I live in the Northeast, and I hate January!
I know it’s “almost” February, but I’m not a huge fan of that either.
This is the view outside my window right now.
There’s more winter left than I can take, no matter what the ground hog says.
Look at my weekend forecast from yesterday.
What the heck is freezing spray advisory anyway? I had to look it up on Wikipedia.
Freezing Spray Advisory is issued by the National Weather Service to warn sea vessels and sometimes road vehicles near the shoreline that accumulation of freezing water droplets and icing due to a combination of cold suspended droplets, wind, and cold air, so vessel movement is possible, however, accumulations are not expected to reach rates of 2 cm per hour, or else a heavy freezing spray watch, warning or a specific notice would be issued. — Wikipedia
Lovely.
I guess I should be grateful that it’s not a heavy freezing spray warning, right?
Somehow I just can’t muster that gratitude.
Being the beach person that I am, it’s at times like this that I do what I’ve dubbed “beachscrolling” — it’s a bit like doomscrolling, but far less depressing.
For example, my walk between King’s Beach and Nahant Beach looks like this.
So my therapy is visiting this 360° image that I took years ago.
When I go to Revere Beach, this is what it looks like at Wonderland MBTA Station.
Here’s a view from down at the South end of Revere Beach.
So I get a bit of joy out of re-visiting this 360° image that I took one summer.
Finally, sometimes I get bored with my own still pictures of local beaches. That’s when I start beachscrolling on YouTube looking for other people’s 360° videos of beaches that I loved visiting in the past. This is probably more aptly dubbed “beachstrolling.”
Here’s a 360° video by Ryan Kawailani Ozawa or beachstrolling on Waikiki Beach.
Note: This is a 360° video — press and hold to explore it!
Ryan Kawailani Ozawa (YouTube Channel)
Last week I got a little carried away, though.
I decided it would be more visceral to have a 3D interface for beachstrolling.
Here’s an imaginary hut that I hacked together on Waikiki Beach.
Just click the doorway to take a beachstroll.
If you can’t see it, or it isn’t working, you can also see it directly on Kuula.
Now that’s a nice break from January in New England!
One problem, though.
I really love to beachstroll on Miami’s South Beach, too.
Here’s a 360° video that I found on YouTube for doing that.
Note: This is a 360° video — press and hold to explore it!
There’s just one door in my tiny beach hut.
What to do?
Create a beach shack with more doors, of course — click and enjoy!
If you can’t see it, or it isn’t working, you can also see it directly on Kuula.
I was pretty happy with my new digs for a few days.
Then I happened to be updating all of the country pages on Cosma, and I came across a bevy of 360° YouTube videos showing awesome beaches in Australia. Here are a few of them.
Sydney Bondi Beach (SouthernCross VR, YouTube 360° Video)
Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia (Tourism Australia, YouTube 360° Video
Bells Beach Drone Interactive Flight. (Spin 360-3D, YouTube 360° Video)
That little beach shack of mine got an(other) upgrade!
Welcome to my Enchanted Beach House!
If you can’t see it, or it isn’t working, you can also see it directly on Kuula.
If you get bored with my setlist and want to go somewhere else, here’s how.
Start by picking a beach. It can be one you’ve been to yourself, or any other one.
You can find plenty of great U.S. beaches on Stephen Leatherman’s Dr. Beach website. If you’re feeling more adventuresome, then you can take your pick from the best beaches in the world using CNN Travel’s Worlds Best Beaches website. They have an Interactive Map to help you find a great beach for “beachstrolling.”
Once you know where you want to go, then go to YouTube and put in the name of the beach + 360°. Voilà, you will have plenty of gist for beachstrolling.
So a few things happened during my adventures in beachstrolling this week.
One of those things is that I got inspired to add a new category of links called “Fun in the Sun” to the country pages on Cosma.
In addition, I was listening to the radio and happened to hear these lyrics to the song A Million Dreams from the musical The Greatest Showman.
There’s a house we can build
Every room inside is filled
With things from far away
The special things I compile
Each one there to make you smile
On a rainy day
— Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Now that was food for thought, and look what happened …
Welcome to Wanderlust Magic Travel Villa!!!
If you can’t see it, or it isn’t working, you can also see it directly on Kuula.
Happy beachstrolling … and other travels around the World!
Americas Canada, U.S., Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina
Europe U.K., Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece
Africa Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, South Africa, Madagascar
Asia India, China, Japan
Oceania Australia, New Zealand
Polar Regions Arctic, Antarctica