As the novel coronavirus continues to spread, many people are being forced to reconsider their travel plans. This is particularly true for older travellers, who are at higher risk from the virus.

Figures show the proportion of deaths in confirmed cases of the virus rises dramatically among those aged 60 and over. It’s a strong deterrent against travel, not least in Asia where the virus originated.

The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t the only factor limiting people’s ability to travel, of course, but right now it’s the big new roadblock we’re all facing. It’s causing many to put their travel on hold.  

So how do you give rein to your wanderlust when you decide not to leave home for the time being? Here are a few ways to cope when the travel bug bites and you start dreaming of faraway places.  

Take a fresh look at your old travel photos

Browse through the photos you took on earlier trips. It’s a form of time travel and you may be surprised at what you find.

Many of us take hundreds of pictures when we travel. Once we’re home, we go through them and select the best.

We might print these out to use as a photo wall. Or we might turn them into a photo book or calendar. We might share them with loved ones and post some on social media. Perhaps we’ll convert them into an online slide show or use them as computer screensavers.

That done, we tend to put the photos aside and move on.

Going through them again now, you’re likely to find some evocative photos that you didn’t pay as much attention to earlier. Time has gone by and photos you didn’t pay a lot of attention to the first time may bring back special memories.

If you have photo editing software – anything from Photoshop or Lightroom to more budget friendly programmes – have a go at editing some of your old photos in a different way. The memories are sure to come flooding back as you work on them.

Reread your travel diaries

Many travellers keep diaries or journals of their trips. I kept detailed journals of my early travels in Asia and Africa in the 1970s. In those pre-internet days, far less information was available about the countries you were visiting and it made sense to record carefully what you saw and did.

Reading them will bring back vivid memories of your adventures. You’ll be reminded of incidents you barely remembered. Even the things you complained about – the discomfort of third-class trains and buses, the hazards of falling ill on the road – are fun to look back on.  

If all you have are hard copies of your journals, laboriously typed or written in longhand, think about transcribing them and creating digital copies. These can be shared with family or friends. In the process, you may want to try rewriting or expanding bits that you still have clear memories of.

There’s no reason why the enjoyment of a trip should end when you get back home. By revisiting your photos and diaries, you can relive your travels in a very real way.

Read books about travel in Asia

If you’re longing to visit a country in Asia but can’t do so for now, read about it instead. Many websites offer lists of books written about Asia – everything from travel writing to novels and history. Here are a few non-fiction books that capture the pleasures and perils of travel in Asia: 

• Chasing the Monsoon by Alexander Frater

• Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin

• A Fortune-Teller Told Me by Tiziano Terzani

• Full Tilt by Dervla Murphy

• Himalaya by Michael Palin

• Holy Cow! by Sarah Macdonald

• Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming

• Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux

• A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby

• The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

• Video Night in Kathmandu by Pico Iyer

Discover new books or return to those you enjoyed before. At the moment I’m rereading Paul Theroux’s Great Railway Bazaar, a book I first read in the 1970s after backpacking through India and Nepal.

If you’re in the mood, listen to music from the countries you’re interested in. If they’re large places like China or India, you’ll find a treasure trove of music online, from classical to pop and everything in between. But even the smallest Asian countries have distinctive, vibrant musical cultures.

Here’s an excellent archive of folk music from around the world, including almost all Asian countries:
https://folkcloud.com/

Keep making travel plans

Most important, keep planning trips even if you’re not able to make them for the time being.  

Instead of thinking, “I won’t be visiting such and such a country again”, try saying to yourself, “The next time I’m there, these are the things I want to see.”

Pore over guidebooks. Read up on the hotels or guest houses you’d like to stay at. Join Facebook groups dedicated to visiting the countries of your choice. As any traveller will attest, planning a trip is a huge part of the fun of travel.

Researching the sights, culture and history of a country will teach you a great deal and give you a good feel for the place, whether or not you eventually make the journey or not.

After all, travelling in the mind is the next best thing to packing your bag and heading for the airport.

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