What To Do While We Wait To Travel Again

We’re all stuck in the middle of this COVID-19 pandemic, and let’s be honest, there’s not a lot to love about #isolife.

We can’t even catch up with a mate for a coffee in the next suburb over, much less jump on a plane and fly off to another country.

The upside, of course, is that by staying home we’re helping keep ourselves, our loved ones and our communities safe – and from what we’ve seen in the news, it’s working, so it’s definitely totally 100 percent worth it.

But it’s had people (me) wondering things like:

When will we be able to travel again?

Will we ever travel again?!

Pretty much no-one has the answer to that first question right now – we kind of just have to wait and see how the whole thing plays out. But I’m feeling pretty hopeful we’ll be in a position to explore our own backyard again before Christmas, and I’ve seen that sentiment shared in the media by People In The Know, too.

As for overseas travel? That’s obviously take a bit longer, but I’ve got my fingers crossed for late 2020/early 2021… FYI, that’s based on (nearly) nothing – a couple of news articles I’ve read and an annoying tendency I have to think positive.

It might take a while, but I’m still convinced that, yes, travel will definitely be back on the cards again – and soon(ish).

That’s why I’m not curbing my usual several-times-daily habit of trawling holiday deal sites and dreaming about where I’ll go to next, and you shouldn’t either. Okay, so I can’t book flights, but I can definitely dream about where I want to go, and what to see and do when I get there – and that in itself can actually help beat the blahs of life in lockdown.

Currently planning my return trip to the Maldives (and, ahem, everywhere else…)

Right now, while we’re all stuck at home with no end date in sight, it feels a bit like we might not have anything to look forward to ever again (melodramatic, I admit, but the thought has crossed my mind during some of my lower points).

It’s really easy to get stuck in that feeling that nothing positive is coming along and, damn, that is a depressing way to be. But looking forward to things (like holidays, or, you know, packages arriving from StyleRunner…) can do big things for our mental health and happiness.

Without getting too science-y, there’s actually research to show that anticipation might be just as important in sparking joy as the fun event itself. Thinking about how much fun we’re going to have makes feel good – better, even, than the actual doing of the thing when we look back on it later.

All of this is to say: don’t give up on travel just because we’re temporarily grounded. Now is the perfect time to stop looking wistfully through past holiday snaps start planning your next trip. (Plus, if you’ve got your vacay worked out in advance, you’ll be in the best position to jump on what I am guessing will be some incredible deals on flights and hotels when the tourism industry starts to ramp up again.)

I’m really excited to see parts of the state I live in that I’ve never been to. And there are a lot of them. I was in the middle of planning a mini getaway to the Blue Mountains (where I’ve never been, despite having lived in Sydney for 21 years) when the virus hit, so I’ll be picking up those plans where I left off.

I haven’t ben to Melbourne in forever – I have a few friends down there I planned to visit when life got locked down, so once domestic flights are back on the menu, that’s where I’m headed.

I’d even started on some (loose) plans to get to Japan this year… Sure, I probably won’t be eating sushi in Toyko in September like I’d hoped, but I’m definitely going to hit the refresh button on my research so I’m ready to add plane tickets to cart as soon as the borders are opened up again and we’re in the clear.

Where will you go when the pandemic passes? Let me know in the comments!