Many of us have woken up to an outdated calendar reminder that in a few short days we should be boarding a flight to jet off on a much-needed holiday abroad. This notification was, of course, created during the ‘before times’ – the times before Coronavirus cancelled our trips and threw our plans for 2020 into disarray. And while some restrictions have lifted, the safety of international travel remains a hot topic for debate.
But here’s the thing… you don’t need to travel to get the benefits of a vacation.
In fact, the halt of international travel has opened up an amazing opportunity to re-connect and discover your hometown or city – and we’re going to explain just how easy it is to create that ‘away’ feeling without ever leaving.
Embrace your local bucket-list
The boujee burger restaurant you never went to. The art exhibition you missed. The open-air cinema you keep hearing about. It’s time to finally check off all the home attractions you’ve never had the time to visit before. View your city from a tourist’s perspective and get sight-seeing!
Discover new neighborhoods
Each city has neighborhoods with distinct and different personalities. In Berlin, for example, you can enjoy the authentic restaurants in Kreuzberg, the galleries and peaceful parks of Prenzlauer Berg, or the classic palaces and bars of Charlottenburg. Even the smallest cities and towns will have untapped treasures hidden away that you never knew existed. Now is the time to discover them.
Support local businesses
Visiting your home’s markets is a great way to discover (and support) local businesses – not to mention, locally sourced produce is great for the economy, the planet, and your wallet.
Flea markets are also a great way to get to grips with local culture, with every stand telling a story. It’s a place where local artists, musicians, and artisans come together to trade and share their gifts. One of our biggest and most popular markets in Berlin even comes with an open-air karaoke event!
Be like Jeanne
Jeanne is one of our talented graphic designers. This year, she sought out the opportunities hidden within the lockdown and decided to embrace a staycation in Berlin with her wife. This is her experience.
“It was just after the quarantine was lifted, and we didn’t feel like it was the best time to travel. We changed our plane tickets for next year and spent our vacation in Berlin. We decided to do exactly what we would normally do if we had come to Berlin as tourists on holiday. In the morning, we would go to a nice café and treat ourselves to breakfast. Later, we would walk around the city and discover new neighborhoods. We particularly loved the unlimited time we now had to visit modern art museums.
In the neighborhood of Schöneberg, for example, we discovered a museum called the Urban Nation: its design is really nice and playful, with lots of street art - you can also create your own street art there. A very beautiful place with free entrance. We also discovered a place called Kindl – it used to be a beer factory, and now it has become a museum with a very nice and cozy bar downstairs.
The cool thing is that in all these contemporary art places there are not a lot of tourists at the moment and they are all half empty, which is very unusual for Berlin, and feels pretty magical.
This vacation helped me to see Berlin from an old forgotten perspective. It really reminded me of the first time that I came to see this city as a tourist, and I was so excited. It was really cool to get that feeling of traveling back. Luckily, in Berlin you can spend years and still have a lot of new places to visit, and Berlin in the summer is amazing.”
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