When my Bogota-based Spanish conversation partner Paola faced a mechanical issue with her car, she and her family ended up stranded in Villanueva, a small town in northeastern Colombia. Ever the optimist, Paola chose to see this as an opportunity instead of a frustrating setback. She explored, sampled local delicacies, and befriended the workers at her hotel. And when we met for our weekly Skype chat, she gave me a tour from her balcony.

I wanted to see more. Less than a year before I’d visited two continents within the span of six months. Leaving the country—and certainly the city!— had been a regular occurrence. Now, ten months into a raging pandemic with no immediate end in sight, the extent of my travel was Target’s curbside pickup. Seeing unfamiliar landscape, even through a screen, felt like the jolt of inspiration I needed to get through the next stretch.

Energized by Paola’s intrepid sense of adventure, I decided to explore Villanueva (population approx. 4500) on foot using Google Street View. Yes, the same tool that you might have used to check out the block of your AirBnB before arriving on a BeforeTimes trip. In a pandemic, Google Street View isn’t just a preview of your trip—it’s the entire experience.

There’s something all-powerful about grabbing that little orange Google Street View fellow (he even has a name: Pegman) by the scruff of his neck, dangling him above a town, and dropping him wherever you fancy. In a time with so little control over my own life, I was suddenly able to exert complete domination over this little character. And while in my real life I could barely walk a block without panicking about the virus, in this virtual space I moved freely without fear. Even better, I did it while bypassing some of travel’s other nuisances entirely: passport control, baggage claim, jet lag.

I plopped the orange guy into Principal Park, strolled to the Hotel Villados where Paola was staying, and finally meandered to the very end of one of the roads, where Google Street View stops and the sidewalk literally ends. And while we were walking, I realized something. Traveling with Google Street view offers many of the intangible wonders of travel, risk-free.

The chance to connect with friends...
Not in person, of course. But strolling the streets of Villanueva made my connection with Paola stronger because I was able to visualize exactly where she was stranded. Since the “trip” to Villanueva, I’ve used Google Street View to revisit the cobblestone alleys of Toledo Spain, where I studied in college, and to rediscover a whimsical sculpture park near a friend’s home in the outskirts of Boston. “Visiting” their town squares or local pubs provided a sense of connection and familiarity in a time of isolation.

At the end of the road in Villanueva (image Google Street View)

…and with strangers
On Paola’s recommendation, I visited the Heladeria de Nevado paleteria (popsicle) stand, where unexpected flavors included avocado, Viagra (!?), and yuca and bean. As I scrolled through crowd-sourced images of locals posing with their paletas, I remembered for a fleeting moment what it felt like to dine in community (good, I think? It’s been so long. What even are other people?!).

An opportunity to learn something new
Even on the mostly empty streets of Villanueva, there was plenty to learn. I treated the visit the same way I’d approach a trip to any new city: I did some research. Reading up on the region’s foods, I encountered a local culinary delicacy, hormigas culonas: fat-bottomed ants. On one of my strolls I encountered a corner store labeled ferretería that featured faded images of tools on the sign. The word was vaguely familiar. I looked it up and realized I’d never learned the word for “hardware store.”

A sense of endless discovery
300+ days of daily pandemic walks means I’ve all but memorized every block within a four-mile radius of my apartment. I notice every time a neighbor adds or removes holiday decor. I’ve observed the evolution of neighborhood signage as the pandemic progressed: from We’re All In This Together to Support Our Frontline Workers to Black Lives Matter to Biden 2020 to Thank You, Georgia. I could write a newsletter about which books appear in our Little Free Libraries. While that familiarity can be reassuring in a stressful time, it can also be a little… boring.

Villanueva’s expansive skies, clay tile rooftops, and surrounding mountain ranges offered a welcome change from Chicago topography (flat), weather, (bleak, grey) and architecture (blocks of brick three-flats).

The balcony at Hotel Villados (image Google Street View)

No virtual exploration session could ever replace the traveler’s insatiable need to connect, converse—the all-important human element is lacking. Still, it scratched the exploring itch in a time when I am mostly confined to my home. Traveling with Google Street View reminded me that the world is still ours to explore, and it will be waiting for us when it’s safe to do so. Until then, you can find me on the other side of the globe, planning future journeys one screen at a time.

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I spoke about my experience traveling with Google Street View at Karen Ward’s wonderful Curiosity Winter Camp.