Hello Nextinationer,

As you already know, the situation that coronavirus is causing in the world is getting worse. In Spain, the State of Alarm was declared more than a two weeks ago and we cannot leave our places except for going to the supermarket or the pharmacy. In fact, the government has added two more weeks of quarantine so far.

As a travel blogger, I had to cancel two trips so far and surely I will have to do it also with another trips I have in May and in June. Obviously this is not important right now but to think in other people and to remain home in order to not be contagious, to flatten the curve and for this nightmare ends as soon as possible.

As a result of not being able to travel right now,  my wanderlust, has increased because, once you are prohibited from doing something, you want it more strongly than ever. This is how the human being works, therefore, my desire to travel has increased and if you, are also a travel blogger or a travel lover, you will know what I mean.

Therefore, in this article «How to travel during the Corona time without leaving home», I would like to give you some guidelines on how to travel from home, without leaving the sofa.

Books that will inspire you to travel.

Lonely planet

Lonely planet has released a guide «500 ways to travel from the sofa»( In Spanish) that normally costs € 9.99 but now you can download it for free in PDF here.

Condé Nast Traveler

Also other magazines such as Condé Nast Traveler Spain have released the April magazine for free. You can download it here.

A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East

The Italian Tiziano Terzani, was a quite famous writer in Italy and in other parts of the world, but still quite unknown in Spain. His life was super interesting since he was working as a war correspondent for a German newspaper and living in Singapore in 1971 as well as in different parts of Asia for 30 years.

He wrote this book in 1995 following the prophecy of a fortune teller from Hong Kong, in 1976, when he told him not to fly for the next year, otherwise his life would be in danger. For this reason, he decided to travel around Asia a whole year without taking planes and traveling for his work via land or sea.

This way of traveling changed to a more leisurely, relaxed and calmed one. In this book, we learn about the social, political, and economic realities of countries such as Thailand, Burma, Laos, China, Indonesia, Singapore, and many others, as well as the adventures of taking long trips on all types of ground transportation in Asia.

The book also includes a legendary and memorable overland trip from Bangkok to Florence and another that forced him to cross China, Mongolia and Russia aboard the legendary Trans-Siberian train to, from Moscow, make his way to his native Italy. 

You can buy the book here.

Generation Gap

I bought this book in 2015, after moved in to Moscow, and its reading fascinated me. I finished reading it right away.

It tells the story of two very different generations.  Emily’s generation in the 70s, when she traveled to Japan and stayed there so many years, and also, her daughter Sachiko, the writer of the book, who years later, spent a long season in that country too. It describes a lot about Japan as a country, about the Japanese and their culture and traditions and it will make you want to buy a ticket to Japan, once you can travel again.

You can buy the book here.

Elsewhere

I’ve started to read this book a few days ago, since I ordered to Amazon last week.

From her first solo trip to Australia when she was a young graduate, which changed her life, Rosita Boland was captivated by traveling. In the past 30 years, she visited some of the most remote parts of the world with little more than a battered backpack and a newspaper.

Instead of taking pictures, Rosita transcribed her thoughts and stories from each place she visited in a series of diaries as well as keeping paper memories, such as tickets, napkins, cards from the places she went, and all her passports. The diaries are now a collection of essays about her travels and the memories she has used to create the cover of her book. A travel book for people who think they don’t like travel books.

Rosita Boland, currently a journalist for the Irish Times newspaper, was named Journalist of the Year in 2018 and published this book last year, in 2019.

You can buy the book here.

Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming something. Maybe it’s about ceasing to be everything you really aren’t, so you can become who you were meant to be in the first place

Movies that will inspire you to travel.

Hector and the search for happiness

It is a film that talks about something we all pursue: Happiness. Hector is a disillusioned psychiatrist and tired of the life he leads and that the advice he gives to his patients is of no use, he decides to leave everything behind and to go around the world in search of the secret of happiness.

I liked this movie a lot! You will travel to China and Africa without leaving your home. Check the trailer here.

You can buy the blu-ray movie here. and the DVD here.

Already tomorrow in Hong Kong

It is one of my favorite movies. I like the actors and the film shows that there is very good chemistry between them because they are married in real life. But also, I loved this movie for having been shot in Hong Kong, a city that I adore. I have visited twice and that brings back very good memories for also having lived, as ons of the characters of the movie, as an expatriate in several countries, including China too.

Jamie Chung plays a Chinese-American girl who is visiting Hong Kong for the first time, and an American expat who lives in the city guides her. The whole movie is them having funny conversations and walking around Hong Kong. The whole movie makes us wonder what happens when you meet the right person but at the wrong time? You can watch the trailer here.

You can buy the DVD here: Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong  [DVD]

[button text=»Discover about my life in China here» link=»https://nextination.es/category/asia/china/» style=»default» size=»xs» target=»_blank» display=»inline» class=»» icon=»»]

The Art of Travel

This movie, is based on the story of a young boy who is about to get married but at the very last moment, (literally, because he is already at the altar), the wedding is canceled and he decided go alone to Central America in search of adventure.

You can see the trailer here.

You can watch the full movie in English here for FREE.

Baraka

It is considered more of a documentary. Filmed in 24 countries, it visually narrates the evolution of the earth and humanity. It shows us how the human being relates to its environment. In this film there are no dialogues but its magnificent images will show you religions, tribes, cultures, etc., all accompanied by a good soundtrack.

The word Baraka comes from a word of Islamic origin that means «breath of life».

After this movie, its sequel called «Samsara» came out. I also recommended that one. You can see Baraka´s trailer here.

You can watch the full movie for FREE here.

Eat Pray Love

I could not help but naming this film, based on a book and based on a true story, after a gap year the writer dedicated to travel, after discovering with 30 years old that the life she had wasn’t  the one she wanted .

I still remember the first time I watch this movie. It was at the cinema one afternoon in October 2010. I had just moved to London and a few days after arriving in the city, I went to the cinema with my sister. I remember saying «Where are the subtitles»? lol, since although I had been watching movies in the original version for a couple of years, I think this was the first time I saw a movie without English subtitles.

However, I don’t recall that I loved the movie, unlike my sister, since she went to Bali for her honeymoon just a month before.

Curiously, years later, in 2017, I spent three weeks in Jakarta, so I decided to watch this film again since I was about to go to Bali. Once I set foot in Bali I fell in love with the island. I have been in Bali a couple of times and it has a very special place in my heart, so this is one of my favourite movies and I never get tired of watching it once and once again.

In addition to Bali, Italy is another spot in the film, probably my favourite country and also India, one of those places that I want to go so badly.

However, despite everything, what I liked most about the film is the message on it. «Look for a life that makes you happy. Don’t stop being the person you want to be and live the life you want to live».

You can watch the trailer here.

Buy the DVD here:  Eat, Pray, Love [DVD]

[button text=»Discover more about Bali here» link=»https://nextination.es/en/category/asia-en/indonesia-en/» style=»default» size=»xs» target=»_blank» display=»inline» class=»» icon=»»]

Midnight in Paris

What can I say about this movie? As a fan of  Woody Allen, I also loved this one. Also, who doesn’t want to travel to Paris and dream of meeting great artists and writers from the past? That is what happens to the main character of the film, a bohemian American writer who arrives with his fiancée and her parents in Paris.

In the afternoons, while he wanders alone through the streets of the city, he suddenly teleport himself to the Paris of the 1920s, meeting characters that he never imagined meeting. Check the trailer click here.

Buy the movie here: Midnight In Paris [Blu-ray]

[button text=»River Cruise along the Seine» link=»https://nextination.es/en/seine-river-cruise-paris-normandy/» style=»default» size=»xs» target=»_blank» display=»inline» class=»» icon=»»]

Out of Africa

This film, from the 1985, is one of the classics I coudn´t stop including in my list. If you have not watched it yet, you should do it soon and to let your imagination run wild throughout all the images of Kenya where it was shot and where you will be teleported for free from your home.

Meryl Streep, is a married baroness, who decides to move to Kenya, at that time one of the British colonies in Africa, to run a coffee plantation. But he meets there a professional, adventurous and liberal hunter who makes her regain the joy of living. To watch the trailer, click here.

Buy the movie here: Out Of Africa [Blu-ray]

Under the Tuscan Sun

This film was shot in 2004 but I just watched it only a couple of years ago .

The main character is a 35-year-old writer who lives in San Francisco. She has just been divorced and is totally lost when it comes to her life. To help her get through it, a friend of hers gives her a gift: a ten-day trip to Italian Tuscany. Once there, and following an impulse, she buys a ruined villa and immerses herself in a process of reform and adaptation to a new country, a new language that she does not speak and new traditions and cultures. Again, you will travel to Italy without leaving the sofa. The truth is that after watching this movie, you will feel in need to live in another country, leaving your comfort zone. Check the trailer here.

Buy the movie here: Under the Tuscan Sun [DVD]

[button text=»Discover more about Italy» link=»https://nextination.es/en/category/europe-en/italy-en/» style=»default» size=»xs» target=»_blank» display=»inline» class=»» icon=»»]

Lost in Translation

Who has not watched it? I must admit that I had to give this movie a second chance. I think when I started watching it a few years ago, I didn’t understand it so I didn´t like it.

Today, after having lived 8 years abroad, in 5 different countries, including China, and on 3 different continents, I think I fully understand this story and I feel identified with what it transmits, so I have not been able to stop including it in my post.

In the film there are two min characters, an American film star who goes to Tokyo to shoot an advertisement and a young American girl who goes to Tokyo accompanying her husband who has to work there as a photographer. The two meet in the hotel bar and between them a connection quickly arises: feeling lost in the midst of many people and not finding their place in that city.

Check the trailer here.

Buy the movie here: Lost in Translation [DVD]

Crazy Rich Asians

I couldn’t help but including this movie in my post. The first time I watched it, was on a plane flying to I don’t remember where. I had already been to Singapore when I watched it, perhaps because of that, I loved seeing the places where I had already been. Then, last year, in 2019, I was lucky to return to Singapore and live there for 3 weeks and I loved visiting the places that appear in the film, once again.

In case you have not watched this movie, I will say that is a romantic movie, but it really makes you savour Singapore to the fullest and learn a lot about one of the most important city-states in Asia.

Rachel accompanies her boyfriend Nick to a wedding in Singapore where he is from. Once there, Rachel is stunned when she discovers that Nick is the heir of the richest family in Singapore, that all the young women want to take it from her and that his mother disapproves of the relationship between them.

Singapore is an incredible destination, a glamorous dream world filled with places worth seeing. Check the trailer here.

Buy the movie here: Crazy Rich Asians [USA] [Blu-ray]

[button text=»More about Singapore here» link=»https://nextination.es/en/category/asia-en/singapore-en/» style=»default» size=»xs» target=»_blank» display=»inline» class=»» icon=»»]

[button text=»More about Malaysia here» link=»https://nextination.es/en/category/asia-en/malaysia-en/» style=»default» size=»xs» target=»_blank» display=»inline» class=»» icon=»»]

Travel Photographs and Videos

Air Pano

Another way to travel without leaving your home is thanks to «Air Pano» website, a collection of 360 videos that show the beautiful nature of our planet. Waterfalls, mountains, volcanoes, polar lights, animals and many other wonderful creations on Earth.

AirPano is a project created by a team of Russian photographers focused on taking 360 ° high-resolution aerial photographs and 360 ° video. Although they generally take pictures from drones and radio-controlled helicopters, they also like to take pictures from a plane, an airship, and a hot air balloon.

AirPano is the world’s largest resource, by geographic coverage, number of aerial photographs, and artistic and technical image quality, with 360 ° panoramas and 360 ° videos of the highest quality from a panoramic view.

The team working at Air Pano travels the world to make aerial and underwater VR (360) photography and video content. They post new 360 ° videos every 10 days. I leave you here his website and the YouTube page.

Vimeo travel

I personally love watching travel videos. Many times, during the week, while I eat, I like to watch travel videos like these ones, to disconnect after several hours in front of the computer and continue traveling without leaving home. There are really fascinating videos.

Here you have the link of VIMEO, where if you put «Travel» or «Travel» in the search engine you will get thousands. You also can find here, the Nextination teaser video below and you can see more on my YouTube channel here.

Much of who we are is where we have been.

Follow inspiring travel accounts on Instagram

For me, Instagram has always been a great source of inspiration for traveling. Whenever I see a photo of a site that I love and want to visit or return to, I keep it within Instagram albums, within the corresponding country. I currently have about 20 different albums.

In this way, in addition, I make sure that once I visit that specific country or city, I already have half the work done.

Also, between trips, when I’m at home, I love looking at my favorite Instagram travel accounts since it’s a way to travel without leaving home.

I leave you here several Instagram accounts to inspire you:

Traveling is about finding those things you never knew you were looking for.

If you have any questions or questions, you can send me an email or write it in comments.

If you want to see more pictures of my travels, since here I only put a few, do not hesitate to follow me in my Instagram clicking here. and subscribe to the blog here:

Thank you so much for reading me.

If you liked the post Pin it!