60-Second Virtual Escapes: QuietAmerican.org

Here’s something that everyone can enjoy — whether you’re into traveling to five-star resorts or a shoestring to hostels.

The QuietAmerican is a site from a San Francisco sound editor that specializes in one-minute desktop audio vacations. The founder says, “The world makes it own music, but we rarely listen with naive ears. Quiet American is the manipulation of sounds I hear and record.”

He’s actually compiled three years worth of sounds from around the world. He encourages you to listen with headphones in a dark room rather than with in your office or home with other noises that can distract you.

You can hear the sounds of his excursions, mostly to Vietnam, such as a deafening tropical rain storm on his poncho, a boat motoring down the Mekong Delta, hundreds of cicadas by a babbling brook or diesel trains.

The choice is yours if you have a minute or two to spare — no passport required. The QuietAmerican.org.