As many travelers try to adjust and wrap their minds around their so very often ventures abruptly coming to a screeching halt with the uncertainty of their next great escape, what can stuck-at-home travelers do to satisfy their urge to travel? In need of a vacation, but you can’t seem to get out of the house? Health, finances or other circumstances have you left with no other option but to stay home? Well, the good news is institutions all around the world have come together to provide the necessary resources for people to explore and learn right from the comfort of their own homes.
Ideally, visiting national parks are a great idea when you want to plan a well-thought out family and friends’ getaway that can be somewhat of an eye opener, educationally fun and save you lots of money, unfortunately visiting these places isn’t advised right now as social distancing is sweeping the nation. However, it’s the perfect time to take an online tour courtesy of Google Earth’s expansive collection. It’s the right opportunity to help road map your potential future vacations.
In Google Earth’s expansive collection, you have the luxury of taking virtual tours of many national parks all of the United States of America. Well talked about national parks such as:
Sequoia National Park, where some of the oldest and largest forms of life on Earth are. Also, where giant Sequoia trees are showcased right in California. Another must see national park in California would be the Redwood National Park, the home of thousands of years old redwood trees.
In Texas, Guadalupe Mountains National Park has the four highest peaks in the state along with Permian fossil reefs making this a great sight to see.
Badlands National Park of South Dakota is so very desolate and jagged. The name truly speaks for itself.
Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada is the lowest, hottest and driest national park.
In Utah, Arches National Park features vivid cutouts in the rock, along with attractive sandstone cliffs.
Grand Canyon National Park, the aftereffects of the Colorado River, is a breathtaking red canyon that stretches 277 miles long and over a mile deep.
Museums
Most travelers love to learn and explore places when they travel abroad. Especially, when they have the opportunity to learn about the culture of the place they are visiting through beautiful works of art, design and much more. And where can you find all of this if you’re forced to stay home? Thankfully, many museums know how difficult times are right now, so they have made an awesome decision of making exhibits accessible online. Since you are home anyway, it’s the opportune time to experience and learn about spaces around the world that will leave you feeling motivated and inspired.
One of the most dreamed about museums to travel to is, The Louvre. Through their virtual tours you have access to Apollo Slaying the Serpent Python, the Mona Lisa behind glass and so much more!
The MOMA has done a phenomenal job in making art so much easier to explore with free courses exploring art. Art lovers now can dive in head first exploring tons of breath-taking artworks and exhibitions online right on their YouTube.
Van Gogh Museum website brings great stories of the life of Van Gogh right into the comfort of your own home.
The Smithsonian has a fantastic How to Travel Virtually section with access to variety of spots all over the globe that you can travel via online.
Make time to take a virtual tour of The Anne Frank House, you won’t believe how fascinating it is.
The Vatican Museum site offers another must-see virtual tour. Imagine touring the Sistine Chapel while sitting on the couch.
Explore the structurally unique building, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum through a Google Arts and Culture online tour.
If that’s not enough, The London National Gallery has a virtual tour that consist of 18 galleries filled with over 300 paintings.
Historic Monuments
Although being able to see historical sights up close and personal is not allowed as of right now, we can still enhance our knowledge with history virtually by visiting historic sites that travelers would love. Just because we’re home doesn’t mean we can’t learn a little more about what others may have experienced many years ago. This is a good time to learn about the history of our world.
The Great Wall of China, a 2000-year old site is one of the world’s most acclaimed historic sites in China. With it being a thousand miles long, it’s a great place to learn and explore virtually.
Using Google Maps, visit one of the great wonders of the world, Petra, an iconic façade that many have seen in the action-packed movie Indiana Jones. The Temples of Angkor, dating back to approx. 9th – 15th century A.D., known to be the single largest religious monument is a legendary sight to see. If you’re interested in taking a virtual trip back to 5,000 years ago visit the incredible Pyramids of Giza!
When visitors are all gone and the animals are left to roam freely, have you ever wondered what happens at zoos? The followings zoos are giving us a sneak peek with their live cams.
Zoo Atlanta brings joy everywhere around the world with its panda cam. However, if you’d love to view a variety of animals, The San Diego Zoo has the most options of live cams, we especially love their penguin cam.
If you prefer aquatic animals, the National Aquarium has an interactive tour, minus a live cam. The Monterey Bay Aquarium does feature more aquatic animals via live cam, but our absolute favorite are the moon jelly fish.
So the next time you feel stuck within the four walls of your home, just know virtual tours are right at the convenience of your own fingertips and are the next best thing. Not only do they allow you to travel to places beyond your wildest dreams, such exotic locations, historical monuments, zoos, nationals parks, and museums, just to name a few; they offer you the time and space to do all of this without ever leaving your home.