Okay, I have to share this.
Google Earth has just released a flight simulator. Free, no download, right in your browser. You go to earth.google.com, click Explore Earth, then Tools, then Flight Simulator – and suddenly you're in a plane over any place on Earth. If you change the basemap from Map to Satellite, you're flying over real images, real terrain, real houses.
The funny thing: the feature has actually been around since 2007. Hidden like an Easter egg in the desktop version, which no one knew about. Now Google has just… highlighted it. And made it global, for everyone, on the web.
Why now? The official answer is that Google is moving its ”professional” desktop features to the web – elevation profiles, new import formats, and now this. Pure accessibility, they say. And I mostly buy that. But I admit to wondering a little. More time in Google Earth = more time in a Google ecosystem, more data about where we ”travel”, more reason to open their products instead of someone else’s. No hidden conspiracy, just… a company that knows that play makes us stay. Worth keeping in mind, not fearing.
And if you're wondering what all the numbers in the picture mean when you're flying: on the left you see your speed in knots, on the right your altitude in feet. The big arc in the middle is your horizon - if you tilt the plane, the numbers 5, 10, etc. show the angle to the ground or sky. At the top you have your compass heading, and at the bottom left a small map that shows exactly where you are. Shortcut if you want to go straight in without menus: Ctrl+Alt+A on Windows, Cmd+Opt+A on Mac, while Google Earth is open.
What can you do with it? Fly over the Grand Canyon. Over the pyramids. Over the Norwegian fjords. Over your own house, if you dare. It's not realistic flight training - the physics are simplified, only two planes to choose from, no multiplayer. But it's a damn good coffee break. Five minutes, no app, just open a tab and fly away from your desktop without leaving it.
There are also practical benefits, actually. Parents with children who are curious about flying. Teachers who want to make geography come alive. And – I have to say it – people who are planning a trip and want to see the terrain before they go. I immediately thought: imagine flying over Onsala and Kungsbacka before I decide on the house. Not the same as standing there. But a first impression, for free, from the sofa.
To those of you in the Amaelle Circle: this is exactly the kind of thing I mean by flow on Fridays. Not productivity, not must-do. Just curiosity, play, a way to travel without traveling. Try it for five minutes today. Fly somewhere you long to go, or somewhere you never thought of.
Where would you fly first, if you only had five minutes in the air?
A kiss from me,
Mary.