10 Ways To Bring Your Travels Home
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Since we’ve been spending so much more time at home and travel has been extremely limited to what is essential, creating a space(s) at home to remind of us travel is so needed for our mentality. It not only reminds us of our travels, but it relaxes us. Here are 10 simple ways to bring your travels home.
1. Ambiance
If you want to feel like you’re in a different place, it really doesn’t take a lot for a transformation. Add some outdoor lights, for example, to brighten up your space. It will also make it possible for you to spend more time outside. You can also add in a small raised garden with your favorite veggies to create ethnic foods that you love. We’ll talk more about that in a little bit!
2. Candles
Speaking of ambiance, here’s something you can do to add some ambiance to your indoors. It’s not just about the lighting, it’s about the scents! If you’re a Disney fan, make sure to check out Magic Candle Company. This awesome candle company that will remind you of your favorite Disney scents. They bring the vacation to you! Another company I love is Candolia. It’s a small business so I feel better about supporting them. Their candles are made from beeswax and their scents are SO good! I recently burned the pumpkin spice latte and it reminds me of fall and our travels we have taken during the fall. Let the scents & ambiance take you somewhere else.
3. Decor
Don’t even get me started on this. I have A LOT of decor that reminds me of our travels because I usually get something from everywhere. Don’t keep these stored away. Display them! Sometimes I look at one and I remember what we did during that specific day when we bought it. If you don’t have anything, go to your local craft/hobby store and get some travel inspired decor. By the way, use decor indoors and outdoors.
4. Ethnic Food
Get inspired to cook recipes that remind you of a place you visited or a place you wish you could visit. Why not? And if you’re not the recipe/cooking kind, there are plenty of authentic restaurants, I’m sure, around your town that you could order from. Support small businesses/mom & pop restaurants. Try something new and explore your palette. This is not the time to be picky. You never know what dish you’ll fall in love with. One of my recipes that I make that everyone seems to love is my homemade salsa. I debated whether to make it public or not, but I don’t want to hold back anything that will make people happy!
- 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 can tomatoes with green chilies
- 1 small onion
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 3/4 tsp garlic salt
- a big handful of cilantro (omit if you don’t like cilantro, but for me it’s a must)
- Blend everything together until you reach the consistency that you like. I don’t like my salsa watery, so I keep mine at a small chunky consistency.
One other point since we’re talking about food & kitchen. Get yourself some nice dishes/containers. These containers are from Pyrex’s Disney Collection. They even have Star Wars ones!
5. Hammock
Another way of the 10 ways to bring your travels home is by creating a special place or nook in your home. We very recently bought this hammock to add to our trees in our backyard. I can’t wait for the weather to cool down a bit for me to enjoy this with a drink in my hand. As you can see, we added ambiance around it with small twinkling lights. We also added some outdoor decor to remind me we’re back on island time. Fall will be the perfect season to enjoy this! Our youngest son actually has a hammock chair in his room that he bought when we were in Costa Rica.
6. Language
Is there a language you’ve been wanting to learn? Or maybe, there are just some phrases that you’d like to know? When we were in Hawaii, I wanted to know some common phrases in the authentic Hawaiian language so I bought a small book with just that. I like to read it from time to time and it reminds me of our travel there. What is one language you wish you knew?
7. Photos
I know many of you have taken many, many, many photos of your previous travels so why not show off some around your home and reminisce. Choose 1-3 photos from each trip and rotate them in the living areas. If you have a digital display screen, you can have photos rotate from many trips! I love our Google Nest Hub. Get some travel inspired frames and use them. We bought some Disney frames years ago when we took a Disney Cruise and use them all the time. I love them so much!
8. Postcards
First, let me say that these are not a thing of the past. Do you have friends or family in other states or perhaps in another country? Then start a cool collection of postcards! Or, if you’re not into collecting, then just have them send one once in a while instead of an email or using social media. It’s fun to receive a postcard because you have a travel “photo” and you never know what region of their state/country the postcard will be! If you receive many, you can create a collage and how fun would that be?
9. TV Shows/Movies
I recently binged watch a few different shows that just took me away. Find yourself some shows that are travel related. The Travel Channel has many, but use your streaming services, if you have them! Here are two I’ve recently watched.
“Down to Earth”
This Netflix show is amazing because Zac Efron travels to different countries with wellness, health, and sustainability in mind.
“World’s Toughest Race-Eco Challenge”
This Amazon Prime Video series will challenge you to look at athletes in a whole new way. These athletes are tough! And in turn, it will make you appreciate earth & its beauty. Don’t miss this one. I also binged watched it!
10. Water Feature
A water feature can be hard or kind of tricky to install at home. If you already have a water feature like a fountain, great for you! But, what do you do if you don’t have that option? Here’s what you can do!
Get yourself a small water feature. The sounds alone can bring calm & relaxation to you. It doesn’t have to cost a lot and it can be a cute centerpiece.
Whether you follow all of these 10 simple ways to bring your travels home or just one, you will be sure to not miss your travel experiences so much, especially during these quarantine times. If you get bored, make sure to check out my post “5 Things Travelers Can Do While #Stayingathome: Surviving Social Distancing.” For what we’ve been up to, check out our post “Ho-hum Travel During a Ho-hum Season.” I would love to know if you’ve already had some of these, added any of these, or came up with your own ideas!
