Captain’s log: Day 4 of the travel ban. Supplies running low. Kids going crazy. Binge watched 8 seasons of Homeland (why!?). Toilet paper supply holding up. Neighbor’s dog won’t shut up. NEED. TO. TRAVEL.
I don’t know about you, but as someone who travels almost every week (for work) it’s pretty disorienting to NOT be on the road this week. Sure, I am being a little lot dramatic here, but you know what I mean.
The crisis facing all of us has brought out the best and worst of us (hoarding TP anyone!?) and there are serious questions about the rationality of the panic sweeping across the world. Put that on the shelf; we can talk about that touchy subject in another post.
What is absolutely undeniable is that the travel industry has been completely wrecked by this pandemic. It may take years to recover, who knows. Millions of travelers are grounded. Vacations canceled. Business travel shelved for the foreseeable future.
The world has changed. If even for a brief moment.
For many of us, travel is a huge part of our lives. For some, it’s living the nomadic life. For other’s its that big vacation you take each year. For many (including me) it’s business travel (mostly, plus some recreational travel, or Bleisure travel).
It’s a part of my life at this point and a key part of doing my job. Sure, we are learning to rely more on remote technological solutions (video conferencing, chat, IM, etc), but it’s different.
And for those who prefer to live on the road it’s a radical shock to the system.
It almost goes without saying (but not entirely, so I am saying it), but let’s not over rotate here. This pandemic is serious and there is much more to life than travel. Not hitting the road for a few months is NOT the end of the world, so I think it’s important to keep things in perspective.
That said…here’s a few creative ways to feed your travel demon when you can’t leave your house!
7 Creative Ways to Travel When You Can’t Travel
Before we dive into the list, here’s a quick summary of the 7 ways to travel when you can’t leave your house.
- Take a virtual tour
- Find some new Travel Bloggers to follow
- Read a book
- Binge Pinterest and start learning or planning about future trips
- Listen to a travel podcast
- Watch a movie (or show)
- Write something (maybe start a travel blog!?!)
Enjoy!
Take a virtual tour
Many museums, zoos and other famous locations offer virtual tours of their facilities. Sure, it’s not the same as seeing it in person, but it’s better than nothing and maybe, just maybe, it will feed your wanderlust for a moment or two. Here’s a few interesting options:
- British Museum of the World
- Musee d’Orsay in Paris
- Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
- San Diego Zoo
- Yosemite National Park
Find some new Travel Bloggers to follow
We love to follow other travel bloggers and even though we are in the business travel space we always broaden our horizons to see what and where other bloggers have been or are going. In fact, we’ve built a massive directory of some of our favorite travel bloggers and vloggers here:
Read a book
Gasp! Read a book? Yeah, seriously, read a book. It’s one of the few activities specifically tailored to quarantine. Just you and whatever world your book takes you too.
I love reading books and while I don’t read as many as I used to, this crisis is the PERFECT opportunity to dig back into your reading list. Here’s a few ideas:
- 47 Books about Travel to Jumpstart your Wanderlust
- Amazon’s Top 20 Lists (the best books in a variety of categories, curated for you)
- Start an Audible membership and listen to your book list!
Binge Pinterest and start learning or planning about future trips
It’s easy to get lost on Pinterest. So many interesting ideas. Even as a guy, I enjoy browsing Pinterest (although I am usually saving tattoo ideas, cool architectural images, or pictures of VW bugs…don’t judge). Obviously, though, I, like most travel bloggers use Pinterest as a major form of traffic. The competition is fierce, but if you can’t travel there are still many amazing ideas, tips, stories and more that you can peruse, pin and read if you can’t travel.
Be sure to follow me on Pinterest (and share this post using the pin below)
Listen to a travel podcast
Not going to lie here, but I love podcasts. Perfect for commutes, plane rides…and yes…quarantines. LOL! I usually keep a podcast going while I am writing. I listen to a lot of the folks over at BaldMove.com who do movie and TV show reviews, but I also enjoy listening to points and miles podcasts and many others.
Here’s a few interesting ones:
- We Travel There
- Miles to Memories (Points & Miles focus)
- Women who Travel
- Amateur Traveler
- Extra Pack of Peanuts
Watch a movie (or show)
I highly suspect many of you are binge watching shows like crazy right now. It’s a perfect time to rewatch Baby Yoda on Disney, or finally get around to signing up for a Hulu membership. We’ve actually curated a list of new tv shows to watch while you are stuck at home and think you should check it out:
When you can’t travel, watching shows about travel could be the fix you need.
Write something!
Here’s a travel thought: start a blog. A travel blog, specifically. Why not? Anyone can do it, and if you have an ounce of creativity you can definitely do this. Will it be a successful blog? That’s an entirely different question and is also contingent on your definition of success.
Make a few extra bucks? Sure, but that’s easier said than done. Experience the joy of writing and documenting your travels? Much easier and perhaps more rewarding. Both at the same time!? Jackpot.
Consider using Nomadic Matt’s guide to starting a travel blog if you are more interested (not an affiliate link, btw, just good stuff).
Thanks and stay safe!
There’s no reason this crisis has to keep you down. Sure, you can’t travel right now, but there’s still lots of creative ways to get by. Happy virtual traveling and stay safe!
By the way, if you are looking for even more things to do when you can’t travel here are 31 Things to Do to Stay Busy!
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