I am one of those, who wouldn’t even wait for a long weekend to travel. I would book myself on the Friday night flight and return early morning on Monday. Now, the only travel that I do, is from my room to the kitchen and while in transit, through the lobby. Yes, I am missing travelling, A LOT! But not being able to step out doesn’t mean that you can’t explore. Right?
Reading Books
I remember referring to guide books at one point in time while planning my travels. I’m not talking about travel guides but stories and tales that take you with them on a journey. The Alchemist, for example, by Paulo Coelho is about a shepherd who is travelling in search of treasure. Apart from the tales of dunes, alchemy, and adventure, the book also helps you find yourself. If I want to go down by a few notches, I pick up the comic book Tintin or a murder mystery like Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, which is in fact a luxury train in Europe. Words paint a thousand travel pictures in my mind and transports me to a different world in a different time.
Also read: Rajasthan Has One Of Asia’s Biggest Libraries Housing 9,00,000 Books
Movie Matinee Time
Documentaries and movies are another way to travel around the world. The best part is that it has something for everyone. Whether you are an adventure sports enthusiast, a wildlife photographer, an explorer with a keen interest in history, or just someone who likes to look at beautiful locations in awe. While Bollywood movies like Dil Chahta Hai and Dear Zindagi will take you through the lanes of Goa; Hollywood ones like Eat. Pray. Love will take you around the world. My favourite is The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. If you haven’t watched it yet, you have enough time to do that now.
Social Media
There are numerous travel pages that I follow on Instagram, that continue to share some amazing content from around the world. Beautiful Destinations, Voyaged, National Geographic and Curly Tales (HAH! See what I did there…) are some of the accounts that are helping me make plans for my next trip, whenever that will be. There is something absolutely soothing about watching flamingoes take a walk in Aruba, or look at paddy fields of Bali; be it the penguins from Antarctica, or the once-upon-a-time crowded Times Square of New York. Makes me want to double-tap. So you can go on a virtual tour of Ladakh from the comfort of your home.
And Then There Is Music
Remember the time when you last applied for leave, because you just wanted to surrender yourself to nature? I do. I wanted to sit by the sea and listen to the ocean waves. The rustle of the trees, the chirping of birds and the sound of the waterfall. Creating that kind of experience at home might just require some 4-D kind of expertise, but let’s just take baby steps for now. The sound of nature can be as calming as a good session of meditation. You can find numerous soundtracks that only have these sounds. They are quite therapeutic as well. There isn’t much noise outside, because there’s hardly any vehicular traffic because of lockdown. So all you have to do is, close your eyes, queue and play these 6 sounds of nature that we all miss right now amid lockdown.
The travel industry and the travellers (myself included) have been extensively affected by COVID-19 global pandemic. Forget about stepping out of the city, we haven’t stepped out of our houses in a while. This, however, doesn’t mean that we can’t travel from our couches either. I am on the move, every day. What about you? So join us on this journey to travel across the world from the comfort of our homes.