Satisfy Your Wanderlust

I’m consumed by wanderlust many times of the year…scratch that…make it most of the year. For me, wanderlust usually hits shortly after I return home from a trip abroad. Yes, that soon. It can be a good yet troublesome feeling, especially when I know it will be a while before I’m able to take another trip. However, within the past couple of years, I have found 5 ways that I can temporarily satisfy my wanderlust before I take my next trip:

1.      Watch Travel Shows- Netflix, YouTube, and even travel apps have such a wide variety of shows that you will never run out of places you are longing to see and picture yourself. Satisfy your wanderlust a bit more as you watch and write down some notes on places, sites, tips, and foods you would like to try for when you do take that trip to your bucket list place.

Travel Shows I Enjoyed: Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, The Layover, Booze Traveler, I’ll Have What Phil’s Having, Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown

2.      Watch Travel Movies and Documentaries- A ton of travel movies and documentaries are out there. Sometimes even a cheesy love story filmed in the place you want to travel, or a movie about a historical event that took place there can help curb your wanderlust appetite.

Movies I Enjoyed: Under the Tuscan Sun (Italy), The Pianist (Germany), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Iceland), Braveheart (Scotland)

     3.      Read a Travel Book- Whether it be a memoir, travel literature, biography, autobiography, non-fiction, fiction, guidebook, novel, or even poetry, any book that describes or takes you away to the place you want to travel will help tame your wanderlust...even if it's just for a bit of time.

Books I Enjoyed: A Year in the World:Journeys of a Passionate Traveller (Spain, Portugal, France, the British Isles, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and North Africa), A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines (Portugal, France, Vietnam, Russia, Morocco, Japan, Cambodia, Mexico, Spain), Under the Tuscan Sun (Italy), How to Become Danish (Denmark)

     4.      Reminisce about Previous Trips- Take the time to remember, reflect, share, and be grateful for the trips you have already taken. Bring up stories and memories you recall with your travel buddy, give ideas of places you have been or share an adventure with friends and family, look at pictures you took while abroad, or write a blog or in a journal about some experiences you had while traveling. Sometimes when we wanderlust, we forget about where we have been and only look forward to the next getaway. Take some time to remember and be thankful about the places you have already been and trips you have already taken. Don’t let the memories of these places fade away. Sometimes a quick cure for wanderlust can be as simple as a quick trip back to memory lane.

John Lennon Wall.
Prague, Czech Republic (Memory from April, 2018).

5.      Do Travel Research- Find out the next dates you will be able to take your next trip…and start planning! Research flights, hotels and Airbnbs, food you want to taste, sites and places you want to see and visit and make it happen. The best (and most obvious) way to satisfy your wanderlust sweet tooth is to simply plan your next trip! Be sure to refer to “8 Must-Do’s Before Your Next Trip” for more travel tips.

It can be hard to control your wanderlust…especially if you know you won’t be taking a trip anywhere, anytime soon. However, there are many ways you can still escape without really traveling anywhere. Find a way (or many ways) to “travel” while you are stuck in reality. Though your wanderlust won’t be completely satisfied or cured, it will certainly help ease that desire…for the time being at least. However, don't wait too long to completely satisfy that wanderlust appetite though. There’s a whole big world out there waiting to be discovered and explored by you!

Safe Travels,

Veronica