How to Travel the Other 50 Weeks of the Year
Times are changing. The rate of U.S. citizens traveling abroad has been increasing by over 8% each year. Almost half of Americans spent at least some time working remotely last year, and 85% of millennials say they would like to telecommute 100% of the time. As technology advances, our world shrinks. One result is that more and more people are catching the travel bug and finding that it bites for life.
International travel is becoming easier and more affordable for the average American. It’s becoming more tantalizing, too — one peek at your Facebook feed shows friends taking selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower and relaxing on South American beaches. Spend five minutes scrolling through Instagram, and you’ll be positively itching to jet-set, thanks to the carefully filtered, angled shots of azure waters and insane mountains around the world.

Still, the fact remains: Most of us still only get two weeks of vacation each year. Even if you plan a trip so meticulously so that you’re able to hit more than a few foreign cities in that time, you’ll likely come home exhausted and jet lagged, and will have to settle in for another long year of travel dreaming from your cubicle.
If you’ve really immersed yourself in a foreign culture, you even might come home with a gentle case of reverse culture shock. You might fall victim to the “post-vacation blues,” slogging through your days at home, wishing you were back abroad. Once you’ve seen a bit of what the world has to offer, it can be hard to return and be satisfied with the “same-old.”
So what can you do? If life on the road isn’t a feasible option for you — if you’ve got important things like a home, a career and a family to keep you anchored for the other 50 weeks of the year — consider some of the following ways to take your mind and your senses out on a worldly jaunt, even while your body has to stay in one place.
- Explore foreign cuisines in your own city. Most towns are home to people who immigrated at some point, and any major city will be home to people and cuisines from a plethora of different origins. Check out that bustling Ethiopian place you always walk by on your way to get coffee, or that charming Lebanese food counter a few streets over from your office. Don’t just eat there; immerse yourself. Get in the travel mindset and make conversation with the waiters or the owners if they’re from that region — most will be thrilled to talk about their home country. Take note of the decor, the music, the ambiance. Make the experience your getaway for the afternoon or evening and soak up as much of the culture as you can.

- Take a journey through a book. Not only can a great book written from another cultural perspective whisk you away, but it can give you the ability to speak intelligently in the future about a certain region and its customs, history, food or traditions. Reading also nourishes your sense of empathy, which is an invaluable trait in any traveler.
- Take a journey through film or television. Foreign films are an obvious way to immerse yourself in another culture, but television shows are more often overlooked. We’re offered a bevy of options from a variety of other cultures; outlets like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video and even YouTube are a great place to start. Turn on that Spanish drama or that Bengali comedy, put the subtitles on, and get immersed in the story, taking note of the important themes, the dress, the mode of interaction. Even popular shows from other English-speaking countries can teach you a lot and make you feel involved in the culture.
- Find a group of like minds. Thanks to organizations like Meetup, it’s easier than ever to meet like-minded people. Browse your local groups and look for gatherings of people who like to travel and explore. Get involved with volunteer organizations who work for a foreign charity cause. There’s a Meetup for almost everything in medium to large-sized cities — from learning Indian cooking to enthusiasts about adventure tourism in South America, from Japanese manga collectors to European soccer fans. Pop in to a few different gatherings and see what you can learn!

- Stay in touch with friends from abroad. Remember that Australian couple you met in the hotel in Bali? The Russian girl you befriended on the train to Paris? The group of Japanese friends you spent time with in Brazil? If you exchanged numbers, email addresses or became friends on social media, reach out! Keeping in touch with someone on the other side of the world is a surefire way to stay plugged in to another culture. Plus, when they take their next trip, you can live vicariously and get inspired to plan your next one.
- Relive your adventures. Preserve the memories of your past experiences. Get the travel blog you wrote throughout your semester abroad printed into a book so you can reread it and enjoy. Page through the journal you kept on your post-college backpacking trip. Have a few favorite travel snaps printed on canvas and hung in your living room or bedroom. Use your keepsakes and memories to remind you that your next trip isn’t so far off.

It’s virtually unanimous; most of us would love to travel more than our situations allow. So when your next international indulgence seems far away, sniff out some multicultural adventures in your own backyard. It’ll get you your fix in the meantime, and will make you an even more enthusiastic, empathetic and appreciative traveler the next time you hop on a plane.
