Have you ever had a case of the travel blues? That’s when your heart longs to be on a trip, but you’re unable to go. It might be from not having the funds for a trip, or maybe you’re simply between trips, or maybe you physically can’t make a big journey. Whatever the case may be, it can be hard to find excitement at home when you long to be somewhere else!
But we’re here to help cure any cases of the travel blues you may have! In this post, we’re sharing 10 ways to travel without leaving your house. Sound too good to be true? Read on to see all the creative ways you can explore the world from the comfort of your home.
A lot of these ways to travel without leaving your house also make excellent gifts for others!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means at no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission from your purchase which will go toward bringing you more travel tips, tricks, and tidbits.
Conqueror Virtual Challenges
The Conqueror Challenges are virtual journeys through some of the world’s most stunning destinations and even fictional realms as well! The challenges are great motivators to get serious about meeting your fitness goals, but you can use them to mark any sort of progress for activities you enjoy.
You select the challenge you are interested in completing, download the app, and then you’re provided with a map of the area you’ll be exploring. Anytime you complete the activity you’re tracking, you log your progress into the app and it moves your person further along the path you are virtually exploring. Once the challenge is completed, you receive a beautiful medal in the mail!
We love that you can see the street view of the places you are exploring via the app’s interactive app, and you receive postcards along the way that helps you learn more about the place! Every time you complete 20% of a challenge, you also get to choose if you’d like The Conqueror Challenge to plant a tree on your behalf or stop 10 plastic bottles from entering the ocean.
The most common way to complete challenges are through walking, running, bicycling or other forms of exercise. The Conqueror Challenge has a conversion chart that lists everything from dancing to yoga to shoveling snow, but we’ve also seen people use the app to track progress on things such as reading more books or completing more crochet projects! This is one of our favorite ways to travel without leaving your house.
Walking or Biking Tours on Youtube
Every day people walk or bike in cities around the world and post the footage of their journeys to Youtube for people around the world to enjoy. A lot of these are really beautiful and are a fun way to learn more about a place you’re interested in visiting.
We love putting on one of these virtual tours when riding our fitness bike or walking on the treadmill, but you could also put it on while you’re cleaning around the house. We’ve biked through the islands of Hawaii, hiked trails in the Amazon Rainforest, and taken historical tours of Edinburgh all without ever leaving our home!
Letters From Afar
Letters From Afar is “for the globetrotters at heart” where “letters bringing back the spark of adventure right to your mailbox”. When you subscribe, you’ll start receiving monthly letters from a fictional explorer named Isabelle.
Through each letter, you’ll learn fascinating facts and history about the places Isabelle describes. Some letters may spotlight a well-known destination, while the next may be about a small town you’ve never heard of before!
Each letter contains a double-sided letter with beautiful illustrations created by the founder, field notes with pictures and facts about the featured destination, and a map of the place! This letter service is beautifully crafted and fun for all ages!
Books
This one may seem less-exciting, but books are one of our favorite ways to travel without leaving your house! When you’ve got the right book, you can truly feel as if you’ve been transported to another place. Reading is also a great way to prepare for an upcoming trip. We love reading books that take place in the places we will be visiting next.
You can see all of our literary posts on our Books page, but if you’re looking for books that will scratch your travel itch, check out our post on Books That Will Satisfy Your Wanderlust! This post features books for all ages, so whether you’re looking for yourself or you want your teen or small child to learn about new cultures, there is something for everyone!
Undiscovered Artisan Box
Another fun way to armchair travel is the Undiscovered Artisan Box. Each quarter, you can have a box mailed to your house full of authentic artisan treasures from a different region. All items are fair trade and ethically produced by artisans from around the world.
Something that sets this subscription service apart from others is that its customizable to what you like! Every 3 months, you receive an email that notifies you when it is time to make your box selection. You can choose to hand select each of your box’s items or choose to be surprised.
A lot of subscription boxes can feel a little cheesy. But we love that this one offers more of an authentic way to learn about new cultures while also benefiting the local people and small businesses who are making the items.
Have A Travel Themed Dinner Party
Kayla’s family does this for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, and it’s a huge hit! Invite your closest friends and family over and have each person bring a dish from another country. You’ll have so much fun sampling new foods and learning interesting facts about the countries that are being represented.
You can also select one country and have a dinner themed around that country’s dishes. Being obsessed with Scotland, Kayla has had a Scottish themed feast on more than one occasion with a favorite side dish being rumbledethumps – a traditional dish from the Scottish borders made up of potato, cabbage, and onions.
Having a travel themed dinner party is a great way to learn about different dishes from around the world and try out some new recipes. Fair warning though – If you have a travel themed dinner party once, you’ll love it so much you’ll want to do it again, and soon you’ll find you’ve started a monthly dinner club!
If a Scottish dinner party sounds like you’re cup of tea (or you just want to treat yourself to a wee taste of Scotland), check out Scottish Gourmet USA for inspiration and Scottish goods. The store is based out of Greensboro, North Carolina, and has a mission to deliver the best of Scotland in the USA. Amanda gifted Kayla a hamper from here for her birthday and it was an absolute delight!
Food Subscription Box
Like the idea of trying new foods from around the world but aren’t too keen on the socializing aspect of a dinner party? A food subscription box might be right for you!
One of the most popular options is Universal Yums. Each month, you’ll get to take a tasty trip to different country via a box filled with yummy snacks, trivia, and games. We like that Universal Yums has a low price point and such great reviews!
If you prefer to cook your own food, try out Spice Madam. Not only will they send you spices from around the world each month, they’ll also include a menu card, shopping list, AND a themed Spotify playlist from the destination. How fun is that?!
Virtual Experiences
Most people know that Airbnb is a website where you can book accommodations around the world. But they also offer experiences that you can book with locals, and some of these are online! We love this way of traveling without leaving your house, but so few people know about it!
There are a ton of experiences to choose from. You can learn the traditional art of origami from someone in Japan. You can learn to make Argentine empanadas. You can even do a LIVE virtual wildlife safari in South Africa! There are so many options from all around the globe. You could easily spend several weeks virtually globetrotting with these experiences.
These experiences are unique from the others on this list, because not only are you getting a glimpse into other cultures, you get to interact with people from all over the world! Some of the experiences are one-on-one while others are more of a group setting – which means these experiences are a great way to virtually spend time with friends and family who might not live near you.
Each experience has a detailed description you can read before you book as well as reviews from other people who have completed the experience. So you get a pretty good idea of what you’re getting into before you purchase anything. There are also options for all price points. The average price for the online experiences though tend to range from $8-25ish dollars per person.
Explore the US National Parks + More With Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture has several US National Parks online that you can virtually walk with 360 degree views! Using the Google Street View technology, you can click through the trails and take in the beautiful surroundings.
If you like exploring national parks in real life, check out our post on Easy Dog-Friendly Hikes in Acadia National Park!
There are also fascinating places that most people never see for themselves such as underwater caves, glaciers, and even a lava tube! Google Arts & Culture also has several historically significant places to explore, including Ford’s Theatre, Alcatraz Island, and Theodore Roosevelt’s home to name a few. You can even immerse yourself in online art exhibitions and learn more about prominent figures from history.
Google Arts & Culture is truly a one stop shop to learn about and see a multitude of things!
Plan Your Next Trip
You might be stuck at home now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get ready for when the time rolls around for you to embark on your next adventure!
Go ahead and start looking up the places you’re interested in and use Google Maps Street View to explore around the area. You can begin making lists of the sites you want to visit and places you want to eat. You can also watch Youtube videos leading up to a trip to get a better feel of what an area is like and get recommendations from vloggers.
If you aren’t sure where to start planning for a trip, check out our Beginner’s Guide for Planning an International Trip and 13 Ways To Save Money For Travel.
What is your favorite way to travel without leaving your house? Let us know in the comments below!
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Travel themed dinners sound like an excellent idea. The national park virtual interaction sounds great too, will have to give that one a try.
Great suggestions! Reading and travel via food are probably my favorite ways… or just moving somewhere that feels like an adventure to explore the backyard. 😉
This blog was full of fabulous ideas – ideas that I knew nothing about. I’m going to really check out a couple of them and travel like that for a few months. Thank you for the info.