My inner geek/wanderessseems to be torn. I remember watching the Star Trek tv series growing up wherethey had holodecks. This was a room on the U.S.S. Enterprise where you could re-create any environment you could imagine. I remember thinking how amazing that would be if it were real. Think of all the places I could explore withoutever leaving my house. Oh, the possibilities were endless!

When virtual reality first became a real thing, it wasn’t nearly as impressive oraccessible as it is now. Today, I’m typing this while my son is in the otherroom battling a droid with a lightsaber… (and yes that VR game is totally awesome) There have been some significantadvancements in the virtual reality world over the last decade, and today I found yet another one.

I’ve been researching going to the worlds largest cave for about a year now and sat down last night to start planning the trip. Today I’m thumbing through Twitter and find an article from National Geographic that says you can now take a tour of the cavevia virtual reality! First reaction? Holy sh*t that’s awesome! :: gets fangirlstyle excited:: and then I thought of the things I’d miss if I see it like thatinstead of in person, and my heart sank a little.

For a minute I was sad. Sad that this may cause people to become even lazier in today’s virtualworld by choosing the couch over getting out and exploring a new place. I mean-who would want to spend money on travel when they can be sitting comfortably athome in VR land?

When you don’t physically travel to a place, you rob yourself of so many things. Seeing a place, standing on that cliff in a foreign land for the first time and looking at an entirely new ocean. The feelings that rush through your body; amazement that you’re actually standing there witnessing this all with your own eyes. Thankful for the people you meet along the way that you would’ve never met had you not gone there. The smell of the ocean air that’s unique to any other ocean you’ve ever smelled. The excitement of being in a totally new place where you may or may not speak the language. All of these things make up some of the most important aspects of traveling. And I don’t think a computer program, no matter how good,can replace those experiences.

On the other hand, I think this is an amazing experience for people that cannot physically travel. A way to see the world when they otherwise may not be able to.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I give total props to NationalGeographic and the crew that it took to get this up and running, and I will be taking this tour- right after I get back from seeing the real thing. It sounds fantastic,but I wouldn’t want any spoilers.

As far as VR has come; it will never replace seeing a place in real life. At least for now- maybe if ever. But, man is it still cool!

Happy Wandering!