Welcome to the one-month mark of lockdown in Berlin! I don’t know how you’ve been spending your time in lockdown/quarantine/shelter in place, but I’ve vacillated between the 7 stages of grief with whip lashing regularity. It sucked to watch all of my spring travel plans vanish in the course of just a few weeks. It was depressing to not know when I can see friends and family again. And it’s been terrifying to see the suffering and uncertainty the virus has spread around the world. Even more unfortunately, the usual way I distract myself—planning a trip—is completely infeasible right now. So instead, I found some other travel-related things to do in lockdown!
Travel-Related Things to do in Lockdown
Organize/Review photos
Maybe you’re better about this than I am, but I am absolutely terrible at organizing my travel photos. Minus the shots I take for the blog, the rest of my pictures are a crooked, unfiltered mess. Getting them organized and edited has been a great way to take a trip down memory lane—and feel very productive at the end of it! I use Google Photos to store mine—with a backup hard drive of all the high-res images.
Read travel books
Between staying in touch with all my friends and working all day, it feels like I’m spending more time than ever on my phone or laptop. So I’ve been trying to amp up reading instead. It’s such a single-minded activity, which means it’s great for turning off the outside noise for a bit. Books on travel—both fictional and non—are a great way to indulge your wanderlust without leaving your home.
Plan future trips
At work we joke that all of our unbillable time (time not booked to a specific client or project) goes to research and development. And in this case—why not? This is the perfect opportunity to fall into a wormhole of your dream destination. Read travel blogs. Scour Pinterest. Ask questions in travel-related Facebook groups.
Want some tips for planning a trip? The key is research and organization—and a great template never hurt anyone. Check mine out here!
Listen to a radio station from far away
This was a cool find—Radio Garden lets you tune into any radio station around the world. Each of the green dots represents a radio station. Spin the globe to try something new—or use the search function to target exactly where you want to go. Parents with plane-obsessed kiddos might find the airport radio towers particularly entertaining.
Research your family’s roots
Do you know where you come from? Or how you got there? Researching your family’s story can be a big project—which makes it a great option for a lockdown period. Try Ancestry.com or Family Search to get started. If you’re wondering how this falls into travel-related things to do in lockdown, why not consider planning a trip to trace your roots, or learn more about your culture?
Eat something incredible
Nothing transports you like food. If you’re getting bored cooking the same old-same old, try something more adventurous. Different tastes and flavors will do a lot to excite your brain and stimulate you in a different way. If you’re not a big cook (and/or want to support small businesses in your area), consider ordering in from a new place. Why not try that Ethiopian place that’s been on your list? Or go all out on a taco Tuesday?
Fall into a culture wormhole
If you aren’t already familiar, Google’s Arts and Culture is a literal cultural treasure trove, with all kinds of interesting content. Take a virtual tour of the Pyramids. Learn why Bento boxes are a thing. “Wander” down New York to discover street art. Test your art knowledge and get all of your obscure culture questions answered.
Got more travel-related things to do in lockdown? Share them in the comments below!
Up and Gone 