Photo via YouTube
With cameras instead of airplanes and high-speed Internet instead of passports, Expedia and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are giving some very special children the opportunity to see the world.
The collaboration has produced Dream Adventures, which is an apt name considering the hospital and travel website are granting wishes in the best way they can at the moment.
Four patients at St. Jude answered the simple question of what they would consider a momentous trip.
What followed was a team heading out to all parts of the world to live stream a 360-degree experience back to the children who were left wide-eyed and captivated.
Here is a brief video explaining the initiative.
Expedia's Sara L. expounds on the importance of the campaign in the above video, offering what it meant to her to bring to life travel for young Kiara: "A lot of the children that are at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are there for months maybe even years and they're not able to go out and see different parts of the world. This experience allows me to bring Kiara's dream to her from thousands of miles away."
Expedia's team traveled to Argentina, Miami and Mexico to bring a bit of adventure to young people who aren't able to traverse the globe as easily as healthy travelers.
And, as a press release notes, the innovation was a historic one: "This was the first time 360° filming, projection mapping and live streaming technology were used together."
Not only can you donate to the Dream Adventures initiative, but visiting the link will also send you to a page wherein you can explore and appreciate each of several moving stories Expedia and St. Jude have decided to share.
The above video highlights the arduous endeavor that went into bringing a virtual trip to life.
As noted, some destinations mandated the aid of satellite feeds when normal Wi-Fi Internet access was near impossible.
Thankfully, these remote locations were still captured and fed across the Internet to various patients who were then able to, for example, appreciate the splendor of the local wildlife.
With that, we head back to Sara L. who continues on the fulfilling task of visiting Argentina:
The Expedia employee, who had a brain tumor as a child, is grateful to give back to the adorable Kiara who might not be able to travel nearly as freely as most people.
Thanks to modern innovations and the hard work of people who care, Kiara, along with some of her fellow patients, have been able to see parts of the world they would otherwise be excluded from visiting.
Just when you find it's near impossible to visit the world, some amazing people manage to bring the world to you.
EDIT: Tuesday, March 29 at 4:25 p.m. - Edited to reflect Sara L.'s proper past history.
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