I don’t know about you, but around this time of the year I normally have 3 to 4 long weekends somewhere else under my belt. Seeing other places, getting to know new persons and just visiting friends on the other side of the border is just something I love doing and part of what gives me the chance to relax and be me.

Photocredit: Verena Küppers Photography

All this is not possible right now, due to the restrictions we are facing worldwide. There are three things I have started to do to get the traveling itch under control.

1. I started to go hiking close by instead of going to Switzerland or Austria to do so. Ok, I am one of the lucky ones, living in the Black Forrest there are lots and lots of possibilities to do so. And guess what; up to know I enjoyed all the tours I have done. Going with a friend, of course keeping our distance we found a mountain called “Blößling” which is a really nice mountaintop with a 360° view of the Black Forrest and the Swiss Alps. We even walked through snow.

Or just last weekend we found a fairy tale forest just outside a small town.  I have decided to use this time to get to know my home area better and explore new places there.

2. Lucky me I have a lot of pictures and photobooks from previous trips. Even some small stories in the books. This gives me the possibility to travel in my mind. Just looking at one picture lets me travel back in time and enjoy the trip again. I can see where I went, who I met and remember the bits and pieces like this one time in Columbia where a little girl, I think she was from France, kept poking on my toe because it had a band aid on it and then having a wonderful evening talking to her parents or another time dancing in a park in Santiago de Chile, because right after my trip a dance tournament was coming up. You can see where this is going- just reliving all the good experiences. So don’t be surprised to find new entries in the travel section. Even if I am not traveling physically- I am still in my mind.

3. You can even cook your favorite dishes from around the world at home. In some of the countries I have been I did cooking classes. Now I can use the recipes and what I learned to cook my own Empanadas or Lomo Saltado. This also gives you a taste of traveling.

• With all the possibilities we normally have, we forget to see the beauty around us.
• There is so much you can travel back to, be thankful for that.
• Keep traveling- just not physically!