You know when you are at the beach and you hear the seagulls cry and the ocean waves crashing on shore? When you feel the sand in your toes and the wind in your hair and the sun on your skin. And then you open your eyes and you are standing at the register at work? Yeah, you aren't the only one who misses being at the places you aren't.
Here are some things that will make you miss being able to travel.
1. The song "Orinoco Flow" by Enya
Literally, the entire song is about traveling the world and being free. Whether you're happy, sad or otherwise emotionally afflicted, this song always leaves me dreaming about being away from my current situation. It helps that the song mentions real and imaginary places. They're all picture-perfect and beautiful.
2. Any poem by William Faulkner
Faulkner truly has a way of making you reminisce and think about youth. He allows us to view the world in our immaturity and innocence. The descriptive poetry that Faulkner writes makes you yearn to drive the back roads with the radio on and windows down on the way to the beach.
3. Seeing your friends' travel posts on social media
This may be the MOST direct and painful example. The fact that other people are traveling and you're not. While you're happy for your friends, you're severely envious of their study abroad to Australia or their spontaneous three-week vacation to Greece and Paris. It honestly makes you hate your bank account and wonder why you even work in the first place if you can't afford the time or money to have fun adventures.
4. Hearing about your friends' vacations after they get back
Again, happy for them… but secretly envy the memories that they now have.
5. Seeing commercials for all the exotic locales that you can't visit
This is obnoxious. Commercials stress the sales they're having to travel here or there, yet the sales aren't big enough to actually allow yourself to have a house to come back to after vacation's over! This is extremely frustrating. Unless they start accepting limbs and souls as currency, you are going have to work another three summers to save up for vacations like these.
6. Looking at your old vacation photos
As much as you would like to play the martyr, you do have some awesome memories that are saved forever in Google photos. But instead of comforting you, they make you want to rewind time and go back to that exact moment. Or maybe, and hopefully, they'll make you a little more anxious about your next adventure.
Now here are some ways to make you feel less down about not traveling:
- Host friends at your house with exotic themed lunches, dinners or other types of get together. This is so much fun! And, cooking for others is also an amazing experience. Doing themed days or nights is a great way to experience other cultures.
- Focus on doable DIYs and fun recipes that give you the taste of vacation without breaking the bank. There are so many recipes to be found online that could definitely help take the edge off.
- Plan for the future… It's 100% okay to plan for that trip you want to take! Save and create dream boards, Pinterest boards, or even decorate your room with a travel bucket list.
There may be a bunch of places that you can't visit right now, but that's okay because not everyone can. Try to make the best of your situation and LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE!
