How to be a traveller when you can't travel

With much of the world grounded and borders closed, the enforced pause in travel left many with a restless itch and no outlet for it. But even when you cannot board a plane, there are ways to keep the spirit of travel alive, and to lay the groundwork for the journeys to come.

Start close to home. The impulse to explore need not be satisfied only in far-flung places; most of us have overlooked wonders within an hour or two — a trail never walked, a neighbouring town never visited, a museum taken for granted. Approaching the familiar with a traveller's curiosity can be surprisingly rewarding.

Feed the imagination, too. This is a time for the great travel writers, for films set in places you long to see, for cookbooks that bring the flavours of distant regions into your kitchen, and for learning a few phrases of a language you hope one day to use.

Planning itself is a pleasure. Dreaming over maps and guidebooks, plotting future routes and making lists of places to go can sustain wanderlust and ensure you are ready when the moment comes.

Perhaps most valuable is the chance to reflect on what you want from travel — to move more slowly, to go deeper rather than farther, to tread more lightly. The pause may end up reshaping how we travel for the better, turning a frustrating confinement into a chance to become a more thoughtful traveller.