I love to travel. (Though after years of doing so for work, any traveling I do now is strictly for fun.) But travel’s not always practical or feasible, especially if you’re talking about far-off places.

Travel

In the past, if you wanted to see a specific place for yourself, you walked or traveled by horse, wagon, train, or ship. Even with the invention of cars, buses, and planes, physically traveling to other locales isn’t possible for everyone.

Many people settle for being armchair travelers, seeing a place in their mind’s eye after reading someone else’s description in letters, newspapers, magazines, and books. (Books are especially good for transporting readers to other locations.) Photographs, TV shows (especially Rick Steves), and movies help these armchair travelers see places more clearly, but the view is still limited compared to being there in person.

Technology

New technology has provided armchair travelers with the opportunity to visit places without ever leaving home.

Websites: If you’re interested in a specific town, historical site, etc., check their website first. Maybe you’re interested in Tennessee history but live in Texas. Obviously, you can’t attend meetings and lectures, but no worries, the Tennessee Historical Society offers recordings of most of these on their website under the Programs tab. (Click here to visit.)

Facebook: Some individuals and organizations hold live Facebook Events. If you missed one—didn’t even know about it until years after the event—that’s okay. It’s probably still there.

Webcams: More and more locations have webcams, many of which are live, allowing you to watch a location in real-time. It’s as good as being there in person and more comfortable. Take England’s Lake District. That area of England is a very popular tourist destination and has various webcams located throughout. (Click here for over 50 webcams, many with live feeds.)

Google Maps: As long as Google’s filming vehicle has traveled a road, you can travel it, too, virtually. Maybe you’d like to drive over Deception Pass on the north end of Whidbey Island in Washington State. Click and drag the little yellow man (bottom right corner) to the blue highlighted road to browse street view images. (To travel Deception Pass on Google Maps, click here.) You can go as fast or as slow as you want—no worries about speed limits—and you can spin around for a 360-degree view at any time without causing an accident.

Get Specific

YouTube is a treasure trove for anyone who wants to travel but can’t, for whatever reason. If you want to see a specific location or event, you don’t have to physically go there, just search for it on YouTube. It’s likely someone has already been there and filmed it. (FYI: It may take several tries with various search words to produce the results you want.)

YouTube is an invaluable tool for a writer who doesn’t live near where the book is set. For example, if I wanted to write a scene where my characters ride a train between Carlisle and Leeds, England, I’d want details about the train station, train car, countryside, etc. If I’d not ridden the route personally—or needed to refresh my memory—I could search the internet for someone who had made and filmed the trip, then watch it for the details. In this case, I found Dylan’s Travel Reports, specifically his March 2021 train trip from Carlisle to Leeds, England. This twenty-minute YouTube video (click here to watch) not only shows the inside of the Carlisle train station, where the trip begins, and the countryside and various stations where the train stops during the trip, but he also tours the train cars, describing the seats and showing you the baggage and bicycle storage areas, as well as a bathroom. All the details I’d need to describe the scene are in this video. No actual traveling required.

The World is Your Oyster

If you want to travel, but can’t, don’t be discouraged. Let someone else carry the burden of travel planning and costs. Travel online where the sky’s the limit. Enjoy the ability to essentially be in two different places at the same time—relaxing at home while visiting somewhere else. Your virtual trip may not be the real thing, but it’s the next best thing to it.