As a new iPad user, I was playing around with my new toy one day loading apps, reading magazines, listening to my music, and checking my email. After working on a computer during the day, I am often reluctant to spend more time in front of a screen…but for some reason my iPad seems different. And with my Google Earth app, I have discovered an incredible mode of travel…literally while sitting in my own backyard!
That day, I travelled to the Himalayas, exploring Mount Everest and K2 then floated down the Ganges as it twists and turns through India. Then I flew to the Sahara desert and travelled miles and miles through sand dunes that look like tan waves. I also discovered that some of the tallest sand dunes in the world are in Namibia, Africa – my app allowed me to fly above and around them! Check out this amazing view from http://www.spaceref.com:
I then flew to a tiny group of islands in the south Pacific called TONGA – literally specks in the ocean until I zoomed in to find towns and settlements and life.
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga)
Don’t we all sometimes think our “own world” – that which is our immediate, daily perception of reality – is the centre of the universe? We think/feel/behave as if what goes on in our own backyard is THE most important, THE most relevant, THE most significant. Yet our backyards are even tinier specks of the whole BIG picture. From my Google Earth perspective, I realized there is another person among the tiny islands of Tonga, who lives, loves, laughs, cries, and survives…just like me. We are not so different at all. I never imagined how this app could make me feel so CONNECTED, and give me a deeper appreciation of our existence. And it reminds me to not take the everyday “stuff/crap/sh*#” so seriously as if it is the ONLY thing going on in the world. I guess my backyard is not just my fenced-in lot after all…
So I am happy to fly away, around the world, visiting remote areas that I might never go to EVER (i.e. the Mariana trench – way to go to James Cameron for really going there!). During my travels, I will say hello to my fellow beings and wish them peace. Come with me!!
Yoga In My Backyard 
LS is Socially Engaged said,
June 9, 2013 at 7:35 am
Great Post Anne. So true we are all connected more than we think sometimes. And these days especially with Social Media I see it more and more – so many people living life and doing things we can all relate to in our own ways. Great idea about Google Earth travel – I am going to use it on my ipad to teach my kids about some very cool places. Thanks.
Suzanne said,
June 11, 2013 at 7:07 am
How true that we often believe our little world is the centre of the universe but there is so much more out there. It is so much fun to travel to different places. I have always wanted to see the pyramids so I took a trip there today. Thanks.