Living Like a Local: Navigating the Summer Blues

By: Maddy

For many of us, summer is a time to spend traveling, seek new experiences, or enjoy time with family and friends. For those of us in different stages of our life, these experiences might not be on the table this summer. For many reasons at various stages of your life, your plans and goals might need to be postponed as circumstances change. Feeling stuck? I know I’ve experienced this several times myself. I’m still wrestling with my own memories and challenges of the Pandemic, but there are some things that I implemented while foreseeably grounded and separated from friends that helped me restructure my days as I strived to see some positivity. I hope that anyone else facing similar difficulties might benefit from me sharing.

1. Long Distance Friendships need Maintenance

Yes, your friends and connections are absolutely possible to maintain from a distance. I still have friends from many of my travel, study abroad, and work experiences all over the world. However, they require effort and care. I know I actually need them the most when I’m feeling stuck, but in those moments it can be hard to reach out. Think of your friendships as an investment. If you are organizing calls across time zones, it’s time to download WhatsApp and ensure you schedule the right time. When you can’t call, send them funny reels or TikTok's and check in every now and then so they know they’re still on your radar. Not into social media? Now’s your chance to start a pen-pal program. You may find you build great memories this way, and increase the value of your friendship in the future. Value those in your life whether near or far. Even the smallest shared moments can bring meaning to your life.

2. Walk! (or simply get moving)

I cannot stress this enough. Don’t do it to be perfect or to get ripped, but moving in some way everyday helped me get through my last year of college during the pandemic. This meant going for a long walk (I’m talking 3-4 miles) after my studies or starting my day with a short run. Does all that walking sound excessive? According to neuroscientist Shane O’Mara, regular long walking actually has the power to heal your brain. Maybe you enjoy cycling or yoga. Great! Mix it up or take an exercise class. Make it a habit to pursue this daily. Studies show regular exercise improves not only your physical fitness, but also promotes your overall wellness. 

3. Try Something New

Part of the joy and learning that comes with travel are the new experiences you face everyday. These are perhaps easier to encounter when you are in a new country or new cultural context, but you can seek these out actively in your daily life too. Consider learning a new hobby, trying a new sport, or going somewhere in your local community you have not been to before. This can be as small as reading a book in a local cafe to joining a local running club. Even if it is small, research suggests trying something new everyday can actually prime our brains to adapt to new and changing experiences in the future. Think of this as preparation for when you can travel and seek out new opportunities outside of your current home base. Combine that with changing your daily routine and practicing self-reflection, and you may start to see things through a different perspective.

4. Plan for the Future, but don't get lost in it.

4. Plan for the Future, but don't get lost in it

Use your time to plan for what is to come. To create the future you want, you need to visualize it as a possibility for yourself first. This could mean researching the place you want to go, planning out where your studies will take you, or exploring different career interests. Use this time to investigate your options and visualize the paths this might lead you. I like vision boarding or journaling for this, or even watching Youtubers who live where I’d like to be some day. Writing out a bucket list or even a timeline of things you want to pursue and when can serve a similar function. 

However, there is a limit to productivity. Balance is key here. Value and visualize the future, but don’t let yourself get lost in it. Practice recognizing the things around you that bring you joy, the people you value, and enjoy the moments you experience in daily life. This takes some time to develop, but once you do, you realize challenges and barriers can actually be gifts as you learn from the experience and form new realizations about yourself and the world around you.

5. Utilize the Power of Perspective

5. Practice the Power of Perspective

As humans, we are wired to protect our own self interests. While this is normal, it can also limit us. Practice placing yourself in another’s shoes, metaphorically speaking. When you are having a conversation with someone or even people watching out the window, try to imagine how someone else could be interpreting an interaction or situation. How do others see you? What might they be looking forward to or what challenges might they be facing? You’ll never be able to fully encompass someone else’s point of view, but trying can make a big difference. I find when I feel anxious, this practice really helps me to get outside of my head for a while and imagine the challenges, joys, and experiences of others. We are each our lives' main characters.  

6. There are Many Ways to Experience Travel

One thing I underestimated until the covid lockdown was the power of popular culture and books when it comes to wandering. Many of my favorite aspects of travel–interacting with people who bring varied perspectives and experiences, learning about other cultures, experiencing new scenery, self reflection, practicing another language, challenging myself and even learning a new skill–can also be experienced through reading, through cinema, and through virtual experiences. 

Want to interact with people from different countries? Volunteer through an organization like ENGin or join virtual language exchanges through social media platforms. 

Want to continue learning your target language? Take lessons on italki, read books in your target language, or listen to podcasts. 

Want to learn from others’ perspectives? Read a book written by an author outside of your home country or catch up on international news. 

Some of my favorite global news/global culture podcasts: Economist Podcasts & the World in Brief, Zero to Travel Podcast, Pod Save the World, BBC Global News Podcast, Latino USA, Worldly by Vox, Code Switch

Some of my favorite perspective-altering reads (I love all of these don’t ask me to choose a favorite): 

Solito by Javier Zamora,  Land of Lost Borders by Kate Harris, The City & the City by China Miéville, The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, Planetary Longings by Mary Louise Pratt, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel by Shahnaz Habib, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi , The Salt Path by Raynor Winn, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Kindred by Octavia Butler, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Ender’s Game by Scott Orson Card, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Some of my favorite perspective-altering films (I’m sure there are many others but these are ones that I have seen): 

Arrival, The Way, Wild, The Motorcycle Diaries, Interstellar, Amélie, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, The Warning/El Aviso, Spirited Away, The Second Mother, Everything Everywhere all at Once, Samsara, Parasite, The Pianist, Monkey Man, Pan’s Labyrinth, Central Station, Little Forest, Flow, Roma, The Green Knight, NOPE

All photos sourced from pixabay