Recently updated on October 6th, 2022 at 05:36 pm
Did you know that you can explore national parks, discover ancient ruins, spot animals in the wild, wander through museums, go camping and learn to cook a new cuisine… all in one day and all from the comfort of your home? Just because we’re staying home right now, that doesn’t mean we can’t travel! So ditch the passport and leave your pyjamas on – here are our top 15 travel-themed activities you can enjoy while staying at home.
1. Visit some of the world’s top attractions
Always dreamed of exploring the greatest wonders of the world? Now you can do it from your room, with 360-degree virtual tours on Google Earth. Discover the likes of the Grand Canyon in the USA, Machu Picchu in Peru, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Stonehenge in England, and even some of the world’s tallest mountains like Mount Kilimanjaro (highest peak in Africa), Mount Elbrus (highest peak in Europe), and Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world!
If you’re more into museums and galleries, you can e-explore places like the incredible Sistine Chapel at the Vatican and the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris. Or, find weeks of entertainment on Google Arts and Culture, with virtual tours of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the British Museum in London, the Museum of Modern art (MoMA) in New York, and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, just to name a few!
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2. Go wildlife watching
One of our favourite travel-themed activities is watching animals! If you’ve ever wanted to go on safari or spot brown bears, now you can do it all online. See these live cameras of national parks around Africa, including the famous Kruger, where you can watch lions, elephants, zebras and hippos wandering around the bushveld and bathing in rivers.
You can also head to Katmai National Park in Alaska, for the chance to spot some of the park’s 2,000 brown bears on this livestream. They come to catch wild salmon in the rivers in spring and summer and you might even see some cute bear cubs!
Can’t get enough of the bears? You can watch the Smithsonian zoo’s two amazing giant pandas on this panda cam. It’s so beautiful to watch them play in the grass and climb the trees. You can also marvel at polar bears on this webcam in Wapusk National Park in Canada. The park is home to arctic foxes, wolves, caribou and arctic hares so keep an eye out!
3. Explore a national park
If you’ve been stuck at home for too long, an online tour of the world’s best national parks is a great way to (virtually) stretch your legs. See the Northern Lights on this Lights over Lapland project of Abisko National Park in Sweden, take an immersive journey through the wilds of Patagonia in Argentina and Chile, or explore Uluru on this virtual tour of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia.
You can even scale the iconic El Capitan of Yosemite National Park in the USA, take a video tour of the floating peaks of China’s Zhangjiajie National Forest Park that inspired the Avatar film, or wander the incredible Namib desert dunes of Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia. The adventures are endless!
4. Talk to other travellers
If you’re feeling isolated at home, it’s time to get connected. Do you have any friends or family members who like to travel or who have been on some great trips? Send them a message or call and ask them to share their favourite travel experiences.
You can even reconnect with people you’ve met on past trips and reminisce on your adventures or connect with other travellers and get updates on the Trafalgar Facebook page. There are plenty of other Facebook groups where you can share your travel photos, get inspired for future trips and discover other travel-themed activities.
5. Journal about your travels
If you’re stuck at home, why not take a trip down memory lane? Since you’re at home reminiscing on your favourite trips, there’s no better time to update your travel journal or start a new one. Get all your stories and memories down while they’re fresh in your mind and paste in your photos or souvenirs like tickets and boarding passes. You’ll love looking back on it in years to come.
6. Learn a new language
Need to refresh your French or Spanish? Always wanted to take up Italian, Swedish or Mandarin? Now is the perfect time to work on your language skills! If you’re planning a trip, you could learn some of the local language before you go, or set yourself a goal like learning to say hello in as many languages as you can.
Any effort, big or small, will enrich your future travel experiences and help you connect with other people. Plus, your new skills will impress your friends and family! There are plenty of ways to get stuck into language learning from home, with free mobile apps, YouTube tutorials and online courses.
7. Learn to cook international dishes
What’s travel without food? You can explore the world from your kitchen by trying out new international recipes, learning about a country’s traditional cuisine, or recreating your favourite foods from your travels.
Whether you’re craving a Pad Thai, a Spanish paella, an Italian carbonara or Chinese dim sum, you’ll find something to take your tastebuds on a delicious journey. Check out BBC Good Food for hundreds of free and easy recipes from around the world.
8. Watch a travel documentary or movie
You’ve travelled the world from your kitchen, now go globetrotting from the comfort of your lounge. There are so many travel movies and documentaries out there to show you all around the world.
We love any nature documentary by David Attenborough, the incredible Parts Unknown series by Anthony Bourdain, the hilarious An Idiot Abroad with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington, and Dark Tourist, a look at some of the world’s most fascinating traditions.
Or travel to faraway lands with movie classics like Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Mamma Mia, or In Bruges. You’ll get to see some spectacular locations and escape reality for a little while.
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9. Listen to the world’s favourite music
Did you know you can listen to the top 50 hits in each country on Spotify right now? Or stream a random radio station from almost anywhere in the world through the Radio Garden project? From the sensual sounds of Argentina to the pop stars of South Korea, you’ll discover a whole new world through music.
10. Read a travel book or guide
Snuggle up with a good book and jump through a window to another world. Whether you listen to audiobooks, read e-books on your Kindle, peruse travel guides or even binge on Wikipedia pages, you’re sure to lose yourself in faraway lands and learn something new! From the backpacking adventure on a secret island in The Beach, to Christopher McCandless’ journey to Alaska in Wild, who knows where you’ll end up!
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11. Sort out your holiday photos
Dust off your camera because now’s the time to finally sort through all those travel snaps! This travel-themed activity is a great way to bring back all your happy holiday memories. You can pick out your favourite photos and print them off to hang around the house.
12. Play a travel-themed game
Let off some steam by getting competitive with a good old-fashioned game! Round up your friends and family on a group video call and test your knowledge with a travel quiz. You could play a travel-themed game of Scattergories and Pictionary, or even an online round of charades. Let the battles begin!
13. Camp in your backyard
You’re never too old to spend a night in your tent in your backyard or build a pillow fort inside your house. Make some popcorn, get cosy in your sleeping bag, and swap spooky stories by torchlight! You’ll have all the excitement of an outdoor adventure, without leaving your house.
14. Find some new travel accessories
Just because we can’t travel right now, doesn’t mean we can’t start prepping for our next holiday. You can browse all the latest gadgets and accessories that will make your travels easier, from collapsible reusable bottles to handy packing cubes to nifty new cameras. See what’s out there and get excited about your next trip!
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15. Plan your next trip
Now is the perfect time to start planning your dream trip! Start by ogling the world’s most amazing destinations on Instagram accounts like @earthpix. Then choose your ultimate experiences and research the best flights. Once it’s safe to travel again you can pick your dates and watch it all come together. Science shows that the anticipation of a journey is often the best part of your trip, so start looking forward to the good times ahead!
Have you tried out any of these travel-themed activities at home? Let us know your favourite travel-themed experiences in the comments below!