Travelling in this time and age is vastly different than it was even something like 10 or 15 years ago (duh). This has mainly to do with the omnipresent and omniscient Internet (the other reason is something called overtourism, but that's a topic for a different post). We enjoy this very much. Maybe I do a little more than Judi. But still.

One thing is of course the Google, with its Maps and Translate and Search and Flights and so on. But, there are also other services.

The place we are staying right now is a little one bedroom flat, an extension to house inhabited by a lovely couple, who share their homemade olive oil and their traditional greek independence day fish dish with us. Also, it is situated right next to the local airport, Zakynthos International. The "International" part comes into play in summer, when hordes of Brits invade the beaches, and populate towns like the nearby Laganas, which now looks like the modern day version of a deserted Western town, but from May on it is the home of clubs featuring VIP and VVIP areas, Irish pubs, "traditional" greek steak houses, and just a few "night clubs". But yes, right now the airport features a daily flight to Athens, as well as a daily flight to the next island of Kefalonia. I have no idea why it takes 25 minutes. It should be much less.

This morning though we didn't wake up because of the 8am flight from Kefalonia, but because of an earthquake with an intensity of 3.9 on the Richter scale, just south of this island, in a depth of about 1 to 2 km. 3.9 is not very much, but it was noticable. We were not alarmed, actually more interested to know more about earthquakes in the area, and what damage they may have done in the past.

Later that day, while visiting the so called "Shipwreck Beach", we noticed an odd looking freighter out on sea, clearly visible in the glare of the sun. Not a typical container ship, much more blocky, and no oil tanker, as it was much too high for that. Turned out, it was a freighter for Hazard Class A material, sailing under the turkish flag on its way up north to Trieste in Italy.

Oh, before I forget it: Did you know you can see the International Space Station sometimes even at sundown, not in the middle of the night? Quite clearly so, I just managed to see it while it passed over our house. It was a nice end to a day, which started with a swim in the 15°C warm water of the Mediterrean, down the street.

How do I know all this? Because of a couple of Apps and Websites, which track and give access to all kind of data. Nearly everything that moves on this planet is tracked and recorded, from everyday stuff like wind and water movements and temperatures, to all vehicles airborne or sailing the seas, or flying way high above us in orbit around mother earth, and even the movement of the earth itself is measured by a vast network of seismic sensors. Let me introduce you to some of them.

First, the App and Website called Flightradar24. It tracks global movements of all airborne vehicles, which transpond their position and data. Also, they have all flight schedules for all airports worldwide. For the bored traveller, it gives the possibility to point your device at an airplane in the sky, and the App will tell you where the plane comes from, where it goes, and what altitude it travels. Or, it will tell you when a plane is approaching, so you get to go out in time so you can see that plane landing just outside your doorstep. Surely a definite must-have.

Or there are a multitude of website which track data of earth tremors. Judi found data (and confirmation that we weren't just dreaming) of the earthquake something like 5 to 10 minutes after the event via a quick google search. Sites like the EMSC track all incidents picked up by sensors around the globe. For those interested, click here to see ours.

Ship data is as easy to get like with Flightradar. Sites like marinetraffic.com display all bigger vessels currently under way, together with all public data about routes, owners, speed, and so on.

Global weather data is available from Apps like Windy or websites like ventusky.com. Wind movements, temperatures of wind and water, cloud layers, wave height, all available right there, right now. And it looks really swooshy.

Last but not least, which is actually my favourite: Please do yourself a favour and install the app "ISS HD Live". It shows the current position of the International Space Station, and alerts you if it comes visible at your location. And it even sports a compass, which helps you point your phone to the location it should be visible. And when you see that fast moving dot: Yes, that really is the space station. No, it is not a plane. Check Flightradar to confirm that.