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Virtual Traveling

I was already thinking of when and where to go next while still on vacation last December. My being undecided became a good thing because of the sudden lock down and, obviously, flight cancellations. Nothing for me to worry over, thankfully. Now, I just wonder when we can travel again. I’m sure things will be different after this.

Anyway, nothing we can do with the lockdown, but that’s not going to stop us from “traveling.” I mean, virtual traveling from the comforts of our home, room, or bed. 😛 The following websites offer free high definition and interactive exploration of museums, heritage sites, and cities, to name a few.

  • Google Arts & Culture has thousands of virtual museums, online exhibits, and 360-views of heritage sites, among others that are available for free. Its 360 and street views are my favorite features. One could spend days or the entire duration of the lock down or quarantine exploring the website, and it still wouldn’t be enough. I saw high-resolution paintings also downloadable for free. Google Arts & Culture has Android and iOS apps.
  • 360CITIES offers 360 goodness I haven’t seen in the previously mentioned site, such as the “Underwater Diving with tiger sharks and hammerhead.” The website offers VR too, which I think truly defines virtual traveling. 🙂 However, I couldn’t check if it’s freely accessible.
  • Smithsonian Open Access has millions of digital items from Smithsonian’s museums, research centers, archives, libraries, and the National Zoo. It even includes datasets of scientific research. Information overload!
  • Zoos Victoria offers live streams of their animals! I haven’t had any luck seeing the animals though hahaha

I wouldn’t have known about these sites if it weren’t for the quarantine.

Even if you’re not into traveling, continuously enriching ourselves with culture, art, history, and the like is good for our mental health as well. I’m all about taking care of our mental health as, personally, can’t help but feel some hopelessness on some days.

I’ll update the list when I find more (working) sites. Here are other special mentions:

📸 Featured photo is the USA Library of Congress.

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Obligatory selfie with cherry blossoms. 🌸 Luckily, the weather improved last Sunday, so my under-eye bags don't look too obvious in the photo. 😂✌🏻 📍Ueno Zoo @archiedasal and I didn't have the time to go out on Valentine's Day, so we went out on the Friday that week and had a dinner date in Edoya at Little Tokyo. Edoya is situated on Fernando Street, right beside Makati Central Square. If you know where Manmaru is, it's just across that restaurant. Apart from serving Japanese cuisine, Edoya also offers Japanese clothing and accessories for pictorials within its Japanese-themed interiors. My Kobo is back from a long slumber, lol. I recently began reading the light novel Solo Leveling out of frustration from the anime since it's a weekly release. As for the manhwa, I will read it after this. I had a great time with Phoebe and Archie at The Curator last Saturday evening. It was a much-needed break to relax and let off some steam, especially for me, so I wouldn't have to resort to a punching bag. I finally had good cocktails, and there were no birthday songs that kept playing in the background. I wasn't purposely searching for it, but I stumbled upon the giant 3D calico cat after leaving Kinokuniya in Shinjuku. I wouldn't have noticed it if it weren't for the crowd looking up and anticipating the cat's appearance on the screen. 🐱 Damn, 2023 just flew by. Photos are highlights of my year. 2023 has been less stressful, especially since I focused more on myself. I got no time for stressful shit. Haha~

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