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I don’t like getting vaccines, but one of the things that has me excited to line up as soon as it’s my turn is the prospect of returning to international travel. There is nothing more thrilling to me than getting on a plane and a few hours later being transported to a far-away destination that will take me out of my comfort zone, exposing me to new sights, sounds, and culture.
2020 had other ideas for us. After all, this was to be the year that our family was to take my parents on their first trip to Ireland and England, not to mention my 7 year old’s inaugural overseas journey. Life got in the way though, and last year we moved to the coast and had already postponed our summer adventure. Then the pandemic hit which really hampered our plans for not only the rest of 2020 but possibly for summer of 2021 as well.
I went in search of ways to bring traveling into my everyday life as well as to determine what I could do now to prepare for when international travel is back on the table. Here is what I came up with.
Read About Travel
When looking for safe things to do at home, upping my reading game was the first thing that really came to mind. For something I routinely put off, or claimed to not have time for, the pandemic was an opportunity to dive into books, which also provided a mental escape from everything COVID.
In my opinion, reading is better than TV because you aren’t hit with COVID related adds talking about “these uncertain times” every five minutes and it forces your mind to be completely entrenched in the book with minimal distractions.
Once I established that I wanted to read, it was pretty easy to pick what I wanted to read about and travel was by far the number one thing I was craving most. At first I had dug through the books that I had collecting dust on a shelf but hadn’t finished or even started. Once those were done I was hooked and needed more.
As a blogger myself, it’s no surprise I read a lot online. I noticed that Matt Kepnes from Nomadic Matt had recently released his book “Ten Years a Nomad” and thought I would give that a try. While purchasing that book, I noticed that Matt was keeping a list of his favorite travel reads and so I started picking out some that looked interesting to me but I didn’t want to buy them all right now.
Enter Good Reads.
Starting a free goodreads.com account was a fantastic way to organize what I wanted to read, what I had already read, and keeping progress on what I was reading now. You also have access to tons of reviews and book snippets all in one place and as soon as you see something you like, you mark it. While I didn’t think about it until too late this year, this is also a nice thing to have handy when friends and family ask the age old question “What do you want for Christmas?!” Hi mom.
The best part about reading about travel is that you can romanticize it as much as you want in your own mind without the disappointment that comes with expecting a post card view of something and getting hit with throngs of tourists and hawkers killing your vibe.
For another great travel read check out “The Art of Travel” by Alain DeBotton.
Look for Deals Now
Figuring out where you would like to go next is part of the fun of traveling. Sometimes being flexible can yield significant rewards. Even though you may not be able to travel right now, many airlines are using a combination of deals and flexible cancellation policies to lure travelers into booking now.
With the vaccine on the horizon we know travelers are going to come back to the market at gradually over time and so taking a chance on booking now and locking in some of those opportunities could put you on the trip of a lifetime later in 2021.
I recommend momondo for looking for hidden deals and easy itinerary planning tools that allow you to build in as many stops or one way flights as you want.
Not as flexible? You can still take a look at where you would like to travel when the pandemic is over as planning gives us something to look forward to while we wait.
Reminisce About Great Trips From the Past
As we look for new ways to connect with people, reminiscing about trips of the past and looking through old photos can get those feel good vibes going again.
I love looking through old photos of places I have been but haven’t thought about in a while. As much as we romanticize about future travel, looking back on past trips can be just as rewarding.
Part of the reason for this is that our glasses are as rose colored looking back on a trip as they are towards the future. We often remember a couple highlights of the trip as our go to memories but at the same time, some of those crazy things that may not have gone as expected are great stories to tell now.
Perusing photos, especially digital ones that can be shared over Zoom or Google Meet with family and friends and can bring loved ones to the virtual table to either talk about a shared trip, or discuss favorite individual travel experiences.
Learn a New Language
Nothing is more rewarding than going abroad and being able to speak some of the language. As an American, this is a handy tool to have. Given our reputation, it often shocks and delights people to see that you have taken the time to learn a bit about them instead of expecting everything to be catered to you in English.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in France where learning and trying my best to speak a little bit of French helped me make friends with the hotel clerk. For the rest of the trip he went out of his way to give me advice and access to all the best local restaurants and hidden spots that I would have never known about if I hadn’t tried to adapt to the language.
If you want to dig into a new language, apps like Duolingo are very popular and free and easy to use. If you are on a quest for fluency however, I would recommend Fluenz, by Sonia Gil. This is a more formal program requiring a bigger investment but well worth it in my opinion. I have been using Fluenz to work on Italian for a couple of years now and it’s well worth the few hundred dollars I put into it. Keep in mind, the average college credit can be around 600 dollars.
Immersion is key when learning a language. I try to do this by watching TV shows or listening to radio outlets from that country. Many of these are available for free or on YouTube and in addition to building your language skills, can help break some of that cabin fever we feel by only seeing things from our local surroundings.
No time for learning a language right now? That’s ok. Simply reading up on practices and customs can have us prepared for what we may encounter when we do travel again and make us better guests in a foreign land.
Whatever you decide to do, remember that travel will come back and it is just a matter of time until we can get out there again safely. Until then, find those ways to bring travel back to you.
