7 ways to explore the world while at home

Our world came to an abrupt halt, with many holidays and travel plans canceled for the foreseen future. Now with so many in lockdown or staying home to help flatten the curve, daydreaming is what we can do for now. So while we are adhering to the rules and doing our part, I have listed a few sites that can help cure the wanderlust and inspire some daydreaming travels and to stop you from folding more paper planes. ☺

Virtual travel

Welcome to the world of virtual travel wherefrom the comfort of your home, you can explore World Wonders in 360°, go on a live cam safari drive in Africa or slide though some of the world’s most famous museums. So sit back, relax, and get ready to explore the world. (Don’t worry, no VR headset needed for the following virtual travel experiences). See the world without stepping outside and even while staying in your pj’s.

Ps, this is also great to entertain the kids; plus, it’s educational. 

For the nature lover, the secret astronomer to the art enthusiast, I’ve got you covered.

1. Live Safaris

Always wanted to go on a safari in Africa, well now is your opportunity. Join WildEarth.tv twice a day on either a safariLIVE sunrise (6:00-9:00am GMT+2) or sunset drive (15:30-18:30pm GMT+2). They broadcast live while driving around with a guide who explains what you are seeing, and you can even tweet questions to them. I really enjoy this one, my top recommendation and I love the play on the name. 👍

2. Get up close to nature with live cams – from the Northern lights to bald eagles nest

Explore.org  

Explore.org is a live nature cam network, with projects across the world, they strive to educate and inspire. So trust me to be stuck here for a while.

Some of my favored live cams are:

•  A bald eagle nest in Iowa, this one is quite incredible, as I post this, they have a chick in the nest! It is part of the Raptor Resource Project.  
• Curing homesickness by watching wildlife is the best medicine for me. The camera at a waterhole at the Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa is just that. It is basically just a matter of time before you spot animals. A mini safari from home, if lucky you might even spot the big five at this waterhole (the big five: lions, leopards, rhinos and buffalo) plus various buck and of course the big ellies. 
• GRACE Center in Eastern DRC has a camera facing the gorilla forest corridor where at times you can see the Grauer’s gorillas pass through. They say the best times to view are between 11:30 am – 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm – 4 pm (GMT+2).
•  Definitely high on my bucket list, the spectacular northern lights. This camera is located in Manitoba, Churchill, Canada at the Churchill Northern Studies Center. *(most striking natural shows during February and March, might need to bookmark this one for later, although I did see some on the 2nd of April still).
• Blue Spring State Park, Florida, where during the winter months you can, if lucky, see the gracious manatees converge *(will have to wait a while for this one). 
• They even have kitten rescue cameras as well. 

For more information, as too where the cameras are and even the weather at the location, scroll down past all the videos. 

They have an app.

Yosemite

I have always wanted to visit Yosemite National Park in California, USA, a World Heritage site. It is breathtakingly beautiful, with most incredible giant redwoods, granite cliffs and this spectacular waterfall. (keep in mind US east coast time zone for viewing during the day, at night you will not see anything)

Keep in mind, viewing live cams requires high-speed internet  and it can use quite a bit of data!

SANParks South Africa

Another dose of the bushveld, SANParks have still cams as well as live cameras in some of the major national parks around South Africa, like the Kruger National Park.

3. Virtual exploration tours

From Glaciers to volcanoes in US National parks

The US National Park has teamed with Artsandculture.withgoogle.com to create these beautiful virtual tours with rangers through areas very few people get to visit, like Hawaii volcanoes or climbing down a glacier crevasse in the Fjords of Alaska.

World wonders to Everest base camp and even Antarctica 

Not quite live feed cameras or guided tours but still a unique way to explore some of the most magnificent sites across the globe. Google street view has made it possible to view and ‘walk’ around these sites and areas.

Want to explore some of the incredible historical sites,  just have a look at the remarkable Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the largest religious monument, or the magnificent Pyramids of Giza, the oldest of the seven World Wonders. How about the exquisite Taj Mahal in Agra India, or the mysterious Inca Empire of Machu Picchu in Peru. You can even ‘visit’ Everest base camp and Robert Falcon Scott’s hut in Antarctica.

4. Virtual diving

I never got around to getting my dive certification (was supposed to happen now in April), well it will have to wait for a while. But in the meantime, I found these three sites that have made an underwater experience possible. Padi with google street view, as well as Ocean360 and NOAA. So take a ‘dip’ with some fishies, or ‘float’ around a kelp forest without getting geared up or even wet.

5. Museums

Want to visit the Louvre to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or learn more about the Rosetta stone at the British Museum? Or have you been dreaming about marveling at Michelangelo’s ceiling fresco in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican city? Well, these three have their own independent virtual tours, ideal for virtual travel. Perfect time for me to explore more of the Louvre, as I have been twice but have only scratched the surface.

I absolutely adore Google Arts & Culture! I discovered it a few years ago as I was looking for art history resources. It is such a versatile tool and yes they have an app. They have themes, art movements, and various projects as well as online exhibitions and museum tours. Bonus, it is free. Here are a handful of my favorites.

• Tate Britain is one of the UK’s largest art museums and houses pieces like Ophelia by John Everett Millais and an extensive collection of J. M. W. Turner.
• One of my all-time favorite museums (Is it ok to have a favorite if they all are so amazing?) Musee d’ Orsay in Paris. There is just something I loved about this space, an old train station converted into a museum. Make sure to also head up to the 2nd and 5th floors for more of Gauguin, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, and Degas, the largest Impressionism and Post-Impressionism collections. Takes me right back to my Art History school days.

Looking for a specific artist, they have you covered. 

• Pretty incredible to be able to slide through the corridors of the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam and see his masterpieces.
• I always wanted to visit Frida Kahlo studio in Mexico as well and here it is. 

6. Online exhibitions

Another remarkable aspect of Google Arts & Culture is its online exhibitions. My favorites I found so far are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibitions.  

• Rei Kawakubo / Comme Des Garçons: Art of the in-between 
• Coco Chanel: Modernism and how she redefined fashion as it once was known  
• And the sculptural masterpiece of Charles James: Muslins 

Go have a look, there are many more from across the globe.

7. NASA Live

And last but definitely not least, this one I have not viewed yet, but quite looking forward to the next live stream. 

NASA Live offers a glimpse into various activities from launch, hatch open and closure, and docking coverage of International Space Station Expedition 63/Soyuz MS-16 and International Space Station Expedition 62/Soyuz MS-15. 

The next live stream or for me ‘virtual travel’ is scheduled on the 9th of April. View their site to see the schedule.

BONUS

How about visiting Mars? On Access Mars you can view the 3D generated surfaces of Mars, documented by NASA’s Curiosity rover. It is basically photos taken by Curiosity that they compiled in an informative and interactive site. 

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Well, I hope that this will help relieve the travel itch a little bit and that you enjoy these sites as much as I do. Yes, I know virtual travel is not quite the same. But still pretty incredible that you can see this all from the comfort of your home. 

Keep safe and let’s carry on helping to flatten the curve!

*thoughts expressed here are my own.

Not sponsored, just sites I really enjoy.

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