Agoda Shares How to Explore the World While You #StayHome

While May’s public holidays, school breaks and long weekends may be very different this year with travel or day trip plans postponed, digital travel platform Agoda shows how you can still explore the globe, shake off that cabin fever and experience what the world has to offer, all without leaving your own home.

By agoda on May 15, 20207 minutes read

Taking Agoda’s travelers’ favorite destinations throughout 2019, combined with the top travel motivations from its Usage & Attitude Survey (U&A), Agoda shares a handy guide to travel in the virtual world. According to Agoda’s U&A survey, Nature/Countryside; Beaches; Food & Dining; Landmarks; and Culture are the top five reasons cited to travel globally, so whether you have always wanted to check out the bustling cosmopolitan cities of Mumbai, Singapore or London, the Arts and Culture of Kuala Lumpur, Paris or New York, or the natural beauty of Canada, Indonesia or South Africa, thanks to the wonders of technology you can!

Travel Motivation #5 – CULTURE

MUSEUMS & GALLERIES

The Met (Image credit: Kate Glicksberg)

Right in our backyard, which ranks number three on the top destination list for Agoda travelers during 2019, you can dive into Islamic history with a virtual walk-through of the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur, which showcases the rich cultural history of Islamic influence on art, architecture, clothing and calligraphy dating back 1400 years.
Don’t wait to see the Mona Lisa, The Wedding at Cana or Venus de Milo, housed in the world famous Le Louvre in Paris, instead check out this virtual tour and get up close view of these world-famous paintings, without leaving home.
Any visit to New York is not complete without a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and what better way to whet your appetite for a future visit than with a virtual tour. The Met 360 project has released a series of six short videos inviting viewers to virtually visit the Met’s art and architecture in a fresh, immersive way. Experience the wide expanse of the six halls, which includes The Great Hall, The Cloisters, The Temple of Dendur, The Met Breuer, The Charles Engelhard Court and Arms and Armor Galleries

THEATRE AND MUSIC

The Phantom of the Opera

There’s nothing quite as magical as a trip to the theatre for plays, musicals or dance performances. While currently you can’t get to Broadway or the West End, the Royal Opera House or pop concert tours for your favourite artists, with the magic of showbiz and modern technology, it can come to you.

If dance is more your scene than West End musicals, be mesmerized by the Bolshoi theatre’s performance of Swan Lake or check out Handel’s Acis and Galatea or The Winter’s Tale, performed by the Royal Opera House and the Royal Ballet.
If you want to indulge in your musical obsession and check out with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘The Shows Must Go On’, which includes song bursting The Phantom of the Opera, and toe tapping Joseph’s Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat.
Pop stars and singers might not be able to fill stadiums right now, but they are doing their best to perform for you at home. So, whether you like to rock to Bruce Springsteen, sing along with Gary Barlow and a selection go world wide artists during his Crooner Sessions, or want to bust a move to chart-topping Columbia Records artists like Diplo and John Mayer, you can catch them on live stream or their social accounts.

Travel Motivation #4 – LANDMARKS

The Eiffel Tower

Chinese and Indonesian tourists are most likely to visit famous attractions when traveling. But globally, it’s the fourth biggest motivation to travel, so check out these Instagram worthy destinations – online.

They say there is nowhere like Paris in the springtime. Enjoy a virtual trip of, The Eiffel Tower, the most-visited paid monument in the world, which welcomes 7 million visitors every year.
A chance to take a look inside the Royal palaces may be even more appealing during this stay home period, and for many travelers planning a trip to London, a visit to Buckingham Palace is often on the cards. Fret not, you can still have a nose around, as the Royal Collection Trust is showcasing the palace and sharing its rich history through virtual tours.
If there was one destination that makes every one, no matter their age believe in magic, it has to be Disneyland. Keep the child in you alive with virtual tours of some of the best Disneyland rides or be blown away with front row seats of Disneyland Paris’s breathtaking nighttime spectacular ‘Disney Illuminations’.

Travel Motivation #3 – FOOD & DINING

Celebrity chef Anis Nabilah

The number three motivation to travel according to Agoda’s global Usage & Attitude survey, is to experience the food and dining at the destination, this rises to the top spot for travelers from Asia. Just because you can’t travel doesn’t mean you can’t explore the vibrant flavours of the world’s cuisine.

Replicate Michelin-star dishes with famous Italian chef Massimo Bottura and man behind #KitchenQuarantine encouraging chefs and people from around the world to recreate food they love and travel for. If you have been taking constant trips to the snack cupboard, why not give it a gourmet twist with Munchies from chefs that make it the best.
If you would like to relish dishes from your favorite movies, cook alongside American filmmaker turn chef Andrew Rea on Binging with Babish
If local flavours is more your cup of tea, tune in to home grown celebrity chef Anis Nabilah’s social accounts for some hearty Malaysian recipes.

Travel motivation #2 – BEACHES / ISLANDS

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Beaches and/or islands are the second favorite global reason to travel. While you might need to wait a while until you can feel the sand between your toes or waves on your back, you don’t need to miss the magic of the ocean completely.

Dating back 10,000 years, the Buck Island Reef National Park houses many unique corals and sea life. Take National Geographics’ guided dive with marine life photographer Brian Skerry and drift into the spectacular details of the gem colors and textures of this unique and protected barrier reef, watch sea turtle hatchlings make their way into the ocean at night.
Alternatively, take a virtual dive with sealions at the National Marine Sanctuaries courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Travel motivation #1 – NATURE / CITIES

Image by JHGilbert from Pixabay

The number one motivation to travel for explorers across the world is nature and scenery. So Agoda has compiled a collection of natural beauty and cityscape videos to whet your appetite for travelling when it’s time to not stay at home.

NATURE

Renowned its great outdoors, Canada offers so much beauty to explore. Gaze into the magical night skies for glimpses of the Northern Lights streamed live every night. How about exploring Banff National Park, where it has a variety of videos available for your “trek” across the country’s oldest national park – Johnston Canyon.
Indonesia’s beautiful island of Bali is often referred to as paradise on earth. Known for its volcanic mountains, rice paddy fields and most of all its bone white beaches. Get away virtually to the many beaches of Bali, while staying safe at home.
The wild and rugged landscape of South Africa, with it’s Big Five animal safaris, is captured in Wild Earth’s daily live sunrise and sunset safaris – Wild Earth Safaris South Africa.

CITIES

The financial capital of India, Mumbai is not just famous for Bollywood, it is also a melting pot of cosmopolitan India and celebrates several sub-cultures, cuisines and scenery. Mumbai also hosts the world’s second largest number of art-deco buildings amongst other historic colonial, gothic and contemporary architecture as seen on the video.
Singapore which ranks 13 on the Agoda travelers list for 2019, the island country is a powerhouse of experiences rooting from its mixed culture, yet modern perspective. Enjoy unique views of Garden city’s eclectic culture of modern and traditional.
UK ranks 16 on the Agoda traveler list London its capital city is pure magic. With 2000 years of history, London is one of the worlds most visited cities and has something for everyone. Walk through iconic landmarks like Tower Bridge, London Eye and Carnaby Street.

London Eye by Visit Britain

And finally, for a truly out of this world travel experience….

Check out the views from NASA’s International Space Station which takes sixteen orbits around the Earth in 24 hours. It sees either a sunset or a sunrise every 45 minutes. What better time to view Earth on NASA’s Space Station live stream than right now?