Mar 19, 2008 1:42 pm US/Eastern
Save Money By Taking A Virtual Vacation
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
After this long snowy winter, who wouldn't relish the thought of soaking up the sun on a remote beach? But with the shaky economy it's tough for many of us to come up with the cash to fly south.
Paul Smith loves to travel, but his pile of bills and shortage of vacation days keep him from being able to get away as often as he'd like. "If I could go anywhere, unlimited time, unlimited resources, I would probably go everywhere," he said.
But without the time or the money, Paul found the next best thing; a "Virtual Vacation." He logs onto Web sites that have live pictures from all over the world. His favorite sites are
Earthcam.com and
USWebCameras.com. Paul says he likes the live cameras that have some action. "Yellowstone, Old Faithful, you're actually looking at something happening," he said.
Psychologist Dr. Jack Singer says these webcams can be real stress relievers. "Sometimes people need an escape from the reality of their lives," he said.
There's no packing or planning and no lines at the airport. Just point and click and you can visit anywhere in the world. Dr. Singer says people who use these sites are actually getting some of the same benefits of a real vacation. "They're calming down all of their senses, calming down their heart rate and lowering their blood pressure," he explained.
Paul admits it's not nearly as good as the real thing, but he still enjoys his virtual getaways. "It offers a very limited scope of escape, but there is one," he said.
Dr. Singer says it's good to plan these short virtual vacations during the work day. But he warns; don't daydream your way out of a job.
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