I like think of myself as an indoorsy outdoorsy person.

I love to get outside — hiking, skiing, running, feeling an ocean breeze brush my face or cold ice crystals on my tongue during a snowstorm. But I also hate going outside, as in leaving my home when I could be settled in under a blanket with a good book and steaming mug of tea. It’s a constant tug of war between needing nature and needing to not move or see other people.

Sometimes circumstances push us indoors whether we want to be there or not, and right now is one of those times. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t see cool things all around the world; from national parks to intimate concerts, the kind people of the internet have provided access to amazing experiences that will engage your senses and make you feel like you’re actually there — or, at least, as close as you can be.

Check out my roundup of the best things you can do right now without leaving your couch:

1. Visit a National Park

I flippin’ love Grand Teton National Park. It’s probably my favorite U.S. national park, though I’ve only visited 17 of the 62 total. Still, Grand Teton holds a special place in my heart, but it’s one of several parks to have shut down (with more to come, I’m sure) due to the current health crisis. Since it’s not a great idea to take a road trip to visit the national parks right now, you can see their incredible beauty from your couch by watching these gorgeous 8K videos from More Than Just Parks. Take in the scenery of national parks like Grand Teton in Wyoming, Zion in Utah, and Hawai’i Volcanoes in, well, Hawaii, all without leaving your living room.

2. Take a Spin on a Disney World Ride

Another thing I flippin’ love? Disney World. I recently went three times within the span of a year (sort of by accident), and I’m a strong supporter of visiting the magical world of Disney as an adult. Due to the current coronavirus situation, Disney parks have closed . Thankfully, Mickey Mouse isn’t the only one that’s magic–is he magic? He’s a talking mouse. I don’t know. I was trying to allude to the magic of the internet and, well, here we are. Hop on some virtual rides and experience the magic fun with these videos.

Is there anything better than waiting 3 hours in line to ride Space Mountain? Yes — waiting zero hours to watch this video, which is the next best thing to the actual ride.

I haven’t been to Disney World since the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area opened, but it seems really cool. Until the parks reopen and you can experience it in person, just turn on a fan and aim it towards your face–then watching this video will be like getting the real Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride experience.

3. Check Out a World-Famous Museum

You may not be able to travel to see art, but thankfully, the art can come to you. From Musée d’Orsay in Paris to Brazil’s Museu de Arte de São Paulo, museums around the world offer virtual tours for you to admire Van Gogh’s paintings or historical artifacts without leaving home. This Travel + Leisure article has an extensive list of offerings, and you can also take virtual tours of the Louvre’s exhibits via the museum’s website — much better than elbowing people out of the way to see the smaller-than-you-anticipated Mona Lisa, anyway.

4. Admire Some Wildlife

Whether you’re in the middle of a city without great access to nature or just need more cute animal faces in your life, live webcams are set up all over the globe to bring Mother Nature to you. Watch elephants drink at a watering hole in South Africa or sea otters splashing around an aquarium in Seattle to bring a little outdoor magic to your home. Explore.org is the go-to source for adorable animal live streams, but many zoos and aquariums have their own set-ups, as well. Below are a few prime examples:

The “Africam” at Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa:

The Below-Water Penguin Cam at Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California:

The Seattle Aquarium’s Sea Otter Cam:

The Wolong Grove Panda Yard Cam, Sichuan, China:

 

5. Tune In To Your Own Personal Concert

Bummed you can’t go see your favorite musician in person? Let’s be real — most of us are taking grainy, jarringly loud cell phone videos of concerts anyway. I’m all about intimate concert venues, and nothing gets more intimate than John Legend’s living room (see below). Lucky for us, a bunch of musicians have decided to turn their downtime into live streams of concerts from their houses.

Here are a few examples, and you can find full lists of upcoming live-on-social-media shows from Variety here and NPR here.

Sofar Sounds just launched their “Listening Room” for live-streamed, up-close-and-personal concerts with up-and-coming artists. Tune in here.

Now is also a great time to catch up on NPR’s fantastic Tiny Desk Concert series. These videos, featuring artists and their accompanying bands of various sizes crowded behind a literal tiny desk at NPR’s D.C. headquarters, are currently my favorite thing to play in the background while I work from home.

Here are a few of my favorites from over the years, from pop and hip hop to rap and singer-songwriters. Please excuse the length of the list; I refused to narrow it down:

For real though, there are too many good ones for me to possibly list them all here, so I’d highly recommend heading over to the full playlist to find your favorites.

Hopefully these videos will help keep you entertained during these strange times; and if you come across any other experiences-from-the-couch I should know about, please drop them in the comments below! Now, excuse me while I go watch some giant pandas for a few hours.

 

Feature photo by Spencer Chu with edits by me 🙂