Virtual travel, lately this term became more popular and spoken of in our daily life. Especially among people who used to live emerged in travelling, discovering different parts of the world, be it for own purposes or maybe professional benefits.
But what does it really mean to you to travel virtually? Is it simulating your travels based on the past experiences or maybe seeking online content that would help you to discover the new places? And what if virtual journeys are just your preparation for the actual road? Or maybe you just close your eyes and find yourself in the unknown, surrounded by incredible views. Maybe that’s why virtual traveling can be so special, as it can be fully designed by us.
not only in LOCKDOWN
Currently most of us must be discovering some sort of the need for the virtual travel due to potentially existing lockdowns or overall travel limitations. With no doubt the situation made it more visible and when actual travel is very scarce, virtual travel became an important alternative.
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…
Dr. Seuss, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’
Taking us for a moment prior to 2020 to ask one general question: did you always have a chance to fulfill all your dreams’ journeys? I think that most of us, including myself, will admit that it isn’t always so easy. Surely, it isn’t just the lockdown. So often our resources are not enough to depart for dreamt travel. Or potential health challenges – ours or of our beloved ones – change priorities in our life. Additionally, not to forget limited vacation days that many of us have or any other individual life scenarios. And these can be many.
So yes, virtual travel is not something new. It isn’t something that is relevant only in the current year. It has always been part of our life. Without a doubt, we are just more aware of it now. Hence, more in need. I hope you are already sitting down, because now it is time to fasten your seat belt and depart! Many virtual travels are ahead of us!
virtual Travel ideas
DRIVE AND VISIT
DRIVE & LISTEN App – Listen to local radio stations while driving through the cities around the world.
Imagine. You are being driven in the car with a nice music playing in the background. Importantly, you do not need to worry about money nor long travel distances. In fact, all you can enjoy is to admire new places that you would love to visit! And city choices are so many (currently nearly 50), for instance: Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Hawaii, Havana, Melbourne, Mumbai, Singapore, Tokyo or Warsaw. Additionally, you can select how fast to drive! Surely, an amazing website! Ideal for virtual travel, as well as future trips planning!
LIVE WEBCAMS
One of my preferred ideas for virtual travel: live webcams. In fact useful in other occasions as well. For example: to check crowd by the seaside, snowfall level in the mountains. Lately, we used them with my sister so that she could wave to me from the Alps! Below are just three examples, others can be found easily online. My favorite webcam – Zermatt one – with no doubt!
ZERMATT in Switzerland
NEW YORK Times Square in the USA
ARENAL VOLCANO in Costa Rica
ONLINE VISITS TO MUSEUMS
Do you love museums? So many options to visit them virtually! Get inspired by these three suggestions to search online for the one you wanted to see next!
The Louvre Museum in Paris
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the New York City
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
VIRTUAL TOURS
If you are ‘hungry’ for more – then virtual tours might be a great solution! Different corners of the world to discover and explore. An amazing inspiration for real journeys, proper itinerary planning or bucket list creation! Again, limiting to three ideas so that you can explore more on your own!
Google Earth – virtual tours of 30 UNESCO World Heritage sites
Explore different views from the Eiffel Tower and learn about its history
The Great Wall of China – see Great Wall from a hiker’s perspective
READ, LEARN & PLAN
Lonely Planet: Love travel? Discover, plan and book your perfect trip with expert advice, travel guides, destination information and inspiration from Lonely Planet.
World Travel Guide: Travel information to inspire global travelers. From cities to airports, cruise ports to ski and beach resorts, attractions to events, World Travel Guides provide all you need.
Travel & Leisure: T&L travel guides highlight the best hotels, restaurants, shops, bars, and things to do in the world’s most exciting destinations. things to do in the world’s most exciting destinations. Browse in-depth travel information for great ideas and insider finds, plus smart travel tips that will have you feeling like a local in no time.
Ready steady… Action
Certainly, not each of us enjoys simulating travels. For some surfing internet to replace actual journeys might be fun at the beginning. And what next? How about, instead, getting ready for the real travels that are yet to come? It might be a great idea, also benefiting from more time spent at home!
Few times, when rushing for the next travel, all I managed to do was to do the research about place only already travelling on the plane! Maybe due to spontaneous travel, unexpected plenty of work just few days before the journey or any other situation that held me back. I can do better, for sure!
Below are some ideas: what can be prepared ‘offline’. Ready steady…action!
- Research & plan for the next trip
- Start a saving plan for future travels
- Create your destinations bucket list
- Make more space on your phone for future travel pics (or apps!)
- Revise and organize your travel pictures
- Organize foreign currency you have at home
- Learn common travel phrases for your future destinations
- Revise and organize your travel set (suitcases, adapters, travel accessories)
- Declutter home from some of the travel souvenirs
- Read travel books or watch movies… check below!
travel with books
THE ART OF TRAVEL, Alain de Botton
‘The Art of Travel is Alain de Botton’s travel guide with a difference. Few activities seem to promise us as much happiness as going travelling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel to, we seldom ask why we go and how we might become more fulfilled by doing so.’
AROUND THE WORLD IN 50 YEARS, Albert Podell
‘This is the inspiring story of an ordinary guy who achieved two great goals that others had told him were impossible. First, he set a record for the longest automobile journey ever made around the world, during the course of which he blasted his way out of minefields, survived a serious accident atop the Peak of Death, came within seconds of being lynched in Pakistan, and lost three of the five men who started with him, two to disease, one to the Vietcong.’
BREAKING BORDERS, James Asquith
There are 196 officially recognized countries in the world. In 2013, James Asquith became the youngest person in history to travel to every country in the world, and he now holds the official world record. Join James on his adventure across every ocean and inhabited continent over the five years he spent to reach his goal before the age of 25.
THE ALCHEMIST, Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found.
MEDIUM RAW, Anthony Bourdain
Medium Raw tracks Bourdain’s unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater and drinker, and even to fatherhood, in a series of takes-no-prisoners confessions, rants, investigations, and interrogations of some of the most controversial figures in food.
travel with movieS
EAT PRAY LOVE
‘A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to “find herself”.’
WILD
‘A chronicle of one woman’s one thousand one hundred mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent personal tragedy.’
INTO THE WILD
‘After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.’
BEFORE SUNRISE – BEFORE SUNSET – BEFORE MIDNIGHT
‘A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.’ Story continues across two more parts of the move, Before Sunset (remember my Watching Sunsets post?) and Before Midnight.
UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN
‘A writer impulsively buys a villa in Tuscany in order to change her life.’ Watch it and see how evolves her life’s story, enjoying Tuscany countryside views.
Moments that matter, no matter the reality.
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