Way back in 2021 — ten years ago, back when the world was still struggling to deal with COVID-19, and before the arrival of COVID-23, COVID-27 and COVID-29 — I ran across an article published by the World Economic Forum, that discussed “virtual tourism” as a future possibility. From that article by Anu Pillai, titled “How virtual tourism can rebuild travel for a post-pandemic world”:
Imagine a human-centric designed, interactive space online that makes a destination accessible and so real for a sightseer, with sound captured by electro-acoustics researchers. You could view holiday sites in a video or through self-navigation using voice or joystick controls, interact with people using video-calling platforms, travel through the streets of said location, eavesdrop on local music and much more. This could be stitched together in a single platform individually or in silos on the internet and further enhanced by setting up physical experience tourism centers locally.
Such a setup would allow tourist guides, artisans, craftspeople, hoteliers and transport business to create their own digital and virtual offerings and interact with possible customers.
Mr. Pillai was a bit ahead of his time, but obviously prescient. Now, in the year 2031, virtual tourism has totally taken off, and the Virtual Realty headsets have come way down in price. (I picked up this DESTEK outfit on Amazon to $40.)
For my first experience with virtual tourism, I decided to visit a quaint little ghost town in Colorado — once a thriving tourist destination, but now little more than a scattering of vacant buildings set against a beautiful Rocky Mountain backdrop, with a crystal clear mountain stream running through.
Pagosa Springs.
The highlight of the virtual visit was most definitely the hot-air balloon ride. Pagosa Springs seems to be a popular choice for virtual balloon rides, because my own balloon — expertly handled by a virtual balloon pilot named “Chuck” — was one of about two dozen of the colorful airships floating through the clear blue Colorado sky on the morning of my visit. (I didn’t catch Chuck’s last name, although I’m not completely sure whether virtual balloon pilots even have ‘last names’.)
As we floated lazily over the ghost town, Chuck pointed out some significant landmarks. The Walmart store with its vacant 10-acre parking lot; the overgrown golf course, dotted here and there with deer and elk grazing on the putting greens; the world’s deepest geothermal hot spring (reportedly) bubbling up from a fathomless depth at 145º Fahrenheit — a temperature high enough to kill every known coronavirus!
Chuck had apparently grown up in Pagosa (virtually?) because he said he remembered when the signal light at Eighth Street used to back up traffic, all the way to the very top of Putt Hill. The town had been absolutely bustling and vibrant back in those days, with over 14,000 full-time residents and thousands of seasonal visitors… actually walking on the sidewalks, shopping in the stores, and even buying legalized marijuana.
At the mention of marijuana — I had tried it once in college, but had not inhaled — I asked Chuck if he happened to have some bud, and much to my surprise, he pulled out a virtual prescription bottle and popped a nugget into a glass pipe, fired it up, and passed it over to me. Even though the resulting high was only virtual, it made me wish I had inhaled back in college. I suppose there’s nothing quite like getting “eight miles high” while being “8,000 feet high”.
All too soon, the balloon flight was over, and we dropped down gently into the vacant City Market parking lot, where some virtual Girl Scouts were holding a bake sale. I had just enough time to buy a plate of brownies (sorry, folks: they were just plain brownies) before the clock ran out on my virtual trip to Pagosa, and I found myself back in my house, holding my VR headset in my hands, and smiling.
I’m pretty certain I will purchase another trip to Pagosa soon. Those were the best virtual brownies I’d ever eaten.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.