Satisfying Your Wanderlust in the Day-to-Day
collage by Mikayla Alpert
In the age of Pinterest boards titled “Italy” that are filled to the brim with pictures of Cinque Terre and Rome, it’s hard not to want to be traveling all the time. We’ve degraded our existence to squares that we select, style, and represent to the public as a truth. Our wanderlust has increased because of not only this social media phenomena, but also has been exacerbated by lockdowns and countries now opening back up again. The world is once again our oyster, it feels like, and we want to go, go, GO.
Nobody talks about the reality of travel anymore. It is long, it is hard, and it is expensive. I’ve had friends drive eight hours to Wyoming, stay for a day, and then drive eight hours back. Motion sickness on airplanes is not talked about often enough, nor is the fear of flying. I’m not trying to bash travel per se, but I hope people remember the gritty reality of layovers, mishaps, and picking destinations that are cheaper and close by. Not to mention, traveling abroad is still risky and involves extra steps that it once did not require.
In the midst of our yearning to go places and see the world, we fall increasingly out of love with our hometowns, local hangout spots, and other things that have made our daily lives beautiful.
As a twenty-year-old, I am fortunate to have gone to some of the places I have in my short time meandering on this marvelous rock we call Earth. Hawaii, Europe, and ten states--and I feel like there are some people who have seen about the same as I have, some less, and some who have seen a lot more. However, traveling and fulfilling our wanderlust should not be some comparison game, and unfortunately, it did become that way for me a while--especially before COVID and now.
What did I do to combat this toxic view of travel?
Well, first of all, I’m lucky that I got to travel to two states in the past six months. I’m perhaps a little less antsy than others who are now just starting to travel again, and if I didn't acknowledge this privilege I had, then my advice for others would not be honest.
However, I will say that the biggest way to satisfy the extreme amount of unsatiated wanderlust one has during a time like this is to appreciate home. Not in a toxic-positivity, dismissing-your own-problems kind of way. I mean just genuinely engaging with your hometown in ways that you hadn’t thought of before.
For example, I never go into the city in my state. Like, ever. Generally, if I had the sudden urge to get on a plane to a random destination, I would wallow and throw myself a pity party. I would daydream about a perfect wardrobe that I could wear in Paris hoping that it would make me feel better, and it did, for a while. Eventually, that habit became toxic because it made me lose sight of the present.
Recently, I hung out with some friends and decided to drive into the city. We had no idea where we were going, or where we wanted to eat; we just knew that we were hungry, dressed up really nice because we were seeing people, and needed to get out of our houses. We were set on BBQ, did a quick google search, and got directions to a Korean BBQ place. None of us had been to a restaurant like this before, and it was so exciting. We took pictures, videos, and reviewed the foods we tried as we ate. We romanticized this moment in time, and it was beautiful. It was better than I expected, and who doesn’t like being pleasantly surprised like that?
The spontaneity from our impromptu lunch carried over, as we explored a store on the thoroughfare that we had previously never seen before. It was like a toy store, Hot Topic, and Spirit Halloween combined into one emporium on steroids. We spoke lightheartedly about things for the first time in a long while and tried on silly headbands of Disney characters. We looked at the tags on used board games, wondering why they were priced the way they were. I came back home feeling as if all my curiosity, wanderlust, and appreciation for the life I’m living were met with satisfaction.
To you, a reader, this may just seem like a great day. You would be right, but I guess you might also be wondering how in the midst of all the grandeur, I resolved my complicated feelings towards traveling. I guess my answer is:
Traveling is not necessarily the only way to fulfill our wanderlust. Fulfilling our wanderlust is rooted in believing that we can cherish the journeys and new experienced we make— regardless of their location.
There are still days where I wish I could be going to a new state, and I’m daydreaming about going on a birthday trip with my friend for our 21st birthdays. I still live with the goals of travel in my mind, but I don’t let things like vacations be the end-all, be-all for the wanderlust. I let my wanderlust be satisfied by good books, great conversations, and finding new restaurants to eat. If you were to do the same, you’d be surprised at how much you would appreciate not only your home but also any future holidays you go on. You’ll feel more in the moment when you’re visiting tourist attractions, chilling at the beach, or navigating the day-to-day while you’re at a new destination. You’ll treat places--both new and old--as beautiful ways to experience your life without placing too much weight on them as being locations in which your life must change. The things you encounter, enjoy, and the places you don’t enjoy will all become less of a competition and more of a unique experience for our individual betterment.
The lust for life that we’re all trying to get back, will come back when we learn all the ways in which our wanderlust can be exhausted (Lana Del Rey reference appreciated, I hope?).
If you’re struggling with where to start when it comes to satisfying your wanderlust in your daily life (which is understandable because we all get disillusioned with the place we live at some point or another), here are some tips:
Don’t necessarily stop your habit of making cute Pinterest boards. Sometimes, daydreaming doesn’t hurt.
Go grocery shopping, and buy a food that you normally wouldn’t try. Bonus points if you go to a special grocery store that specializes in cuisines from around the world.
Been learning a new language? If not, pick up a book from a secondhand bookstore on a language. If you have, then I challenge you to read some poetry or a short story in the foreign language you have been studying!
Meet friends in new places. Carpool together to said place. You won’t believe the amount of coffee shops I have discovered this way.
Buy a hammock. This is a great way to explore parks, relax, and enjoy nature in a non-strenuous way.
Drive 20 minutes further away from your house each week. I don’t like to drive, and I even did this. It was fun.
Don’t feel pressured to do something every day. Seriously, don’t. Relaxing is also key in keeping the wanderlust levels in you from going crazy.