If I 'globe trot' in person then I do so by bicycle. This may be the best way to actually travel rather than see the same airports and identical AirBnB's as eve

If I 'globe trot' in person then I do so by bicycle. This may be the best way to actually travel rather than see the same airports and identical AirBnB's as everyone else. This has kind of informed my belief that Street View is pretty good - it is the same perspective and speed. I also 'send my parents' to places I would like to visit in depth, I also talk to people from the place of interest who have moved to my area. This satisfies my intellectual curiosity and saves a lot of time moving around in tin boxes. This has advantages with places such as Syria - I may only know two people from there but I can learn lots about the story those newsreaders 'assume' just by being interested and having time to chat to the friends I have. One thing is that maps were a large part of my early career, for science and weather forecasting. Therefore I do know a lot of places on the map, usually from space and usually with awareness of the weather forecasting challenges for that location. Knowing where someone's town is helps with the 'oh it's lovely there...' conversation that follows. Same with holidays, name the location and I am half way there on what the weather is like right now.