Most of us have precious little time to do the things we need to do. Still, whether waiting in an airport, a doctor's appointment or just needing a fifteen minute break, we all need to find something to pass the time occasionally.
I think that I have found one of the most interesting and new ways to do so that would have left our previous generations breathless at the ability.
Without further ado; Go to Google Maps (linking problems today but I suspect you can all find it.)
Make sure it is on the satellite feature, not the simple map feature. Find an area of the world, one that you are interested in but will never visit and keep closing in on it until it changes into the "street view."
And see the world like you are driving through it..
Now, it does not work everywhere all over the world. Many remote countries and areas are not available at the street view - - but there are a surprising number that are!
At this point in my life, I am resigned to the fact that I will likely never get to vacation overseas. Money is tight now. (Things could change but I'm not banking on it). So, instead, I decided to "walk the streets" of some of the areas that I would most like to visit. And with the "street view" capability, it is easy to just see what you would see if you were driving around. Remember, I am mostly talking about places that I would likely not visit even if I had money. All the obvious ones NYC, London, Paris are available too.
Some interesting Cities to "Visit"
Stockholm
Toronto
Rome
Moscow
Coppenhagen
Hong Kong
Sidney
Tokyo
I also like cities that I would never have even thought to go, such as Lisbon, Seville, Monaco, Nagasaki etc.
My current favorite explorations involve "trips" to the far north countrysides or any other very out of the way places, usually along highways and it is amazing how many places are fully street view compatible that are otherwise in the middle of nowhere that NO ONE is likely to ever actually visit.
Favorite "Extreme Visits"
The entire highway from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay Alaska is available on Street View and so is the Alaskan Highway through Canada, it is beautiful.
It seems the entire country of Norway is available, including the very very very northern tip along the artic ocean, zoom in on the northernmost part, look for the yellow line highway running to the north that will appear as you get closer, go right down to the last portion as it ends - - You will "land" in the parking lot of a weather station or something right on the rocky coast of the northernmost part of Europe and the arctic ocean! It is also amazing that there are some significant sized towns so far north. I would love to travel to the far north in summer b/c I figure it would be as close to being "off" this planet as I would get.
The far north Russian city of Murmansk is available; It is a big city! WAY north.
Most of Newfoundland Canada is available - the area around St. Johns is stunning.
The Southern Most tip of New Zealand.
Much of Australia - - at least around the big cities.
Most of the big cities in Brazil are available including all the ones along the coast.
You get the idea. Now, certainly not every where in the world is available, yet. Almost all of North America is, nearly all of Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa, Russia, Japan and the previously mentioned Nordic Countries.
Most of Central and South America are not. Nor is nearly all of Africa and Asia.
There is enough available to kill huge amounts of time. My biggest guilty pleasure right now is, after my little girl and wife are in bed, I go to youtube and put on a UFO - Alien documentary or radio show (sue me! I LOVE ufos and aliens and I actually believe some of it! Take that all you intelligentsia!) and then leave it on in the background while I call up a new window and explore the world. Not everyone's cup of tea, to be sure, but it is fun for some and it is a capability that our ancestors going back thousands of years would marvel at or literally died trying to get to some of these places.