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Traveling probably is not even on most of our radars right now as we social distance and self-quarantine. However, we, like many of you, are really itching to travel, especially because we have had to cancel a few trips due to the Coronavirus outbreak. As we all social distance and spend time inside in an effort to hopefully contain and ultimately beat the virus, you can start looking for inspiration for planning your next trip.
Check out Flight Prices
In helping decide where you want to travel next, start looking at flight prices. This might give you an idea of what is in your budget and where you may or may not be able to fly to. There are some great travel deals out there right now, but it’s completely understandable why you might be hesitant to click “buy.” With so much uncertainty in the world, it might be best not to buy just yet, but looking for some travel inspiration won’t hurt.
Some of our favorite flight finding websites are Google Flights, Skyscanner, Momondo, and Kayak.
As a side note, if you have trips planned for the near future, do not cancel them too early. If there are travel restrictions put in place that impact your travel you might avoid cancellation fees, or even get your entire payment refunded!
Read Travel Books
Reading is always a great place to find inspiration for your next trip. There are obviously thousands of travel books you can read, from memoirs to informational texts. Hopefully, you are able to find some time to read a little while social distancing. We know that this has been something we’ve enjoyed because normally it’s difficult to find time to read during our hectic lives.
Here are some recommended travel books that will hopefully inspire your wanderlust and at least help you “escape” your quarantine for a little.
The World’s Cheapest Destinations
Ten Years a Nomad: A Traveler’s Journey Home
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
There are countless other travel books that might inspire you to plan your next trip too!
Read Travel Blogs
Reading travel blogs are another excellent way to find travel inspiration for planning your next trip! While we write about all of our travels here at MY Travel BF, we obviously can’t write about everywhere in the world because we haven’t traveled everywhere yet. We also have our own way of traveling that might differ from how you travel, so its important to point out other travel blogs that also inspire us! These are some of our favorites:
While those are some of our favorite travel blogs at the moment, Matt at Expert Vagabond has put together a list of some of the top travel blogs in 2020. If you are still needing to find inspiration for your next trip, make sure to check these out. Each blog has its own unique style, so chances are you’ll find one that suits you!
Watch Travel Shows
Whether you watch Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO, any other streaming service, or all of them, there are tons of wonderful travel shows available that will help you find some travel inspiration. Different shows obviously have different focuses, be it food, comedy, or history. While the available travel shows on streaming services change all the time, we put together a list of Travel Shows on Netflix that might help you narrow down which ones you want to watch.
We generally lean towards Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations or Parts Unknown, but Dark Tourist and Jack Whitehall’s Travels With My Father are entertaining as well.
Plan a Travel Itinerary
Even though you are not traveling right now, it can never hurt to start looking at where you want to go, what you want to see, and start planning your travel itinerary.
When you start planning a travel itinerary, you might have a city, country, or just a few places you want to see in mind, but as you build your itinerary, you will probably get more and more inspired to see more of the place you are traveling to. Once you have a place you want to visit, sit down and start looking at how long you will be there. Is it a weekend? Long weekend? One week? 10 days? 3 months? Determining how long you will be traveling for will help you decide what you will have time to see.
Then, do some research on what else there is to see in the area. You might find something that you didn’t know was there that’s actually more interesting to you than the initial reason you chose the travel destination!
Once you’re able to actually book the trip and go, you can use the travel itinerary you already built! If you need some ideas for travel itineraries, take a look at ones we already made on our Travel Itinerary page. There are itineraries for weekends, long weekends, and one week travels.
If you need help in creating a travel itinerary, please contact us, and we would be more than happy to help you make your very own travel itinerary!
Talk with Friends or Family and Plan a Trip
Obviously solo travel is not everyone’s thing. While we recommend that everyone does it at least once in their life, we also know that it can be daunting and anxiety-inducing. To help with this, talk with your friends or family about planning at trip together! Planning a trip with friends or family might even inspire you to visit place you had not even considered before.
Given that we are all living in a world with social distancing and quarantines right now, talking with friends through FaceTime, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangout is kind of the only option to do this. However, when you are talking with them planning a trip together might just take away the feeling of being cooped up in your house. It can give you a little mental escape and something to look forward to once the Coronavirus outbreak is finally contained—please be soon…
While no one knows when or where their next trip will be, we all still have dreams about traveling somewhere in the near future.
If you are looking for more ideas to inspire you, check out 7 Ways to Feed Your Wanderlust without Leaving the House from Meals and Mile Markers for more great ideas on how to inspire you to travel while being at home.
Hopefully, these ideas can help you find inspiration for planning your next trip while you are confined at home and travel is not a real option right now.
