It’s evident that it will be months before people are free to leave their house without having to worry about COVID, and it may take even longer for countries to open their borders to visitors again fully.
Until then, there are a few ways you can leave your house without getting up from your couch. It sounds weird, but it’s true. So today, let’s observe four ways you can virtually travel the world.
4 Ways to Travel From the Couch
1. Go On a Virtual Museum Tour
One of the best ways to get out of the house without actually, you know, leaving the house is by going on a virtual museum tour. Yes, plenty of major museums offer online tours that take users through all of the exhibits.
It feels like a real tour! Furthermore, these virtual tours are free, only requiring a decent chunk of time from the person taking the tour. So if you’re a history buff, a fan of art, or someone just looking for a way to distract yourself from the house, you’ll have a great time on these virtual tours.
If the museum you want to visit isn’t available in your area, you may need a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to have full access to the site and functions of the tour. In other words, a free VPN trial will help you out in a pinch.
2. Strap On a Virtual Reality Headset
Virtual reality has been subject to criticism since companies began focusing on it in the early 2010s. From motion sickness to the incredibly high prices, people doubted that VR had a future.
Fast forward to 2021, and VR is thriving. With companies like Facebook making VR affordable with their Oculus Quest line of headsets and Valve offering enthusiast-level headsets, it’s easy to see why. And during the start of the pandemic, VR headsets flew off the shelves. Why? Because they are a great form of escapism.
With virtual reality, you can escape the world and head into a fully realized 3D world—one where you are at the center of it all. Phrased like that, it’s no wonder VR headsets were so difficult to track down during the pandemic!
3. Rely on Google Earth
Nothing beats traveling by yourself and seeing beautiful landmarks and cities with your very own eyes. But when the option to do so isn’t available, there is another option: Google Earth.
Google Earth is Google’s answer to exploration. By scanning the world through satellites and aircraft, Google processes these images and combines them to create a virtual replica of every location in the world.
Granted, a lot of areas are semi-low quality—a side effect of them being processed 2D images taken by satellites—but they look good enough that you can still get immersed in Google Earth. You could spend hours doing nothing but clicking through various locations and cities.
As a plus, VR users can download a VR version of Google Earth for some added immersion! What’s not to love?
4. Take Some Online Classes
One of the best ways to get to know more about the world itself is to study it. There are hundreds of online classes dedicated to various facets of the world—different cultures, geographical features, traditions, etc.
For example, one interested in culinary arts would feel at home taking classes involving cooking dishes from various countries around the world. Likewise, someone interested in history will easily find classes dedicated to the history of any country in the world.
That said, the best classes require you to pay a certain fee or source your own learning materials. If that doesn’t bother you, however, then online classes are the perfect solution to not only traveling but appreciating the world in a better light.
Conclusion
While the pandemic may be coming to a close, it will be a long while before countries begin opening back up to the general public. To kill time until then, there are plenty of ways to travel the world without actually, well, traveling.
