14 ways people around the world have spread joy to brighten up your week

Carole Favre has traveled all around the world. At each stop, she collects souvenirs that have meaning.

When travel was put on pause, Favre wanted to keep her travel spirit alive.

She started filming a daily video series called "Travels around my bedroom."

In each video, Favre explains the story behind one of her souvenirs and shares the history and culture of a destination.

"Especially to remember this right now — it's such a challenging time — that it's important to see the beauty of the world around us," she told Insider.

• Read more:
• You can learn how to be happier through a series of online classes taught by people living in Finland
• From strip clubs to church confessionals, 14 photos show how places around the world are getting creative with drive-thru experiences
• An artist turned a closed diner into an art gallery during lockdown by hanging her colorful paintings in the windows
• The Oregon Zoo shared an adorable video of a black bear splashing around in a giant bathtub

When San Antonio Zoo's visitors were missing their beloved animals, the zoo launched "Zen Zoo," which is a daily yoga practice at different animal habitats around the park.

Heather Love, a yoga instructor, guides virtual visitors through a yoga class every morning.

The zoo has searched for creative ways to connect visitors with the animals. Recently, it launched a drive-thru zoo experience.

"We knew right away that we wanted to have a big social presence to stay connected to the community," Tim Morrow, the zoo's president and CEO, told Insider.

After seeing seniors in her community buying just a few necessities at the grocery store, Hannah Lucas wanted to help.

Lucas, her two dog handlers, and her team of 12 sled dogs travel throughout northern Maine bringing groceries to those in need.

The snow has melted for the year, but Lucas hopes to continue the service next year.

Kaite Wignall is the creator of Look Up London, a walking tour company and blog focused on sharing London's secret spots.

When London went into lockdown, she didn't want to stop sharing her love for the city.

So she pivoted her tours to Instagram.

Using public pictures, videos she's collected from over the years, and the Google Street View feature, she takes her Instagram followers to new London destinations three times a week.

Join me for a tour of Wapping to uncover lots of hidden history, tales of pirates and fantastic riverside pubs! . If you’re enjoying the virtual tours and want to contribute to Look Up London you donate via Paypal here; www.paypal.me/lookuplondon or follow the steps in my bio link! @look_uplondon . . . #London #VirtuallyLondon #lookuplondon #history #historiclondon #docklands #visitlondon #explorelondon #virtualtour #lookuplondonlive #londonguide #mysecretlondon #Wapping #Eastlondon #pirates #londonpubs #historicpubs #pubhistory #prettycitylondon #prettylittlelondon #londonstreets #stayhome #londonlockdown #londonwalks#bluebadgetouristguide #pubsofinstagram

A post shared by Look Up London Walks & Tours (@look_uplondon) on May 14, 2020 at 12:00pm PDTMay 14, 2020 at 12:00pm PDT

Wignall told Insider that "it has changed what I think of in terms of possibilities of tours."

Erin Kemble started "porch performances" for her family and neighbors during Virginia's lockdown.

Scouring her house for materials to make costumes like Elsa from "Frozen" or Neo from "The Matrix," Kemble steps onto her porch every day to give people a laugh.

A post shared by Erin’sPorchPics (@erinsporchpics)Apr 10, 2020 at 7:46pm PDT

"I'm not on the front lines, I'm not in harm's way. I am a fool," she told Insider. "If people can laugh and forget for one second what's happening, it's giving me a purpose."

While basketball is a sport the nuns of San Leandro in Seville, Spain, have played for years, sewing masks is a new skill.

As Spain experienced some of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases globally, the nuns pivoted their traditional baking business to mask making.

The nuns sew an estimated 500 masks each day. The masks are then distributed to hospitals, police stations, and soup kitchens across the city.

During breaks, the nuns head to the courtyard to shoot hoops.

Borders closed around the world and trips were canceled. But that didn't stop travelers from experiencing an airplane.

Instead, they re-created first-class airline rides from their laundry rooms.

Using a laptop or tablet, TikTok users set the screen in their washing machine, which looked similar to the view from an airplane window.

Quarantine day 14 got me like... ##fy ##fyp ##foryou ##foryoupage

From there, people grabbed travel pillows, airline snacks, and headphones to complete the flight.

Hundreds of people participated in the trend and re-created their own airplane rides.

Rasta, a white Swiss shepherd, and his owner, Sylvia Michel, go on daily hikes across Switzerland.

Michel is a professional photographer and records the walks for all of Rasta's followers. The videos have been one way for people around the world to escape to Switzerland's waterfalls, mountains, and flower fields.

BACK HOME . @michelphotography_ch . MUSIC: @fritzkalkbrenner - Back home . This is the place where my Mom and I created our first viral video. It has been viewed by over 67 million people - only on one single channel! I think many of you can remember this place, right?

A post shared by I AM KING RASTA (@rastawhiteshepherd) on Apr 23, 2020 at 4:43am PDTApr 23, 2020 at 4:43am PDT

"I recognize that many people aren't that lucky to go outside," Michel told Insider. "People are very thankful that we show them something beautiful."

When neighbors were feeling isolated in places like Spain and Ireland, they started playing bingo.

From their balconies, neighbors played the game as a way to connect while remaining physically distant.

The games went viral and other communities started playing, too.

Kelly Hogan Painter needed to go to the grocery store to purchase food for her family of five. She knew she needed a mask, but she didn't want to purchase any that medical staff was in dire need of.

So, she decided to use her children's Buzz Lightyear mask.

Now, the mask joins Hogan Painter on all her errands across North Carolina. People laugh at the unusual sight and stop her to take pictures.

"They might be laughing at me, or they might be laughing with me," she told Insider. "I really don't care either way, as long as they're laughing."

Row Venice, a nonprofit organization made up of women rowers, took to the Venetian canals to distribute food to residents.

The group partnered with local farms to bring food to at-risk populations in their city.

The group typically participates in rowing competitions and teaches rowing classes to tourists, but both of those activities were put on pause due to the coronavirus.

The delivery service is free, and the nonprofit hopes that eco-friendly options, like the boat delivery, will become a permanent offering when businesses reopen.

What started as a one-time performance of "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles quickly turned into daily performances for Jennifer Parnall.

Her neighbors loved her guitar, ukulele, keyboard, and singing so much they made signs thanking her for her music.

Parnall is a music teacher in Spain, however, she's originally from Canada. These balcony concerts helped Parnell connect with her neighbors, many of whom she'd never met before.

A post shared by Jennifer (@jlynnparnall)May 14, 2020 at 9:24am PDT

"It's such a remarkable feeling. Music is such a huge part of my life and such a passion of mine," she told Insider. "The fact that it is helping us connect and helping us communicate is probably the coolest thing ever."

In cities across Vietnam, rice was collected and distributed out to those in need.

The coronavirus pandemic negatively impacted seniors, students, and people of all ages across the country.

Each day, the ATMs open up so individuals can collect a few pounds of rice.

At the ATMs, recipients still participate in social-distancing measures. Everyone wears masks, uses hand sanitizer, and stays six feet apart.

Andrew Cotter, a Scottish BBC sports broadcaster, used his free time to bond with his dogs, Olive and Mabel.

In videos he posted on Twitter, the broadcaster commentated while the dogs competed to finish their food and fight for dog toys.

His most recent video features him giving the dogs an annual performance review.

According to Cotter, the two dogs ruined the sofas and hadn't caught a single one of the 913 squirrels they had chased. The good news? Neither dog would be furloughed during the pandemic.