Looking for a few minutes of escapism into something different? This is my favourites list, sites I've found relaxing, helpful, informative, enjoyable, fun and free :)
Sections
6
When You Need to Escape For A While
Learn Something New
Play
Organise Yourself
Food
Create
When You Need to Escape For A While
Hopefully you'll find something new here
Dive into a universe of immersive, customizable soundscapes designed to boost your focus, melt your stress, and send you drifting into the best sleep ever :) Mix and match nature vibes, and dreamy ambient music to craft your perfect audio escape and ...
A gentle escape when you feel like you need to be somewhere else for a while. Walking, driving and flying videos from cities across the world, mute or unmute as you please.
Citywalki: Virtual walking tour in cities around the world
I love this One Minute Focus it's a tiny, minimalist focus tool that simply asks you to stare at a dot and breathe for 30 or 60 seconds to reset your attention before the next task. A mental ‘palette cleanser’ you can use between emails, calls, or de...
One Minute Focus
Need a hug? Try here, the nicest place on the internet :)
The Nicest Place
I've recommended this so many times and had such good feedback. Thousands of free guided meditations, courses, ambient music, nature sounds, and sleep stories from leading mindfulness teachers and psychologists. You can use it for timed silent sits, ...
Insight Timer - #1 Free Meditation App for Sleep, Relax & More
Spin the globe and drop into thousands of live radio stations worldwide – the quickest way to feel like you’re somewhere else without leaving your chair :)
Explore live radio by rotating the globe
A wonderfully simple space explorer that lets you drift through the Solar System one world at a time. Next to each is a short, human-friendly description rather than textbook jargon. It is ideal for quiet curiosity breaks, teaching kids (or adults) about planets and moons in bite-sized form.
Atlas of Space
When you’re bored of ‘Top 10’ lists, this is where you go to find cat islands, bone churches, lava pits, and other beautifully strange spots…..
Curious and Wondrous Travel Destinations - Atlas Obscura
Like Google Earth but live, watch the planet's weather unfold in near-real-time with stunning satellite imagery. Sadly, we used this amazing app to watch Hurricane Melissa head straight for my partner's house in Westmoreland Jamaica where it wreaked ...
Zoom Earth | Weather Map & Hurricane Tracker
Think Netflix/Spotify for FREE library books magazines, newspapers & audiobooks. Sign in with your local library card, browse/borrow/download instantly (or place holds), read offline, adjust speeds (0.6x-3x), set sleep timers, sync across devices...
Libby App
When you want to know what actually happened, not just who’s shouting about it: Reuters’ no‑nonsense global news feed is one of the most trusted, least‑biased sources on the web.
Reuters | Breaking International News & Views
Interested in Near Death Experiences - this is the largest AI-powered analysis of NDE's ever conducted. Really interesting.
Noeticmap — Mapping the Landscape of Consciousness
Learn Something New
If you enjoy reading as much as I do you've love this huge free digital library of classics and other public domain books. Read online or download to Kindle, plain text or EPUB
Project Gutenberg
Obscure topics explained in interesting ways.
HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!
Lots of different languages to learn here, I have Iranian friends and I'm using Memrise to learn Persian :)
Learn a language. Memrise is authentic, useful & personalised.
Khan Academy offers free, world‑class education for learners of all ages, with interactive lessons, videos, and practice exercises across subjects like math, science, and the humanities. Perfect for students, parents, and lifelong learners who want t...
Khan Academy
Play
Bizarrely addictive little app, I find it quite relaxing rescuing chickens :)
368 Chickens
Love this game, from photos you have to guess where and when they were taken.
TimeGuessr
Can you stay on the road? 😆
Slow Roads
Organise Yourself
I love this visual project space where you can dump notes, links, images and tasks as little ‘bricks’ of any colour you choose. The free plan gives you unlimited bricks and up to 10 walls. I use it every day, it's far more visual and flexible than a ...
Walling - Organize & Present Your Ideas
Need to make a decision? Solve a problem. You'll find thinking tools that may help right here.
Tools for better thinking
Food
Science‑backed recipes and cooking guides from around the world that turn ‘I hope this works’ into ‘this will be brilliant’ in your kitchen
Serious Eats
Create
I love this. Draw something and then listen to it. How clever is that? :)