On Air

My New Hobby: World Travel from Home

Blog/FavouritesAugust 18th 2020
Maria Pyne

The world of COVID has for many people put a damper on travel plans, current and future. In my single 20’s and early 30’s I did a lot of travelling and feel fortunate and blessed to have been able to travel and experience different cultures. I look forward to travelling with my family once my son is older. I do feel for those who want to have this experience and are currently unable to do so, since travel is a wonderful way to learn and test yourself.

I was looking for a way to unwind in the evenings and went online to revisit one of my favourite countries – Switzerland.  In the past when I have watched YouTube videos of people’s trips the videos are very shaky and wobbly, and I end up feeling ill afterwards. Sometimes, people will take videos from the side of the train and the beautiful scenery they are trying to capture is lost with the passing trees and poles whooshing by.

To my delight I discovered wonderful videos where people are asking permission to sit in with the train conductor in their cabin and film 4D videos of the train ride - from the conductor’s view – no passing trees and poles! I have revisited the wonderful scenery of Switzerland that I fell in love with.

WATCH: CAB RIDE INTO BEAUTIFUL OBETOGGENBURG (SWITZERLAND) BY RAILWAY EMOTIONS

I thought what a great way for those who are unable to travel to see the world and nature. I have travelled along new areas of the world, such as Norway, Lake Baikal in Russia and the Trans Siberian express.  With COVID restricting many of our movements, watching these train videos has allowed a feeling of escape and getting away to help with the cooped up feeling many have been experiencing.

When travel does open, watching these videos would be a great way to test out a travel route via train. I’ve discovered that many trains have very short stop times, so knowing where you are going ahead of time can be very helpful. Another added bonus is that many videos have the simple sounds of the train in the background, no dialogue at all or distracting noises.  Riding a train always lulled me to sleep. Watching these videos has created a similar affect and I have begun watching these videos before bed.

When your tired of travelling by train, you can always travel by car. I have stumbled upon high quality You Tube videos of people traveling by car (with no dialogue and just the sound of the car to also help with sleep). I’ve travelled the Outer Hebrides of Scotland this way!

WATCH: OUTER HEBRIDES, "THESE FABLOUS ISLANDS"  BY BANKIELAND