How to Travel While in Isolation!

The title of this post may seem a little bit impossible but I can assure you, it is possible to feel like you’re travelling while stuck at home!

I read a post on Facebook which went a little along the lines of us being in the same storm but not in the same boat. Some people are key workers and this pandemic has made life a lot tougher for them, emotionally and physically, whereas some people do not have any children or work to do and can use this time to pick up a new hobby and relax.

I couldn’t agree more with what the post was saying. I spend most of my time in quarantine looking after my baby brother so my mum and dad can work from home. Dad also spends a lot of time looking after my other brother; both of my brothers are struggling with this quarantine so it can be quite difficult.

The only thing keeping me sane during this period of time is reading and travelling. So how do I travel?

Read lots of books!

I will be doing a post about different travel books which I highly recommend as I am a big reader, so keep your eyes peeled!

A lot of the books that I read are animal based, and I just finished reading The Elephant Whispered by Lawrence Anthony and it was amazing. This book is about a man called Lawrence who owns Thula Thula Game Park and adopts a herd of rogue elephants that aren’t wanted as they keep escaping! He has also written lots of other books, as has his wife, which are on my list of books to read.

Not everyone is interested in South African animals (bonkers to me!) so I also recommend reading books such as:

• Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, a classic story about sea voyages
• Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson, a contemporary romance novel about a road trip through America
• Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller, a fantasy book with travel through forestry
• Saving the White Lions by Linda Tucker, a biography about Linda who travelled from her city life to live in Africa and help conserve white lions
• The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee, a historical fiction romance story about a tour of Europe

“ The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. ” 

St Augustine

You can follow the books that I read on my Goodreads account here.

Plan your next trip

I am always planning my next trip! Even if it is not possible due to my financial situation or lack of time, I always find it reassuring to know that I’ve got plans that I can put into place at any time.

A lot of research goes into planning a trip and it is bound to keep you busy. You should look into different countries, what activities and sight seeing places you can visit, how long you need there, how much it is going to cost you and so on. You can read my blog post here on how to plan your trip!

I also highly recommend looking at lots of bloggers to see how they do their trips and if they have any sights or activities that sound interesting to you.

Create a scrapbook / photo album of previous trips

This is a great way to reminisce on previous trips you’ve been on. If your memory is vivid enough, it can feel like you’re there again!

You can buy some supplies, obviously depending on where you live, or you can start a scrapbook using the supplies you have in your home. Or if you want something more clean, use Photobox to create a photo album which is what I have done for a couple of my trips.

This is a great idea if you have a lot of time on your hands! Especially as you might not have this chance for a while.

Get in contact with people you went on trips with

During my time in South Africa working with the Wildlife Act (which you can read about here and here), I made so many new friends! I still talk to a lot of these friends still, and since we all have more time on our hands, now is the perfect time to talk to them.

Maybe you can plan your next trip with them, or you can share photos which can be put into your scrapbook! It is also a brilliant way of sharing memories as you are bound to forget something hilarious.

I recently received an email from a monitor at the Wildlife Act where she opened the email stating how she missed me and my ‘trouble making’ group which brought a warmth to my heart!

Try new foods

While you travel, you always try something new! So I would recommend having a look at some online recipes of countries you haven’t visited, or countries that you were meant to visit before this quarantine, and try cooking them!

Or if you do not have time to cook new meals, have a look in the ‘Ready Meal’ section of your supermarket. It might not taste as good but you can pretend you’re in a terrible restaurant!

Do a photoshoot

You don’t need a fancy camera for this! Use your phone and go around your house and garden, looking at things in a new way.

Have you got children? Pets? A flower garden? A view of the sunset?

You can do something crazy like a fashion show with your children, or pretend you’re in a flower show. All of these things make good memories when you look back on it, and also gives you photos to look through and edit in any extra time you may have.

Try your hand at drawing

Not everyone is artsy, but not everyone knows about the different forms of art! Personally, I love sketching with charcoal, but other people might like painting with acrylics or watercolours. Some people may like knitting whereas others prefer interior design; some people try their hand at making lamp shades while others write books.

During this time, I highly recommend finding your arty side as everyone has one somewhere!

But since this is a post about how to feel like you’re travelling, make your art based towards a certain culture, animal, colour palette, modes of travel and what not!

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I hope that you find these tips helpful! Let me know in the comments if you have tried any of these, or if you have any tips that I haven’t mentioned.