The Corona virus lockdown has forced not just India, but a large part of the global population within the confinement of their homes. While that is the absolutely necessary step at the moment, as travelers it might feel pretty strange to many of us. From planned trips getting cancelled to no certainty about when things will normalize and we can travel again - these are difficult times if you are a traveler.
So what is the alternative? Well, travel from home. I know that sounds kind of paradoxical, but it is possibly the best or the only alternative right now.
At least that is what I have been doing and I just thought that I will share the 5 ways I am traveling from home now.
1. Traveling through books. Travel books were in fact the first things that created a lifelong interest about travel for me. I used to be an avid reader, but with time the interest waned, particularly because of lack of time. With lockdown and work from home, I managed to revive that interest once more and for sure it is worth the wait.
While there is an abundance of great travel literature, right now I am reading books that are more focused on the experiences of travel rather than travel information. These are not typically travelogues per se, but will give you a better feel about the experience of travel itself. For instance, "The Lonely Planet Travel Anthology” and "Chasing the Monsoon", a book gifted to me by a friend some time back. Both are pretty interesting reads, especially if you are looking for a bit of a differently flavored travel narratives.
2. Binging on Travel Webseries. While I had watched a few travel shows on and off, I never had the time to delve deep into the world of travel webseries before this lockdown began. As it turned out, the world of travel webseries has such variety that they can meet the tastes of virtually every kind of travelers - from the nature lover to the food connoisseur as well as the cultural traveler. Here are some that I really enjoyed watching.
Our Planet. When it comes to travel webseries, my favorite is definitely the iconic “Our Planet” on Netflix. If you are a nature lover, you just cannot miss this series for a spectacular journey across natural and geographic wonders - from the magical deep seas to spectacular forests, beautiful grasslands, surreal deserts and much more. In short, this has to be in the bucket list for every nature lover.
Hidden India. Originally a BBC Earth series, it is now available on Amazon Prime. This 3 part mini-series is an intense look at India as a land of rivers , mountains and more.
World Market. When I am in a new city, I inevitably land up in its local market. May be that's why I got hooked to this 12 episode series on Amazon Prime. It is surprisingly underrated, but quite high on interesting content.
There are of course plenty of other travel series, especially travel and food related ones that you can check out on various streaming sites.
3. Virtual travel with Google (Earth and Map)
While these travel webseries are great, they cannot quite replace the craving for actual travel. The thing that comes closest to replicating these experiences is probably virtual tours as they give you some bit of control over your traveling space, especially if you have some AR/VR tools like the Occulus headsets.
In this league, probably nothing is as enjoyable as diving into Google Earth, primarily because with this I have virtually the entire planet to travel and do so without the restrictions of any particular geographical space. From exploring a trekking route on my own to going on a guided tour to a famous cultural heritage to flying in and out of any point on earth, I am just having a good time exploring the world at my finger tips!
4. Reposting old travel memories.
The best travel experience that I had before the lockdown was a trek Dzongri and Goecha La late October – early November. The weather was quite extraordinary and the Himalayas were majestic – from the lush, throbbing forests, to the beautiful waterfalls, to surreal high altitude grasslands, to an exquisite display of sunrise and sunset on some of the world’s highest and most majestic peaks - this 7 day, 95 km trek had just about everything that a classic Himalayan trek can offer.
The same year in June I managed to do another smaller, but pretty beautiful trek to the double decker living root bridge in Meghalaya.
During the lockdown, I finally managed to jot down something about both the trips.
5. Making future itineraries/Participating in forums for possible future itineraries: Well, not actively looking for itineraries at the moment given the uncertainty over actual possibilities of travel. However, I have certainly started to look forward to destinations and plans for future. I got some great ideas and will be great if you can contribute some more here!
So in a nutshell, this is how I have been keeping myself engaged when it comes to travel. How are you coping up during these times? Will be great to know.
