Nearly five months into isolation, there can’t be many people who aren’t dreaming of their next big getaway. Whether a tropical escape, mountainous hideout, or foreign backpacking tour, just about anywhere but the walls in which we’ve been stuck for the last 18 weeks sounds divine.

In ordinary circumstances, I’ve almost always got a trip brewing. Having something on the horizon to plan and get excited for energizes and orients me in the same way that a big race does. I feel stir-crazy unless I’ve got something in the works–which is why the seed of my next trip is often planted before I even touch down from my current one.

But these days, my thoughts are disproportionately lingering on a spinning globe, visions of overdue reunions, exploratory runs, and an endless coffee drip swimming through my mind. The fact that foreign travel isn’t really possible right now just adds to the sense of urgency I already felt about seeing the world and experiencing all I can.

Since none of us know when it’ll be safe to travel again, nor how different it’s going to be when it is, I’ve been finding ways to scratch my travel itch that don’t require a passport or an airplane. None of these, obviously, come close to the real deal. But small doses here and there are helping to keep my wanderlust stoked until borders reopen and public spaces are deemed safe.

Here’s how I’m armchair traveling these days:

COOKING // Ever since I traveled the world, my kitchen has been a bridge to faraway places. In addition to cooking some of the recipes I gathered on that trip–some of which are included in my book, lately I’ve been having fun trying new dishes from cookbooks such as Marcus Off Duty (Ethiopia), Bondi Harvest (Australia), Jerusalem (Israel), Aarti Paarti (India), (Vietnam), and endless globally inspired recipes from the rest of my cookbook collection plus food blogs such as Green Kitchen Stories.

I also splurged on a few international spice blends from The Spice House (Alton Brown-approved, so must be legit) and have been incorporating za’atar, berbere, and Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese 5 Spice) into meals whenever I can.

READING // For me and many others, books offer an escape from reality and immersion into a different world. I find travel writing and books set in foreign countries especially invigorating right now. Some of my favorites include There is No Me without You by Melissa Faye Greene, The Lost City of Z by David Grann (another Watson fellow), Lands of Lost Borders by Kate Harris, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.

Running-wise, some worthy reads are Adharanand Finn’s books on Kenyan and Japanese running cultures, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, and Today We Die a Little by Richard Askwith. There’s also this book called Run the World you can read if you feel so inclined