I know a lot of people are really excited to travel and I also know a lot of travelers who are still on the fence about safely traveling and their health. I think it’s fully understandable, even though I want to travel I still haven’t done anything that involves a crowd. It makes total sense that you’re worried about the very settings we were warned of for over a year. But that doesn’t mean you have to be bored.

I live in a fairly small apartment in Chicago, Illinois I never minded the size because the bulk of my time was spent with an activity outdoors. When I no longer had activities outdoors, I started really feeling how tight my space was getting. That’s when I started looking around for ways to travel while I’m still at home. Here are 6 ways to still travel this year, but just from home:

6 Ways to Travel & Stay at Home

Book a Virtual Tour

Do you have a favorite museum in a location that you love to go to? They more than likely have a tour on Google Arts & Culture’s website. GA&C has a massive collection of the virtual tours and high-quality images from museums around the World. Before I was virtually touring museums around the World, I was virtually walking the streets on Google Earth.

Write to a PenPal

Did you ever grow up hearing about penpals? I haven’t heard the term in a while, but apparently it’s still alive & well. The old fashion way of communicating with a penpal was with pen, paper & an envelope but now there are a few other options, now their are websites specifically for randomly connecting you with people around the world. The two pen pal websites that I hear about most frequently are Compatipal and PenPal World.

Read A Book About Travel

One of the ways I started traveling as a kid was with my books. My small bedroom turned into anywhere in the world that I was reading about with just a turn of the page. Whether you like reading about locations or stories at locations, find a book that you like and dive in! A book that I would recommend checking out is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy I read it when I was younger and absolutely loved it.

Complete a VR Tour

If you own a Vive or Oculus VR then you can use Google Earth VR & get way more features than the desktop version. Google Earth VR allows users to walk around anywhere they pick on the globe. Unfortunately I don’t have a VR headset, so I can’t fully use the feature. If you did – let me know in the comments how the quality is while using!

Watch a Movie About Travel

I don’t know if this one’s going to make you feel better or worse, but I’m into it! There’s nothing like watching a movie that makes you want to change your whole life in a matter of two hours. One of my all time favorite travel themed movies has to be The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. If you’re looking for more movies, I wrote a blog post with a list of my favorite travel themed movies here.

Listening to a Podcast About Travel

Have a long commute to work? Or maybe you just like background noise while you’re around the house? I’ve always been a huge fan of adding background noise and I recently have been diving into podcasts while I am completing tasks around the house. The one podcast I was consistently listening to seems to have quit and I don’t watch any other podcast enough to make a recommendation – comment below a podcast that you love, so I can check it out.

Plan Future Trips

I’ve done this for most of the year and I have quite a few itineraries I cannot wait to go on. As I’m watching all of this travel content I’m definitely getting inspired to see the world, but since I can’t right now I’m just writing down all of those activities and saving them for later. You’d be surprised all the fun and unique things you discover while you’re doing all of this research.

Enjoy Your Travels!

Your time at home doesn’t have to be spent staring at four walls. I hope you enjoy the list and get inspired to see more of the world even during current times. If you did find somewhere that inspired you to book a trip, make sure to read my post about travel planning so you can get the adventure started.