There are many reasons why travel may not be an option for you. At the moment dreaded Covid-19 is wreaking havoc for travellers and travel providers. With cancelled flights and closed borders, travel simply isn’t an option or possible for most people right now. Even as lockdown measures ease people may not want to travel. Other reasons may include illness, finances and in our case – no passports. Mr ESLT and I have ours, however as we are waiting for our children’s adoption certificates to be issued in order for us to obtain passports for them, we are grounded. As we are avid travellers we have put together this list of 10 ways to satisfy your wanderlust. These have helped us get through the recent travel drought. We hope they help you as lockdown and travel restrictions are eased or if you ever find yourselves unable to travel for personal reasons.
Look Through Photographs
Why not relive a recent trip (or trips) by looking through the photographs that you took. If you took the break with a loved one or friend, why not make the trip down memory lane together. Whether that be in person, if they are a member of your household of course, via Zoom, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger etc or socially distanced in a park or public green space. It will give you the opportunity to keep the memories alive. It will also allow you to remember what you liked and disliked about your adventures. Also what you would do differently in the future.
Plus you may come across some that you think would be perfect for a frame, a wall in your house or possibly enough to fill a photo album. Looking back on past trips will not only satisfy your wanderlust but also keep you motivated and excited for future trips. When you are able to take them, of course.
Enter Travel Competitions
If cash flow is the reason that you cannot travel, then why not enter travel competitions. They give you the opportunity to win your next adventures. The internet is awash with opportunities. Someone has to win them, right? so why not you? with a number of competitions, the prize is usually a long way in the future and/or flexible. Therefore, if you are just not able to travel right now, like us but know/hope you will be able to in the future, they are well worth entering.
With that being said, we have rounded up some of the best competitions out there (we update the list every week). Some of which are dream trips. Because of the current Covid-19 situation, a number of the prizes do not have to be taken until 2021, therefore allowing the tourism industry to return to some sort of normality. Good luck!
Write Your Bucket List
If you have never written a bucket list before, maybe while you are unable to travel is a perfect time. It will allow you to focus your mind on where you actually want to go once you are able to travel again. It may give you the motivation to make the trips happen, especially having been in lockdown for so long. For us, we have always just gone with the flow and gone wherever we fancied at the time. Or wherever we have found cheap flights to, although we think we will be swerving Ryanair from now on. For us having not been able to travel for the best part of a year, our bucket list has certainly changed.
If you are not a country counter and not bothered about ticking places off a list, what about activities? If you have always fancied sky diving or swimming with sharks, why not write a list in order of things you would love to tick off. Maybe you could tick a few off at the same time, depending on where in the world you visit.
Plan A Future Trip
Even though you can’t travel at the moment, maybe you have a future trip planned? We have a couple towards the end of the year in the pipeline. Providing the girls have their passports and the Coronavirus has slung its hook. Fingers crossed. By having the trips planned and things to look forward to, they are for the time being a way to satisfy my wanderlust. Especially because one of the trips is to Disneyland Paris.
If travel is something that you know you cannot do for quite a while, whatever the reason, it still shouldn’t stop you planning your next great adventure. Reading blogs, watching vlogs and reading reviews always gets our wanderlust bubbling. We do it even if it’s for trips we may not take for a long time. Or if ever.
Learn A New Language
Learning any new skill takes time and dedication and that applies particularly to learning a new language. I am always very jealous of people who can speak more than one. Therefore one way to satisfy your wanderlust is to take the time to learn a new language. Perhaps you have a trip booked in the future and want to learn some of the basics so you can speak to locals in their native tongue. Perhaps you have a favourite country in the word and want to learn the language spoken there?
There are a number of companies that offer online courses. This means you can learn and practice in the comfort of your own home. Maybe because of the pandemic, you have more time on your hands than usual due to pubs and restaurants being closed and spectator sports not being played (in front of a crowd) making this the perfect time to add this string to your bow?
Read A Book
There are a raft of travel-related books you could read to satisfy your wanderlust if you are not able to travel. You could opt for travel fiction and transport yourself to foreign destinations through the eyes of different characters. Some of our favourites include “Around The World In 80 Days” by Jules Verne, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho and “The Beach” by Alex Garland (if you have only ever seen the film we highly recommend you read the book, it is a million times better).
Failing that you could check out travel guides, especially if you have a trip planned in the future or have a dream destination you want to visit. Travel guides are a great way of finding out more about destinations, from the currency that they use, the best time of year to visit and what attractions and sites you should see whilst there. You can lose yourself in the words and start creating itineraries. Even if you never get the chance to take the trip.
Catch Up on TV
Living vicariously through others is always a great way of quenching wanderlust. There are a number of travel-related travel shows that we have loved watching over the past year or so and throughout lockdown. We have certainly enjoyed seeing and learning about destinations we have never visited. Many have also highlighted some places which we now desperately want to visit. A couple of our favourites include Race Across the World and Travel Man: 48 hours in….. (Richard Ayoade’s dry humour has us in stitches).
Films are also a great way of satisfying wanderlust, even if the destination is not the main or even key character in the story. It’s always wonderful seeing different and new places and what they have to offer. We have put together a post ‘Around The World in 80 Films‘ (see what we did there?) and highlighted which country/countries the film is based in. We hope this helps if you are looking for something to watch while travel isn’t possible.
Recreate Your Favourite Dishes
We love cooking. We find that recreating dishes at home from places we have visited around the world helps scratch our lack of travel itch. From a basic pasta dish from Italy to one of our absolute favourites – Nasi Goreng from Indonesia. It gives us the opportunity to eat and reminisce about the good times we had when we visited that country. It’s a fact that we cannot each sweet chilli sauce without instantly being transported back to our honeymoon in Koh Samui, Thailand. Crab cakes and sweet chilli sauce (together with Pad Thai) was one of our go-to dishes for the duration of our stay.
If you are not the world’s best cook or are possibly stuck in a boring food rut, maybe this is the time to consider an online cooking course? There are a number of classes and courses available online conducted via Zoom and other video conferencing apps. Some charge a fee and some don’t. This is great if you do not want to/or are able to splash the cash. Perfect if you want to develop your skills or learn something new.
Travel Differently
The first thing you can do to satisfy your wanderlust is to travel differently. If you are used to long haul luxury all-inclusive holidays you may need to broaden your horizons and look closer to home. Great options are lodge and cottage holidays and if you are looking for the luxury element you crave and have the cash to splash, why not indulge in one with a hot tub. Especially as self-contained travel accommodation has been given the green light to reopen in the UK from 4th July.
If you are on a budget, then have you considered camping? If you already have camping equipment, then it can be a very budget-friendly option when it comes to travel. Failing that, glamping may be a great alternative for you. You still get the benefit of being in the great outdoors but usually with added luxuries like double beds. Even TVs at some sites. With both camping and glamping sites now likely to be open during the summer months, these could be a great way of getting away from it all and discovering somewhere new.
Become A Tourist In Your Home Town
Wherever you live, we bet there is somewhere that you been meaning to visit or something you’ve always wanted to try but have never found the time or had the chance. We know there are 101 places/things we’ve never got round to in our home town. Therefore, if further afield travel isn’t an option for you perhaps becoming a tourist in your home town and exploring all it has to offer is will satisfy your wanderlust?
Why not explore local art galleries and museums (if/when they are open). Visit parks and green spaces. Or try new restaurants and cafes? If you have access to transport or are willing to hire a car, you could even explore neighbouring towns and cities too? Obviously, a lot of this depends on when restrictions are eased and will be subject to social distancing to ensure we keep ourselves and others Covid-19 free.
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