The pictures were beckoning and mocking at the same time. Clear blue water, umbrellas in the soft sand, beautiful mountains in the distance. I wanted to be there. But then came the reality check.
You can’t go.
Who would watch the kids?
You have work.
It’s impossible to get time off.
Who would pay for this?
And I closed the tab, feeling like I was shutting down a dream. Again.
Can you relate? Maybe it’s not the kids holding you back or the job issues. But there’s something preventing your globetrotting heart from leaving home.
Here are 4 ways you can be a traveler when you can’t actually travel.
4 Ways to Be a Traveler When You Can’t Actually Travel
1. Get Out – Locally. Find a new part of town. Take a Sunday drive and get coffee. Just change your scenery to someplace new. If you can’t make time for an hour long drive you’ll never have time for a week vacation. Baby steps. You can even go somewhere locally that you’ve been before and try to experience it in a new way. Sit somewhere different. Go for breakfast instead of dinner. Be open to seeing what’s close to you with a traveler’s eye.
2. Stay In – There are so many possibilities! Learn about a new place right from your couch or that armchair at the library. Watch a travel show. Read a travel guide. Absorb this new place. Then have a party. Make the food you might find there. (It may even require getting out and heading to a grocery store you’ve never been to!) Invite friends and make it an adventure.
3. Relive Travels – Maybe you did travel once upon a time before family and job and life took over. Look at your pictures. Really sit down and remember your experience. Watch your videos and allow yourself to remember what a beautiful, crazy, fun, adventurous, or even disastrous trip it was!
4. Play Someday – If you could go on a trip, where would you go? What would you do there? Where would you stay? What food would you want to try and what places would you visit? This can be a dream trip or a practical plan. Share it with someone who knows you. Dream together! If you have a vision for the trip it is more likely you will make it happen!
Side Tip – If it’s about the kids…
- Kids are great to travel with. Seriously. No, it won’t be perfect, but it will help instill a little wanderlust in your babes. Check out how this family traveled the world!
- If you really can’t go far, stay close-ish. Kids can find adventure in anything, and you’ll see things through their eyes. Plus, cars are great for naps!
- Know the world. Hang a map. Have a globe handy. Plant seeds in your kids that the world goes far beyond their four walls.
Not all travel can look like a magazine. Find what works for you today and let your heart wander!
About the author:
Becky believes in embracing grace in the messy real of life. At My Ink Dance, she captures hard, uncomfortable, often unspoken feelings and brings light, honesty and God’s truth to them in a relatable way. Becky is a wife and mother of three in Connecticut writing imperfect and finding faith along the way.
LINKS:
My Ink Dance: http://www.myinkdance.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyInkDance
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/myinkdance
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32 comments
those sounds so niice!
ReplyDeleteClaudia, xx
www.thewhiteprint.blogspot.com
Thank you!
DeleteLovely post dear! Have a great weekend! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
DeleteI absolutely LOVE this. We rarely travel for ALL the reasons- and especially this time of year, I tend to feel STUCK. These are awesome ideas. :) Thanks for sharing Becky with us! Off to go follow her...
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Chris! It can completely understand how you feel about ALL the reasons! Let us know if you try any of the ideas!
DeleteGreat post ;)
ReplyDeletehttp://anna-and-klaudia.blogspot.com/
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Thanks!
DeleteAll great tips!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Let us know if you try any!
DeleteI spend a lot of time on travel sites! I would love to travel but yeah, who's gonna pay for it and who's gonna watch the kids? LOL Great tips!
ReplyDeleteI so agree. To sum up, for me, once I started travelling, I became a better traveller, in the sense that, I learned how to pack, what to pack, whether shopping is utmost the call of travelling and many more.
ReplyDeleteTraveling more does help you learn what works! So true
DeleteWhat a brilliant post...really great tips...and relevant for so many of us who cannot travel easily!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.:))
It's good to know we're not the only ones!
DeleteNice post!!!
ReplyDeletekisses
http://lestyledelapetiteblonde.blogspot.com.es
Thank you!
DeleteI was born with wanderlust and have done quite a lot of travel in my life. But sometimes, as you say, life makes it hard. I appreciate your reminders, especially the one about exploring locally. Rich adventures come in all shapes and sizes.
ReplyDeleteYes! It's so easy to overlook that which is right in front of us! (it was a good reminder for myself!)
DeleteI rarely travel overseas but I do short ones locally. Most of the time, I go out with friends for a few hours and I am most happy for the time together. Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteTime with your people can be just as invigorating! Such a gift!
DeleteGreat article, exactly! I never thought that in my city there are so many unknow places for me :)
ReplyDeleteLet us know if you find a new hidden gem!
DeleteDear Lux, Becky is a smart lady. All four of her ways to travel are right on. I especially like idea to start with baby steps and explore locally. As you know, I'm in Seattle and recently did a post on what to see here when visiting the city. I got all the info from a free little brochure prepared for tourists. I was surprised to see how many attractions in my own city I'd never seen. Start locally -- there are probably things in your own town you haven't seen and yet people have traveled from far away places to see them. Thanks to Becky for the fine post and thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words! It's so easy to overlook what is right in front of us or even to feel silly for doing the "tourist" things when you're a local. But it can be so fun! The tourists go for a reason!
DeleteLove this! I face these issues all the time because of work and it really gets me down. I used to pen and plan adventures constantly, even if I couldn't action them immediately at least I had the blueprints ready for when I could.
ReplyDeleteSxx
www.daringcoco.com
Dreaming can be so fun once you let go of the stuck feeling. So glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteOur globe-trotting has been on hold ever since our daughter was born and our income was slashed after I stayed home with her, but we've been going on "trips" every month at home to help make up for it. (Passport to Fun on my blog, if you want to check it out) Hopefully we'll be able to actually go somewhere in a year or two, because we would love to show our daughter the world!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! So inspiring to see people keeping the heart of travel alive. Travel isn't about where you go, it's about how you explore the world -- near or far!
DeleteGreat post. Loved the tips. Loved the opening lines so much. Could relate to them so easily. It is so true that before travelling or taking a vacation, we need to settle down thousands of worries and issues. Thank you for this awesome article.
ReplyDeletewww.thepositivewindow.com
Becky, I love the idea of getting out locally. That's something I could easily do with my family, we just need to be intentional about it. Thanks for the encouragement to do so! (Visiting from RaRaLinkup)
ReplyDeleteI really want to travel the globe, but there are a lot of different reasons why people can or can't travel! At the moment, for me it is that there is the issue of money!
ReplyDelete