26 Ways To Armchair Travel

My DNA seems to be encoded with "travel". I have lived a nomadic lifestyle since birth. In addition to being constant travelers, migrants, medicine people, traders, and entrepreneurs, my maternal and paternal ancestors all traveled physically and spiritually to get to know their families and communities.

I’ve inherited this generational pattern even though I was born in a different era. Growing up, I was passed from one home to another and considered an outcast. I have spent most of my life looking for where I belonged in different cities internationally. Little did I know that it has enabled deeper layers of myself to find my soulful and spiritual home by uniting not just knowledge, but also deeper understandings in cultures, histories, and life experiences that I have seen, felt, touched, and learned.

Individuals define "travel" differently. It sounds exciting to some but it can also be overwhelming to others especially when it comes to Autistic, ADHD, and Highly Sensitive families. As a result of recent virus outbreaks, inflation, physical limitations, and society’s lack of understanding on neurodivergent sensory challenges, we have encountered more barriers and obstacles in a variety of areas.

Stepping outside of our comfort zone isn’t easy, especially when different cultures have different primary time horizons, and often this is one of the biggest of challenges in being able to understand each other.

However, as Your Atypical Resource dedicated to take you beyond your medicine cabinet, we can find different ways to remove physical barriers. Thanks to the technology that we have today, we can start by having the desire to learn in our hearts and traveling from our armchairs.

Here're our picks under 3 categories : FUEL, HEAL, and FEEL which might inspire you to tap into the interconnections between all beings. The deeper knowledge of traditional and industrialized cultures, original inhabitants and post-colonial residents, as well as neurodivergents and neurotypicals around the world. By learning about the past evolutions and present results as a whole, you might also be able to find your own roots as slowly lining up the dots of what you see, feel, touch, and learn.

FUEL

(Herbal Medicine and Food Evolution)

• Cooked
  With Michael Pollan, we explore an examination of the primal human need to cook and a clarion call for a return to the kitchen. Each episode focuses on renting natural element and its relationship to both ancient and modern cooking methods. A great call for understanding on how we shifted our focus on food and its impacts on our food culture and quality of health on a global scale.

• How To Change Your Mind
  Michael Pollan not only takes us to explore the history, the uses, and the future potentials of psychedelics, including LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and Mescaline, but also how this history tied back to our ancestors.

• Fantastic Fungi
  Delve into the magical world of fungi with traditional healers and modern medicial experts, from mushrooms that clear oil spills to underground fungal networks that help trees communicate as well as from farm to table/clinic for healing us.

• Street Food (Asia, Latin America, USA)
  When learning and delving deeper into cultures, other than verbal and writtern languages, food is the bridge to unit people together at the table. I would say street food culture is one of the most authentic and long lasting symbol of its culture that has gone through so multiple era in the society. These 3 Street Food series embark on a global cultural journey into street food and discover the stories of the people who create the flavorful dishes through generations.
  Asia : https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80244996
  Latin America : https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81249660
  USA : https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81249665

Heal (External Environment, History, Relationship, Identity, Culture)

• Yolo Journal
  Yolanda Edwards, former creative director of Conde Nast Traveler magazine, founder and editor of luxury travel magazine YOLO Journal, is if anything else an ardent traveller. She teams up with a list of contributors to shows the world with gorgeous photography, authentic and diverse cultures, insightful story telling, and their personal travel tips via print and digital media. This has been one of my top favourite magazines to read while I crave for cultural stimulations. It’s best when paired with a cup of hot coffee, small bites, jazz background music, and a throw on the armchair. If magazine isn’t your thing, it’s worth joining her email list and read her postcards via emails.

• Map Book
  A visual feast for readers of all ages, with lavishly drawn illustrations from the incomparable Mizielinskis from Poland. It features not only borders, cities, rivers, and peaks, but also places of historical and cultural interest, eminent personalities, iconic animals and plants, cultural events, and many more fascinating facts associated with every region of our planet.
  (Official site is in English which is great for us to explore Polish culture when reading their About page, whereas the books in English version are available on Amazon or authorized online bookstore)
  

• 360 Stories
  This interactive online travel experience is an impressive tool for families or individuals who go through physical or financial limitation that prevent them from seeing the world. This site offers affordable fee for local guides showing you places in the world and also allows you to explore on your own for free. The cool thing is it can be paired up with VR and have a total immersing experience.
  

• Google Earth
  Explore the whole world from above with satellite imagery and 3D terrain of the entire globe and 3D buildings in hundreds of cities around the world.

• Abstract : The Art Of Design
  Learn how design impacts every aspect of life through the eyes of global innovative designers in a variety of disciplines.Since I am both a former designer and a visual merchandiser, I am not afraid to talk about how I became a designer. I'm often asked why I changed my career path. The truth is, I have never changed my career path. I'm a tone who does not follow orders. Medical school students learn how to run their practices as businesses first, then how to understand design and branding for their practices. As for me, I'm into philosophy, geography, science, history, economy, medicine, spirituality, design, all sorts of things and choose whatever opportunities come up. How do designers share common ground with nutritionists, herbalists, spiritual mentors? They combine information from all areas and turn it into one thing. I'm sure I'd pick design by now if I had chosen medical school first. Design has always been a huge part of my life. And now that I have a foot in the wellness world, I use my design skills to present nutrition, herbal medicine, and life in the most meaningful way possible. All in all, life really is an art form.

• Google Arts & Culture
  This online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. You can enjoy world’s most wonderful arts under your finger tips.

• Night On Earth
  Traveling in the wild at night isn’t what we often have the opportunity to do due to its unknown danger. This nature series’ new technology lifts night’s veil to reveal the hidden lives of the world’s creatures for the first time in human history, from lions on the hunt to bats on the wing. This incredible docuseries is worth watching with our little pebbles and followed up with its behind the scence - Shot In The Dark.

• Down To Earth
  Actor Zac Efron journeys around the world, from US to UK to Amazon River, with wellness expert Darin Olien in a travel show that explores healthy, sustainable ways to live.

• World’s Most Extraordinary Homes
  Unlike typical American-style home makeover shows.The British pair, an award-winning architect Piers Taylor and actress/property enthusiast Caroline Quentin, travels the world touring beautifully unconventional homes that shows how to blend traditions, cultures, and the living perspectives into modern homes as livable art pieces.

• The Great Pyramid K 2019
  Through the construction of the great pyramids all over the world explained and the new history of humanity revealed, it help us clarity and connect most dots in human intelligence, evolution, and development.

• Indigenous Canada
  A free 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores the different histories and contemporary perspectives of Indigenous peoples living in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores complex experiences Indigenous peoples face today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.

• Journey To The East
  British solo filmmaker George Thompson who documented his anxiety towards life to his own growth during his journey to the East. Journey to the East embarks on an epic philosophical adventure to explore ancient answers to humanity's biggest challenges in modern days. It has also captured and interviewed with authentic healers and masters from the east on life philosophy.

• Taronga Zoo Virtual Lessons
  As spening my teen years and early adulthood living in Sydney Australia, this country definitely has its place in my heart. After becoming a mother, able to fly to Sydney for a visit as a family and showed them Australia was an amazing experience. However, it’s not as easy to fly back down under from up north (as we’re currently located in Canada). Today, Taronga Zoo isn’t only able to preserve its essence but has also expanded to digital place in order to let our little pebbles learn plants and animals in Australia from their own home.

• Autistic Collaboration
  Learning culture means we can’t skip learning neuro-cultures. Nuerodiversity has become a big word in recent years. Unfortunately, the quality of collaboration has been lacking due to missing center culture as a collactive as we all have different regulation and beliefs what neurodiversity really means. Autcollab is a community that welcomes all individuals and groups who fully appreciate the value of neurodiversity. Right now they are building a global center culture, network of collaborative Autistic peers, Autistic organisations, and NeurodiVentures.

• Atypical
  It can be overwhelming when first getting to know what Atypical, Apserger’s, Autism really are all about. Due to its diverse of expressions and not every autistic people express the same way, the person and family often get misunderstood their struggles. Atypical is a heartfelt comedy follows Sam, a teenager on the autism spectrum, who has decided he is ready for romance and independence. This not only shows the journey of Sam’s but also the perspectives and struggles that his family, and friends, as well as how we can build a better bridge between typicals and divergents. (Warning : a box of napkins or tissues is needed)

• ‍Queer Eye Germany
  Gender identity is much more vocal and empowering in recent years. It’s amazing to see a diverse of people make it to the mainstream. If you love the original (US version), these German Fave Five won’t disappoint. Not only they dazzle a nation and transform lives in this makeover series but also shows a different (and better) flavour.‍
  

Feel (Soul, Mind, Spirit)

• My Octopus Teacher
  A South African filmmaker who is in crisis, slowly finds  joy and purpose through immersion in nature and a remarkable relationship with an octopus living in a kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.

• The Nüwa Newsletter
  ‍The Nüwa Newsletter is produced by Oscar Idelji who focuses on the intersection of Buddhism, Taoism, and Western culture. He grew up in London and began practicing Theravada Buddhism in his mid-teens. He encountered Taoism while he was living in China, and he furthered his studies at Oxford University. Having grown up in half of the family with generation of Taoists, I've studied Tao philosophy and the depth of Chinese language, and I've spent half my life in the West. Oscar is one of the few teachers of eastern philosophy who has been able to translate the concepts into both written and oral English in such a comprehensive way. His daily email is worth subscribing.

• Matias De Stefano
  If you’re interested into knowing how the universe is form from latin-based concepts and ideas, Matias, an Argentine cosmic messenger, would be one of the most interesting teacher for this. From the moment of his birth, he remembered everything he did before this incarnation and could understand how the Universe works. This is his mission to educate people by bringing us back to the origin of life. (English and Spanish available)

• Deng Ming Dao
  Deng Ming-Dao is a San Francisco born Chinese-American artist, philosopher, teacher and martial artist. Deng is his family name; Ming-Dao is his given name (Means light, knowledge, and way just like dao). From a young age, he studied Taoist internal arts such as Qigong and Kung-Fu, and has published multiple books and continues teaching others the way of living as a fantastic bridge to connet a diverse culture.

• Baymax!
  Baymax! is an adorable and virtually huggable superhero science fiction comedy streaming television series of short films. These shorts bring up the life situations that shouldn’t have been sheltered from kids, instead, show us how to work with them with pure love, being supportive and inclusive in simple ways. Perfect for kids and adults to add this piece into their family time.

• Noirstone
  Life seems to throw you roadblocks no matter how many times you ask when and what to do?
  It's not that most readings aren’t accurate; it's that you aren't prepared to ask the right questions nor are you given guidance to show you the root causes.
  
  I’m a Nutritionist, Herbalist, and Generational Medium. Besides birthname, Noirstone has been my soul name. It stands for zen, grounding, wisdom, and power. Since 5 years old, I have always helped people with my gifts. Having inherited generational medium and healer gifts from my maternal line; being handed down ancient wisdoms from my paternal lineage; and growing up in multicultural environments. These experiences not only gave me the ability to see things in a multidirectional way, but also enabled my ability to unite them in harmony as one.
  
  I'm here to help you start simple with my professional training in nutrition and herbal medicine along with my generational medium skills and expertise in soul work and emotion healing, so that you can discover the underlying root causes of destructive patterns. Say no more to phsyical, mental, and spiritual bandages and start heal the wounds from learning how to travel through your past, present, and future wellbeings.