This post is a part of a student-written series, 20 Ideas for Travel Bliss. Kate Sozansky is a student at Taylor University in Upland, Ind. Check out Wes’ personal blog — Kelli’s Thoughts.
So you’ve gone on holiday, and it’s not as exciting as you anticipated. Here are some ideas I’ve devised to make things more interesting. Just don’t forget the basic principles of travel safety and wellbeing during your trip.
1. Converse with a stranger.
Are there other travelers around who you don’t know? Perfect! Pick one and strike up a conversation. There are a few options at this point:
- Make idle small talk.
- Genuinely try to make friends with someone you’ll see for more than five minutes over the course of the trip.
- Make up a name, history, and even accent for yourself, and practice your role-playing skills (recommended for short encounters).
- Make it a learning experience. You can do research for a book or article if you’re a writer, learn about locations for future vacations, or figure out how many times the average person uses “like” in a certain amount of time.
People often make things more interesting. Use that to your advantage. For more tips about talking to strangers, visit Solo Traveler and this article by Barbara Winter.
2. People-watch.
If you don’t feel like conversing and have some downtime, people can still be rather entertaining. People-watching is incredibly flexible: you can often do it en route, though it’s more effective at your travel destination. If you’re in a car on the highway (and you’re not driving), then take a quick peek into other vehicles, or read the bumper stickers. Watch the people in the main lobby at rest stops. In the city, it’s even simpler, especially with all the traffic lights. If you’re on an airplane, your options are a bit more limited, but you can still learn a lot about people with a little careful observation.
Now, I understand that maybe there aren’t any people around. Perhaps you went camping alone in the woods. Fine. In this case, I hope you enjoy nature. If not, hopefully you will plan your next vacation a little more in tune with your interests.
3. Make your own Kodak moments (or borrow them from others).
When you don’t know what else to do, break out the camera. Find something that inspires you. If you can’t find anything, make something inspire you. If you’re still stuck, dial down your seriousness and try again once you’re a bit sillier.
If you’re traveling alone, you can also ask other people to take pictures with you or if you can take pictures of them. If you witness a beautiful moment (like a proposal) and you admire the artistic quality, snap a photo.
If you are traveling with a friend or family member, pick a pose for your pictures that you can do in a variety of places. Like planking. Go to List25 for 25 fun examples of planking. I put one of the pictures here.
4. Walk around.
If you’re really bored on your vacation, the best thing to do is to go somewhere. After all, that is why you went on vacation in the first place, right? The point of travel is to get away from the everyday and do something different. So go out and find something different.
If you want to make the trip itself more interesting (probably a road trip), plan a fun route with a few sites that aren’t too far out of the way, like museums, tourist sites and landmarks, or cities you’ve always wanted to visit.
5. Remix the playlist.
Music generally sets the mood. Choose your songs accordingly. Often it’s a good idea to make your travel playlists ahead of time. You can also try your luck with radio stations, or even serenade yourself (though I recommend you do this either alone or with trusted friends). If you still aren’t inspired by your normal playlist, try playing epic-style music while performing a humdrum activity. Take a video and share with friends later. Or deliberately mishear the lyrics of a famous song. You can even take pictures of objects from your misheard lyrics for a slideshow or scrapbook.
Hope you got a few ideas for your vacation. What are some other ideas that you have? Comment below!