I often find myself missing things about places we’ve traveled to, whether it’s Cambodian BBQ which we crave all the time or the feeling of wandering the streets of London, it’s easy to get a sort of reverse homesick for a place.  Lately I’ve been craving France.  It’s a common thing for me to miss my favorite country, but lately I got to thinking about how we can cure that craving for a place even when at home.  We’ll be wandering French streets in just a couple months, but in the meantime, I often need some comforts to remember my beloved France.  So if you’re missing a place you love, here’s a few ways on what to do when you miss a place!

Find a local authentic restaurant.

One of my absolute favorite ways to comfort myself when I’m missing a place I love, find an authentic restaurant.  We’re lucky in Portland in that we have amazing ethnic restaurants, so find a place that serves food from that country you’re missing and indulge in culinary comforts!

Look at photos from past trips.

I love going back through old trips and looking at photos of Nick and I in our favorite places.  So if you’ve been to your favorite destination in the past, take a look back down memory lane!

Read old posts or journal entries you wrote while there.

One of my favorite things about having a blog is that it’s like a diary of my travels.  So when I’m missing a particular place or memory, I’ll go back through my archives and re-read my thoughts and memories, as well as looking at all the photos.  It’s a great way to cure reverse home-sickness!

Book a trip back!

The best cure for missing a place?  Book a trip back!  There is nothing like that feeling of returning to a place you fell in love with the first time and reliving it all again!

Ok, so we’re a month into the New Year, it’s February and have you really turned those travel resolutions into realities yet?  If you haven’t, the good news is that you still have the whole year to do it.  But today, if you haven’t booked that dream trip yet, here’s how to change your life this year by traveling!

Take a chance.

I hear it all the time, “I’d love to travel, but…”  There is always a “but,” something in your life that makes it harder to either spend the money or take the time to travel.  The first step in adding more travel to your life and letting said travel change your life this year is to fully let the idea of travel in.  When you get to the point where you just make it happen and take a chance on something new and amazing, you’ll be able to jump at the chance instead of be afraid of taking a risk.  Travel is all about new experiences and pushing yourself, so take a chance and stop thinking of all the reasons you can’t travel.

Save more money.

Obviously you need to have money to travel.  So start saving now.  Do you buy Starbucks every day or multiple times a week?  Maybe cut that back and put the extra in a savings account.  Clean out your closet and sell your clothes.  Call your utilities and see if there are ways to cut back in your monthly bills.  Set up auto transfers from your paychecks into a savings account.  There are so many ways to start saving in order to fund your travels, but you have to start now.  Figure out in your own life how you can cut back and do it immediately.

Pick a place you’ve always wanted to experience.

Maybe that dream spot is in your own country.  Maybe it’s half way around the world.  Whatever the case, pick a place you’ve always dreamed of going and make that your goal this year to get there.  Make that destination your ambition and your drive to change your life and travel this year.  Knowing which spot will become your dream travel goal will help you in your path to getting there.

Book in advance.

It’s one thing to want to travel and even start saving to make that a reality but you still have to have a plan of action and book in advance.  You’ll get better deals and be able to pay off your trip earlier if you book in advance.  Watch flight deals and jump when you see a great one.

Get off the beaten path.

And finally, the true way of how to change your life this year with travel, when you do end up going on that dream trip, don’t just shuffle through the guidebook steps with all the other tourists.  Get off the beaten path, take it all in, wander down streets that you’re not sure of where they lead.  This is the best way you’ll create a true dream trip that will change your life forever.

A while ago, I had a reader reach out mentioning they have a hard time figuring out how to pass the time on long haul flights.  And after our trip to Australia where the flights from the West Coast of the US were a solid 14 hours each way, I figured it was a good time to show you my perfect itinerary for a 10+ hour flight.

Boarding – I like to board at the beginning and usually with elite status and such, I board with the group I fit into.  I like to get settled and not be rushed.  This is also a great time, once you get to your seat, to get yourself all situated.  I take out things like my phone and headphones, chapstick and water so that I have everything out that I’ll need during take-off.

Take Off – I usually listen to music during take-off so during taxi, I’ll figure out what I want to listen to and get everything ready to go.  Then I put the headphones in and watch the land disappear beneath the plane out the window.

Hours 1-3 – Depending on my mood, I usually like to get some stuff done during the first few hours of a long flight.  Whether that’s working on blog posts (I use my phone and a bluetooth keyboard for that) or other work related items, I find that if I need to do anything, I am the most productive during the first few hours.  Also use this time to eat the meal that is usually served in the first hour or so of a long flight and continue to organize your seat and area.

Hours 4-6 – I can sleep fairly easily on long flights, so after I get done what I need to, I’ll nap for a bit.  Sometimes that’s a solid few hours of sleep, other times it’s a half hour here and a half hour there, but the middle of the flight is a great time to get some rest as usually they turn down the lights at this point and you want to make sure you’re rested as traveling is draining.

Hours 7-10+ – If I wake up fairly refreshed, I’ll head to restroom and splash some water on my face.  I usually also head back to the galley at this point of a flight and get some tea from the flight attendants.  And then heading back to my seat, I’ll spend the next few hours of the flight either watching movies or tv shows on my phone or on the entertainment systems of the plane.  I like to do this last because it passes the time quickly and usually at the end of a long flight, those last few hours drag on and on.  But when you’re immersed in something you’re watching, it goes by a lot faster!

45 minutes before Landing – I usually take my make up off for long haul flights, so if we’re landing at a destination, I’ll head to the restroom about 45 minutes before landing and reapply a little bit of makeup and freshen up a bit.  That way, I feel much better and we can hit the ground running!