Sara Sheibani
Editor: Margaret Huibregtse
Right now, traveling isn’t really an option for most people. I personally thought that I was going to be visiting friends, family, and new places I’ve never seen before. Instead, I have been home in Wisconsin since January and haven’t left since. However, I have still traveled to many places that I have — and haven’t physically been to over this time thanks to my past self and technology.
To all of my fellow travellers who have a travel itch they haven’t been able to scratch, here are a few things to appease your wanderlust.
Be nostalgic and reminisce
Travel through your own memories and revisit some of your favorite places and moments. Try scrolling through your camera roll or memories. If you’re more of an analog traveler, page through some of your old journal entries. There’s no better way to travel mentally than to remember your own personal experiences.
Scroll through Instagram
Travel influencers exist. I wish I was one, until I remember that I am heavily camera shy. Between now and whenever they started posting there are plenty of photos and videos for you to travel through and maybe even find a few things to add to your bucket list. Here are some of my go to feeds:
Nathalie Roch: one of my favorite instagrammers, adapted and kept me digitally traveling through all of 2020. Between Photoshop contests, sharing her favorite highlights, and creating new videos with Instagram reels, I feel like I’ve been to several new cities and also revisited my study abroad town.
Dr. Kiona: is someone I love to travel, and also learn, with. She not only shares beautiful pictures of places around the world but also facts, stories, and history, teaching me more about the places I have and want to visit.
Watch some YouTube
YouTube is a treasure trove of videos of people travelling all over the world. If you had a trip get cancelled, try looking up where you were going. You can even make an itinerary of the city and watch videos of all the places you wanted to see.
If you’re not sure where you want to go, here are a few of my favorite YouTubers who I’ve travelled vicariously through:
cari cakes: she is based in Seoul, South Korea. Her videos not only take you around South Korea, but also wandering around Seoul which has really motivated me to explore my hometown more and enjoy the little things.
absent abroad: her short videos are a culmination of beautiful locations. Her most recent videos around her home country of Thailand have definitely added many more places to my travel list.
Damon Dominique: he is not solely a travel channel, but his videos often show what it’s like living in Paris and it’s duality as the city of love and residential bureaucracy. He recently published a documentary video about Berlin and also travelled to Crema (the town from Call Me By Your Name) which took me out of chilly Wisconsin and to summer in Italy.
Music
Add a bit of ambiance to your YouTube video travelling or as you take a stroll outside. Find your old playlists you listened to while you were travelling or search for someone elses on YouTube or Spotify. While you’re there, give our new travel playlist a listen.
Souvenirs!
Souvenirs print and online articles can take you all over the world through the lense of fellow Badgers. Some of our writers have even highlighted not only their past travels but other media they travel through recommending books and movies to travel through! Our Fall 2020 print issue just launched, too, so go check it out!
Safe travels!