Remember last summer? Two weeks in Indonesia. A short weekend trip to London. Relaxing on the beach in Egypt. Strolling the streets of New York.
Traveling has become incredibly cheap and affordable for most people. With it comes overcrowded destinations, annoyed and angry locals, global warming, and pollution.
Traveling became for many people a status symbol, Instagram feeds full of the most beautiful and famous sights. Without knowing the name of the places, the customs and culture behind the country. The camera memory cards are full of fondest memories but without memory of where these pictures were taken.
“36 countries and counting” – Did I miss something? Is it a marathon? The fastest way to get on as many airplanes as possible or increase the number of countries to show off?
With the beginning of 2020, many people had big aims for the coming year. Many people made travel plans. Many people knew that this year would be different.
Yes, this year is different! The earth has sent us covid-19.
If not now, when is it time to rethink and redirect our tourism behavior? The pandemic is a catastrophe for the tourism industry. I don’t even want to start talking about less developed countries which are highly dependent on international tourists. Here in Europe, many accommodation facilities needed to close for over two months. In addition, they cannot compensate these losses within the following year. The visitor-intensive summer season is held off in many European cities that rely on international tourists.
In contrast, the visitor-intense rural areas are getting more and more attention from the locals. Traveling domestically is experiencing a boom. Traveling your own home country was never that appealing. Suddenly, we see things and learn things about the home countries we would have never seen/known.
Also, many travel bloggers have changed their plans and stayed in their own country.
Mountain Love – A staycation in Austria
Although I grew up in the middle of the Alps, I have never been a mountain person. When I was a kid, I was not too fond of hiking. I have done a few small hikes in the last years, and my aversion to hiking has disappeared. During the lockdown phase in April, I went on a few hikes with my family near our house. And on a longer hike in Saalbach Hinterglemm. And then I found myself on a full-day hike in Salzkammergut. I learned to appreciate my home and the mountains with a new intensity. I discovered my mountain adventure side. So that I bought a comfy mattress with the plan to do more overnight tours in my home country.
Although I’m now doing an internship in Bavaria at the border to Austria, I realized I miss the mountains. The mountains and the Austrian culture with which I can often do little.
How has the Covid situation and travel restrictions changed your travel behavior? What did you learn from your home country? How did you feel about it?
I looked around and asked travelers who are now traveling in their home countries:
Discovering Nebraska’s beauty
by Kylee
When COVID-19 struck, all of my dreams of traveling through Europe in the summer came to a screeching halt. Being from Nebraska, a state in the midwest that doesn’t get a lot of attention. I panicked at the thought of feeling “stuck” all summer. After all, Nebraska is landlocked and not known for its abundance of “things to do”. Once I changed my attitude around traveling, I decided that exploring your home state counts as “traveling”. Just as much as flying to another state or country. When I set off on an epic road trip across the state, I saw the beauty of Nebraska. That’s when I realized the diversity of Nebraska, the diversity of the midwest, and the diversity of the USA in general. It’s taught me that traveling doesn’t mean you have to go far. And that there are oftentimes hidden gems right underneath your nose in your backyard.
Feeling home in New Zealand
by Kimi
I have been calling New Zealand my home for more than four years after I migrated from the Philippines. It has been a long process away from family and friends to learn independence, courage, and self-awareness. During the past years, I could easily book a flight back to the Philippines for a visit. To tell them stories in the person of my learnings and experiences. But this year is different: I am forced to stay here with the ongoing global health crisis and the subsequent international travel restrictions.
New Zealand was 102 days free of COVID-19 community transmission when I started an 8-day road trip around the South Island on my own. With my hiking boots, driving shoes and a full backpack, I flew from Auckland to Christchurch, rented a car. There I started my solo adventure on 11 August in the middle of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere.
During these 8 days, I was in constant awe of the beauty of nature. Any traveler here would feel that way! But this feeling of wonder was only a bonus (and I feel lucky and grateful enough already for this). The immense feeling I felt during and after the trip was the sense of fulfilment to put things into perspective. The feelings of independence, courage and self-awareness heightened. I was able to climb mountains on my own, drive for hours without stopping, eat local food and connect with people along the way.
For me, it was the perfect balance of reflecting on how I belong here in my new home country and discovering more of what it has to offer. I hope for the day when everything goes back to normal to have adventures around the world again easily. But my recent local adventure in my backyard has made me realize that I feel to be at home now more than ever.
Conscious traveling in France
by Justine
I was on a 2 months trip abroad during the beginning of lockdown in France. So everything felt very strange when I arrived, but I was not in a hurry to travel. Once we could finally move freely within our borders, I quickly realized that I would not be able to go back to Central Asia as planned or to the US. So then (re)visiting France, was the only option to keep moving and explore more of my backyard.
I started to travel with the idea of doing more hikes in my home country to prepare for a bivouac, which is on my bucket list. So far I am on a short trip every month. I am happy that my little trips participate to get the economy back on its feet, even if it is not the same price as travelling in the Eastern part of the world. So I go on shorter trips and cheaper ones. I started camping again which felt great (the teenager me hated it!). Overall, this pandemic situation forces me to think more of my local impact and maybe travel more consciously. Also once I travel outside of my home country.
Shifting dunes and beautiful beaches in Poland
by Joanna
2020 is a very strange year. It is the year when the borders of most countries were closed for many months, where for several months there was a ban on moving planes for tourist purposes, where most of us, for fear of contracting the coronavirus, gave up vacationing outside their country. Nevertheless, this situation caused that part of the people who liked tours and sightseeing did not give up on them completely but sewed to explore their own country.
Poland, my home country, has a very diverse landscape. Everyone will find for themselves what she/he likes, from lounging on the beach, through hiking, cycling, fishing, sailing, climbing to surfing on the beautiful Polish sea. Because I love the sea, I went with friends to Łeba, where I had never been before on one of the weekends. Thanks to this trip I covered the moving dunes and beautiful beaches on the Polish Baltic Sea. The trip went brilliantly.
Shifting dunes located near Łeba are part of the Słowiński National Park. Łącka Dune, which is one of the most popular wandering sands in Poland, is one of the largest dunes in Europe. The dune measures approx. 42 m high and stretches over an area of more than 500 hectares. From its top there is a fantastic view that makes us feel like on the real sands of the Sahara. You know what I will tell you, I was in many beautiful places on the Polish sea, but here I was captivated by the beautiful wide beaches, with incredibly white sand. I will definitely come back there more than once. It was a very successful trip in my backyard 😊
Appreciating backyard explorations in Australia
by Dion
Over these past few years I have taken it upon myself to explore more of my home country, from joining a group of 20-somethings from around the world on a Contiki trip through the Northern Territory. To hiring a campervan and road-tripping cross country with friends and of course, the annual family holidays. While I was aware of Australia’s internationally renowned beauty, I never truly appreciated it. To be honest, I didn’t quite realise just how diverse we are, both in terms of nature and culture.
While I absolutely love travelling to countries near and far, it isn’t something we can do every weekend. Thus why these ‘domestic’ trips have meant so much to me as they provide an energizing sense of freedom, leaving me with a persistent craving for more of my own backyard. 2020 has brought with it bushfires, floods, and COVID-19 to Australia, hampering many travel plans, including simple day trips (during lockdowns, local travel has been severely restricted, even still now in my home state of Victoria). What I failed to realise is just how much I took local travel for granted. Only now appreciating its heavy importance for so many local businesses. As well as its immense effect on my own mental health.
The wonderful quality of slow traveling
by Marina
I remember booking my first ever long-haul plane ticket years ago and the excitement I felt at the opportunity to discover a completely different side of the world. Since then, I’ve visited over 55 countries, following that thirst to experience different cultures, food and often a tropical climate.
Flying long-haul and 2020 are not good friends. For those who need to keep up with our need to explorenew places, discovering our own backyard has become an absolute joy. I am lucky to be settled in Sweden and hold a Spanish passport, so I can travel around both countries. I’ve found so many trails, lakes, remote islands, medieval cities, ocean swimming spots in Sweden and even Caribbean-looking beaches in western Spain.
So many hidden gems that make me wonder why I didn’t I plan more local, slow trips before. Yet, that’s not all there is to it, by travelling local, I am reducing my carbon footprint and helping support the local economy. I always get the best local recommendations in exchange, which makes my trip unique and unforgettable!
Now home country specialist all the hidden gems of Bulgaria
by Diana
I moved from Russia to Bulgaria with my family 10 years ago, and whenever I got a question about what my favorite place in Bulgaria is or what the must-visit areas here are, I always felt terrible because the only answer that I had was simply “I don’t know”. That made me realize that I call myself a travel blogger without knowing my own country, and I felt embarrassed. My desire to travel started burning even after all the borders closed this year.
I realized that it’s finally the perfect timing to explore my own country that I get to call my home. When it comes to Bulgaria, most of the people only know about Sofia and Sunny Beach, which are my two least favorite places in the whole country. I refuse to visit them after being there several times. In the last couple of months, starting in May, I discovered many stunning places like beautiful beaches, hidden waterfalls, and mountain peaks. I rediscovered hiking and started chasing those jaw-dropping views this whole summer, and I don’t plan on stopping.
The nature side of Bulgaria is unbelievably beautiful. I visited a huge stone that is stuck between two rocks resembling the famous Kjeragbolten in Norway, the Horseshoe Bend which reminded me of the one in Arizona, and went on my first wine tour. I was so impressed that I even started translating my website into Bulgarian so that more people can visit those magical places. Get out there; you never know what you can find in your own backyard.
