How to keep your wanderlust alive at home
Published on: April 3rd, 2020
Last modified: March 20th, 2024
As self isolation and social distancing become the new normal for a while, the prospect of travel may feel like a distant dream.
This doesn’t have to be the case though. For those of you who, like us, are true adventurers at heart, we’ve put together 6 top tips on how to keep your wanderlust alive at home during these trying times.
From scrapbooking to connecting with old friends, these six simple activities are sure to bring a smile to your face.
1) Armchair travel
With Netflix, Amazon Prime, movies and the always reliable medium of books, there’s never been an easier time to travel from your armchair. We’ve already highlighted our favourite films and books to help transport you to another world, and when it comes to TV shows there’s a standout we’ve been loving lately.
The Kindness Diaries, streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime, is an innovative show that follows former broker Leon Legothetis, as he tries to travel the world purely relying on the kindness of strangers. Legothetis spends the series circumnavigating the planet on a vintage yellow motorbike he fittingly calls ‘Kindness One.’ He can’t accept money or use money to pay for anything, and what results is an uplifting journey that highlights how kind the human race can be. In return for food, shelter and gas amongst other things, Legothetis repays the unwitting good Samaritans with life changing gifts. No matter what kind of travel content you enjoy consuming, this uplifting series is sure to put a smile on your face during the uncertain times we’re all facing.
2) Cook your way around the world
Beyond the people you meet and the places you visit, seasoned travellers always tend to fondly remember the tastes of their favourite countries. With so much time on our hands, there’s never been a better time to bring exotic dishes from afar into your own home. If you’re struggling for inspiration, our friends at Lonely Planet have been publishing a new recipe every single day on their Facebook page, in what they’ve aptly termed their ‘Travel Kitchen.’
Cooking up a storm is also perfect practice for when it comes to booking a cooking class in the next country you visit, as you can master the cuisine before you arrive and then see how it compares once you arrive. Whether it’s Vietnamese bahn mi or fresh homemade pasta, there’s no shortage of dishes to try.
3) Scrapbook your travel memories
During our busy day-to-day lives, we almost never get a chance to sit and simply reminisce on our favourite memories from our travels. Although we can’t make new travel memories just yet, there’s something almost poetic about sifting through old cherished memories. Whether it’s countless photos that have got lost on your computer or little keepsakes you just haven’t found a home for yet, now is the perfect time to transport yourself back on past adventures. We recommend taking this time to get crafty and do a little scrapbooking of your past adventures or perhaps, write a blog post and share your travel experiences with others. Or simply, pick your favourite photos and get some framed to display around your home.
4) Connect with old friends from your travels
In a similar vein, we almost never get the opportunity to carve out enough time to catch up with friends across the globe. Vast time differences, busy jobs and hectic social lives mean we can often get caught up in our daily lives. However, now that most of our social interactions have moved online, it’s the perfect opportunity to get in touch with that long lost friend you have from the other side of the world, and set up a virtual dinner date. By strengthening your friendships now, you might even find you have more opportunities to discover other countries on the other side of the current crisis!
5) Learn a new language
Now that you have extended time to prepare for your next holiday, you might as well go the extra mile and learn the lingo of the destination. Or you might just want to learn a new language for the fun of it, to give your brain a workout, or simply just to keep busy. Thanks to technology, learning a new language can be easily done at home. Duolingo and Babbel are among the most popular apps that are free to use and have all the common languages on offer, whilst there’s plenty of new online services popping up every day that allow you to learn even the most niche of languages.
6) Plan your next trip
As we’ve highlighted already, there’s plenty of reasons to be using this time to plan your next trip. Don’t rule out travel altogether; instead, consider postponing your trip or start planning an entirely new one. Now is the perfect time to revisit your bucket-list and start refining what it is you really want to experience. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we can’t take the opportunity to travel for granted.
So, get out your world maps, start doing your research (read some of our travel guides if you’re stuck for inspiration) and get in touch with our Travel Designers to chat through your options. The thousands of local communities who rely on tourism the world over will thank you for it.
Feeling inspired? Our expert Travel Designers are always on hand to help you plan your future adventures.