How to be a Traveler Every Day

Adventure is a State of Mind

Listen in on a conversation I once had at a party:

New Acquaintance: What do you like to do?
Me: Travel
New Acquaintance: What do you like to do when you’re not traveling?
Me: Think about traveling.

Part-time Travel

For years I’ve said that I would love to travel full-time. As I’m getting closer to retirement, however, and realizing that I could potentially take that path, I’ve also gotten more honest with myself and admitted that full-time travel isn’t for me… although I still like to think about travel every day.

Once I don’t have the responsibilities of a job, I definitely plan to increase how much I travel, including taking longer trips, but I’ve realized that I also really enjoy being home. In fact, spending time at home makes traveling even more special.

Not being on the road (or in the air) doesn’t mean I don’t still think of myself as a traveler every day, though, even when I’m at home.

Pandemic Restrictions

Like many, the longest I’ve ever gone without some sort of trip occurred in 2020 and 2021 during the Covid pandemic. In February 2020, Greg and I took a trip to Tucson, Arizona, to visit some of his family with stops in El Paso and San Antonio, Texas. We returned home a couple of weeks before the entire country locked down.

When nearly a year had passed and I realized that I hadn’t left the state in all that time, I experienced a sense of panic. For every year of my entire life, even as an infant, I had at some point left the state in which I was living. To make sure my travel streak didn’t end, Greg and I drove across the border into Missouri when we were in Kansas City visiting his mom. Not exactly a travel adventure, but it made me feel better and hang on to my identity as a traveler.

Identity

Some of you love to travel as much as I do. Some of you love to travel but have had fewer opportunities to do so. And some of you have traveled much more than I have.

Identifying as a traveler isn’t about how many states you’ve visited or how many air miles you’ve logged. It’s really about how you think about yourself and your willingness to explore the world we’re living in. As I’ve said many times before, adventure is a state of mind. Just because we might be at home — either by choice or because we’re forced to do so — it doesn’t mean we stop being adventurous travelers.

Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.

John Lennon

Life

I often feel most alive when I’m exploring someplace new, but the truth is we’re living our lives all the time, not just when we’re traveling.

Sometimes we don’t have the time or financial resources to travel. Or maybe we’re just wanting to hang out at home for a while. Regardless of why I’m not traveling, it would be a shame to miss out on living my life because I’m so focused on my next trip.

There are many things we can do to keep the travel spark alive in our hearts while we are enjoying our lives at home. The following are a few of my favorite suggestions:

Read a Book

Reading is a virtual portal to another land, be it real or imaginary. When I’m dreaming of visiting someplace new or am actually planning a trip, I’m on the lookout for books, both nonfiction and fiction, about that location.

I also love reading novels that are set in places where I’ve actually been. The sights, sounds, and smells that are on the printed page are much more vivid when I’ve experienced them in real life. For example, I once read a novel set in Victorian England, and when the writer described “tendrils of fog creeping under a door,” I could picture it easily having once experienced fog in Scotland that was so thick that you could slice through it with your hand.

Movies

Much like books, movies can transport us to new places. When I’m dreaming of traveling someplace, I seek out movies that can give me a preview of that area.

When I’m watching a movie that is set in some place where I’ve been, there’s an extra little thrill in seeing something on the screen that I’ve seen in real life. I probably annoy Greg when I grab the remote control to pause the movie and point out someplace I’ve been (if he wasn’t there with me) and explain how it’s situated in relation to other things in the movie, or when I point out what I especially liked about the area. Of course, he’s as quick as I am to exclaim, “Hey, that’s the place we went!” when we come across a scene set someplace we’ve visited together.

Music

Music has an amazing ability to evoke a mood or even memories. When you travel, you may hear music on the radio or in a restaurant that you will forever associate with that place. You can listen to that music when you are at home and immediately be transported back to that experience. Years ago, Greg and I would often put effort into finding and purchasing CDs of local musicians for that reason. Now with the internet, it’s easy for travelers to find music they’ve enjoyed during their travels.

Another gift from the internet is access to local radio stations. For years, I’ve listened online to one of my favorite public radio stations in Kansas City – here’s a shout out to The Bridge 90.9 – but it’s just as easy to listen to radio stations in California or Australia or Germany. You can do an online search for stations in areas you have visited or plan to visit, and many have online streaming options. Or if you’re in the mood to explore, you can do a search for “world radio” and find multiple websites and apps that give you access to radio stations all over the world.

Food

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you knew I’d mention food eventually, didn’t you? Not only is trying new foods one of my most favorite aspects of travel, food is also one of the ways we bring travel home. Sometimes we do this by actually bringing food products back as a souvenir from our trips. (If you are returning from another country, you just want to make sure that the food you want to bring back can be transported across the border.)

On other occasions, we bought cookbooks as souvenirs or looked up recipes online once we returned home. Some of these have become staple meals in our household while others were something we fixed just once for a dinner party to share a little of our travel experiences with friends.

Even restaurant experiences can be different after visiting another country. For example, after our friends, Shelley and Mike, visited China, they introduced us to several new items we had never tried at a local Chinese restaurant.

Decorate Your Home

Many people, including us, bring back souvenirs from their travels that they use to decorate their homes. If you visit our house, you’ll see photos, paintings, and pottery from different trips we’ve taken. Often these are conversation starters when we have guests. (Greg loves show and tell!)

In addition to bringing back souvenirs, our house reflects our travel experiences in other ways. For example, on a trip to Canada we experienced fleece sheets for the first time and bought a set immediately after returning home. The convenience of electric kettles during many of my trips to Europe directly influenced me buying one of my own since I drink tea daily. And after seeing how sheepskin rugs were used for extra cushions at almost every place we stayed in Iceland, we locally bought a set to use on the chairs in our dining room.

Review Your Photos

It sounds like a no-brainer that looking at photos is a way to relive memories of previous trips, but surprisingly, some people post photos to social media and then rarely look at them again. (Or put their photos in albums that then go in the closet forever.) If you’re feeling stuck at home, getting out those photo albums or looking at photos on your phone is a great way to remember previous travel adventures.

I’d like to add a word of warning, however. If you’re someone who spends a great deal of time looking at old photos, I recommend limiting your photo time so that you can be mindful and pay attention to the life you are living now. Enjoyment of past memories is great, but not if it prevents you from being engaged in your life currently.

Plan Your Next Trip

As I mentioned at the beginning, I love thinking about travel, and I’m pretty sure I do so almost every day. Sometimes the thinking is vague – “Maybe we could take a trip to…” – but other times I’m trying to map out a route or make plans for where we’re staying. There are benefits to being the person who plans the trip, including expanding the positive experience through anticipation. You’re also very much going to feel like a traveler when you’re planning your next travel adventure.

Find Your Tribe

Just as with any hobby or interest, seeking out others who have the same interests adds to the experience. Not surprisingly, a large number of my friends enjoy traveling, and Greg and I enjoy hearing about their trips. We also often seek out advice when they have already visited someplace we are planning to go.

Hanging out with friends and discussing travel adventures is definitely a way to remind yourself that you are a traveler. It is also an activity that combines well with some of the previous recommendations, such as looking at photos or trying new foods. Consider creating a country or regional theme for the evening and include food, drinks, and music from that area.

Holidays

Different countries celebrate different holidays. Some may not have much meaning to you if you didn’t grow up in that culture, but you may come across some holidays or traditions that you would love to celebrate when you return home.

One of the most common of these that seems to translate well to American culture is Oktoberfest. I grew up being aware of small Oktoberfest celebrations in the parts of Kansas that have a history of large groups of German immigrants, and I’ve also known of individuals hosting their own Oktoberfest parties.

You may also want to incorporate new traditions into holidays you already celebrate. This past Christmas, I found out that friends were planning to celebrate Jólabókaflóðið or Jolabokaflod, which is an Icelandic tradition that translates as “Christmas book flood.” It involves giving and receiving new books on Christmas Eve and is accompanied by treats such as special chocolates, hot cocoa, or sometimes even beer. I think this may be a tradition I need to encourage my family to adopt!

Learn a Travel-Related Skill

Sometimes preparing for a trip just means making reservations and doing some research regarding what you want to do and see. Sometimes preparing for a trip involves additional skills. When I’m traveling to another country, I like to learn at least a few words in the local language, especially the “magic words.”

There are other skills that can be helpful as well. For example, in most countries outside of the U.S., it is significantly more affordable to rent a manual car than an automatic one, so learning to use a stick shift is a valuable skill that can save you money.

If you are planning to take a trip that will involve more physical activity than you are used to in your daily life, building up your strength and stamina over time will make the experience much more positive. For example, if you plan to hike the Grand Canyon, you aren’t going to want to start taking daily walks just a couple of days before you leave on your trip.

Also, make sure that the skills or strengths you are building fit the activities you are anticipating. A friend told me the story of preparing for a hiking trip in Peru by working out at the gym with someone who had worked in special forces in remote areas of the world. She described how he had recommended that she focus on the Stairmaster. She told me she wore her hiking boots to the gym in preparation for the trip, but when she was hanging onto the handles of the machine while working out, he walked by and asked her, “Do you think you’ll have handles in the mountains?” She continued her workout without holding on.

Be a Tourist in Your Own Town

My final suggestion helps to encourage and keep alive your spirit of adventure and exploring the world but also helps you to live a good life in between your travel adventures – live like a tourist where you live. This could be in your hometown or an hour away from your home, but there are always places and activities near where we live that we say we’d like to do but repeatedly put off. Being a tourist, however, means getting out there and actively exploring the world around you… even if it’s in your backyard.

One of the things that makes travel special is being open to new experiences and truly taking the time to savor them. Most of us make a point to stop and appreciate our surroundings if we are hiking in the Rocky Mountains, but you can do the same if you are hiking somewhere near where you live. Even if it’s a place you’ve been before, the season of the year or the time of day can make the experience unique.

Check out online resources or the local newspaper for activities going on in your area. Often there are music events, exhibits, or fairs going on. Check out a new restaurant, or visit a familiar one but order something new, and take the time to sit and visit with friends, much like you might do with your travel companions in a foreign country. Even changing your routine and driving to the store via a different route can help you view your neighborhood with new eyes.

If you have friends visiting, this is an especially good time to practice being a tourist. Seeing where you live through others’ eyes can help you see things differently as well. And visitors are a great excuse to visit interesting and historic places. My friend, Heather, and I stayed with a friend of hers during my first trip to Europe. I thanked the friend for being so gracious in showing us so much of London, and I apologized for us taking up her time to do things that I assumed must be redundant and boring for her. She responded that she had enjoyed the opportunity since many of the famous places we had visited, such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, were places that she had not been to since she was on a field trip in elementary school.

Enjoy Your Life… Wherever You Are

Traveling is a wonderful experience, but for most of us, we will spend the majority of our time not traveling. Life is too short to not make the most of it, even between trips.

When you’re not out in the world on an adventure, you can still identify as a traveler. In fact, that identity can help you live your non-traveling life even more fully!

What can you do to not only feel like a traveler at home but also more fully enjoy your “everyday” life?