19 Creative Ways to Feel Like You’re on Vacation at Home
Unfortunately, travel is still at a standstill for most of us, which means we’re not getting the rejuvenating benefits we usually get from vacations. Rest and travel aren’t only important for a person’s well-being, but also creativity. However you like to travel, here are 19 creative ways to feel like you’re on vacation at home.
Plan Future Trips
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.”
― Gloria Steinem
Travel does a lot to relieve the stresses of everyday life, but did you know that the anticipation of vacation can carry some of the same benefits?
A 2002 study found that planning and imagining a future trip can spark happiness and improve well-being. There were even cases in the study that showed some people were happier with their life as a whole planning a trip compared to actually going on one. This was because of the occasional occurrence of negative or unpleasant feelings when challenges arise while traveling. However, there are ways to turn travel problems into creativity. The idea is you can use your imagination of planning a trip to boost well-being while stuck at home.
Planning future or bucket list trips not only gives your imagination room to breathe, but you can also learn more about yourself by planning without constraints. What becomes most important for your travels when money is no object?
Tips
Try New Recipes From Around the World
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
―
Creativity does not involve a single region or side of the brain. Anything that stimulates brain activity of a complex nature will boost connectivity.
Trying new foods creates new connections in the brain, triggers memories, and helps creativity. By traveling through your taste buds, you’re learning new skills, playing, collaborating with others, and you can even improve your nutrition. The more new things you try, the more nutritional variety you’re getting. Diets at home often become routine, and many of the dishes in the standard American diet actually lack essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. By expanding your options, you can motivate a healthier lifestyle. Numerous studies are showing the link between gut health and creativity is closer than we thought. A healthy gut supports mental health and the creative mind.
Travel broadens our perspectives in many ways. By experiencing how others live, we build empathy and common ground. By getting out of our comfort zone, we learn more about ourselves. And by eating new foods, not only do we open our mouths to healthier options but also our minds to new experiences.
Tips
Visit a Destination Virtually With VR
“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.”
―
We live in a remarkable time of technology. Although vacations are a great way to disconnect and step away from the distractions of technology, you can also use technology to feel like you’re on vacation.
VR makes it easier to experience new perspectives from the safety of your home. Whether you’re playing a VR game where you explore fantastical lands or sitting back and enjoying a 360′ video. VR is full of possibilities to improve well-being and spark creativity.
Tips
- 10 VR Travel Experiences to Boost Creativity
- Use VR to plan and research trips.
- Take Virtual Museum and Gallery Tours
- Wander through Google Earth and Street View
Learn a New Language
“A different language is a different vision of life.”
— Federico Fellini
Nǐ hǎo ma? Parlez-vous français? Learning a new language isn’t only good for your resume. It’s also an amazing way to engage with the world in a more meaningful and creative way.
Studies show that people who speak more than one language have improved memory, problem-solving, enhanced concentration, and better listening skills. When you learn new languages, you’re making new connections to think and perceive the world in new ways.
No matter your age, it’s never too late to learn a new language and enjoy its benefits. Being bilingual or multilingual helps counteract mental aging and cognitive decline.
Tips
- Watch foreign films.
- Place vocab words around the home.
- Learn a new language through the creative works in the targeted language.
Read Inspiring Travel Books
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
— Joseph Addison
Reading is a great way to travel in your imagination. Engage the senses and imagine new experiences and perspectives from fictional characters or in visual storytelling from travel books.
We all travel in different ways. By reading the experiences of how others travel, you can learn about the world in new and creative ways. You may discover something about yourself you didn’t know or a new way to experience a destination you haven’t thought about before. By opening your mind to new experiences through reading, you engage the imagination to think differently.
Tips
- 10 Books to Inspire Creative Travel
- Best Memoirs and Biographies From History’s Most Creative Minds
- Start a book club to add more perspectives to your reading experience.
Watch International Films
“Filmmaking is a chance to live many lifetimes.”
— Robert Altman
Films are powerful storytelling and motivational medium. They can inspire us to see from new perspectives or take action for change. Watching international films can transport you around the world to experience new destinations through the eyes of the locals or travelers like yourself.
International films show us new perspectives, reminds us of the universality of human emotions and problems, help us break free from our misconceptions, and educates us about different cultures. When we travel, we’re often surrounded by new languages and perspectives. International movies can bring this into your home.
Tips
Treat Yourself to a Spa Day
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
— Buddha
Vacations are all about relaxation and self-care. Taking a break can be hard when the stresses of life seem inescapable. Travel is a great way to rest but creating lasting habits to support your lifestyle brings benefits from travel to everyday life. Remembering to take care of yourself will give you better support when times are tough.
Consider what you love most about going on vacation. What helps you relax and recreate that relaxation at home. Whether it’s throwing in some bath salts, turning up the zen music, and sitting back. Find ways to take self-care breaks and have mini-vacations.
Self-care means accepting your current emotions for what they are and then putting your physical and mental well-being first. When you create time for self-care, you’re more likely to respond to stress in more positive ways, as well as choose practices that nurture your well-being instead of detracting from it.
Tips
- Schedule time for rest and set boundaries with others to remove distractions.
- Get to know yourself and what helps you relax.
- Look back at your vacations and make a list of what helped you relax the most.
- Practice mindfulness. Find ways to slow down and observe the moment.
- Try to do something you enjoy every day.
- Prioritize Sleep
- Work out and get moving.
- Find time to play.
Reminisce With Souvenirs and Photos
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
– Anonymous
Creativity has been said to be the connection between old ideas and new ones. Reminiscing with souvenirs and photos can spark good feelings from past memories and experiences. This can help engage the senses and create new connections. Consider how past experiences influenced you, how you’ve grown, what you miss, and more. You don’t want to get stuck in the past, but tapping into past memories can help spark insight to move forward.
Another way to add to this experience is using creativity to express the past. Do you have a shoebox full of memories from past travel experiences? Relive those moments and turn them into a creative expression through scrapbooking, travel videos, or write about past experiences and share them in a blog.
Tips
- How Photography Boosts Creativity
- Reminisce through the five senses.
- Consider past tastes you can cook at home that are connected with memories.
- Buy candles or incense connected with past travel memories.
- Make a travel movie.
- Start a travel blog.
- Create some vacation jars.
Be a Tourist in Your Own Town
“Home is where one starts from.”
— T. S. Eliot
No matter how long you’ve lived in your town, there’s always a new experience to be had. Travel often puts us out of our comfort zone and preps us to say yes to new experiences, but when we’re at home, we can forget to try new things and lean more on comfort.
Consider the habits you have when you travel and practice them at home. Imagine you’re new to your town and find new ways to explore your home.
Tips
- Get lost. Try new ways of getting home.
- Try something new every week.
- Instead of picking your favorite restaurant, try something new.
- Join a local tour.
- Take your camera for a walk.
- Buy a guidebook for your town or write your own.
- Learn the history of your town.
Take Time to Disconnect
“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.”
— Albert Camus
One of the best parts of travel is disconnecting. This physical means of separating yourself from pestering emails and distracting social media helps you stay in the moment. Even if it’s just for an hour or so, make time to disconnect and give yourself a mental break. Practice habits that improve mindfulness and being present help calm the mind.
Out of sight, out of mind. Sometimes all we need to do to feel like we’re on vacation is put down the phone, close the computer, and have a digital detox. Technology has done a lot to simplify and improve our daily lives, but too much of anything can become a negative. Constant connectivity can leave a negative impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health. This constant connection disrupts the work/life balance. By setting limits and disconnecting, you can reclaim this balance and separate time for better relaxation.
Tips
- Schedule night mode and track time on your phone.
- Set goals and limit your tech use.
- Consider hobbies and habits that keep you off your phone.
- Have a phone box to keep your tech out of sight, out of mind.
- Let your friends, family, and work know that you are on a digital detox and when the phone will be down.
- Delete the email and social apps from your phone. Make it harder to access instead of instant clicks by having to go through the browser.
- Track your progress and mood.
Use Scents to Trigger the Mind
“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.”
— Helen Keller
Did you know you have around 350 different kinds of odor receptors in your nose capable of identifying over 10,000 different scents?
As mentioned in the reminiscing section, engaging the senses is a great way to trigger memories and well-being. Memories are heavily connected to how we perceive them through the five senses. This is also an opportunity to learn about yourself and improve mindfulness by focusing on your senses.
Feel like you’re on vacation by engaging with scents from different destinations. Buy ocean breeze scents to imagine that beach life. There are even candles that capture the smells of different national parks.
Tips
- Pick scents that have been found to boost creativity and well-being (i.e., Lavender).
- Travel by scents:
- Lavender for France
- Pine for forests.
- Pineapple for Hawaii.
- Oranges for Florida.
- Foods from your favorite travel destinations.
Create a Travel Playlist
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”
– Plato
Trigger that vacation mood with the perfect playlist. No trip is complete without a playlist to kickstart the vibes and get the body moving. What songs instantly make you think of past vacations? Whatever gets you in the travel mood is a great choice to inspire creative travel.
Music is a powerful tool for creativity and well-being. Studies have found that upbeat music can actually elevate moods and happiness. There’s also evidence music can stimulate memories, help people manage pain, and may even help facilitate divergent thinking.
Tips
- Make playlists for different kinds of travel moods.
- Add international music to your playlist and imagine being there.
- Dance.
Plan a Scavenger Hunt
“If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it – keep going, keep going come what may.”
―
Travel is about experiencing new things. Create a scavenger hunt challenge to not only explore your hometown in new ways but seek new experiences, play, and collaborate with others. This fun problem-solving activity isn’t just for kids. It’s also a great way to feel like you’re on vacation while at home.
There are many different ways to create a scavenger hunt. You can create a list of things you need to find or use photography as a tool to complete the creative challenge. Draw from past travel experiences to recapture them in your hometown, and most importantly, get out of your comfort zone in a new and fun way.
Tips
- Collaborate with friends and family.
- Use photography as a tool for the scavenger hunt.
- Do a virtual scavenger hunt if you can’t get out and about.
- Use tools to create your scavenger hunt
Create Easier Morning Routines
“Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.”
– Dalai Lama
Think of that last or favorite trip you went on and think about how it felt waking up in the morning. What made those mornings so special and relaxing? Even if you’re still on a normal work schedule, you can capture that feeling by instilling positive habits and create a routine to have a mini-vacation before the day begins.
Instead of grabbing your coffee and rushing out the door, slow down, claim the stillness to bring a structure to your daily life that helps you win the day. Creatives who have morning routines are more productive, less stressed, get better sleep quality, more confidence, and more time to be creative.
Now you can use mornings to be productive and creative, but you can also use them for relaxation. Start your day by feeling like you’re on vacation by planning relaxation to begin the day. Think about the joy you experience with the anticipation of going on vacation. Bring that joy to your mornings. Move slow, watch the sunrise, listen to the birds chirping, cook an amazing breakfast, read, go for a walk, start your day with joy.
Tips
- Morning Habits to Inspire Creativity and Healthy Living
- Wake up with gratitude. Start your day thinking about what you’re grateful for.
- Go to bed with affirmations of what tomorrow will bring.
- Stay unplugged in the morning.
- Have a morning playlist of songs that bring joy and energy.
Change Your Commute
“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
— Robert Frost
Exploring new cities, getting lost, and experiencing new perspectives helps us get into the travel mood. When we’re in new environments, we’re more aware because we’re processing new information. It’s exciting. This awareness helps us stay in the moment and flow with how we’re feeling and engaging with the world around us.
When we’re not traveling and just going through the movements, it’s easy to get lost in thought and not be present to what’s around us. A great way to experience the benefits of travel while at home is by changing your commute. Take a new way to get to work. Ride your bike or walk instead of drive. Put yourself in new areas that trigger awareness and help you engage with the now and what’s around you.
Tips
- Join a carpool.
- Bike or walk to work.
- Turn your GPS off for a bit and enjoy getting lost.
- Be spontaneous. Find new ways to get somewhere.
Meet New People
“Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know but need to know. Learn from them.”
— C.G. Jung
Meeting new people can be scary, just like traveling to new places. The unknown is mysterious, and our thoughts can be misleading when trying to prepare and protect us. Travel is a great way to overcome these fears and get out of our comfort zone. Without it, we need to find new ways to grow and overcome fears of the unknown.
There are many ways to meet new people, from social media groups to meetups. All you need to do is take the first step and keep moving forward. If you want to feel like you’re on vacation, attend social events that you wouldn’t normally go to, learn what’s happening in your community, or join a friend and try something new together.
For the creative mind, solitude has its benefits, but sooner or later, they must reenter the community. This helps test ideas, learn new problems that need to be solved, and share creativity that can help others. Introduce yourself to new opportunities and vulnerabilities. There’s always something to learn from others. If you’re shy, let others talk. If it’s hard to find social activities, go virtual.
Tips
- Volunteer in the community.
- Join a gym, try an exercise or dance class.
- Take a foreign language class.
- Go to a farmer’s market.
- Check out events on Meetup.com.
Take Better Breaks
Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.
Travel is a break from routine and the stresses of daily life. Perhaps the most important lesson we need to learn from travel is how to take better breaks while at home.
Feel like you’re on vacation by taking better breaks. Think about how you rest while on vacation and bring those elements home. Is it reading outside? Or getting lost on long walks? Or doing absolutely nothing? First, learn what kind of breaks help you relax and rejuvenate best, and then prioritize rest with better breaks by using techniques like the Pomodoro technique, desk clearing at the end of the day, and learning your most productive times.
Take better breaks by prioritizing your rest and understanding how you flow throughout the day. For most of us, circadian rhythms help us work on ‘deeper work’ in the morning and ‘shallow tasks’ in the afternoon. This is why you get tired in the afternoon. Your body is naturally telling you it’s time to take a break.
There’s power in respite. For thousands of years, Taoism has taught Wu Wei or “effortless action.” Wu Wei is a state of un-conflicting personal harmony. Nature and the universe it the best teacher of this idea. Lao Tzu said, “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Good rest comes from letting go of control. If your mind is racing and you don’t know what to do—do nothing. Take a mini-vacation, calm yourself, look inside, and eventually, the right answers and/or correct action will come to you.
Tips
- Practice the Pomodoro technique, short sprints of 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break (with a longer break after every 4 sessions).
- Set a time at the end of the day to clear your desk to completely remove work from the mind. Additionally, you can use airplane mode to claim time as your own and remove distractions.
- Take breaks outside. Studies show people perform cognitively better after spending time in a calm, natural setting.
- Make a list of breaks that help you relax to go back to when your mind is still racing, but you need a break.
Empty the Mind With Meditation
“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”
— Marcus Aurelius
Travel is a great way to build mindfulness. We often do a better job at staying in the moment when we travel because we don’t want it to end. We want to soak in every experience and appreciate the relaxing release. There are also new scents, sounds, tastes, and so on that we’re soaking in that help keep us in the present moment.
Meditation brings this aspect to everyday life. Learning to stay in the moment helps release negative feelings instead of letting them build up and redirects energy towards more positive thoughts. If you want to feel like you’re on vacation while at home, learn to live in the moment by practicing meditation. When the mind gets distracted by the stresses of life, use meditation to guide attention back.
Being in the moment isn’t an easy feat, especially when you’re trying to do it consciously. This kind of mindfulness takes practice. Meditation is by no means the end state. It’s a practice. Distractions are natural, and learning to let go is at the heart of meditation. Just like when you go on a vacation and let go of the stresses of life and work, meditation is a retreat in the mind to learn to let go and be present.
Tips
Try New Hobbies
“Life is trying things to see if they work.”
— Ray Bradbury
Never stop learning. Learning new things helps your brain build new cells and strengthen connections. This sets the foundation for ever-expanding creativity. When we’re open to learning, we’re open to new experiences and perspectives. This open-mindedness builds empathy, humility, and curiosity, all elements of the creative lifestyle and a good traveler.
Feel like you’re on vacation by learning new things. It could be a new skill, dance style, art method, history, language, or whatever speaks to you. Consider areas of your life that have become comfortable and look at how you could do it differently. Are you cooking the same things every week? Join a cooking class. Are you heading towards burnout with your creative expression? Learn a new art style from somewhere in the world, like origami. Learning is about asking good questions. Just like the creative process, think about how you could do things differently.
Tips
- Try a new class.
- Join a community event.
- Volunteer.
- Start a creative prompt group with friends.
- Set a weekly or daily challenge to learn something new.
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Zach is an international writer, photographer, filmmaker, martial artist, and creator of Creative Enso, the Zen art of creative living. His goal is to empower and inspire creatives to live healthier, happier, and more creative lifestyles.
