Master of Travel Skills

LEARN TO TAKE BETTER PHOTOS, SPEAK JAPANESE, OR BE A VOLUNTEER SCIENTIST WITH CLASSES, APPS, AND ACTIVITIES THAT’LL HELP YOU GET ROAD READY

- VICKY HALLETT

In early March, photographer Kathy Adams Clark was leading a tour group through Costa Rica, guiding students as they focused their cameras on volcanoes, rainbows, and turquoise feathered birds. By the middle of the month, the frequent flyer arrived home in Houston, Texas, grounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and not sure when she would ever travel again. She taught her first online class the next day.

This hard stop to her country-hopping lifestyle came as a shock. But it taught Clark a lesson: There are plenty of travel skills you can master from home.

While helping students improve their technique by training their lenses on backyard dragonflies, Clark has been doing some studying herself. She’s read up on Medici family history and taught herself to make risotto in anticipation of her next journey to Italy. “I’ve got time to take a deep dive into a subject,” she says. Clark remains hopeful for 2021 adventures. “People are going to be so ready,” she says. “We’re not going to take travel for granted. We’re going to treat it as the treasure it is.”

There are many classes, apps, and activities you can try now that’ll give you a leg—or hiking boot—up on your next trip.

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