After over 4 weeks stuck in the house, I’m getting skeptical if this year’s travel plans will actually happen. With coronavirus dominating our lives right now, who knows when things will go back to normal. So, I’ve been thinking about how to travel from home. I don’t mean actually going to another place, but instead doing things that give the same sensation as travel but from inside the house. Because for me, travel is more than just visiting sights, it’s a feeling, a connection, a learning opportunity and a way to expand my mind.
Although these tips are perfect during this COVID-19 outbreak, they’re just as valid for other periods when we can’t travel. Sometimes, money, health, plans, priorities or projects don’t let us get out and explore the world. That doesn’t mean we can’t fulfill our travel needs in other ways.
11 Ways to Travel from Home
1 Rediscover the feelings you had while traveling by taking this time to look through (and maybe even reorganize) your travel photos, videos or memorabilia. Talk with the person you traveled with about what you lived and how much it changed you. And if you traveled solo, journal about the experience and what it meant for you. And if you’re feeling especially inspired, make a scrapbook, digital or not, either way, it can be a fun project in you’re up for the task.
2 Travel allows us to expand our minds by meeting new people and understanding different cultures. Use this time to connect with new groups, who have different interests (than the ones you usually spend time on). Take advantage of the huge offering on free classes, events, and meetups happening online and expand your network and mind in new ways.
We often host virtual events, check out what we have going on here.
3 Explore the depths of your inner self. Take the same sense of adventure that pulls you to new countries and experiences and use it to get to know the mysterious world within you. Use yoga, meditation, journaling, reflection, a coach or whatever tool you need. Get acquainted with your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, identity, ego, inner critics, and all that other good stuff inside. Befriend everything you find to change how you show up in the world.
4 Have international-themed days. Cook meals, watch shows and listen to music from countries around the world. Every day choose a different country or region and base all that day’s activities around that place. For example, Spain day might include a veggie paella for lunch, tapas, and beer for dinner while flamenco plays in the background. And Canada day would have to include Celine Dion and poutine.
5 Change up your routine, the layout of your house or the types of books, podcasts or shows you consume. Part of what makes traveling so exciting is that it takes us out of our status quo. Even without the global expedition, you can still ditch the usual for something new and exciting. Change things up. Get up at a different time, reorganize your stuff or take in different kinds of content that you usually do. Find the spice in the ordinary by discovering newness in the sameness.
6 Change your inner habits up. React differently to others, to your emotions or to challenges. Somehow, while traveling, I find it easier to change my inner habits: the way I talk to myself or others, the way I react to my feelings or the annoying things in life and the way I face fear and obstacles. While I’m traveling, I become more mindful, more open to love and compassion, bolder, and more accepting. I think it’s the change of scenery or the connection I feel with life. Something happens that makes it easier to change the way I manage my inner stuff. Take advantage of this house-bound time and change up how you react to your thoughts and feelings.
7 Find a new vantage point. As we explore new countries and cultures, it’s easy to gain new perspectives. Be on the hunt for alternate ways of looking at things. This time of isolation can be a prison or an opportunity for growth, learning and cultivating love and compassion. The only difference is the way we look at it.
I’m always reminded of this when I’m in the mountains. In my regular life, I easily get caught up dramatizing insignificant issues. But being surrounded by nature helps me see my “problems” from a new viewpoint. My conclusion is often that they don’t matter or that it doesn’t serve me to keep clinging onto them. Use this time of social isolation to wander to a new vantage point and look at life from a different angle.
8 Connect with old travel mates. What better time to reminisce about epic travel adventures with people you’ve met on the road than now. Reach out to them on social media, message or call. Catch up, see how they’re doing and laugh about failures and joy you had together on the road. Connections are the true gems of life. Reach out to old jewels.
9 Add new places onto your bucket list. Watch documentaries and follow conscious traveling Youtubers or Instagram accounts to discover places for future trips. Get off the tourist trail so that certain sights can get a breather from tourism saturation.
10 Watch movies or series, read books or blogs related to travel. Here are some of my favorites:
- Into the Wild (book or movie – this is one of the only cases where I think the movie is better than the book)
- Eat, Pray, Love (book or movie – this time, the book is way better)
- Motorcycle Diaries (book or movie – both are good)
- Wild (book or movie – I liked both)
- The Way (movie)
- One Week (movie)
- Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road (book)
- The Alchemist (book)
11 Turn this into a staycation. Relax and let your hair down. Move slower and do things you love. Indulge in a full day of reading a good book. Spend the whole morning in the kitchen baking your favorite recipe and take hours to savor in its splendor. Take a nap, watch too many movies and share a long virtual chat with your BFF and a few glasses of wine. Turn this time into an opportunity to relax.
This time in quarantine can be a paradise island or a jail cell. Due to illness, financial worries or uncertainties, this can be a real struggle for some. But for many of us, we have the opportunity to use this isolation time to explore ourselves and the world in new ways. Make this adventure yours.
If you’d like some help using this isolation time to embark on your own inner adventure, I can help. Book a Coffee Chat Consult and I’ll tell you how.
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