A view from a window off of Lake Geneva, Switzerland from WindowSwap. This one comes with music.
Created by Sonali Ranjit and Vaishnav Balasubramaniam, a wife and husband team in Singapore, WindowSwap is one of those silver linings that have come out of the coronavirus pandemic. Inspired by the need to combat COVID-19 cabin fever, the site features views from windows around the world. It’s a site for would-be travelers, for shut-ins, for the curious of all ages and types.
Without knowing it, Sonali spoke for many in the ME/CFS/FM community when she said:
“Let’s face it, it’s going to be a while before we travel again and wake up to a new view outside our windows,”
People submit 10 minute videos from their windows across the world to the site. Back in July, the site had 60 videos. As of October 2nd, it had a library of over 6,000. Ranjit and Balasubramaniam select 130 videos from around the world to get uploaded to the site. The views are refreshed regularly.
Pets wander in and out, birds chirp, people pass by. Check out places you would never be able to go even if you were healthy. I recently visited the blue skies and skyscrapers of Vancouver, a very lush Amsterdam, an oceanfront setting in Alexandria, Egypt, a view of Lake Geneva – each was different, each in its own way a little surprising. I look forward to seeing how the views change during the seasons.
You can scroll through them or you can keep especially enticing views rolling and rolling. CBC news reported that one of the co-founders, Balasubramaniam, did just that with one of his favorite views.
“Mine was this gorgeous view in Italy, which had this very hypnotizing wind chime, which just kept revolving all the time. And the view was to die for. But I could just look at that for hours. And there was this really soothing kind of classical music playing in the background. That was definitely one of my windows I was drawn to.”
No app is required. No need to join anything – it’s simply a website. You go to the website and then click on: “Open a new window somewhere in the world”.
Check out WindowSwap here.
Health Rising is not affiliated with WindowSwap in any way.
My view in Wellington New Zealand is nice but I’ve looked at if for 8 long years. So boring now, prior to that my ME wasn’t so bad so could see more.
I had a tree I saw that I called “The tree of hope” that grew above the nearby forest, but then a wind snapped the main trunk off. lol it did use another branch to grow back strong though.
Anyway I bought a caravan and rented my bedroom in my house. So with my caravan “I can take my bedroom to the World”.
It still takes a little energy to do that, like a paced out hour each day for a few days before I’m ready to go.
One handy thing about a caravan is having the toilet, shower and kitchen so close so little physical energy used.
Negatives is you have to have a dehumidifier run every few days as a caravan can condensate and can get mouldy fast.
You need to keep them heated in the winter. And cooled in the summer. Living ‘off grid’ limits the ability to cool them as need power to do that.
You have to have a place close by to dump waste water once every 2-3 days
Most caravans (especially UK caravans) aren’t designed to be lived in permanently. Things break faster than in a house. Repair services are expensive. So you need to now how to fix them yourself.
And be aware UK caravan parts are horrendously expensive!!! Get insurance!!
Buy a caravan with working ‘motor-movers’ that you can use the remote control to slowly drive the caravan into position for hitching onto a car.
Your car must be legally able to tow a weight more than your caravan.
But if you aren’t 100% bedridden it’s doable. I spend 21 to 24 hours lying horizontal. But with pacing I can take my bedroom to other places to appreciate a change of scenery.
And less lonely than stuck at home
That’s good for the soul
Wow. Good for you Brendan….Got any pictures? I’ve been on the road in my van and two dogs for awhile but I think I have it easier in the US! I know of two other people who are doing this – one in an RV and one in a van.
I enjoy windows on the world incredibly.
Thanks for sharing Cort. I shared with a friend in Minnesota, USA. Her daughter lives in Ireland and has FM. A great break from what feels like living a version of the movie entitled, “Groundhog Day.”
Beautiful! I enjoy seeing the world from a new view.
I have spent the last 20 minutes slowly visiting Iran, Russia, and a gorgeous beach in Scotland. WindowSwap is fun to use. Thank you for sharing this wonderful website!
This was great! Thank you for letting us know about this site!
Ha, I walk the streets of NYC everyday. There are tons of them on youtube. Doesn’t do much for my CFS though. But its fun to watch and reminisce when I was there last Nov and walked 20k steps every other day for 2 weeks.