I’m wondering what to do when I can’t go on a trip. When you can’t go on vacation, try these fun and interesting ways.
Travel restrictions over the past few years have been tough on travelers.
Being stuck on the road or missing a plane is one of the most frustrating things for travel enthusiasts.
Pandemic aside, there are plenty of reasons why you just can’t get one. visa to colombia Or go somewhere else, find the cheapest flight, choose the best travel backpack (or pack a carry-on) and hit the road.
You may be saving money for your trip, or you may have a passport that makes traveling difficult. Family and caregivers may make it difficult for you to explore the world. Maybe you’re in the middle of your college degree and don’t want to take a vacation. Maybe your financial situation means that finding a job that allows you to travel the world isn’t as easy as it seems.
Over the past few years, we’ve found the world shut down and stuck at home. Flights have been canceled, travel restrictions have been tightened, and some countries have closed their borders entirely.
What to do when you can’t take time off
Of course, things are better now that we can travel almost anywhere, but the travel lockdowns and restrictions at the time left their mark.
We, like many others, tried to make the most of the situation by finding other interests and activities instead of being on the road.
Lockdown was a time of self-reflection as we pondered why we traveled and what we wanted from our travels.
From there, we worked hard to find activities that would scratch the travel itch.
So what can travel enthusiasts do when they can’t travel?
Find your travel destination
For us, the first step in how to deal with travel withdrawal was figuring out what we love most about travel. rice field.
do you like meeting new people? learning a new language? Want to try new foods? Explore the city streets? Or do you prefer being out in nature?
Once you find what you love most about traveling, you can try to recreate it in different ways.
For us, figuring out what we love about travel was the first step in finding adventures at home. Here are some of our best ideas.
Explore your area
If you’re lucky, there may be a lot to see and do near your home. A city can have a lot of culture, food, and even history to explore. In more rural areas, nature can be on your doorstep.
Your local park is a great place to start.
If you’re lucky enough to have a backyard, lie on the lawn and watch the bees fly by, or try your hand at gardening.
go on a day trip
If you can spare some time, a day trip can help ease the travel itch.
We packed our suitcases, lounged in the hotel pool and strolled along the water. It wasn’t that far, at least in terms of distance, but just being away from home felt adventurous.
go camping
For those lucky enough to get close to nature, camping is a great way to bring adventure into life. Camping doesn’t have to be expensive if you’re camping on public land and already have camping gear (or know someone who can rent it).
Create new dishes from your travels
Some of our best travel memories are tied to local food, so one of the ways we tried to recreate the joy of traveling was by cooking the food of the places we visited.
Looking for special ingredients? Almost every city has a specialty grocery store. The small city of about 100,000 has markets from Mexico, Italy, the Mediterranean, Arabia, Asia and Germany. If you’re lucky, you can even find special ingredients on Amazon.
I have so many great online cooking classes off the top of my head to start my culinary adventure, and YouTube is full of videos of a wide variety of local cuisines. Additionally, there are excellent foodie blogs and recipe sites.
I’m a big fan of Skillshare’s cooking classes. Classes range from Italian cooking to how to brew the best coffee.
learn musical instruments
Not much of a chef? You can also learn new instruments and immerse yourself in the music of a particular country.
There are dozens of apps and websites, and even YouTube has plenty of options. We got a digital piano just before lockdown 2020 started (lucky timing) and the kids watched online courses to learn how to play.
learn to dance
Love music but don’t have notes on your body? Why not learn to dance? From salsa to jigs, depending on your future travel destination, you can hit it with anything and get a great workout at home.
learn a new language online
Food and music may be windows into the soul of a country, but nothing beats being able to talk to people in their native language.
With apps like Duolingo and Rosetta Stone, you can learn a few basics in a few hours, and learn entire sentences in 20 minutes a day for weeks. Read our Rosetta Stone review for kids.
When you get there, you may not be able to tell your life story, but even learning the basics of the language can turn forgotten moments into memorable ones. Not to mention that whenever you get a better deal, you get invited to more events.
Learn with a real human teacher at a company like Lingoda. Read our review of Lingoda here.
Watch travel movies and YouTube channels
Watching travel movies and travel YouTube videos is a great way to enjoy exploring new places.
A word of caution here. For me, watching travel movies, TV shows, and reading travel books can be tough when you can’t travel. For several months in 2020, I was unable to read or watch anything related to travel.
But as the world opens up again, seeing them reawakens our desire to return and explore them again, and they provide inspiration for new places we still want to see in the future. gave it to me.
Watch great travel movies
With so many great travel shows out there, it’s really hard to pick the best travel movies (but we tried).
Two of my favorite travel movies are Hector and the Search for Happiness and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Travel TV shows are also a great choice. I’m still a big fan of the Destinations TV show, although it’s been long-canceled now.
View travel blogs on YouTube
Travel vloggers are often a great way to get an unfiltered look about travel. Well, at least it’s less filtered than mass-produced TV shows.
Here are our favorites of the best travel vloggers on YouTube.
reading travel adventure books
Movies and TV shows aren’t your thing? Get yourself a good travel adventure book. Real-life travel books are great, but just reading adventure and travel-focused fiction books can help you get over your travel depression.
listen to real music
Are books alone not enough? Why not create a local music playlist around the places you dream about or read about? Nothing puts you in the spirit of the country like local music. Whether it’s traditional or local Top 40, you’re sure to hear the music whether you’re walking through a local shop, sitting in a restaurant, or walking through your hotel lobby. .
A good sheet music is the backbone of any good movie. There’s no reason not to have your sheet music with you when you delve into your next adventure.
Take a virtual tour
If you want to immerse yourself in your travels a little more, virtual tour it might be for you
Many tourist offices and destinations offer virtual walking tours. Some are free, while others can charge a small fee. There is also a VR tour that will take you there for real if you have a VR headset.
It’s not free, but Virtual Walking Tour of Vancouver’s Stanley Park with Talaysay TourI took the direct version of this tour a few years ago and highly recommend it. For more information, check out our article on things to do in Vancouver with kids.
make plans for when you can travel again
Dreaming about traveling can be half the fun, right? We’re sure you get more fun out of planning, researching, and logistical aspects of a trip than actually being there. I know people
We love planning trips, from lodging to flights to meals to activities, but we don’t pay until we’re 100% sure. Even then, I’m looking for a cancellation policy that allows me to cancel in advance with little to no penalty, just in case.
So even if you can’t afford a trip or vacation right now, it’s never too early to start planning your next trip in the future. As simple as creating an idea board by bookmarking a few links to useful sites and information can make your next trip a reality and one step closer to walking out your front door.
Do you have a favorite thing to do when you can’t travel? Let us know in the comments below!
