The world may feel like its melting like a popsicle in the summer sun or it might be really frigid if you’re in the southern hemisphere. Either way, we’re itching to travel and experience something new and exciting and we bet you are too. Whichever hemisphere you’re in, as long as you have a VR headset you can always be somewhere else. Here are VR apps, experiences, and games that we think VR enthusiasts can use as a mini-adventure for fitness and fulfillment.

Around The World

Passports, flights, fees, meals, tours — we feel you, traveling can get super expensive quickly. Readers that are fortunate to have a VR headset can find themselves in another part of the world in seconds using Google Earth VR. Get a view of Earth and zoom to a tropical island like Hawaii and see what it looks like to view Hilo Forest Reserve or some of the island chain’s beaches in Street View. Don’t bring the SPF 100!

Go on a mini getaway to a dreamy, relaxing, musical and colorful world where you can teleport or even swing your arms to move around like you’re taking a stroll. Skip walking around in the sun at the zoo and discover elephants, whales, and 58 other artfully designed animals in Nature Treks VR. Crank up the air conditioner and pretend like you’re in a snowy forest or in the ocean, or embrace the heat and stroll around on an island in the sun.

Or if you want to get international, take a trip to Helsinki and take a magical trip to real locations set in VR. Trek: Travel Around the World is a mix of virtual reality art and reality that will take you through a doorway to 3 places (more soon). Go on a fishing excursion in the Archipelago to make the Northern Lights appear or follow the stars and trace constellations in the night sky.

Escape Or Embrace The Heat

We know that exercising is the last thing some of us want to do in the heat, but hear us out. Sweat is our bodies awesome natural cooling mechanism! Skipping a VR workout might save you from feeling sweaty and warm in the short term, but boredom and restlessness will take its place. So you might as well move and work towards slaying your fitness goals! Just remember to keep water nearby.

We like the idea of being surrounded by snow and ice when we’re scaling up the side of a mountainside. This is especially true in the heat. The Climb is a rock climbing simulator that will push the limits of your upper body. Grab hold of jutting rocks, make your way through crevices and passageways, and swing from rocks to grips to objects. Reach the highest peaks and points to get a view of a canyon, volcano, and snowy inspiring skylines with their North expansion. Look out for wolves and puffins!

If you’re the non-traditional workout type there are 3 room scale pirate games that have been released this month alone. Set sail and play Crooked Waters for a 4v4 game and Furious Seas as a single player stand and steer. Both games are based around cannon blasting pirate ship battles with Crooked Waters being the best for fitness with its arm swing movement option. Virtual Pirate VR is a good physical workout when players use their cutlass to slice and pistol to shoot at daring pirates, sneaky skeletons, and a big boss Kraken.

If you don’t mind playing VR games for fitness and sweating for a 30 minute or hour-long session follow the link. We suggest playing popular rhythm games like BOX VR and Beat Saber, and action and adventure games like Sairento and Sacralith: The Archer’s Tale to get your daily dose of exercise. If sports are more your thing, we suggest Racket Fury: Table Tennis and Virtual Fighting Championship. There’s a VR game for everyone!

Virtual Music Festivals and More

Summer music festivals like Lollapalooza, Burning Man, FYF, and other venues are experiences that should make it to on your life bucket list but can rack up costs that set fire to your bank account. The next best thing to a music festival is a VR music festival app like TheWaveVR. Watch a light show and dance the day or night away in this otherworldly and auditory adventure. Play DJ and host your own dance or release party and then catch performances hosted by members of TheWaveVR community.

If dance parties and live events excite you, AltspaceVR is an app that hosts spaces for social butterflies and introverts to find common ground. Create an avatar in VR and access real-time “rooms” and live events that other community members have created. This is a cross-platform VR app that people can use to host a chat room, game night, a comedy event, concerts, and has a plethora of other uses. AltspaceVR is an amazing place where players can talk, laugh, and have fun along with other guests from all over the world without the long flight to visit them.