dreams to cope.

I do sometimes get caught up in made-up scenarios, but they’re usually about doing something stupid, wrong, or ridiculous instead of something grand or heroic.

No, but travelling is really fun and eye opening. Highly recommend it.