We are still working extremely hard on postponements and cancellations as we inch closer to the summer, but we have managed to take some time to breathe and find our own inspiration to keep plugging away with this business that we adore.
I personally discovered Earthview by Google this week, an amazing resource for aerial photos of this beautiful planet, and luckily, with due credit, I am able to share them with you below. Both Google Earth Pro and the Images version are well worth investigating for children and adults alike with any interest in photography, geography and this earth.
J5Travel is also introducing a 3-times-a-week video series called "Where Are We" that will begin on Monday. It will be formatted as a quiz, and will feature a different country every episode. We hope it will appeal to children and adults alike, and it might be an idea to keep score in your family to discover who is the top travel aficionado among you. With 195 countries to choose from I dearly hope I don't have to produce quite that many videos before we have some form of normality return to our lives
We will be publishing it on our Facebook page HERE, so please go like that if you haven't already, and we also have a YouTube channel, which we've kept very quiet about until now. If you want a sneak peek at Mondays pilot, check it out and please subscribe for notification of all the upcoming videos HERE.
My Top 5 Aerial Shots
1. Lanzhou Shi, China (above)
Not exactly a tourist destination, but the narrow strips of green crops growing on otherwise barren hillsides is a striking image. Lanzhou is the capital city of northwest China's Gansu province and if you do make it there then the Waterwheel Expo Garden and Yellow River Mother Sculpture, on the south bank of the Yellow River are likely to be your highlights.
2. Paris, France
We should have been arriving back from Paris just this week, and we have eaten a lot of cheese in the last 10 days to make up for not going. Maybe a little too much red wine has also been consumed. As good as this shot from the air is, there is nothing quite like walking the streets of Paris, especially in the Spring. The space is saved in our calendar for 2021.
3. Boranup, Australia (above)
Boranup is located about 200 miles south of Perth in the South West corner of Australia.
It's the site of a huge coastal dune blow out known as the "Boranup sand patch" which is a part of Boranup beach. But the nearby Boranup Forest is also worth the visit, containing many limestone karst caves, such as Nannup Cave and Dingo Cave. The Cape to Cape Walk Track is the longest signed trail in the nation at nearly 100 miles with it's mid-point near Boranup, and it's a stunning hike with coastal scenery, sheltered forests and similar pristine beaches, all the while in close proximity to the caves and some vineyards.
4. Antarctica
For all the horrendous press that cruise lines have received over the last few months, it is worth noting that they are held to a significantly higher health standard than any other part of the travel industry. They have to report everything, and that is partly the reason for the high proportion of cases we've seen on a few of these ships. I am sure when we reach the other side of this, the cruise lines will still be there, and they will have learned some serious lessons which we will all be able to benefit from. With that said, a cruise is still going to be the only way to experience the last frontier of travel, Antarctica. Luxury explorer ships are still online for deployment for the coming years, and with the short window each year for sailings (between December and late February), demand will still likely outstrip supply.
5. Wangerland, Germany (above)
Well it's not a warm weather beach destination, but Wangerland, in the district of Friesland, Lower Saxony, on the North Sea coast, and approximately 12 miles northwest of Wilhelmshaven, is spectacular and a popular summer getaway for Germans. Spiekeroog and Wangerooge are even more delightful, tranquil islands just off the coast here. Holiday homes here provide a quiet, wild experience, especially in the Spring and Fall.
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