The Problem:
We never see enough of the world. We never have enough perspective. Traveling the world is time-consuming and expensive. We forget how huge life is.
The Business
Live world tours all via live cams and webinars. Virtual travel.
Imagine this:
You need to check out after lunch. You decide, on a whim, you need to see the world and relax. You sign-up for the around the world tour leaving at 1pm. It leaves from your screen at 1 and returns to your screen at 2.
You sit back. First, there is a live cam inside a plane, sponsored by Delta. You’re flying to Paris. Once you arrive, which you do in 15 seconds, you see the Eiffel tower live. Then you see the view from the Eiffel tower looking down below. Live. Then you see the Arc de Triomphe. Live. All the while, someone who knows Paris well is speaking to you.
Then you jump on a plane and head to an African Safari. You watch Zebras. Live. A zoologist tells you about their migration habits and where they are, at this very second, in that process. You’ve been to three continents and you’ve been gone just 8 minutes. Next you fly down to Johannesburg.
Then you go have dinner in Dubai, see the nightlife in Shanghai, make a quick stop in Toyko, see the sunrise in Kauai, watch bears catching Salmon in Alaska, see San Francisco’s market street at breakfast, and see the grain traders in Chicago. All live. All as it’s happening. And an expert on the locale is there to say a few words.
You’re back at 2pm. You can tell your assistant he can now put calls through. You feel refreshed. You feel small. (Which, dear friend, is how you were meant to feel in this enormous world.)
Now imagine it all cost under $50 and you went with four thousand other people including inner city school kids who have never physically left their own state.
Doableness
Massive investment, though perhaps not quite as massive as it may seem at first. $10M has you up and running.
While you are building it, make it a platform. Allow anyone with a cam and a few word to give their tour too.
My Thoughts
This is me putting a few ideas together. Live cams everywhere was an idea from my wife so she never had to wait in a Starbucks line again. I love that idea. Peaceful places came out of some meditation I did next to the small river in Sedona earlier this year.
And then, this morning, via a tweet from Chris Sacca, I saw Brown Bears catching salmon in Alaska. It literally moved me to tears.
Someone please build this!