Have you ever travelled digitally? Did you ever consider a trip where you won’t even leave your living room?
Me neither until I heard of this concept during an online event within my AIESEC Alumni Europe community! Well, why would I do that? When you remember some weeks before we had quite strict travel restrictions all across the globe and the situation was frustrating to all of us. Luckily, the situation is improving every day, but at that time I wanted to have a surprising and innovative gift (also a small reward for myself 🙂 ) and yes, I wanted to get some new input instead of complaining about the situation.
My first virtual travel went to Moscow and started at the world-famous Red Square. Usually, from what I know, it as a crowded space full of life. You can imagine that I was quite surprised to see this famous place so empty! Maybe the weather conditions were not that inviting, because our guide navigated us through grey and rainy weather. We started at the historical heart of Moscow: the Kremlin and learned that its massive walls were “newly” built by the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti in the 14th century! Of course, we stopped by the famous “Spasski tower” whose bells traditionally welcome the New Year in Russia! Further we went past Lenin’s Mausoleum, but we didn’t enter. It’s the resting place of the Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, whose mortal remains are lying in state there.
Off we went to the famous Saint Basil’s Cathedral that always appeared as if it was decorated with sugar icing. The colours and the architecture looked very impressive even though we just could watch it from our screen! I was even more impressed when I learned that the cathedral was consisting of 9 domes and churches! I would really love to visit this amazing cathedral and learn more about its architecture!
When the rain got too heavy, our guide Anna sought shelter at the nearby GUM to show us the famous and luxurious mall with all its glory. Flashing colours and hallways full of designer brands mixed with Soviet nostalgia created this very special atmosphere of the place and we got it even though we were thousands of kilometres away! Unfortunately, the GUM is famous for its ice cream and every visitor young or old gets themselves some, but not for us! Oh, those lucky people!
We continued with our trip towards the Bolshoi Theatre and learned about the famous ballet and the difficulty to get some tickets as visitors, because this is a cultural highlight for locals and visitors alike!
In the end we had some time for a chat and questions to discover that Moscow even has a vivid coffee culture and lots of modern urban spaces to meet, chat and work.
My conclusion in the very end was that this digital trip was worth a try! Thanks to our dear guide Anna we could learn, interact and see some of the most famous spots in Russia’s capital! Will we ever see the Red Square that empty again? It is comparable to a good movie trailer. You can learn, watch, observe and even chat with locals. But in the very end, you really want to visit a place and we definitely put it on our bucket list!
Digital travel is a nice way to avoid overtourism and to reduce your CO2 footprint and get a glimpse to a different culture, but it is not a substitute for the real deal. In the very end it’s up to you, but I really recommend to try it out!
The cake in the picture was an original recipe from Anna to taste some traditional Russian food: приятного аппетита!
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Conscious Travelista 