How to Make Armchair Traveling Fun this Year

On social media, my friends are posting pics from France, Italy, Morocco, and elsewhere. I wish I could travel, too.

While we were all equally locked out of travel last year, now more people are back in the air. Still, as a precaution, we are armchair traveling instead.

If you have covid concerns or are tightening your budget, here are some armchair travel ideas. You can involve the grandkids and enjoy the journey together.

Plan a Virtual Trip

Get out a map and pick a few places you’d love to visit. When you’re armchair traveling, the sky’s the limit!

Then plan out an imaginary trip. Where would you go? What would you see–and eat? What is the area’s history?

Whether you visit in person or via the internet, learning about other places is fascinating. And it could serve as pre-prep for some future trip you’ll take later.

Visit an International Store

What are the international food stores in your area? In our city, we have Indian, Eastern European, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Mexican, Brazilian, Italian, Southeast Asian, and more. If your town isn’t quite so cosmopolitan, cruise the international aisle of your supermarket.

Look for appealing, ready-prepared food, bottled sauces, and snacks. Buy a few things to try at home with the grandkids.

Enjoy a Fancy Drink

You might not want to spend time cooking on your “vacation,” so learn to make a fancy drink instead. When traveling, I always order a cocktail because sipping an exotic drink is my ultimate vacation pleasure.

I found a blog post of great vacation drinks to get you started. And non-alcoholic mocktails. Don’t forget the paper umbrella!

Armchair Traveling is Best at Breakfast

Breakfast is the easiest meal to replicate and a great way transport yourself to another place. After our family returned from our children’s first trip to Europe, we would pretend we were still traveling by making breakfast of the countries we visited.

In Paris, I would tuck away unopened leftovers from our breakfast table: chocolate milk packets, little jars of jam, and sugar packets decorated with famous French paintings. In Amsterdam, I purchased fake Delft egg cups.

At home, when we were in “France,” Steve would buy croissants and a baguette and we’d use the hotel jam, chocolate milk and sugar to set the stage. When we were in “Amsterdam,” we had cold meats and sliced Gouda, bread, and soft-boiled eggs using our Dutch egg cups.

Cook your Way around the World

If you’re more ambitious and you love cooking, plan an international cooking marathon. I happen to have about 200 international cookbooks, representing Burma, Sicily, Morocco, Latin America, India, Spain, France, the Middle East, Italy, Thailand, Japan, Korea, all the regions of China….

Armchair traveling to the French Riviera? Make Salade Niçoise!

But of course, most people don’t. You can check out international cookbooks from the library, as well as research recipes on the Internet or take an online cooking class. Find cooking demos on YouTube to learn specific cooking techniques. Get the grandkids involved to cook and eat together.

Create an Atmosphere

Years ago, when we lived in a small apartment in New York City, we hosted a luau for friends. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we borrowed potted plants from friends to replicate the lush Island flora, gave out paper leis, played Hawaiian music, and sat on the floor to eat.

The main course was the very easy-to-make oven-roasted kalua pig, which is the home version of the luau star.

Take a Staycation

If you live in a city, drive out to the country. If you live in the country, drive to the city. Just change it up.

Go on walking tours. Often, these guided tours are available for free in bigger cities. Splurge on afternoon tea at a fancy hotel.

One year, when our budget was tight, we did a staycation, starting each morning with breakfast on our deck. We pretended we were in Paris with café au lait and croissants, then we would set out for the day, visiting an art museum or taking a drive into the country for a leisurely lunch.

Plan out your staycation so you know what you’ll be doing each day. It’s more fun that way.

Armchair traveling will never replace a real trip anywhere, but it can be fun, too! Fingers crossed we can hit the air soon.

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