Travel from Home

Health concerns, time, and cost may inhibit you from first-hand travel, but do not let fear of the new and different limit you. Nothing is more broadening to perspectives than world travel.  In the meantime, try these travel suggestions.

1. My preliminary suggestion to connect better with the wide world:  try Postcrossing, which allows anyone to send and receive postcards from all over the world. The idea is simple: for each postcard you send, you will receive one back from a random postcrosser from somewhere in the world. This is a wonderful way to build understanding and appreciation for other people outside the small circle of nation-state.
2. Most importantly, wherever you live, pretend you are a tourist and make sure you visit all the interesting places in your own community or region. So many people forget to do this – sometimes out of a sense of “place-snobbery” if they happen to live in a place that attracts real tourists, but often just due to a failure to realize that there are fascinating places in every single town, county, or state, or country where you live, no matter how prosaic it may seem. I have found that when visiting places that are far off the usual “tourist route” there are always fascinating things to see and experience there – historical sites, parks, local museums, restaurants, roadside attractions, local entertainment venues, and natural areas. Yet I know people who might have lived somewhere for five or ten years but failed to avail themselves of all the fascinating sites nearby. Don’t let that happen to you!

My Travel Videos:

1. Egypt and the Nile River – This slideshow depicts the many places in Egypt we visited with Overseas Adventure Travel in January, 2020, cruising the Nile River and visiting all the amazing historical locations in Egypt. Some of the scenes from daily life are also fascinating!
2. Our Total Solar Eclipse Experience August 21, 2017 Atop 10,455′ Rendezvous Mountain, Wyoming. 

3. Balloon Flight and Village Landing in Rajasthan, India, 2017 – Our visit by balloon flight was amazing and the people were so fascinated by us!

4. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib – Sikh Temple and Langar in New Delhi, India – From our visit March 1, 2017, with historical background.

5. Gandhi Museum Mumbai Dioramas – The Mani Bhavan Gandhi Museum in Mumbai, India is where Mahatma Gandhi lived for 17 years. Highlighting Gandhi’s life, this home features his room, a library, photos, films & other displays. This slide show depicts many of the 3-D dioramas in the museum, which were visualized and created by Smt. Susheela Gokhale – Patel.

6. Ritual Bathing in the Ganges, Varanasi , India, March 12, 2017 – 30 ssecond clip.

7. Carrizo Plain Superbloom April 10, 2017
8. Mitai Maori Village, Rotarua, New Zealand – This video shows a few songs and dances from our visit to the Mitai Maori Village in Rotarua, New Zealand, in December 2016. 
9. Dart River Jet Boat Safari – Dart River Jet Boat Safari to Mount Aspiring National Park, New Zealand, December, 2016.
10. Elephant Seals of San Simeon – December, 2011. Every year, these magnificent animals return to the California coastline to breed. Although their numbers are greatest in mid-January, when we visited in mid-December there were still quite a few on the beach.
11. San Simeon State Beach Sunset from Cambria, Calfornia – Nothing happens in this video except about a minute of blessed, peacefully lapping waves on the beach below the cliff just after the sun has set.
12. Slide Show of Positano, Italy – June, 2010, with musical accompaniment by Italian pop songs, “Era D’Estate,” “Una Granita d’ Limone,” and “Manuela.”

Free Virtual Travel Sites and Videos:

1. https://thetravelintern.com – mostly links to photos and YouTube.com videos, with travel tips for in-person future travel.
2. https://artsandculture.google.com – virtual travel to museums, art galleries, monuments, natural places, historical events and people, art galleries, etc.  Includes photos, videos, interactive 3-D locations, and Google Street View 3-D.
3. See especially: https://artsandculture.google.com/project/360-videos
4. Explore the World with Google Street View: https://www.google.com/streetview/
   Street View, by Google Maps, is a virtual representation of our surroundings on Google Maps, consisting of millions of panoramic images. Street View’s content comes from two sources – Google and contributors. Note: “Street View” is not limited to actual “streets.” You can hike down the Grand Canyon, or virtually snorkel the Great Barrier Reef!  Best used with the Google Maps app on your smart phone or tablet.  You can also have a similar experience with Apple Maps – flyover to get a birds eye view, discover Earth’s natural beauty via an interactive Globe, visit landmarks, access 1,000 expertly created guides, or explore some cities with street-level interactive 3-D experiences.
5. Google Earth VR- https://arvr.google.com/earth/
   Explore the world from totally new perspectives. Stroll the streets of Tokyo, soar over Yosemite, or teleport across the globe.
6. Virtual Disney World – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYyJUEtYv-ZW7BgjhP3UbTg Ride the theme park from the comfort of your own home!  View with your mouse, or even better, with a headset or Google Cardboard.
7. Virtual Tours of the World | Tour Virtuali nel mondo
   https://www.italiatourvirtuali.com/tour-virtuali-virtual-tours-world
8.  Globo Treks – https://www.globotreks.com/tips/best-virtual-tours-world/ – Museums from all over the world.
9. Live Webcams from Earth Cam. https://www.earthcam.com – Watch places Live!  e.g.  Visit Times Square in New York City:  https://www.earthcam.com/cams/newyork/timessquare/?cam=tsrobo1  
10. Live Zoo Webcams. Many zoos around the world livestream from their animals’ enclosures. Example: San DiegoZoo has Live Webcams for Koala, Baboon, Polar Bear, Penguin, Hippo, Ape, Tiger, Elephant, Platypus, Giraffe, Owl, Panda, and California Condor.
11. Check out one of the virtual national park tours created by Google and the National Parks Service. Find yourself in Bryce Canon in Utah or Kenai Fjords in Alaska:  https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/parks 
12.  The U.S. Natural Marine Sanctuaries have created virtual reality voyages using 360-degree images to show off the animals, habitats and cultural resources in each underwater park. You can virtually swim through Florida Keys Natural Marine Sanctuary or glide soundlessly through the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, past colorful coral and other marine life. No wetsuit required. If you’re on a desktop, click and drag to experience in 360 degrees, or pair your phone with your virtual reality headset. https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/vr/ 
13. Visit via sound the Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado. They’ve got an entire library of soundscapes recorded at the park on their website.  Bring the sweet sound of nature into your living room, with one of their relaxing Bird Sounds, Natural Soundscapes or Wildlife Soundscapes. https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/photosmultimedia/soundlibrary.htm#soundscapes 
14. Virtually Visit Faroe Islands – https://www.remote-tourism.com  Originally “live” tours during the pandemic, after those ended in June 2020, you can view recordings of their live virtual tours on their facebook page here:  https://www.facebook.com/VisitFaroeIslands
    
15. Take a Virtual Tour of New Orleans – See swamps, aquariums, tour a cooking school, visit the National World War II Museum, and more. https://www.neworleans.com/plan/virtual-experience/
16.  OAT Travel Flix-  https://www.oattravel.com/oat-video-library   Slide shows and videos created by OAT Travelers or by independent film-makers.
17. Take a trip to Space via  NASA at Home — Virtual Tours and Apps.  You can enter NASA Operations Control Centers, or take a Virtual 3D Tour of the International Space Station or take a virtual tour of the Moon in new 4K resolution, thanks to data provided by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-at-home-virtual-tours-and-augmented-reality
18. Where the Hell is Matt? 2012 – “Trip the Light” – Wonderfully uplifting Music and Dance Video with scenes around the world: https://youtu.be/Pwe-pA6TaZk

Fee Based:

1. Smithsonian Associates – Virtual Tours with educational component around the world. 
   Fee based.
   https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/events/travel
2. Amazon Explore – Visit the World Virtually with customized, personal tours  https://amzn.to/3fHzcC6   Connect with hosts around the world via live streaming to explore anything from lessons to landmarks. Ask questions, take a group or private session, shop local, take photos, let your host know what catches your interest by pointing and clicking..  Group experiences cost below $20.00; private sessions, 1 on 1 with a host cost around $50.00.  Sessions range from 45 minutes to an hour or so. Requires a laptop or desktop computer (not iPads or mobile phones), these Experiences can be taken using up-to-date Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox web browsers.  You’ll need a microphone and speakers to communicate with your host.
3. Road Scholar – Online Tours and Classes – https://www.roadscholar.org/virtual-campus/   Virtual lectures are 45 minutes to 60 minutes; Adventures Online offer a week’s worth of live lectures, performances, discussions and more that will re-create the Road Scholar experience online.  These virtual “trips” include 2-3 hours of daily instruction, discussion and/or field trips, which includes sufficient breaks and opportunity for live chat and Q & A throughout the program. This online program is through Zoom, live only (not recorded).   E.g., visit Costa Rica coast to coast for 5 days, price starts at $499.00.  Some 33 Online Adventures are offered.