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What to Do When You Have a Travel Itch You Can’t Scratch1
It’s hard to deny the joys of travel； it’s a pretty universally loved experience. Of course， it’s also expensive and it’s not always easy to make time for2 it. If you’re itching to travel but it’s not in the cards in your foreseeable future， here’s how to make do in the meantime.3
Come Up with a Plan， Even a Long-Term One
Even frugal4 travel is pretty expensive. So expensive， in fact， that we’re quick to brush it off5 and say we can’t afford it. That may be painfully true， but it’s also true that many of us give up easily when it comes to our finances. A great question to ask when you feel defeated6 is “what if？”
For example， when I was in student loan debt， there seemed to be no way in hell I could afford to take a vacation.7 Just for kicks， though， I asked myself， what if I cut back on all my other spending and supercharged my debt payments？8 What if I picked up a side job9 and used that cash to pay the debt， too？ What if I got a roommate to split10 the cost of rent？ Everyone has different answers， and yours may still leave you at a dead end11， or they may just be of the question.
Personally， though， I was surprised at the possibilities those answers offered， and it made me feel less stuck12. Yeah， it took a couple of years of paying off debt and saving， but hey， at least I knew it wasn’t impossible. And waiting two years for a trip was better than spending two years frustrated and restless.13
Once you get an idea of what you can do—and what you’re willing to do—to save for travel， you can come up with a solid14 plan for getting there. You can do the same thing with your time. If you’re too busy this year to take a trip， schedule15 some time to come up with a plan for next year. Settle on some dates and figure out a timeline for booking flights，16 hotels， and so on. There’s a lot of power even in simply establishing a time frame17.
Make the Most of18 the Wait
Oddly enough， we might be happier planning and anticipating a trip more than we are actually taking it.19 Research published in the journal20 Applied Research in Quality of Life studied 1，530 adults planning a vacation and found：
Possibly， anticipation played an important role in explaining the observed differences in pre-trip happiness between vacationers and non-vacationers. Holiday trips are experiences which people look forward to. For most， the enjoyment starts weeks， even months before the holiday actually begins. Remarkably21， post-trip happiness is generally not different for vacationers and non-vacationers. While you’re saving or waiting for the time， learn the language， read about it. Set time to actually plan your trip. From picking a location to figuring out the financial part to setting certain milestones22 to help you get excited. Make a list of a few books you want to read on the topic. Reminisce23 on your old trip. Make albums24 with your old photos. Put up pictures.
This is good news for those of us who can’t afford to spend the time or money on travel anytime soon—in the meantime， we can plan， and if this research is any indication25， planning is a big part of the enjoyment we get from travel， anyway. You might even consider setting a few planning goals every month to keep your excitement up.
Break Out of Your Everyday Routine26
Travel is fun for a lot of reasons， but when you get down to it， it’s really about novelty.27 We get to see someplace new. We get to learn new things and experience new cultures. Overall， we get to break out of our rut and reconnect with ourselves.28
There are ways to achieve this novelty in your normal， everyday life， though. Our routines and systems might make us super productive29， but it’s easy to get stuck in them， too. After a while， a routine can make you feel robotic and mindless， and you start to crave something different.30 Here are a few ways to combat31 this problem.
Take Better Breaks
If you have a habit of working through lunch or not taking real， regular breaks during the day， keep in mind： breaks keep you motivated because they’re restorative.32 Go outside when you take your breaks， too. Research published in Psychological Science found that people perform cognitively better after spending time in a natural setting.33 Regular breaks may not be as restorative as a two week trip to Hawaii， but still， they keep burnout at bay.34
Practice Mindfulness35
Trendy36 as it may be， mindfulness serves a great， practical purpose. Namely， it keeps you motivated and focused. I’m not saying it takes the place of travel， but a lot of the things we enjoy about travel we could also get from a little mindfulness. For example， while eating， remember to savor each bite every time you put your fork down.37 At work， you can set an hourly chime or other reminder to pause in the moment.38 Meditation39 is another way to practice being more mindful， and you can think of it as exercise for your brain. Tour Your Town
Maybe you wouldn’t exactly describe your town as a cultural epicenter40. That’s fine—you don’t have to live in London to get some nearby novelty. Visit local museums， parks， have dinner in a different part of town. We often glorify travel as being some long， exotic journey， but chances are， there’s a lot of new stuff you can learn and see in your own neighborhood， town， or city.41 Or， you can plan a fun weekend road trip to a town or city nearby.
Again， none of this is to say travel isn’t worthwhile and fun for many other reasons （and worth saving up42 and waiting for）. However， the travel itch often comes around when we feel stuck or we’re craving something new. Beyond saving up and coming up with a plan， you can feed some of the craving by making the most of the wait and making your everyday life a little more adventurous.
1. itch： 痒；scratch： 挠。
2. make time for： 腾出时间（做某事）。
3. in the cards： 可能发生的；foreseeable： 可预见的；make do： 设法达成；in the meantime： 同时。
4. frugal： 节俭的。
5. brush off： 丢弃。
6. defeated： 受挫的。
7. student loan debt： 学生贷款债务；in hell： （用于加强语气）压根儿。
8. for kicks： 为取乐（或追求刺激）；cut back on： 缩减；supercharge： 使超负荷。
9. side job： 兼职。
10. split： 分担。
11. dead end： 死胡同。
12. stuck： 陷入困境的。
13. frustrated： 挫败的；restless： 焦躁不安的。
14. solid： 认真的，实在的。
15. schedule： 安排。
16. settle on： 选定；timeline： 时间明细表；flight： 航班。
17. time frame： 时间范围。
18. make the most of ： 充分利用。
19. oddly： 奇怪地；anticipate： 期待。
20. journal： 杂志，期刊。
21. remarkably： 值得注意的是。
22. milestone： 里程碑。
23. reminisce： 回忆。
24. album： 影集。
25. indication： 预示。
26. routine： 日常事务。
27. get down to： 认真对待，着手处理；novelty： 新奇。
28. rut： （生活、事业））一成不变的状态；reconnect： 再次连接。
29. productive： 富有成效的。
30. robotic： 像机器人的； mindless： 没头脑的；crave： 渴望得到。
31. combat： 与……对抗。
32. 如果你习惯于午餐时间还工作，或者每天都不去真正地、有规律地休息，那么请记住：休息会让你保持积极性，因为它有利于人体恢复。motivated： 有积极性的；restorative： 促进复原的。
33. psychological： 心理的； cognitively： 认知地；setting： 环境。
34. burnout： 筋疲力尽；at bay： 走投无路，陷入绝境。
35. mindfulness： 正念，静观。
36. trendy： 时髦的。
37. savor： 品尝；bite： 一口；fork： 餐叉。
38. chime： 钟声；reminder： 提醒；pause： 暂停。
39. meditation： 冥想。
40. epicenter： 中心。
41. 我们通常会把旅行美化为漫长的奇异之旅，但你很有可能会在自己住的街区、小镇或城市发现或学到很多新鲜事物。glorify： 美化；exotic： 奇异的。
42. save up： 储蓄。
It’s hard to deny the joys of travel； it’s a pretty universally loved experience. Of course， it’s also expensive and it’s not always easy to make time for2 it. If you’re itching to travel but it’s not in the cards in your foreseeable future， here’s how to make do in the meantime.3
Come Up with a Plan， Even a Long-Term One
Even frugal4 travel is pretty expensive. So expensive， in fact， that we’re quick to brush it off5 and say we can’t afford it. That may be painfully true， but it’s also true that many of us give up easily when it comes to our finances. A great question to ask when you feel defeated6 is “what if？”
For example， when I was in student loan debt， there seemed to be no way in hell I could afford to take a vacation.7 Just for kicks， though， I asked myself， what if I cut back on all my other spending and supercharged my debt payments？8 What if I picked up a side job9 and used that cash to pay the debt， too？ What if I got a roommate to split10 the cost of rent？ Everyone has different answers， and yours may still leave you at a dead end11， or they may just be of the question.
Personally， though， I was surprised at the possibilities those answers offered， and it made me feel less stuck12. Yeah， it took a couple of years of paying off debt and saving， but hey， at least I knew it wasn’t impossible. And waiting two years for a trip was better than spending two years frustrated and restless.13
Once you get an idea of what you can do—and what you’re willing to do—to save for travel， you can come up with a solid14 plan for getting there. You can do the same thing with your time. If you’re too busy this year to take a trip， schedule15 some time to come up with a plan for next year. Settle on some dates and figure out a timeline for booking flights，16 hotels， and so on. There’s a lot of power even in simply establishing a time frame17.
Make the Most of18 the Wait
Oddly enough， we might be happier planning and anticipating a trip more than we are actually taking it.19 Research published in the journal20 Applied Research in Quality of Life studied 1，530 adults planning a vacation and found：
Possibly， anticipation played an important role in explaining the observed differences in pre-trip happiness between vacationers and non-vacationers. Holiday trips are experiences which people look forward to. For most， the enjoyment starts weeks， even months before the holiday actually begins. Remarkably21， post-trip happiness is generally not different for vacationers and non-vacationers. While you’re saving or waiting for the time， learn the language， read about it. Set time to actually plan your trip. From picking a location to figuring out the financial part to setting certain milestones22 to help you get excited. Make a list of a few books you want to read on the topic. Reminisce23 on your old trip. Make albums24 with your old photos. Put up pictures.
This is good news for those of us who can’t afford to spend the time or money on travel anytime soon—in the meantime， we can plan， and if this research is any indication25， planning is a big part of the enjoyment we get from travel， anyway. You might even consider setting a few planning goals every month to keep your excitement up.
Break Out of Your Everyday Routine26
Travel is fun for a lot of reasons， but when you get down to it， it’s really about novelty.27 We get to see someplace new. We get to learn new things and experience new cultures. Overall， we get to break out of our rut and reconnect with ourselves.28
There are ways to achieve this novelty in your normal， everyday life， though. Our routines and systems might make us super productive29， but it’s easy to get stuck in them， too. After a while， a routine can make you feel robotic and mindless， and you start to crave something different.30 Here are a few ways to combat31 this problem.
Take Better Breaks
If you have a habit of working through lunch or not taking real， regular breaks during the day， keep in mind： breaks keep you motivated because they’re restorative.32 Go outside when you take your breaks， too. Research published in Psychological Science found that people perform cognitively better after spending time in a natural setting.33 Regular breaks may not be as restorative as a two week trip to Hawaii， but still， they keep burnout at bay.34
Practice Mindfulness35
Trendy36 as it may be， mindfulness serves a great， practical purpose. Namely， it keeps you motivated and focused. I’m not saying it takes the place of travel， but a lot of the things we enjoy about travel we could also get from a little mindfulness. For example， while eating， remember to savor each bite every time you put your fork down.37 At work， you can set an hourly chime or other reminder to pause in the moment.38 Meditation39 is another way to practice being more mindful， and you can think of it as exercise for your brain. Tour Your Town
Maybe you wouldn’t exactly describe your town as a cultural epicenter40. That’s fine—you don’t have to live in London to get some nearby novelty. Visit local museums， parks， have dinner in a different part of town. We often glorify travel as being some long， exotic journey， but chances are， there’s a lot of new stuff you can learn and see in your own neighborhood， town， or city.41 Or， you can plan a fun weekend road trip to a town or city nearby.
Again， none of this is to say travel isn’t worthwhile and fun for many other reasons （and worth saving up42 and waiting for）. However， the travel itch often comes around when we feel stuck or we’re craving something new. Beyond saving up and coming up with a plan， you can feed some of the craving by making the most of the wait and making your everyday life a little more adventurous.
1. itch： 痒；scratch： 挠。
2. make time for： 腾出时间（做某事）。
3. in the cards： 可能发生的；foreseeable： 可预见的；make do： 设法达成；in the meantime： 同时。
4. frugal： 节俭的。
5. brush off： 丢弃。
6. defeated： 受挫的。
7. student loan debt： 学生贷款债务；in hell： （用于加强语气）压根儿。
8. for kicks： 为取乐（或追求刺激）；cut back on： 缩减；supercharge： 使超负荷。
9. side job： 兼职。
10. split： 分担。
11. dead end： 死胡同。
12. stuck： 陷入困境的。
13. frustrated： 挫败的；restless： 焦躁不安的。
14. solid： 认真的，实在的。
15. schedule： 安排。
16. settle on： 选定；timeline： 时间明细表；flight： 航班。
17. time frame： 时间范围。
18. make the most of ： 充分利用。
19. oddly： 奇怪地；anticipate： 期待。
20. journal： 杂志，期刊。
21. remarkably： 值得注意的是。
22. milestone： 里程碑。
23. reminisce： 回忆。
24. album： 影集。
25. indication： 预示。
26. routine： 日常事务。
27. get down to： 认真对待，着手处理；novelty： 新奇。
28. rut： （生活、事业））一成不变的状态；reconnect： 再次连接。
29. productive： 富有成效的。
30. robotic： 像机器人的； mindless： 没头脑的；crave： 渴望得到。
31. combat： 与……对抗。
32. 如果你习惯于午餐时间还工作，或者每天都不去真正地、有规律地休息，那么请记住：休息会让你保持积极性，因为它有利于人体恢复。motivated： 有积极性的；restorative： 促进复原的。
33. psychological： 心理的； cognitively： 认知地；setting： 环境。
34. burnout： 筋疲力尽；at bay： 走投无路，陷入绝境。
35. mindfulness： 正念，静观。
36. trendy： 时髦的。
37. savor： 品尝；bite： 一口；fork： 餐叉。
38. chime： 钟声；reminder： 提醒；pause： 暂停。
39. meditation： 冥想。
40. epicenter： 中心。
41. 我们通常会把旅行美化为漫长的奇异之旅，但你很有可能会在自己住的街区、小镇或城市发现或学到很多新鲜事物。glorify： 美化；exotic： 奇异的。
42. save up： 储蓄。