5 Ways to Satisfy Your Wanderlust While Staying at Home

The number one topic these days: COVID-19. We are all both obsessed and tired of learning or hearing about it. Every day there is more information and more restrictions. If we are able to stay at home, it is imperative we do so to help “flatten the curve” of infections to give our hospitals time and space to help us fight this virus.

Although I understand how important it is to stay in and to practice social distancing, I can’t help but want to travel. Traveling transports me into a different place, a different time, a different me. It is that feeling of freedom and exploration. So how do we keep that feeling? I have compiled some ideas below!

1. Explore US National Parks with Google’s 360-degree Virtual Tours

Want to check out some of the most remote and beautiful U.S. National Parks? The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks is in Google’s Arts & Culture exhibit. It is an interactive documentary and the exhibit allows you to take 360-degree tours! The exhibit focuses on a selection of parks you may not have traveled to yet (or may never see) like the Kenai Fjords in Alaska, Hawaiian volcanoes, New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns, Utah’s Bryce Canyon, and Florida’s Dry Tortugas.

The virtual tours are available both online, in the Google Arts & Culture App on iOS and Android, as well as in the Google Expeditions app for use in the classroom.

Bonus for parents with children stuck at home: Expeditions, available here on Google Play, is Google’s virtual reality teaching tool that lets students travel the world with their teacher acting as the guide. The app offers 360 degree and 3D imagery of over 200 places around the world, and allows for a VR experience when used with the Google Cardboard viewer.

2. Plan Your Travel Wish List

This is the perfect time to start creating your travel wish list. I hope I am not alone in following a ton of blogs or Instagram pages, fawning over all of these beautiful beaches or mountains. I usually just click the “save for later” button and forget all about it! If you are on this boat too, take this time to go through them and organize some future itineraries. We use Google Maps to pin where we have traveled and also upcoming travel spots to help us get a visual. Some great questions to ask yourself:

1. Where would you go?
2. What activities would you want to do there?
3. What are the must-see attractions?
4. What are the restaurants or great dinning spots you HAVE to try before leaving?
5. Where would be the best place to stay?
6. What is my transportation going to be like?
7. How many days would we stay in each city?

Asking these questions will help you dream and plan out different trips so that as soon as you are able to resume your normal travel, you already have a plan and just have to add it to your calendars!

Bonus Points: Set up a Google Hangout or Zoom session with your friends and plan trip together!

3. Try a Recipe from a Different Country or Culture

One of the best parts of traveling around the world is the cuisine. We recently went to Thailand and now all I think about are different recipes to try and copy-cat at home (My husband makes a mean Koh Soi!).

Try this: pull up Google Maps and randomly click on a country (or if you have a world Globe, it would be even more fun to spin it! If it lands in the ocean.. do it again :p). Now research the top food recipes for that country and try it out! If you are adventurous or like to cook, try making a homemade option. If there are restaurants that deliver nearby that have it, could be even more fun to have someone else make it for you! Extra points: watch some YouTube videos about the country while you are eating. Make the most out of it!

4. Finally Go Through Your Previous Trip’s Photos & Videos

Yes, I said it. Remember all those wonderful trips where you took 1,000 photos, 400 Instagram stories or Snaps, and only posted 2 of the photos? What about all of the videos you recorded of that beautiful sunset, or that one hike that was crazy hard but worth it for the views at the end? Now is the time to finally go through them! We have found that the best way to go through these photos and videos is to upload them to our computer and view them in Medium size tiles. Then we can start deleting the ones where my eyes or closed or my husband’s head is cut off (he’s really tall and it is important to include my shoes in every photo…). Then, we like to create folders for each of the activities so it is easier to find later on! Once we are done, we upload them to our Google Drive so they can live and travel with us where ever we go.

We started doing this and found these gems of when my husband and I went swimming with sharks in Bora Bora! (Sorry, dad….)

5. Watch Travel Shows on Netflix

If you’re tired of re-watching The Witcher or Love is Blind (just me?), have you tried searching “travel” on Netflix? There are some entertaining, educational or just funny movies and shows to watch! They also have sub-categories like Luxury Travel, Travel & Adventure, Food & Travel TV (personal favorite…) and more. Branch outside your normal day soaps and medical dramas and try watching “Chasing Coral”, “Tales by Light”, The Kindness Diaries”, or “National Parks Adventure.” If those aren’t entertaining enough, “The Office” somehow also showed up under the Travel search….

We know staying at home can be tough when all you want to do is go out and explore; during these hard times, it is important to stay positive (and healthy!). This can help keep your spirits up, bring back great memories, and gain new experiences! Check out 5 Things to do to Stay Sane during the Quarantine for some more mindfulness ideas (we love them all but number 5 is a special favorite!).

Have other ideas to satisfy your wanderlust while staying in doors? Comments below!