When it snows in Europe’s largest ski hall, real snow drifts down onto the slopes: six-pointed crystals, no two the same. Thus skiing in the “Allrounder Winter World” feels just like it does up in the mountains. Even the après-ski party in the hut cannot be distinguished from the Alpine original: the same music, the same decor, the same drinks. Often local people come for a visit even if they don’t ski; they live in a region with few attractions.

Here even the trampled snow that seems to be of no further use can be sold – for children’s birthday parties or for making an ice bar for cocktails. In the hall there is a snowboard ramp where a few teenagers train throughout the entire year. In winter they travel to competitions in Austria and Switzerland, winning against the local young athletes who have to take a break from training during the summer.

Of course the Winter World cannot replace a vacation in the Alps, but hundreds of miles from the mountains it is better than nothing – much better, in fact. The facility is part of a global trend that is changing the way we spend our free time and go on vacation: what we can’t have, we simulate.

Often it does not even require that much technology. In cities like Paris, London and Hamburg people enjoy a short vacation at the “city beach” after work: sipping cocktails on deck chairs and sticking their feet in the sand – under palm trees in pots. Conversely, those who don’t want to miss big-city attractions when vacationing on remote beaches can find both in Turkey. Near Antalya, an entrepreneur has built a smaller-scale copy of the Istanbul Sultan’s palace Topkapi as a hotel. The Kremlin and Venice followed, and construction is underway at other sites.

In Las Vegas you can enjoy a gondola ride through a replica of Venice complete with Italian songs performed by the gondolieri. Of course the water in the canals here isn’t as dirty as in the original.

“My Tropical Islands” near Berlin offers much more than a year-round palm-lined beach in the largest self-supporting hall in the world: to the sounds of recordings with twittering birds and the roar of the sea, visitors can also wander through a botanical garden whose attractions include a quite respectable teak tree. There are wooden huts from the South Sea, and a show program features artists from all of the usual vacation destinations. There are even a few costumed Brazilians who are presented as “real Indios” that demonstrate rituals for visitors while offering them “taruba, the drink of the rain forest god” – for adults, not for children.

California’s Disneyland hosts more visitors than Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Israel combined. New and more refined illusionary worlds are added every year, and the simulation business is booming.

Are we in danger of missing out on life itself if we spend so much time simulating it?

August Pollen loves the mountains. The builder and successful operator of the Allrounder Winter World is of wiry stature and has a dark tan. He wears cargo pants and plaid shirts. When you ask him if he likes to go ski touring, he answers with a long and penetrating gaze. Only those who themselves have stood atop a lonely peak after hours of strenuous climbing can know what he is thinking.

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