Feeling Fernweh? 4 Creative Ways to Cure Your Longing for Far-Off Places
4 Ways to Satisfy Your Fernweh When You're Stuck at Home
For those of us who often feel the pull of fernweh—a deep, almost aching need to explore faraway places—it can be tough when travel isn’t an option. Luckily, there are ways to scratch that travel itch from home. For quick access to each part, click on the relevant links below!
1. Culinary Adventures: Travel Through Your Taste Buds
2. Travel Documentaries: Escape Through the Screen
3. Join Online Travel Communities: Connect with Fellow Wanderers
What Exactly is “Fernweh”?
Probably just over ten years ago, in my early twenties and nearing the end of a difficult relationship, I stumbled across a photo that stopped me in my tracks. At that point in my life, I hadn’t traveled much—just a few family holidays as a child—but I began to feel an overwhelming need to explore the world. The image was of a stunning rice terrace in Ubud, Bali. I set it as my laptop desktop background, where it remained for years. I saw that photo multiple times a day, each time whispering to myself, “I have to go there.” It became the catalyst for my obsession with endless Pinterest and Google searches for what I thought were unreachable places. Well, years later, I got to take my own photos of rice terraces in Ubud and had my very own desktop background.
I spoke briefly in my last blog post about pining for a place I had never visited, and since then, I discovered there’s a word for that feeling: fernweh. This German term, meaning “farsickness,” describes a longing for distant places in a way that feels more profound than simple wanderlust. The "fern" signifies "far," while "weh" conveys woe, pain, or misery. Not to be dramatic (though, kind of), I was definitely experiencing fernweh back then, and I still feel it at times.
Here are four ways to keep the spirit of adventure alive without leaving your living room.
(My attempt at a Pad Thai!)
1. Culinary Adventures: Travel Through Your Taste Buds
One of the best ways to feel like you’re visiting another country is by tasting its food. If you're missing travel, why not bring the flavours of the world to your kitchen? Choose a country that’s high on your travel list, and dive into its cuisine by preparing a traditional dish.
Trying your hand at pad Thai, Moroccan tagine, or an Italian pasta dish lets you experience a bit of that culture at home!
For an immersive experience, set the ambiance with music or even a movie from that region. Create a playlist with French cafe music for your Paris-inspired brunch, or throw on a Bollywood film while you whip up an Indian feast.
Make it a full sensory experience - this is your chance to escape for a meal, and the tastes, sounds, and visuals can transport you, even just for a night!
During lock down (what a time to be alive, right?), I lived with a group of friends and we were all most definitely suffering from fernweh. Each night, we would choose a country or a particular cuisine and either work all together to create a dish or let one person loose in the kitchen to do it all. We made Pierogies under the watchful eye of our Czech housemate, Mexican tortillas from scratch for taco night, sushi and so much more. I don’t live with them anymore and haven’t for some years, but I still try to continue this idea with my partner to this day!
2. Travel Documentaries: Escape Through the Screen
When you’re craving that next adventure, a well-made travel documentary or a great book set abroad can work wonders.
Travel documentaries and shows have evolved into truly immersive storytelling that takes you into the heart of different countries, cultures, and landscapes. Some of my favourite travel shows include Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix, where Phil Rosenthal explores food from around the world with humor and warmth, and Dark Tourist, which dives into the strange and less traditional travel spots.
Over on YouTube, Kara and Nate offer engaging vlogs covering their travels to over 100 countries, while Karl Watson: Travel Documentaries and Abroad in Japan give a personal, down-to-earth look into Japan.
I’ve been subscribed to all three of these YouTube channels for a fair few years now, and can highly recommend them for anyone looking to get lost in an immersive travel vlog.
3. Join Online Travel Communities: Connect with Fellow Wanderers
(Koh Phi Phi Island, Thailand in 2019).
Even when you’re at home, being part of a travel community can keep that sense of adventure alive. Joining online travel forums, social media groups, or participating in travel discussions on Reddit can help relieve your fernweh by connecting you with other travelers who understand the feeling!
In these spaces, you can share stories, tips, and recommendations, and it’s a great place to discover hidden gems and local advice for future trips.
Being active in these communities can ease your travel craving, give you practical insights, and even help you form friendships with like-minded people. Who knows? You might even meet a future travel buddy for when you finally book that next flight. I actually met 2 women via a specific Solo Girls Travel Facebook group who I spent a lot of time with whilst in Bali this year!
One of my favourite stories to tell is when I landed in Bali, within 5 minutes of connecting my Airalo eSim and whilst strolling through immigration, I found a post added to the Solo Travel Girls - Bali page, where a woman was looking to do something in Canggu that evening as she’d also just arrived in Bali that day. I directly replied, then we started messaging privately, and instantly discovered that she was also at Kos One Hostel in the female only dorms! So when I arrived, she greeted me and we had a few days exploring together before going our separate ways.
4. Create a Vision Board: Turn Your Dreams into Art
(An idea for a physical vision board).
A vision board is a great way to channel your fernweh into something positive and creative, and some even say that this is a form of manifestation. As someone who has an interest in crystals, I really love the idea of creating a collection of images and possibly setting intentions whilst visualizing your goals to bring them into reality.
If that mindset isn’t your cup of tea, no worries, vision boards are practical in so many ways too and many use them as a tool to save activities, locations and specific tips for that place for easy access when booking or on your trip!
Collect images, quotes, and travel goals for the places you want to visit and arrange them on a board—digital or physical—that you can look at whenever you feel the travel itch. Pinterest is an amazing place to start collecting visual inspiration, or you can print photos, magazine cutouts, or your own travel snapshots if you have them and add them to a physical board.
Creating a vision board allows you to see your travel dreams in a tangible form, which not only keeps the wanderlust alive but also gives you a sense of motivation and direction. It becomes a piece of personal artwork that reflects your goals, sparking excitement each time you look at it. A vision board also helps turn vague feelings of fernweh into concrete plans, motivating you to save, plan, and ultimately make those travel dreams a reality.
Have you ever experienced this kind of longing?
Have you felt that subtle ache for somewhere far away? If so, you're not alone. Fernweh can strike unexpectedly, igniting a desire to explore, discover, and connect with the world beyond our immediate surroundings. It reminds us that there are endless places and stories out there waiting to be uncovered. Whether it's a photo that captures your imagination or a fleeting thought that pulls you to a distant land, fernweh keeps the spirit of adventure alive. What places have called to you, urging you to embark on your own journey?