Summer holidays

For the past few days it seems like everyone I know or work with is either going or about to go on their summer holiday, either for a week or even five or six. Because I've already had several trips away this year, I have deliberately decided to stay close to home for the next few weeks. And even so, I have a few excursions planned so I'm not exactly house bound. And yet, I can't help feeling twinges of envy every time I hear of others plans - isn't that awful? So think how pleased I was to read in the August edition of 'Prospect' magazine (yes, you guessed, the 'summer holiday' issue - grrr!) that "thanks to Google, you no longer need to jet abroad". According to the author, Joy Lo Dico, Google Maps can take you on a virtual holiday without the hassle of actual, real life travelling. So far I've checked out just a couple of the tours of Paris and New York, dragging the little orange avatar man as instructed. I reckon my Google skills need more practice as my tours seem a bit dis-jointed but I'm nonetheless sufficiently inspired by some lovely views and especially the 'user photos' to want to re-visit already. Let alone a quick browse through some of the destinations I haven't been to yet to want to add them to my list. So thank you, Joy - just when I thought I'd happily stashed my case away, I'm now itching to get back to the airport !