Ah, post-trip blues–that heavy feeling you get in your chest while looking back longingly at a destination you fell in love with, sometimes weeks, months, or even years after your travels. Before the pandemic started, some of us might have had the option to return to those places and relive those wonderful memories. But while traveling for leisure is still pretty much out of the question, and we’re still stuck where we are, how do we even begin to deal with these feelings?
Here are some suggestions on how to relive your favorite trips, even from the safety of your own home.
1. Make a scrapbook with all your travel mementos
I don’t know about you, but I still have piles of travel mementos stashed away in a box in my room, filled with colorful tickets from attractions and train lines, wristbands from concerts I’ve attended, handwritten notes from the people I met. Most of them are things I really should have thrown away when I got home, but couldn’t because I’m way too sentimental.
I’m sure it’s not just me! If you also have these things lying around, it’s a great idea to stick them all into a scrapbook. Remember when we used to do this back when we were kidsYou don’t even have to get a new one; even old magazines or notebooks will do. Add little post-its or cut-out pieces of paper next to each memento and write a short caption talking about the memories associated with it.
2. Cook up something from a country you visited
Nothing brings back memories as vividly as the smell and taste of food. Why not cook a dish you loved from one of your travels in your own kitchen? It never hurts to experiment, and you might even make yourself proud after you’ve learned a new recipe.
Many cuisines require a staple set of ingredients; if you’re missing Japan, for example, you can whip up the most popular Japanese dishes by having the essential ingredients in your pantry, paired with fresh vegetables, seafood, or meat. YouTube is also filled with instructional videos for authentic traditional recipes like paella, or even fresh pasta made by actual Italian nonnas.
3. Learn your favorite destination’s local language
Learning a new language is a great way to keep your brain sharp, and it also arms you with new skills that will be immensely helpful on your next trip!
While Duolingo is a popular choice for getting into a new language and learning new phrases, LingoDeer is a great app for learning the basics of East Asian languages, like Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, as it comes with detailed explanations on grammar and word usage. They also offer lessons on Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, and Vietnamese. Language exchange apps like HelloTalk also allow you to talk with others who are native speakers of the language you’re currently learning. For more formal and intensive lessons, you can check out Rosetta Stone.
4. Organize your travel photos
Just how many travel photos do you have stashed away in your phone’s memory or cloud storage? As precious as every second you spend on your trip may be, not every blurry, overexposed, or redundant photo is worth keeping. You can’t live with all that clutter forever; don’t let the pandemic make you forget that you still have so many travel goals to cross out in the future!
It doesn’t have to be a tedious task; think of it as a way to live through the memories once more. You can even pick out the ones you like and have them sent over to a photo-printing service, who will then have the prints delivered to your doorstep. It’s also a good excuse to look for and buy pretty picture frames online, so you can display them around your home.
Got any anti-travel nostalgia tips that we haven’t mentioned here? Let us know in the comments!
