Unwind With Slow TV: Walking Tours Of South Dakota

I've discovered that one of my favorite things about YouTube is long ambiance videos. It started with Christmas music, conveniently enough during last Christmas.

My daughter turned on a video of background Christmas music with a snowy street scene. It was great to have on while making and decorating cookies.

I really liked the idea. Our TVs nowadays are often as big as a window, so why not look at something cool? So I took a deep dive into YouTube.

Holy smokes, guys! There are so many videos like this. Animated coffeeshops. Videos of rural Midwest, videos of cities in Africa, and beautiful drone flyovers of places all over the planet. Places and things I would usually never get to see.

But then I came across the best thing, walking tours!

Now, I need to be specific, I'm not talking about a video where some dude-explorer has a camera on a stick and talks and talks and talks about nothing and never shows anything cool.

No, I love non-narrated walking tours. There are several YouTube Channels that are collections of videos of walking around a place.

Captivating Non-Narrated Walking Tours: A Digital Escape For All Ages

Some call it 'Slow TV.' I first noticed the concept when people in parts of Europe were reported to love watching videos of train trips.

Want to walk down a New Your City sidewalk? Visit a Christmas market in Germany? See the cherry blossoms in Tokyo? You can. It's just a camera strapped to a person. They walk, and you see. It's beautiful digital footage of what you would see and hear if you were there.

Of course, there'd be lots of walking tours of the famous places in the world, but are there walking tour videos on YouTube of South Dakota? YES!

If you want to visit Rapid City from the comfort of your couch in Sioux Falls, here ya go:

I've always wanted to see the Mammoth Site out in the Black Hills. And I found this:

Is your kid thinking about going to South Dakota State University in Brooking? Then check this out:

Does your Sioux Falls-born sister miss her hometown after she took that job in Minnesota? Show her this:

Can't make the rally this year? Visit Sturgis this way:

Can't leave the middle of the state out:

I love putting these on while I'm reading or doing stuff around the house. I've driven through a lot of cities and towns, but have never taken the time to walk around and get a better sense of an area. Videos like these give me that opportunity.