Virtual Field Trips- Get Ready with Google Expeditions

So you are stuck at home and have cabin fever. Or maybe you are stuck at home with the kids and you have to home school them, but you are feeling like you are out of your ever loving mind. Well, don’t worry. I got you.

https://support.google.com/edu/expeditions/answer/6335093?hl=en

All you need is the Google Expeditions app. This is a useful tool that you can use to help with your social studies teaching skills for all of you brand new home school teachers. You are not that tech savvy, you say, well again, no worries because they have a class for that built right into the app. I am not here to give you a tutorial on it, but I am here to let you know this tool exists.

And you know what Google Expeditions can also be used for… your next vacation planner. Yes, that’s right. You want to travel the world, well here is your virtual ticket.

My next international trip was going to be Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That may be up in the air right now, but I feel like I still went. I used this app to see the sights, such as the Christ the Redeemer statue. Yes, the view from atop was amazing. Copacabana and the rest of the beaches are out of this world. I virtually had a blast. My field trip makes me feel like I was there, with a little bit of imagination, of course.

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Google Expedition is educational and fun. The app poses educational questions. It allows you to see the sights as shown here such as the view from atop Christ the Redeemer Corcovado Mountain and an aerial view Copacabana Beach.

So go ahead and download the Google Expeditions app. Then you can Dream it and then Do it (virtually, of course).

Traveling During a Pandemic?

Paradise

If you are like me, you have been looking at these travel deals in the sky and on the seas and making some imaginary plans. I have never seen deals like these! It has me dreaming about going on vacation, for cheap, to places like New Orleans, Florida, Jamaica, California, and on and on. I even contemplated using my miles to bring several of my family members with me to a certain destination because I would use so little of them due to the low cost. Leaving the Buffalo area, you can find flights to Hawaii for less than $500. New Orleans was less than $130. Are you kidding me, where do I sign up?!?!?

But I know better. I will pay the price in a different way. You know, that Q word. Quarantine. Yes, with the COVID-19 Pandemic, I can’t afford to catch “dat Rona”, or Coronavirus as it is actually called. I can’t even allow myself to be in quarantine for 14 days as a result of a cheap ticket to paradise. And have you seen the chaos of folks entering the country due to the travel ban? Yeah, that can never be me.

I think we all need to be careful and consider the consequences to the community. I am quite confident I can make it through a case of coronavirus, but would going somewhere be a responsible choice for me? What if I transferred it to someone whose immune system couldn’t handle it? That wouldn’t be fair.

So in this time, I choose to stay home and dream. I suggest you do too. Imagine surviving this pandemic, which we will, and then going back to our lives pre- pandemic. If this pandemic teaches us anything other than healthy behaviors, it should teach us to live our lives out loud. If travel is what you dream of, then do the research. Where do you want to go? Use google flights to help you track the cost of a normally priced flight? Research lodging and costs, along with the touristy sights of the area. Put your budget together and put aside a certain amount of money each month. If it takes a year, or even 2, then so what! A year or two will pass anyway, and hopefully by the end of that time yours won’t be a dream deferred.

Where in the world is …???

Remember to dream it, plan it, and then do it. Leave a comment about your dream destination and when you dream of going.

My First Blog Post

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting started, so stay tuned for more. Future posts will discuss everything travel related from vacation hot spots, my travels, travel related products, solo travel, and more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

A Solo Journey

Cape Town, South Africa

My last vacation included a journey around the world. My final destination was Cape Town, South Africa, by way of London, England and Toronto, Canada. This girl knows how to get around and travel on a budget. Oh yes, I did that! And solo, to boot. Stay tuned to my blog to see where I have been, but most importantly where I am going.

All About Me

What a cheesy title, right? Well as an elementary school principal, this is an assignment I see teachers give kids all the time. Yes, I am a school principal by trade, and I love it. I love working with kids and exposing them to new information. Information that can change their world, just as traveling has changed mine.

Traveling makes me feel like a kid again. I have visited historic sites that I learned about in school. I’ve gone to places I had only seen on TV, or read about in books. I went to places I never dreamed I would go. And guess what, I am not done yet!

Traveling has allowed me to discover things about myself that I never knew was there. Throughout my life I never had a passion for much, other than dogs (I just love them). I finally found a passion for something I never knew existed. Eventually solo travel became a part of my experience and I learned that I was brave. And strong. And Courageous. These were traits I never really attributed to myself. But yes, I was all of those things to even consider traveling across the world, let alone actually going AND enjoying it.

Let me tell you, I love every bit of my experiences when I travel. I have been able to see the same sun and moon across several continents. Yeah, I know there’s only one moon and sun, but traveling has given me the opportunity to appreciate the magnitude of this world. I have been able to reflect on God’s goodness and the beauty that only He could create. It still amazes me that I have been blessed by Him to see parts of the world that I never dreamed of seeing.

My experience as a traveler has taught me so much and I’m open to learning new things each time. This is why I named my blog The Principaled Traveler. It is a play on the words principle and principal. I have three principles that I stand on when traveling: Dream it, Do it, and Have fun. Believe me, your fears and the fears of others can stop you from even dreaming. So dream it, and then go ahead and do it. That is something I have learned to stand on.

My goal is to educate others and motivate them to see the world even if it means traveling as a solo or solo female traveler. Sharing my trips with others has brought them joy, and I hope will lead others to see that with the right planning, anything can happen.

Welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy where this principal goes and I can’t wait to take you there with me.