Things to Do When You Can’t Do Things! A S WE COME very close to having spent a year doing our best to stay home and be socially distant, the walls of our home, while offering shelter, can (and have begun to!) feel more than a little confining. Travel is still limited, filled with restrictions and anxieties of its own. So where do we find some respite from the every day, something different to focus on, and maybe even broaden our knowledge base? Enter the “virtual experience” to break up some of the monotony. While online tours and classes are certainly not “new,” we are all feeling the need to expand our boundaries right about now, and the world wide web is conveniently at our fingertips! Think of these virtual adventures as a mental vacation where you can focus on a National Park, your favorite artist, or the Eiffel Tower instead of yet another TV show. It is truly amazing just how much content is available now. Whatever hobby or interest you may have, there is surely an online experience to match it. Begin locally with a tour of Knoxville’s own Blount Mansion, or watch the animals play at Zoo Knoxville. Expand your reach to Nashville with a tour of downtown or the Country Music Hall of Fame. Visit the Lexington Historical Society or selected parts of the Biltmore House in Asheville. Enjoy a beach view in Maui, Hawaii, or check out what’s going on at Pacific Walrus Beach in Round Island, Alaska. Take a tour of Paris’ Louvre museum or Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. And from there, the sky is the limit - literally! Take a trip on NASA’s International Space Station to see what the earth looks like while they orbit.
In addition, every craft tutorial imaginable is represented in a YouTube video. Interested in learning more about container gardening? Playing the guitar? Science projects with items you probably already have on hand? New makeup techniques? While most virtual experiences are free, some ask for a donation, and some charge a fee. So go ahead and learn to cook with a TV star, “walk” through The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York - even Graceland is accessible through virtual tours now! Maybe you’ll discover a place you just “have” to visit when we can all get outand-about again. It’s always nice to have something to look forward to!
Here are a few ideas to get you started on your virtual journey: Take Route 66 from Illinois to California and “travel” this piece of America’s bygone auto culture before it’s gone! Find unique motels, iconic service stations, food stops, and other roadside attractions. Love t ra n s p o r t at i o n? How a b o u t the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Michigan or The Museum of Flight in Seattle? Or watch the ships navigate through the Panama Canal locks. Visit historical sites here in the U.S. like New York’s Ellis Island, where many of our families began their American adventure. Remember the Alamo in Texas, explore Alcatraz Island to bring “The Rock” to life, or discover Castillo De San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida - the oldest remaining 17th century masonry fort. Go abroad with a tour of the Colosseum in Rome, the Egyptian Pyramids, or explore Peru’s Machu Piccu. Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil and the Great Wall of China are also available.
Photos courtesy of Pexels
