What to do when suddenly your travel plans are canceled due to any reasons? Here I will give some ideas regarding things to do when you can’t travel – Bring the world to you. You have planned for travel or tour for upcoming holidays and going for a fun-filled vacation but suddenly your plans get disrupted by emergencies which can be of any kind like health issues, job-related issues, natural calamities, environmental warnings, travel advisories then you become disheartened or emotional. So to overcome this sadness or emotional outbreak, try to do travel-related activities while not traveling too. This is a small rough phase in your life and it will get over very soon. So read about some interesting and unique travel-related activities to do which gives the equal pleasure of traveling if you are sitting at home too.
Things To Do When You Can’t Travel – Bring The World To You
ARTS & CREATIVITY
PAINTINGS – Select your best travel photo from your previous travels and try to recreate it on a white canvas, mugs, T-shirts, bed-sheets with beautiful and vibrant colors. Give birth to your inner artist.
CRAFTS – SCRAPBOOKS Not much into painting or colors, then take out your old travel-related photos and make a beautiful travel scrapbook or travel album with full information, captions, and decorations. Involve all your family in this and they will enjoy listening to your experiences and sharing their own too.
THREAD CRAFT – Indulge into some embroidery or stitching and learn some new work which depicts a particular region – for example ribbon work from Ukraine or some Kutch, Indian embroidery.
RESOURCES / SOME IDEAS
- Painting – Acrylic, Oil, Water or Sketching
- Calligraphy, Stenciling
- Paper Crafts – Decoupage, Quilling, Mosaic, etc.
- Threads and sewing accessories
- Learn from Youtube videos, blogs and various free Apps on your mobile or Apps
DIGITAL MEDIA
DIGITAL PHOTOBOOKS / ALBUMS – If you are not good at crafts then, these travel-related photos can be created into digital photo books with music and animations. This digital version will surely revive up your mood and will take you the memory lane of previous travels. Create a digital photo book that can be shared with your friends on social media too or you can take a printout of that book too.
VIDEOS – If not digital photo albums then create video albums with previous travel videos and you can also create your own Youtube travel channel too. Most of the time we record videos and take several photos during traveling but most of them are ignored and are kept in the hard disk for several years without even looking at them again. This is the best time to dig your previous travel memories and give them a beautiful makeover or change to revive your beautiful travel moments. By making and then watching travel videos you will feel like traveling again to the same places which you have enjoyed a lot. Many free video-maker apps are nowadays available free to download on your computer or mobile.
TRY PHOTOGRAPHY – Learn some photography skills and try capturing scenes near you. Photography is a great way to know the world and getting engaged creatively. If you don’t know much photography then read some photography ebooks to enhance your photography skills.
Making this video on Oman from previous recorded video clips in my free time.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Travel photos
- Digital software or Apps.
HOME DÉCOR
Decorate your room, home or specific wall with the travel-related theme. Convert your room or walls to the Greek style of décor or Spanish style of décor. Refer to your previous travel photos or experiences and give a makeover to your room or walls. You will now give a new look to your room which is travel themed and you can feel in a new world in your home sweet home.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Home Accessories – Travel themed Posters, lamps, candles, peculiar artifacts.
- Paints & Special Light effects.
COOKING/FOOD
Food tours are very trendy nowadays as to know a place better is to go through their food journey. So if vacation is canceled then plan your meal plans as per the diverse cuisines around the world. Like you can day-wise or week wise plan for a particular country or authentic cultural cooking. You can plan one day for the Indian style of dinner or Mexican style or Italian brunch. Being a foodie traveler, I always revive my travel memories by cooking something authentic from there. I cooked Khachapuri (a Georgian Cuisine) when I returned from Georgia as I learned cooking some new unique dishes there.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Cooking videos
- Ingredients from Ethnic food section
INDOOR GAMES
Play some travel games like Ticket to Ride, Sagrada, Forbidden Desert, 7 wonders of the world, etc. In this, my favorite is Ticket to Ride and I have collected all of their versions. With these games, I have enhanced many of my travel facts and knowledge about the world. With Ticket to Ride, I now can visualize the map of Europe without even opening a map or atlas.
Also, family travelers or group travelers can plan a memory game where they can ask questions or quiz related to past travel experiences in which you can recall all your funny and lovely travel moments. You can also download interesting and free printable games and puzzles for travel and home.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Travel Board Games like Ticket to Ride, Sagrada, 7 wonders of the world, Hotel Tycoon, Civilization, North West Passage, some card games from around the world.
- If video games then download some travel games on your mobile, laptop, PSP’s – The Game of Choice – The Uncharted Series, Game of Choice – Okami, AirLine Commander – A real flight experience, Taxi Sim 2020, etc.
COLLECTIONS / SOUVENIRS
COIN COLLECTION – A traveler always comes back home with some coins from the country where he traveled too. And now you must be having various types of coins around the world. Take them out and make a coin album or coin collection board with all specifications of a particular currency.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Coins from your previous collection, scrapbook or diary and some crafty decor stuff.
SOCIALIZING
Invite your friends or close relative for travel themed dinner at your place. Due to busy traveling previously, you might have ignored your neighbors, friends or relatives and so now as you have time, it is best to meet them and spend some valuable time with them.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Friends or Relatives
- Food and specific music of distant or exotic country.
- Your previous travel memories.
ENTERTAINMENT
Download some best travel movies where you can see the world with your favorite hero or story. Also, many movies are based on travel and these are the best ones to enjoy traveling virtually. For eg. The Sound of Music, Zindagi Naa Mile Doobara (Hindi), Chennai Express(Hindi), Into the Wild, Under the Tuscan Sun, Midnight in Paris, EuroTrip, Roja(Hindi, Tamil).
Not movies, then watch some travel documentaries on National Geographic, Google Earth, Lonely Planet, Discovery Channel, etc.
Watch Incredible India at –
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Videos, DVD’s of movies.
- Netflix or Youtube channels
- Display panel (TV or Laptop)
- Good Internet connection.
READING – BOOKS, LITERATURE & BLOGS
There are many interesting reads on explorers of the world, their travel stories, travel blogs and other fictional travel stories too. Reading them makes us aware of many unknown places with unique facts and many adventures. Feel those adventures, journeys of your favorite explorer by reading their travel biography. If not keen on long reading, then you can read travel quotes too. Read some Travel quotes at – Best Inspiring Travel Quotes – Famous Travel Quotes with Travel Photos
Some of the Best Travel Books
- Read 15 of the Best Travel Books for kids.
- Fictional works such as Gulliver Travels, Treasure Island, A Tale of Two Cities
- Books on Explorers – Vasco De Gama, The Life of Christopher Colombus
- Travel stories – 50 states – 5000 Ideas, The Travel Book Journeys of a Lifetime
- Wilderness Survival Books.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Download or buy online books.
- Purchase books from nearby book store or borrow from library.
WRITING – PUBLISHING
Write small stories, blogs, etc on social media with tips and information regarding your travel experiences. You can also publish them in travel magazines, local newspapers, newsletters by contacting their editors.
You would love to know that I started my travel blogging when my US trip got canceled at the last moment before certain years. I was so depressed due to sudden cancellation that I wanted to write some of my previous travel experiences and initially, it started as a hobby but now seriously thinking to take it as a career.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Publish travel stories on social media or create your own blog.
- Contact your local newspaper or magazines editorial department to publish your travel stories.
GARDENING
If you have enough gardening space in your courtyard or balcony then plant some exotic plants in your backyard. Read about plants around the world and if feasible try to plan them in your garden. This activity is dependent on the local climate, geography and other feasible conditions.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
You can plant Holy Basil from India / Italy or cactus from the Middle East at your place. Many other herbs, flowers or fruits can also be planted. Buy seeds or exotic saplings from your nearby nursery, supermarkets or online sites.
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Every region or country has its own dialects, language, and culture. Traveling to that particular place makes us aware of these things apart from visiting famous tourist attractions. Going for some unique foreign language course is an interesting thing to do. Go for a short language course either online or nearby classes. You can also learn some basic words of different languages around the world or the place where you have traveled before and liked it.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Purchase some books from nearby book store.
- Buy online books.
PHYSICAL FITNESS – ACTIVITY
Learn or perform some cultural dance, martial arts or physical fitness moves of specific regions.
Like, learn Yoga from India, Taekwondo from Korea, Judo from Japan, Capoeira from Brazil.
Or learn some moves of Bharatnatyam from India, Salsa from Cuba, Flamenco from Spain, Belly dance of the Middle East and many more dance forms.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Online teaching videos.
- Book an online instructor.
WELLNESS – MEDITATION – SPIRITUAL ACTIVITIES
Learn meditation or practice spirituality from your home.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Learn meditation or spiritual activities from online videos or books.
- Take small naps & complete rest at home. Sometimes snuggling inside your favorite quilt too makes you rejuvenate back.
ADMIRE NATURE AROUND YOU
If air flights are canceled or can’t go very far, then explore some hidden beautiful views from your windows or balconies. Look out for sunrise or sunset from your balcony or window. Admire the greenery or vibrant skyline around you. Get the glimpse of blue skies, floating clouds, chirping birds and many beauties of nature from your window/balcony/garden at your house.
RESOURCES / IDEAS
- Windows and Balcony of your house.
I would love to know what is your favorite activity and what do you do when you don’t travel. There are many beautiful things to do to remove travel depression. To revive previous travel moments is the best thing to do when you are not traveling or cancel your travel plans. Bring the world to you when you can’t move out. Explore the beauties of the world with your activities when you can’t travel. When there is some reason or cause which stops you traveling suddenly that is the highest priority and should be attended first.
Travel is not a race, score card or competitive exams (SAT’s IIT’s entrances), like where you have to complete this many places in a specific time – do it at your ease and comfort as the relaxed travel is the most beautiful thing.
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Fantastic. I like your post and I share my social Networks!
Thanks and I am glad that you loved my post. Hopefully your friends too must find it interesting.
We food travel alot now during the pandemic, and we go all in with special ordering twine, grossery shopping online for the perfect things, decorations. I love it. Not like the real deal, but still!
I love the ideas and the varieties of the things to do when we can’t travel. A friend suggested we try the food travel every weekend but since I’m not keen on cooking, we order take-away instead. So, it works in both ways for us now that travelling is not happening.
Thanks for loving the ideas. If you are not keen for cooking, then you can try other travel related themes too.
Really nice post, some great ideas. We cannot wait to travel again but some of these will keep us entertained in the meantime. Thank you for sharing!
You know what?
We actually started planning having food-travels every weekend, just to have that little extra thing to do right now. We are starting this weekend with Italian, so I am going to make a few different types of pasta. Kind of like tapas-pasta, so you can try a few different types 🙂
Yes Tapas Pasta sounds interesting, and I would also go for it.
What a great list of things to do while we all wait for the world to return to “normal”!
Lovely post! We can all use some things to do during these difficult times… Stay safe!
Great post!! Great list too. I have had a long list of places I was hoping to traveling starting this month, unfortunately I had to cancel everything, nevertheless health is important than anything. Luckily, I have the chance to complete all my pending tasks that has been piling up for years, and I would love to try out new activities like trying out meditations or working on my gardening skills.
Thanks to you there could be less travelers that feel empty and lame because of the coronavirus outbreak. There are only a few that I can think of doing things. I have my travel pictures kept in my hard drive so yeah, i might not be going to start my youtube channel but I sure will make a video out of my past travels.
A very timely and positive post. I am currently taking up some of this advice – working on my old pending posts for sure. I rediscovered jigsaws. I have also been binge watching. Planning to keep sharing some virtual journeys that act as motivators for us in better times. Hopefully, this phase too, shall pass and quickly.
My girls have been painting and making videos. We love to get outside and explore even if it’s in our own backyard. You have some really great tips here on things to do. I never thought of learning a cultural dance. My girls would love that! Thanks for the idea.
Yes sometimes dancing to to unique cultural songs are great thing to remember our travel times.
Such a timely post filled with so many great ideas. Could be a weekend post as well when the world returns to normal. Like you, we are taking advantage of this time.
Love this! So far I have done cooking and exploring my local area! I have just been meal prepping a lot but I loved your idea on having themed cuisine days! We also spent the rest of today strolling around our local area and rode bikes home!
Tonight is board game night!
There is definitely so many ways to keep entertained in the current situation! Love it!
Really great and timely info! I love to travel but realistically it can’t be done ALL the time…great ways to satisfy your wanderlust.
These are great ideas, and so useful during this time when most of us are staying put!
I love all these ideas! So thoughtful and contains a great variety for every person. Hopefully, we’ll all be traveling again very soon!
Great Post! Love all these ideas. Since I’m on lockdown, I will take some of these suggestions.
so useful at a time like this 🧡 thanks for sharing babe xx
What a great post! We will be having a lot of time for reading and art…
A really great article and timely! I especially love your book recommendations!
I love learning new languages and cooking international cuisine sounds like a great idea too
Very thoughtful post and a lot of wonderful ideas to bide the time. I like to cook when I’m not traveling. Helps me keep the memories alive!
These are great ideas, but what do people like me who travel full time do?! I incorporate them into my daily life 😂 Continually being on the move means new languages to learn, and finding to reach day to switch off from constant planning and organising is a must – that’s why we housesit!
A good post for people who might find themselves suddenly with more time on their hands. We will certainly be spending time dealing with the massive amount of photos we have from travelling. And I may finally put a dent in the backlog of blog posts I need to publish. Although I am not sure who is ready travel blogs these days! We may not be decorating but it will be a good time to spend some time uncluttering. And I do have a backlog of books to catch up on. We will use the time to relax and decompress.
Great tips! My Barcelona spring is going to be canceled due to the virus.
Lovely post! This is the right time to publish it when we are all stuck at home given the current virus situation. I enjoy painting, family games like puzzles or cards and of course, watching our favourite movies on TV! 🙂
This is such a brilliant post. Especially as the whole world slowly gets shut down because of the virus, I know I am going to be home entertaining the family. I love the idea of scrapbooking travels!
When my friend’s daughter when backpacking around Europe we were very envious. I was staying at her house and working from home, so each night I prepared food from the country her daughter was traveling to. We had Greek nights, Italian nights, French nights and Spanish nights. It was so much fun to follow their travel and “eat with them”. Traveling vicariously is a fabulous adventure in itself.
Wow you really had foodie tour with your friend’s daughter.
These are well curated and thoughtful ideas you have put together and I must say I tend to try out some recipes on local cuisines of places visited. I think my paella is coming along nicely and I can roll a sushi sort of okay now. More practice and I will be a pro. Thank you so much for sharing these ideas.
These are some excellent ideas. I mostly do gardening, reading, writing and of course a lots of new series on Netflix if I am not traveling. Local travel is highly recommended. Reading keeps me busy while I am not traveling, specially the travel books.
This is so beautiful. Really loved it. 😍
What a cute post and some nice ideas, I do love anything to do with arts and crafts. How exciting you have had an article published in a magazine, I woud love to see my articles in print!
Yes I too love some articles printed in magazines or newspapers.
What a lovely post and much needed at the moment All our travels are cancelled due to the Corono Virus outbreak until next month. I have been planning to paint few of my old travel pics. Have been planning some DIYs and also edit travel videos and write all pending travel posts 🙂
I know Swati, at this time we cannot travel but we can revive those travel moments and do all pending jobs
This is such a useful list, Yukti especially now when everyone’s travel plans have been cancelled around the globe. I love art and crafts. So, that is one of my favorite indulgences when I am not traveling. And if I can incorporate my travel memories into my art, nothing better. Plus, I also like to recreate international dishes at home. That gives me some reassurance that things will get better soon.
Hopefully yes, we will travel soon, but till then we can only rekindle our beautiful travel memories
These are indeed great ideas, yet simple and everyday hacks really!!!! Amidst all the pains of COVID and all plan cancellations, these are really the silver linings. I do have my own coin collections too.
Some of these ideas are great but not being so much a creative person, I will go in for catching up on my reading and read those books which I had bought but never read. Also with our summer plans in doubt after the virus scare, I would do a lot of trips in and around Kolkata where I stay.
To travel and explore our backyard is always a great thing to do.
These are great ideas and your post is just timely. With the Corona virus happening nowadays, most of travel plans has been cancelled.
I love the idea of turning of our old photos into paintings. Will find time to do this. 🙂
Thanks for loving some of the ideas
I always have travel books to read and I prefer to read experience travel blogs that narrate their story, how they got there, how they felt. I prefer those kind of blogs instead of well-researched SEO travel blogs where I am only told what I can see/eat/ sleep (I can find that in a guide book). So travel books are very important for me and I also write journals on my blog, to remember how I felt when I traveled and get in touch with that feeling.
I too replicate you, I love some unique writings with their interesting experiences. Writing travel journal and then reading afterwards is always a beautiful way to revive the previous trip
I love this post! I often find times when I am not able to travel but want to be as close to it as possible. Cooking international cuisines is a great way to connect to another culture when you can’t travel. I also love the canvas painting and scrap booking. ideas, I used to paint all the time. I will have to try this the next time I am looking for something to keep my mind busy. Thanks for sharing the great ideas!
Excellent tips here. I love reading about other people’s travel adventures and watching travel documentaries. What a great idea about cooking cuisines from other countries – I am a huge fan of Indian and Mexican food. My painting skills are ‘zero’ so I would concentrate on reading as much as I could.
Good to know you love cooking, as I too love cooking authentic local food of that area when I return from my trip.
This is a very thoughtful post to put together, thank you! Whilst I loooove travel, it is important to remember that there are some other really nice things to do with your time. I love the idea of taking time out to learn a new language 🙂 thankyou!
Thanks for loving the ideas and yes learning a new language is very interesting too.
Lovely 👍