One of the most inspiring things about books is their way of transporting you to a place and time you might not otherwise be able to experience. We’re highlighting 9 of our favorite international writers who will take you on a journey of a lifetime, entangle fact and fiction.
As travel is put on a temporary pause, what can home-ridden travelers do to scratch that itch? Institutions all around the world are pulling together to give people the resources to learn and explore from home.
Many travelers abroad relish in visiting places where they can learn about the culture of the place they are visiting as well as experiencing iconic works of art, design, and more. Many Museums are making the wonderful decision of making their exhibits accessible online. In a time where we are forced to stay at home, it is an opportune moment to learn and experience spaces around the world that will leave you inspired and moved.
Here are a few of our favorites:
The Louvre is one of the museum lover’s dream galleries to travel to. Through their online tours be able to see the Mona Lisa behind glass, Apollo Slaying the Serpent Python and more!
The Smithsonian has an amazing How to Travel Virtually section with multiple spots all over the world that you can travel virtually,
Explore stories of Van Gogh’s life virtually with the Van Gogh Museum website.
The MOMA has done a beautiful job providing for online art lovers with free courses exploring art. Explore tons of exhibitions and artworks on their Youtube.
The Sistine Chapel can even be viewed in the virtual tour on The Vatican Museum site.
Take the time to see a virtual tour of The Anne Frank House.
Explore the incredible building, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum through a Google Arts and Culture virtual tour.
The London National Gallery has a virtual tour of 18 galleries showcasing over 300 paintings.
Although traveling to see the historic marvels is not allowed at this moment, we can still enrich ourselves with history virtually. Traveler’s everywhere love traveling to historic sites to get a feel for what people long ago may have experienced or felt. Just because we all must stay home during this time, we can still take this moment to learn a little bit more about the history of our world.
Being one of the most acclaimed historic sites in China, at 3,000 miles long,
The Great Wall of China is a great place to explore virtually and learn about this history associated with the beautiful 2,000 year old site.
Virtually visit the incredible Pyramids of Giza using Google Maps traveling back to 5,000 years ago!
If you are a die-hard Indiana Jones you for sure have seen this iconic facade in its films, Petra is one of the great wonders of the world, explore it with Google Maps.
The Temples of Angkor are legendary. They are known to be the single largest religious monument, dating back to approx. 9th – 15th century AD.
If you want to keep doing a deep dive into the history of the world, check out this database of ancient cave paintings.
While visiting national parks in person isn’t advised right now, you can take an online tour thanks to Google Earth’s expansive collection. It’s the perfect opportunity to scout out potential future roadtrips.
Badlands National Park of South Dakota is jagged and desolate, just as the name would suggest.
Arches National Park in Utah features sandstone cliffs and picturesque cutouts in the rock.
Death Valley National Park in Nevada and California is the hottest, driest and lowest national park.
Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, the aftermath of the Colorado river, is a beautiful red canyon over a mile deep and 277 miles long.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas has permian fossil reefs and the four highest peaks in the state.
Redwood National Park in California is home to redwood trees that are thousands of years old.
Sequoia National Park of California houses giant sequoia trees, some of the largest and oldest forms of life on Earth.
You can also see the comprehensive list of national parks on Google Earth here.
Have you ever wondered what happens at zoos when the visitors are all gone and the animals are left on their own? The following zoos are giving us a glimpse with their live cams.
The San Diego Zoo has the most options of live cams by far, but our favorite is their penguin cam.
Zoo Atlanta has a panda cam to bring panda joy all around the world.
Those who prefer more aquatic animals will appreciate the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s featured animals. Don’t miss out on the moon jellyfish.
While not a live cam, the National Aquarium does have an interactive tour you can access with multiple education resources.
When it’s time to travel again, we’ll be there to assist you. Until then, enjoy these virtual travel experiences!
As the world deals with the current health crisis, most travel has slowed to a crawl. The majority of leisure plans have been canceled or postponed as major parks have closed and conferences have been postponed. Different states and even countries are restricting travel with mandatory quarantines upon arrival.
Even with the U.S. Department of State recently announcing a Global Level 4: Do Not Travel Health Advisory, some travelers have essential travel that cannot be canceled. If you must pass through an airport or jump on a plane in the next few weeks, the best resources for information on how to travel are the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the local governing office of the locations you will be departing from and arriving to.
CDC recommendation for essential travel during the COVID-19 include:
To protect yourself as you travel, utilize the same strategies as you would at home:
TSA has temporarily waived their liquids restriction when it comes to hand sanitizer. Now, you can bring in up to 12 ounces in your carry-on luggage. It may also be a good idea to bring disinfectant wipes to make sure the surfaces you’re touching are clean.
Below are some useful resources we have put together for the essential travelers:
A list of countries with restrictions:
CDC full stance on travel:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-in-the-us.html
Stuck abroad? The State Department has put out financial assistance resource plans:
We hope these guidelines and resources help if you find yourself needing to travel. At AirportParkingReservations.com, we’re dedicated to doing our part in creating enjoyable travel experiences. As always, stay healthy and safe.
As you are well aware, the current coronavirus pandemic has created an aggressive disruption in nearly all aspects of everyday life, and most especially in the travel and hospitality industry. Many airlines and other travel companies are reducing their capacity, and the situation is changing with more updates every day.
Throughout this tumultuous time, our priority at ParkSleepFly.com is to take care of our customers. Our company has been serving travelers for more than 15 years. We know our product, we know our customers, and we don’t plan on changing our priorities anytime soon.
As with all other companies in the travel industry, we’ve had an influx of calls and emails regarding travel plans. We appreciate the patience of our customers as we sort things out for each of you.
For those who have questions about our cancellation policies, our help page can clarify many frequently-asked questions. In the current climate, we understand the need for cancellation flexibility. In order to serve our customers best, we have waived our 24-hour period and will be refunding cancellations in full up to the check-in date. We will work with partners that have non-refundable reservations to be flexible during this fluid period as well.
As always, we recommend travelers to make decisions based on information from credible sources such as the World Health Organization. When you decide to travel, rest assured we will be here to support you and your journey.
Until then, wash your hands, avoid touching your face, and cover your mouth when coughing and sneezing.
Carlos Chilin,
General Manager of ParkSleepFly.com
Coffee is the third-most popular drink in the world behind only water and tea. Today, the mighty coffee bean is cultivated in over 70 countries. While coffee beans have traditional been grown and cultivated near the equator, a greater understanding of agriculture is leading to more countries throwing their hats in the ring. Still, Central America, Southeast Asia, and Africa continue to lead the charge in terms of coffee bean cultivation. But where is coffee the most popular around the globe?
Italy
Everyone who really loves coffee and can’t wait to race downstairs to get that first cup going should definitely consider visiting Italy at least once. The country has literally centuries of coffee history under its belt, and Italy is renowned for its cappuccino and espresso. What surprises most people, though, about Italy is that coffee there is incredibly affordable because coffee in Italy is seen as a social lubricant of sorts and it seems to be a ubiquitous part of life on the other side of the Atlantic. Considering the fact that Italy boasts nearly 200,000 cafes and coffee bars, you won’t have any trouble grabbing a cup!
Columbia
Columbia is located in South America and an essential part of any roundup of the best coffee spots from around the world. Columbia is one of the primary spots for growing and cultivating coffee partly because of the variety of microclimates that allow for year-round cultivation of myriad different coffee beans. The implications for tourists is that they can drop in whenever they like and get a world-class tour of a coffee growing facility without any fear that the region will be seeing a bunch of fallow fields. There’s so much biodiversity in the Columbian countryside and beautiful people to curate you around the sites that you’ll wonder why you didn’t visit Columbia sooner.
Hawaii
Another island that sometimes gets overlooked when doing this kind of roundup is Hawaii. That’s somewhat understandable but less so once you consider how popular Kona coffee and Kauai coffee have been recently. Hawaii boasts literally millions of coffee trees and thousands of acres dedicated to growing the spectacular Kona coffee bean. Hawaii is unique among coffee destinations due to the growing conditions: volcanic soil, trade winds, year-round tropical weather, and tropical rain.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is in Central America, and the coffee juggernaut has been growing and cultivating coffee since at least as far back as the 18th century. Costa Rica is a tourist destination par excellence because of its wonderful tropical weather, but you’ll find quite a bit of hospitality among Costa Rica’s coffee farmers. Aside from the opportunity to take day tours of hundreds of different coffee fields, you’ll have the chance to take classes on brewing your own lattes once you set down your bags and reflect on the trip from the comfort of your home. The organic coffee movement has recently made Costa Rica’s coffee growing practices even more attractive to health-conscious consumers from all around the globe.
