I know for many people traveling is considered a luxury. And not being able to travel is totally a first-world problem. But that doesn’t mean the struggle isn’t real. I miss traveling so much! For me, it’s one of the most important things in my life. I work to be able to have a nice home and so that I can travel. And apparently I’m not the only one struggling with not being able to travel. It’s taking an emotional toll on a lot of people. According to the 2020 Amex Trendex, more than 48 percent of the responders felt anxious or stressed out about their lack of travel plans. 

I just really need something to look forward to. A nice vacation. A sandy beach with blue water, fish, snorkeling, eating delicious food, seeing and experiencing new things. I need that. But unfortunately, at the moment there’s no indication of when international travel will resume.

So that keeps me thinking: how can we cope with this? How can we stay sane during this weird and utterly depressing situation? Here are some of the things I came up with.

1. Display photos of past travels in your house

Seeing the pictures really makes me happy. It gives me a feeling of gratitude and happiness. That I’ve been able to already see so many different countries and cultures in my life. I relive some of those moments, think about all the beautiful sights we’ve seen together and how happy we were in those moments. Also just scrolling through my phone or looking at my travel photos in Dropbox gives me a great feeling.

Of course, it also reminds you of the fact that you really want to go somewhere again, and you can’t right now. But focus on the positive. On the amazing things you’ve already seen. And treasure those moments.

2. Eat international foods

One of the great things about traveling is getting to try all those amazing international dishes. We just love Thai food for example. Mango sticky rice, yummy! Over the years I really have learned to eat more different type of foods. Especially since our Asia travels, I now eat way more things than before. And I also keep trying out new stuff. Some things I like, some not. But it’s fun to try it out. And I’m really happy I now eat a much bigger variety of food then before. Which really makes me appreciate international cuisine.

But not being able to travel at the moment, doesn’t mean you can’t eat food from around the world. OK, it’s not the same as actually being in that busy Thai street, eating street food, with all the smells and people and atmosphere. But you can still enjoy eating food from other countries.

In the Netherlands, all the restaurants have been closed for over 4 months now. Which made the restaurant owners come up with several ideas to keep selling food to stay in business. A lot of them now offer take out. Which gives you the opportunity to dine out in your own house. With delicious prepared food. You can order and eat pretty much anything you want. Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Turkish, French, Italian, Indian, you name it.

For my wife’s birthday, I took her on a small ‘trip around the world’, food wise. That was last July, when we were still able to go out to dinner (with tables 1.5 meter apart from each other in the restaurants). So a couple of days in a row I arranged food (breakfast, lunch, diner) from different countries. For example, one day I made a Danish breakfast, an Italian lunch and we had a Thai diner. Another day we had an English high-tea and a Cuban diner. It was really fun and delicious!

3. Watch movies that remind you of or inspire you to travel

I’ve already done a blog post about movies filmed in Thailand, but if you do a google search, there are actually a lot of great movies to be found that are set in countries you’ve visited or you want to visit. It’s great to get you back on that beautiful island, in the wilderness or in the mountains. And remind you of how you felt standing there, swimming there, the weather, people you’ve met etc. If you watch it with the person you’ve travelled with, you can have great conversations and share happy memories about your holiday.

Movies can also provide you with great new travel ideas and destinations. It can inspire you, make you add new countries to your bucket list and give you something to look forward to. Also travel programs or watching the Discovery channel can give you a sense of travel, learning new cultures, history and makes you excited about going to see those places yourself some day. 

If you want to see movies about a specific country, just google it. A simple ‘movies filmed in India’, ‘movies angkor wat’ or ‘movies about the Himalaya’ will get you a long way. 

4. Plan your next trip

Even though I have no idea when we’ll be able to travel again, I already have a couple of ideas of where we would like to go. I always plan all our trips myself. I research everything, which places and landmarks are worth while, what would we would like to see or do. How busy or how laidback do we want the trip to be. And also creating the itinerary, planning which day you are where, finding suitable accommodation and arranging the flights.

Researching everything takes a lot of time, but for me that’s where the fun begins. Some of the research you can already start doing now. Not on the level of exactly knowing which flight to take and what it will cost. But at least you can do an estimate and create itineraries for if or when you would go to that country.

For example, we already know we want to go back to Thailand as soon as it’s possible. Probably Koh Samui and Bangkok. So there’s a lot I can already research. Since we’ve been there multiple times, it keeps getting more difficult to find things we haven’t already seen or done. So a nice challenge there. But also, looking forward to laying on the beach on Koh Samui, having a nice Thai massage, go snorkeling at Koh Tao, eating at the food market at night. Just thinking about it makes we want to pack my bags and go.

5. Take a day trip somewhere

It doesn’t matter where you live, you can always just take a day trip somewhere. Just to be out of your house, away from the usual scene. Take your partner, your kids or your dog and get in the car and drive somewhere. Go to the beach for a walk, or to the forrest. Go on a hike, a bike trip. Or just walk around in a city you haven’t seen before. It doesn’t matter. It’s all about being out of the house, going on a (day) trip, change of scenery. Bring along some food and drinks and have a nice day.

The Netherlands, where I live, is not a big country. But there are still lots of places to enjoy a nice weekend or week away from home. Normally it’s also nice to go to Germany for example, but during COVID we need to stick to our own country. And there’s plenty to see. If you live in a crowded city, take a trip to the beach or rent a vacation house in the forest with a fireplace and jacuzzi and relax. Or the other way around; if you live in the country, take a trip to Amsterdam and walk around this amazing city and be a tourist in your own country.

There’s always something to see, even if it’s just a one-day trip. Just go, have fun and explore.

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