“Roam if you want to
Roam around the world
Roam if you want to
Without wings without wheels”
– B52s from the song “Roam”
The year was 1989. The B52s released the album Cosmic Thing with their hit single “Roam.” I finished high school and began basic training in the U.S. Army. The military would be my ticket to traveling the world. Not many other places outside of the American military would give you such an opportunity. I wanted to go to Europe and Asia. Not until 1996, as a member of the United States Air Force, did I travel to Germany and in 1998 to Japan. In both cases, I was only there for two weeks which I felt was not enough time.
Fast forward to today. I am no longer enlisted in the Army or Air Force. I still wish to travel the world. I would love to roam across Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. However, I cannot go to any of these places when i feel like it. I do know that I can at least get a glimpse of what is going on there any time of day thanks to webcams and the internet. Earth Cam and Go And Roam are two websites providing access to thousands of webcams all over the world. I don’t even have to step outside of my apartment to know what’s happening on the other side of the planet. It’s now the afternoon of January 30th, 2011 in Layton, Utah. Let us see what’s happening in other parts of the world.
Right now it’s early in the morning in Adelaide, South Australia. I am visiting Rundle Mall. It’s an outdoor mall in downtown Adelaide. The objects that get a lot of attention are the mirror balls stacked on top of each other.
It appears that the shoppers have yet to arrive. I am willing to bet the truck is delivering merchandise to one of the shops in the mall. Look carefully in the mirrors and there appears to be a delivery truck. When I go to Adelaide I will shop at the Rundle Mall and have my picture taken in front of the mirror.
We’ll move a couple or more time zones east and see what’s happening in New Zealand. It’s Monday morning there in their biggest city, Auckland. What are they doing on this fine summer morning?
It looks as though some are having fun sailing in the open water around the city. The weather report says it’s currently 68F/20F. It certainly looks very nice there at midday.
Continuing our journey east we’ll come to the United States and visit the beautiful state of Hawaii. My wife, Sherry, has been there and tells me all the time I need to go. For now I will settle for viewing the Hawaiian islands via webcam.
81F/27C and here I am in Utah enjoying the cold winter weather. If I were on that beach, I would get a bad case of sunburn. I don’t see too many people on the beach. Maybe everyone is at the NFL Pro Bowl in Honolulu watching their favorite football players play.
I’m ready to come back to the mainland United States. There is one place where anyone can go and do whatever they want. As they say in Las Vegas, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Good words.
It appears that there isn’t too much traffic by Las Vegas standards. It is Sunday afternoon there. I wonder what the traffic will be like on a Friday or Saturday night.
From Sin City to the Windy City we go.
We see clearly it is after sunset in Chicago, Illinois. This is a view of the city from the Sears Tower. Currently the Sears tower is the tallest building in the United States and 7th tallest in the world. The Sears Tower was completed in 1974 and has 108 floors. Wow!
The Sears Tower is the tallest building in the United States; however it is not the tallest building in North America. From Chicago to Toronto Ontario we go. This picture below was taken earlier than the picture in Chicago.
With a little sunlight left, The CN Tower can be seen in the background. It located in downtown Toronto and close to the shores of Lake Ontario. It is currently the 3rd largest free standing building in the world at over 1800 feet (553 meters) in height. Toronto is home to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the place where my favorite band, Rush, formed.
I think this is a good place to end. I would like to show what is happening in Europe at this time if the sun were shining there. I will have to look at another time (preferably in the early morning where I reside). It’s easy to get a glimpse of what is happening in the world without leaving the comforts of home. Viewing other places via webcams will never replace the experience of being there and interacting with the people that reside there.
If you would like to check out other parts of our planet, you can go to the following websites:
Take a look for yourself. Take a virtual vacation.
Helpermonkeytim's Blog 
Hey Tim, That was great well done ,I am very impressed.
Jenny