How do restless wanderers fuel their travel lust when not in motion? While between trips recently, here’s where you might have spotted me at home away from home:
At the Opera
Where better than the opera to get your cultural, artistic and aesthetic fix all in one place?
Just give me a passionate, happy-ever-after or heart-wrenching story of love and loss, set to sublime music sung in a foreign language. Include an exotic location to immediately transport me from the ordinary to the extraordinary – all in one evening. For an opera like Bizet’s Carmen, there’s the double bonus of hearing the music sung in French while enjoying the ambiance of Seville.
Eating at an Ethnic Restaurant
Let’s hear it for one of the great bonuses of global diversity: the chance to savor scrumptious foods at the many available ethnic restaurants in our own backyards. Even in smaller towns across the country, there’s a good chance of finding food fare from Mexico, India or Thailand.
Noodle Delight at Thai Siam in Seattle
Much like my affinity for foreign languages, I have rarely found a foreign food that I wouldn’t give a try at least once. If I want to revisit a country like Brazil in my mind, for example, I have only to enjoy a Brazilian meal of feijoada, topped off with a caipirinha, to evoke my memories of Rio de Janeiro.
Watching a Foreign Film
It’s so easy to travel to a distant land from the comfort of our own homes, not that I recommend it as a long-term travel substitute, of course. In one weekend, I traveled Around the World in 80 Days, then off to Shanghai in the 30’s with The White Countess, and finally the desert with Lawrence of Arabia.
What about you Wanderboomers? How do you fuel your travel lust between trips? Share your stories here.
I read travel blogs. I also read lots of books and magazines about travel, but the travel blogs are my favorite. They just seem so timely and are written by people like me who love to travel!
What a great idea, Jan! Like you, the timeliness of travel blogs holds a special appeal for me. I have way too many travel books and magazines around the house to keep my wanderlust in overdrive for years to come! Thanks for commenting ~
I too read travel blogs or a funny memoir about some travel! I have been known to pick a pretty exotic screen saver too and lust for its location!
Ooo, that’s another great idea, Astra! For the longest time, I had one of Rio de Janeiro as my screensaver. I like to use photos from my travels, such as the one I have of the Island Spirit, reminding me of a small-ship cruise of Alaska’s Inside Passage.
I work on the backlog of my latest trip and post photographs to my travel blog. That usually triggers travel related interaction from Google+, Flickr, Twitter or email.
Hoteliers as well as Flickr group admins like to get my photos 😉
Advertisers want to write guest posts 😉
And that easily gets me thinking of new destinations I should go to…
Thanks, Walter! I’m with you – writing about my latest trip and posting photos just seems to wind up my wanderlust all over again. I like how you think 🙂
Although I am living in and discovering a new country right now, Moldova, my wanderlust sometimes needs more fuel. I do what most of you who wrote the comments do. I read blogs, I write an “expat” blog myself and of course I read travel books and expat books. There are always other places I would love to discover.
It’s a big, fascinating world out tbere and I’m lucky to be able to see so much of it.
Thanks for commenting, Karen. Yes, there does seem to be a theme here: reading and writing travel blogs heads up the list of ways readers here manage to keep their wanderlust alive when not traveling. I just had another thought: we could play “Spin the Globe” (for those of us who still have one!) and see where our daydreams take us ~
As a full-time traveler there is never a time when I am not on the road. However, there are times when I am located at one destination for a month or more. During those times I find I look for local attractions, events, scenic drives or hiking trails to satisfy my wanderlust. Of course, like most of the people responding I also spend time travel blogging, posting photos and planning my next adventure.
Full-time traveling sounds good, Vicki! It’s amazing how much there is to see anew right in our own backyards if we take the time to look & participate in local events. Thanks for the reminder ~
These are wonderful tips … I do many of them already…so good to have a reminder. I’d add to the list — blog about your past travels, and help yourself and others re-live the adventure. I write weekly about my travels on my blog.
Glad you found these tips helpful, Colleen! Like you, I enjoy writing about my past travel experiences as well as my most recent journeys. Thanks for commenting ~
Good as always, when I used to want to travel so bad I thought Id go insane, I would change the furniture around in my house. Noow Ive just resigned myself.
Uh-oh . . . Lol – Guess what I’ve been doing this past week? You guessed it – rearranging furniture! I would never have made the connection had I not read your comment, Samantha. Remember – new discoveries await, even in your own backyard . . .
mine is reading other people’s blogs, travels and PHOTOS!!
the clincher is the food. i love to eat…
I’m right in there with your pick of foreign films and ethnic restaurants…watching a subtitled film transports me almost as well as a plane ticket (please note that I said ‘almost’:)
I love looking at other travel blogs. And I have at least four globes, along with atlases, world maps…you get the picture.
As well, I make some of my collages with ticket stubs, foreign receipts, postcards and photos to remind me of where I’ve been.
In between? I definitely move a lot of furniture too!
Ah – another travel soulmate, Jenny! Yeah – food will cinch it for me every time. Thanks for stopping by ~
I love the idea of making collages from our travel mementos, Colleen! What a fun way to keep our journeys alive. Thanks for commenting ~
when not at work or out on a trip, i take the time to read other travellers’ blog. it’s always great to read about other travellers’ experiences, they serve as inspirations for my next destination 🙂
I dream about past trips and make plans for the next trip.
Some days I get in my car and drive to whatever little corner of my home base I haven’t seen before and explore every corner. I would travel every moment if I could afford to do so. If I could make money at it I would be the happiest woman ever. I go to the favorite bookstore and drink coffee while I lose myself in the whatever travel magazine is new to the shelves.
Dreaming is good, Anita. I love your idea of hanging out at a favorite bookstore, sipping coffee while losing yourself in the latest travel magazines. In fact, I’m going to make sure I schedule time to do just that later this week :-).
I’m with you, Gladys! I’m always inspired by reading about other people’s travel experiences. Thanks for commenting ~
Nature shows. The wonderful BBC labour of love The Earth. I read travel blogs like YOURS! 🙂
I hope it’s OK that I’ve added you to my blog roll. I’m not a woman–maybe in the next life–but I love your blog.
Yes, I love nature shows, too, Christopher. I strongly recommend the BBC video, Galapagos – the Islands That Changed the World, narrated by Tilda Swinton. Thanks for your support of my travel blog :-)!
But, of course, Christopher! And I love you for loving my blog ~
I have always loved the idea of a going away but staying home. Sometimes we come into the City (San Francisco) we live about 15 miles out, have dinner, spend the night, and walk up and down the wharf in the morning. When we get home, even though we haven’t traveled, it feels as if we have. Wonderful reminder, Nancy. It T-day wasn’t around the corner, I’d take a mini-break.
I love mini-breaks, too, Brenda! I’m always amazed at how refreshed I feel after even one night away from my daily routine ~
Books by Hemingway and/or Graham Greene as well as by non-Western writers help me to find a new sense of place.
One of my other faves is the good old fashioned art museum. Because I’ve done the museum gig in so many different countries now this activity reminds me of perhaps lost memories, introduces me to new artists or to see certain artists in new ways.
Your suggestions to watch foreign films and eat at ethnic restaurants help too! For instance, a friend took me to an Indian place tonight and I sang for my supper by telling him an anecdote about restaurants in Mumbai. And you know eating at ethnic restaurants always reminds you of being back in those countries!
Cheers on a kewl post, Nancy.
Thanks, Nichole! I agree – finding the sense of place wherever we are, whether in books, ethnic restaurants, etc. helps keep wanderlust alive. Thanks for commenting ~