For many of us, leisure travel is a luxury. Even hopping on a bus to go a short distance can put a dent in the wallet. For the “staycation” traveler who wants to visit far-flung places from the comforts of an armchair, an aggregator called Travel By Drone (h/t Jaunted) lets you do just that. As its name suggests, it pulls videos from YouTube and Vimeo that were captured by camera drones. The videos, all curated by the Travel By Drone team, showcase various locales from all over the world, whether it’s exotic places like Angkor Wat, remote spots like Antarctica, or busy areas like New York’s Times Square.
When you open the website, you’re presented with a world (Google) map that’s dotted with pins that indicate where the videos were shot. Besides armchair travelers, Travel By Drone is great for anyone researching a destination for their next vacation, or for those wishing to see intriguing places they know they’ll never physically visit. There’s a search bar that lets you find a specific destination, or you can view by “latest videos” or “editors choice.”
Related: Interactive “no fly” map shows where you can safely operate a camera drone
Users can also submit their videos for consideration (the videos will need to be hosted elsewhere, like YouTube). Travel By Drone reviews all videos to ensure they aren’t commercial or promotional, and were shot with recreational drones. Once videos are validated, they’ll be added to the map. Some of these videos show the drones getting really close to landmarks, which makes for a very breathtaking video; we’re surprised that some of these drones were able to get as close as they did.
So, just what kind of videos will you find? Check out some below. Some of these videos are so amazing to watch, they may just inspire you to leave the house.
