20 Santa Barbara seniors gear up for a travel adventure of a lifetime, visit 4 countries in 1 hour

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—Bess DeWitt is turning 95 in a month, and she’s already seen 3 countries in 1 hour.

“We went to South Africa. We went to Uganda, to a safari reserve and saw all the elephants and beautiful animals. We went deep sea diving under. Yeah, it was great. It's 360 degrees. So everywhere you look, it just keeps going, you know?” said Bess DeWitt, who lives in Covenant Living at the Samarkand in Santa Barbara.

For many seniors, this is the only chance they get to still travel the world.

It’s all part of the mission of Visiting VR, a local venture started by a local caregiver-turned-entrepreneur who combined his passion for caregiving with his love of technology to help local seniors feel more alive.

“The elephant came right up to me. I swear I thought he was going to go walk right through me. It was pretty amazing,” said DeWitt.

The founder of Visiting VR says that this immersive technology marks a Renaissance for senior living.

“Recently the Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, released a public advisory notice on the epidemic of loneliness in our communities, and so I see Visiting VR as a way of combating that isolation that is a part of growing older and growing more immobilized,” said “Visiting VR” Founder Stephen Jones.

Bill MacPherson says the immersive experience took him back to his early career when he practiced medicine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He said there’s really only one thing that would make the virtual reality more immersive.

“They need to add smell because there's a lot of good smells in Africa the foods and everything,” said Bill Macpherson, who lives in Covenant Living at the Samarkand in Santa Barbara.

In 2023, the global virtual reality market was valued at $12.86 billion. It's projected to grow to $123.06 billion by 2032.