Traveling Despite of Corona? 10 Ideas How You Can Discover the World From the Comfort of Your Couch!

The world turned upside down and every traveler should be sane enough to avoid traveling about, while this epidemic is raging. We are currently practicing self quarantining and reach out to you from our home office in Ottawa. Of course, we know how hard it is for our tribe to stay put - that's why we've put together this handy list of tips, with which you can explore the world despite isolation! Traveling despite Corona? Yes, you can - without even having to leave the sofa...but occasionally, you should do that too. 😅

1. Visit Paris online…

…and join a virtual tour through the Louvre! The world-famous art museum currently offers virtual tours through three of its exhibitions. A little bit of art history didn't hurt anybody and you need something to restrain yourself from binge-watching "Sex Education" on Netflix. The best part: stay in bed and munch your favorite potato chips. Nobody will call you a philistine and next time you FaceTime your mum, you can rave about the lively display of light in the Galerie d’Apollon! 👨🏼‍🎨

That’s cool, but not excaclty your cup of tea… No stress, head over to travel + leisure and find your favourite art exhibit.

2. Discover The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks!

You just have to check out these virtual multimedia tours through five national parks of the United States! Thanks to 360° video and photos, and sound recordings of the park, the journey is quite immersive. It’s all made by Google Arts & Culture, and you can actually follow real rangers on a journey to places most people never go.

How ‘bout rappeling into a crevasse at Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska, or flying over an active volcano at the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in a helicopter. You could also change form and become a bat and explore the deep caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexiko.

At Bryce Canyon Nationalpark in Utha, you are riding a horse through the canyons while learning all about the world’s largest collection of Hoodoos. And after that, you might want to cool off a bit and dive down into the aquatic realm of the Dry Tortugas National Parks in Florida. You can even check out a real wreck, without even getting your feet wet. 😉

3. Opera on the Couch

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metropolitan Opera in New York is streaming an new Opera every day for free! If you are done with binge-watching the Mandalorian, it’s defenetily time for some culture in your living room! Get yourself a fancy drink, turn up the volume, and let your neighbors know, you’re a grownup now! 🤵🏻

Here are the dates for this week

every Opera will go online at 7:30 ET and will be available for the next 23 hours!

4. Night at the Museum

Take a stroll through the reknowned Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. and refresh your knowledge on evolutionary history! They have multiple exhibits and tours on their website, you can basically explore every room - if you want, even with your VR device! Your kids will love it, too! They have a pretty topical exhibit right now called “Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World”. Oh, did I mention DINOS!? 🦕

5. Follow the tracks of Adventurers

Thanks to online magazines, travel blogs, and worldwide platforms like youtube, it’s a piece of cake to discover foreign places nowadays. I know, it’s not the same as experiencing it first hand, but hey, it’s better than moping over the travel ban all day long. It’s the closest you can get in the current situation and just because you can’t get outside right now, doesn’t mean you can’t PLAN your next trip! 😉

These are our favorites:

This is something special: the folks from Travelepisodes showcase multimedia reports from all over the world, created by authentic travelers! The project is sponsored by prominent brands like National Geographic and the European Outdoor Film Tour, which is militating in favor for the quality of their content.
Fiona & Jerry, the two legends from A Couple Of Drifters, are fellow budgeteers and true travelers. On their resourceful website, they are sharing tips, tricks, and strategies on budget traveling, as well as lots of info on the places they’ve been traveling to. They are doing a fantastic job as travel bloggers over there, and you should definitely check them out!
Traveling Earth kinda sucks right now.. Well, we got you covered: just check out Mars instead! Yeah okay, it’s just one 360° picture, but think about it: This is Mars! 🤯 Pretty cool, huh? Plenty of awesome space stuff to explore on NASA’s website, go check it out here.
How ‘bout jumping out of an airplane and “fly” down a mountainside in a wingsuit? Anybody? You’ll probably never do that in real life, so it’s pretty cool that Marshall Miller does it for you!

6. Time to cook your favourite dish from your last trip!

Do you remember this special Colombian dessert you couldn't keep your hands off? Or the Bibimbap in Seoul that was brought to the table sizzling and hissing? Nothing transports us back to a past travel adventure than the dishes we associate with the country. Now’s the time to dig out that cookbook from Thailand, Namibia or Spain and taste those spices and flavors again!

Or how about trying something entirely new? At eluxemagazine they collected 30 world food recipes that make us wanna go out and stock up on coconut cream and Garam Masala!

Also check out veganlovlie’s pantry recipe list! Teenuja & Kevin showcase 40+ dishes that will get you through this pandemic without missing your favourite restaurants.

7. Learn new things!

No matter if you'd like to learn a new language, educate yourself on art, music or finally get out of "Auto-Mode" on your camera: There is no better time than now to try something new or to expand your knowledge and skills. You can do that with one of the many online courses at Skillshare. They have a huge library of courses on many different topics: crocheting, learning Russian from a native, brewing the perfect coffee, mad programming skills, painting in oil... There's a course for everything. With our link, you get 2 months of Skillshare Premium for free, so why don't you give it a try? We've been premium members for almost 2 years and still can't get enough. Besides, we are teachers ourselves! For example, we've published an extensive travel course that will help you to plan your next big trip for the time after Corona.

This is an affiliated link. By registering you get 2 months of free access to all courses on Skillshare. You can cancel at any time, and we get a little something from Skillshare if you register (doesn't cost you anything)! Just cancel immediately after you signed up. This way, you can still use their service for the full 2 months, and avoid the subscription trap.

8. Stay up-to-date!

I know it’s a touchy topic, especially in the States - but Fake News on Facebook, RT America, or conspiracy vids on Youtube aren’t reputable news outlets. Fake News is spreading faster than the Corona-Virus itself, and the Dunning-Kruger Effect is mighty strong these days! The keyword is Accountable Journalism, and it’s a good idea to scan the media you consume for the following 5 principles: Accuracy, Independence, Impartiality, Humanity, and Accountability.

We won’t give any advice on which North American media you should choose to read up on things, because just a few lines in a listicle wouldn’t do the issue justice. But we’d like to remind folks, that fact based research should always be the bedrock of a respectable agency, paper, or broadcasting service.

Just one thing: If somebody is trying to convince you with an oversimplified answer to a complex issue, it’s probably a big pile of horse crap.

9. Learn a new Language for free

As you might have noticed, EatThisWorld is a bilingual site and Anna and I are true international spirits. How come? Language is the key to open the door to another culture. Cultural understanding benefits cooperation, and cooperation can ultimately bring forth friendship. And friendship means peace. And there's no doubt, we need more of tahts in these crazy times. Big talkin' by the German guy, I know. 😄 Let's just start with being able to order a croissant and a café on your next trip to Paris, shall we? Have a look at duolingo! With this website, you can refresh your language skills online or learn a new language completely free of charge. I'm trying Japanese right now and it reminds me of my old Nintendo DS and Dr. Kawashima's brain jogging (anybody?). Of course, duolingo won't turn you into a fluid speaker overnight, but gamification makes it quite entertaining. And if you combine the website with a language course on Skillshare and some foreign films with subtitles (Studio Ghibli movies for example! - sorry North America, you have to use your VPN), then you should be well prepared for the next trip after the quarantine!

10. A literary Journey

Travel back in time, or to an entirely different world with audible! We love audiobooks because when there’s no freaking pandemic we move a lot - which means long train rides, weeks on the open ocean, and hours driving through monotonous landscapes. Having something interesting to listen to can cut the time in half and this might be pretty helpful when you’re sitting at home the whole day.

Because of the Corona pandemic, audible is helping out with a neat selection of audiobooks for kids and teenagers! But young-at-hearts should enjoy them too. 😉 There are also some literary classics you can stream for free. We think this was a pretty decent move from audible. No sign-up, no strings attached.