How to Travel When You Can’t: 15+ Ways to Travel Without Leaving The House

Do you guys ever get depressed after you come home from an exciting trip? Like you don’t want to go back to your “normal” life, do the same routine, or even show up to work? And all you want to do is curl up on the couch and look at vacation photos? 😅

Apparently there’s an official name for that: post-travel depression. It affects more than 60% of travelers and there’s even a Wikipedia article about it.

Okay, thanks for letting us know, Luda, but what’s the solution? 

Well, there’s actually two solutions: go travel … or at least pretend like you’re traveling! 

If you’ve been bitten by the travel bug but can’t go on a trip in the near future, no worries!
Why not turn into an  Armchair Traveler for the time being? There’s plenty of benefits: you won’t need spend a fortune on airplane tickets, get lost in some dark alley, or have a language barrier. Best of all, you can travel from home. Grab a warm drink, a comfortable blanket, and let’s go on a “trip”! ;)

WATCH A MOVIE THAT’LL FUEL YOUR WANDERLUST

One of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to travel around the world can be done from your couch! Just pop in a movie, grab some popcorn, and get your fill of wanderlust. Watching movies about travel or movies from different countries always puts me in a better mood, gives me so many new ideas for my next vacation, and shows how people live around the world. 

If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are some of my favorite travel movies:

 Hector and the Search for Happiness
 The Secret Life of Water Mitty
 Midnight in Paris
 Eat, Pray, Love
 Tamasha
 The Darjeeling Limited 

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BINGE WATCH A TRAVEL SHOW

If you don’t have an hour or two to watch a movie, travel shows are a great (and quick!) alternative. There are hundreds of great travel shows – here are some to get you started:

-If you want to be inspired by delicious food: Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern or Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown 

–If you want to travel around Europe (and learn a few things!): Rick Steves’ Europe 

–If you want to laugh: An Idiot Abroad – pictured above ;)

–If you want something with nature: Planet Earth II 

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TUNE INTO A TRAVEL PODCAST

Travel podcasts are one of my favorite ways to pass the time, especially if I’m doing something monotonous like driving, cleaning, or exercising. Bonus points if the hosts are funny and interesting – which they all are in the travel podcasts below! 

–Rick Steves: One of the travel podcast OGs, Rick Steves is one of the first people that got me into traveling. His show has been going on for more than 10 years and he always brings in some of the most interesting people (oftentimes locals from the places he talks about) to interview. He usually concentrates on European countries since that’s his specialty, and talks about it so well that you feel like you’re there! 

–Zero to Travel: This was one of the first ever travel podcasts that I downloaded – and it still has a solid place today in my podcast library! Jason does such a great job covering a variety of topics from digital nomadism to budget travel, medical tourism, and where to travel. 

–Travel Genius: Travel Genius is one of my favorite podcasts! I downloaded one episode and was hooked from the start. The hosts, Nikki Ekstein and Mark Ellwood, have such great energy and it feels like you’re sitting around and chatting with your best friends. They also bring a guest and interview them travel tips on every episode.

–Women Who Travel: As the name says, it’s a podcast by women and for women from the team at Conde Nast magazine. 

-Amateur Traveler: It feels like Chris Christensen, the host, has been everywhere – or at least that’s how you’ll feel after looking through his episodes! He’s talked with guests from almost every country, from Armenia to Zimbabwe. 

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READ A BOOK FROM A DIFFERENT COUNTRY

Depending on your interests, you can read books about travel or books from another country. It’s especially interesting to see how writing is different across cultures and how writers build up their story using visuals, symbols, words, and so on.

One of my absolute favorite ways to find books from different countries is through Amazon Crossing. They collect translated books from across the globe and put them all on one page – so you can search for books by country (i.e. Books from Germany) or by genre (i.e. Foreign mystery books). 

Another tip to discover new books is go to your local library (or book store!) and check out the Travel section there. I love to take an hour or two and just flip through the books there. 

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BE A TOURIST IN YOUR OWN CITY

Who says you can’t be a tourist in your own city? Whether you live in a small town or a metropolis, I’m sure your city has a few interesting tourist attractions! 

Just for fun, go to Google and type in “[your city] travel guide” – it’s always so interesting to read what other people think of my hometown. And who knows, maybe you’ll find a hidden gem that you didn’t know about! ;)

If you live near a larger city or a capital, you can also plan a day trip and pretend to be a tourist there. When I used to live near San Francisco, I would scroll through Groupon, buy a few (discounted) activities, and enjoy a day in the city. 

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LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE

There’s no way to get closer to a country than by learning its language.

Feel like you’re in a bazaar somewhere in Hong Kong by listening to Cantonese videos, or practice your Russian by buying a ticket to the Bolshoi Theater via a script in a language book. There are plenty of resources available – some of my favorites include language lessons on Udemy, books on Amazon, Youtube videos, language learning podcasts, and even practice groups or classes in most large cities. 

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FLIP THROUGH A TRAVEL MAGAZINE

For less than $15 a year, you can have different countries delivered to your mailbox every month. How? Travel magazines! It’s fun to flip through, look at the gorgeous photos, and daydream about the trips you’d love to take. As a bonus, travel magazines are full of useful information and itineraries.

Some of my favorites are AirBnB magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel and Leisure, Lonely Planet, and AFAR. 

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HAVE AN “AROUND THE WORLD” PICNIC WITH YOUR FRIENDS 

Here’s a fun and delicious idea: Grab your friends, have each person pick a country, and let them make a dish from that country. For example, your friend Tom picks Thailand and makes Tom Yum soup (get it? ); Anna picks Mexico and makes a taco buffet; Deborah picks Ukraine and makes borsch; and so on.

Get everyone together, try delicious home-cooked meals, and enjoy an international potluck! 

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TRY A NEW DISH

When’s the last time you tried a new dish? If it’s been a while, why not visit an ethnic restaurant and “travel” through a culture’s food? The easiest way is to go on Yelp and search for a type of cuisine such as Afghan, Czech, Korean, Lebanese, Thai, etc. 

Who knows, you might even find your next favorite restaurant!

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… AND THEN RECREATE IT!

Ok, so you have a new favorite restaurant, but what about making it at home?

If you have a knack for cooking (or want to learn #NewYearNewMe), scroll through Amazon or go to your local bookstore to pick up a cookbook with recipes from that country. 

If you’re up for trying new things, you can also buy a book that has recipes from around the world – like Stories and Recipes from Grandmas Around the World or My Street Food Kitchen: Fast and easy flavours from around the world. 

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SNACK ON SOME UNIVERSAL YUMS

I’m almost done with food, I promise!

If you’re into snacks (who isn’t?), take it to the next level by trying snacks from around the world. My mom bought me a subscription to Universal Yums about a year ago and I’m always overjoyed when I see it arrive in my mailbox. It’s so fun to try foods that people eat in other countries, and sometimes the craziest flavors end up being the most delicious!

There are three types of boxes (small, medium, and large) and each comes with a pamphlet that contains fun facts about that month’s country.

You can order Universal Yums here.

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PUT ON SOME FOREIGN MUSIC

For a quick and easy mood booster, I love to put on music from other countries.

Open Spotify, Pandora, or Youtube and search for whatever strikes your fancy. Feeling tropical? Put on Caribbean steel drum music. Want to be the epitome of chic and classical? Put on some French Brigitte Bardot songs. Want to be transported to a cafe in Korea? They have that as well! 

(I’m serious – search Youtube for “Korean Cafe Music”!) 

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READ TRAVEL BLOGS

Support your favorite travel bloggers *cough cough* ;)

Some of the best travel stories and travel tips can be found on (no surprise!) travel blogs. Add in interesting writing, gorgeous photos, hilarious stories, and you’ve got hours of entertainment. I like to find new blogs to read by scrolling through Pinterest, Instagram, or doing a good ol’ Google search for my next destination.  

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MEET COUCHSURFERS

Once upon a time, I lived in San Francisco but had absolutely no budget to travel (unless you count the handful of coins in between my couch cushions). The easiest solution? I signed up on Couchsurfing! There were hundreds of travelers who were visiting my city, and I would make new friends by offering to show them around San Francisco and give them a free “mini-tour.” I got to meet people from Kazakhstan, Italy, Egypt, Ukraine, Brazil, and more – and there are some who are my friends to this day! 

Meeting Couchsurfers is also great because you can learn so much about a person’s culture by sharing stories, plus you’ll have a local friend if you choose to visit their country someday. Who knows, maybe they’ll give you a tour of their city too :) 

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TAKE A TRIP ON GOOGLE EARTH

Remember that game where you threw a dart at the world map (or spun the globe) and see where it landed? Why not try the same with modern technology?

Here’s how it works: Open up Google Earth, spin the globe a few times, click to stop, and zoom in on the place where your mouse landed. If you feel spontaneous, click the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button and see what you get! 

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CREATE A TRAVEL VISION BOARD

You have a vision board for your goals, so why not make a travel board as well? Go through the magazines you’ve already read (see above!), cut out the destinations you’d love to see, and glue them onto your travel vision board. If you don’t feel crafty, you can also make a board on Pinterest or Photoshop! 

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GO TO A LOCAL CULTURAL FESTIVAL

If you live in a big city, there’s a pretty big chance that there’s at least one cultural festival a month! Whether it’s Carnival in New York City, a Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco’s Japantown, or Holi (the Festival of Color) in Dallas, you can party hard without pulling out your passport. To find international festivals near you, check out Meetup.com or a local event website (like FunCheapSF for San Francisco). 

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That’s all for this post! Hopefully it gave you a few ideas on what to do when you want to travel but can’t (yet!). Do you have a favorite travel book/podcast/show or other idea? Let me know in the comments below!

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