How to Still Travel the World during Quarantine for FREE!

1-Take a VR 360 degree Guided Tour of Paris with French engineer Frederic Gourdet's YouTube Channel- This is seriously great.  I have been to Paris a few times, but still have a lot to learn and see from this digital tour.  Frederic is an excellent guide and points out important landmarks, talks about history, all while giving you a chance to explore the 360 views.

2-Head Over to Google's Art's and Culture Website- Here you can do everything from swim through a coral reef, explore global landmarks, go whale watching, to dive into all things Hogwarts by clicking HERE!  I just discovered this website and it seriously blows my mind!  This is DAAAYYYYYSSSS worth of exploring, learning, and is very child friendly as well.

3-Gucci Osteria's Massimo Bottura is offering free cooking classes on Instagram every night at 8pm CET- Now is as good of a time as any to finally learn some cooking skills from a lively and entertaining Italian chef.  Massimo teaches tips like how to clean vegetables during quarantine and how to make a mean besciamella sauce.  Just follow @massimobottura on Insta!

4-Explore the "House of Dior: Ball Gowns" with The Met 360 degrees (plus numerous other exhibits at The Met)-  This is an exhibit that I am very sad I missed.  Some of my friends went and said it's incredible, so how great is it that we can all now check it out?!  Just head to MetMuseum.org. 

5-Take advantage of a Free Month with The Great Courses- Take courses like "The Geology of National Parks," "The Foundations of Western Civilizations," "The Irish Identity," "Understanding Japan," etc. to learn more about your next destination before you go.  Just head to thegreatcourses.com. 

6-Spend A Night at the Opera- Ever dream of a fancy night in New York City attending the Opera?  Why not make it a date night (a virtual one if you live alone), make a nice dinner and enjoy a glass of wine while streaming previously recorded performances at The Metropolitan Opera.  Check it out at https://www.metopera.org/

7-Listen to a Travel Podcast- Some of my favs are "Travel with Rick Steves" or "Andy Steves Travel" Podcasts.  Rick always brings on interesting travel guides, writers, and other experts from around the world for in-depth coverage of interesting topics like "Ghosts in Papua New Guinea," "The Seine; German Style," and "Wayfinding."  These podcasts give me so much travel inspiration, and so many cultural tips in planning my next adventures.  Rick also offers audio tours of numerous countries, another way to virtually travel.  Andy Steve's (Rick's son) podcast has not had a recent episode in over a year but has a slightly younger and hipper focus. Previous episodes interview social media travel influencers, travel journalists, and cover interesting topics like "Gothic Tokyo," "Speakeasies and Trendy London," etc. Find wherever you get your podcasts!  

8-Read Travel Books- Audible just made hundreds of books free!  I have gone to so many destinations where I wished I would have known more about the history BEFORE I got there.  So now there is plenty of time to plan your next trip while learning about your destination's history and culture as well.  Some of my favorite travel books are "Travel as a Political Act" by Rick Steves, anything by Anthony Bourdain, DK and Pocket Lonely Planet travel guides, and "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek."  Pilgrim is my all time favorite book and not really travel related per se, but will make you fall back in love with the wonders of planet Earth. 

9-Virtual National Parks Tours-
The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Tour lets you explore the Nahuku Lava Tube which is a cave formed by flowing lava and fly over an active volcano by clicking Here. Explore landmarks at Yellowstone National Park by clicking Here, the Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska Here, or just google "virtually explore national parks" for more (a lot of them are actually in Google Arts & Culture). 

Start exploring at artsandculture.withgoogle.com

   
10-Take a Train Ride Through Norway (or anywhere in the world)-So this is actually Ryan and my favorite activity.  It's so calming to just leave one up for hours on the t.v. while we read, cook, or clean.  Norway started a "Slow TV" trend when their broadcast of a train ride through the country became a national sensation.  Just YouTube "Train Ride Alps," "Train Ride Austria," or check out more about the original hit Here!