If you have found your way to this article through the myriad of content present on the internet, ask yourself this: What is travel for you? Is it a way to switch your brain off from the bustling traffic on your route to office? It is a way to revive your lost touch with the mother nature and retreat in her embrace for a little while? Does it gush through your veins and the prospects of touching a new shore or a new peak or a abode make your heat beat faster? Does the thought of being separated from those charming beaches, those soothing sunsets and those mighty mountains sting you as bad as it stings me? If yes, I feel you mate! I feel you!
With the pandemic spreading its vicious tentacles over our beautiful world, the travel and tourism fraternity has gone topsy-turvy and left behind are crazy travel-heads like me, like you, with a beseeching question that when will we able to spread our wings again?
All said and done, as the need of the hour is to stay in the safety of our homes, I have resorted to the five commandments to quench my travel thirst for the time-being. I have spilled my beans herein, in the hopes that it could help my kind of people out there. 😊
1) Radio Garden:
When you travel to a new land, you not only soak in the pretty landscapes that place has to offer, but you also imbibe a tiny bit of the it culture, its cuisine and its music in your memories. I recently stumbled upon a fantastic piece of technology which plays live music for me from any part of the world and thus helps me reconnect with my beloved places.
This App's name is 'Radio Garden' and its available for free on Android as well as iOS. This allows a person to listen to the music playing on more than 8000 radio channels playing across the world. All you have to do is scroll across the globe and find a radio station playing live music at a place of your musing. As I write this, my ears are serenaded with the intriguing greek music playing at a radio station at my beloved island, Santorini ❤️ (posting a screenshot of my phone below 😝)
(By the way, you guys can go back, download the app, tune in some music from Turkey, Canada, Vietnam or any other of your sweetheart nation. I will be right here, waiting for you to return 😉)
2) 'Netflix and Travel', anyone?
Remember olden days, when our ally Netflix used to relax us as we got too burdened with the every day hustle-bustle of life. On our off days, we used to curl up on couch with no one but Netflix and a bag of chips! To our amusement, during this lock-down as well, Netflix can help us traverse peaking mountains, roll on pretty meadows and dive into deep oceans! Well, virtually, of course! 😉
I am listing out a few series which will soothe your eyes craving for some green-dose! These are not travel series per se, but they offer such spectacular views and landscapes from various parts of the planet that the onlooker is left spellbound.
(i) Night on Earth
(ii) Earth: One Amazing Day
(iii) Our planet
(iv) National Parks Adventures
(v) Jago: A life underwater
All these are available on Netflix, so all you have to do is grab that remote and dive into the world of virtual travel! (Psst, if you don't have an active connection, don't hesitate to ask for it from a friend! These web-series are so worth it! 😄)
3)Revive the olden, sepia travel days:
Admit it, back then when we had started travelling, we were neither as mindful of capturing the perfect moment nor were we as pro with cameras, as we are today! But it doesn't mean that not trips are not worth cherishing and reviving! After all, those were the trips which nurtured the little traveler in you. ❤️
So a few days into the lock-down, I decided to trace old pictures from my past trips. Honestly, many of them are blurred, imperfectly angled, lacking proper lights (plus, ahem, I had little idea about how to pose perfectly 😝). But looking at those pictures brought an unparalleled feeling of having lived some near perfect days in perfect locations! Be it a weekend trip to Ganpatipule, or a monsoon stroll in the off-beat tracks of Kerala, or a blessed trip to Rameshwaram and Madurai with parents, or that work trip to Goa! I am sharing a few, not-so-perfect pictures od those trips, because you know, they are equally prescious! ❤️
So, why don't you trace your old pictures too! Bring out those archived folders in laptops or even those faded photographs in dusty albums.
4) Planning makes a trip perfect:
In my first blog on Tripoto about my honeymoon trip, I had emphasized that how extensive research and planning about a place you intend to visit help you achieve that trip of a lifetime! It was weeks of googling, and brainstorming that rendered perfection to my trip to Italy and Greece! (Ahem,ahem! Please pardon my exaggeration 😂) Careful choice of place to visit (specially if you wish to visit abroad) and prior booking of not only hotels and flights, but also of intercity commute and entry tickets to famous monuments will not only make your trip hassle-free but also save you a chunk of bucks!
So I am indulging myself to research about a few places which I intend to travel once it is safe to do so. Right now I am working on itineraries to Bhutan, an off beat African island named Tunisia as well as a Himalayan trek. My process includes identifying best time to visit, best time to book a flight, cheapest airport in the country, modes of commute available, etc.) However, its only time that will tell which of these places be the first one I visit.
5) Connect with like minded Travellers:
When great minds think together they always prove to be more productive than when working in silos. This applies to the world of travel as well.
You get inspired by a jaw dropping picture that another person posted on their blog and head out to find your own 'wow' moment, in turn inspiring several others to step out of their homes as well. This cycles continues and thrives. And Tripoto plays a wonderful role in this cycle by presenting a great platform to connect with genuine and like minded travelers.
For the last two months, I have been gorging on astounding photo-blogs and trips posted by fellow travelers on Tripoto. This has not only inspired me for a few of my future trips, but also helped me connect with some travelers on a personal basis. I am sharing tips, seeking guidance, indulging in discussions about places via this platform.
Coming together of the whole of travel fraternity in such ways would definitely revive travel in our world soon and strong! With this humble prayer in my heart, I would sign off for now. I would love to know how are you connecting to the world of travel from your homes! Is it some travel book, some travel movie or a whole new idea? Let me know by comments! 😊