Every day, more than two million Internet users sit down behind a computer and take a vicarious trip, according to a new study released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The Pew organization polled more than 900 adults in November and came to the conclusion that "54 million adults used the Internet to venture somewhere else." The vicarious tours can involve visiting museums, sports arenas or even the White House, the poll found. "It is not possible for us to say how fast this activity online has been growing," said the report's author, Lee Rainie, in a statement, "but it is safe to say that the spread of broadband connections has made virtual tours easier and encouraged those who create tours to create richer tour experiences through streamed tours."

Lee noted one anomaly uncovered by the poll: virtual tours are taken more by older Internet users (52 percent) rather than by younger Generation Y users (37 percent). The poll also found that urban users are more likely to take virtual tours than rural users.