A day spent wandering a city never gets old

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

–Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Travel and time are two topics bantered around by those in the world of travel, those who want to travel and those who don’t understand how it can possibly happen. ‘How do you afford to travel?’ ‘How can you take so much time off of work?’ ‘Don’t you just want to settle down and stop moving around so much?’ Whether it is a conversation amongst those choosing to live a travel-focused lifestyle or those wishing to have one, a day spent wandering a city never gets old!

Too often when traveling, days are filled with things on a ‘to-do list’. Don’t get me wrong, this list is far more inviting than the one including ‘pay bills, do laundry, clean the bathroom or even go to work’, but positive or otherwise it can lead to exhaustion. Those who retire from a lifetime of work talk about how ‘everyday is a Saturday’ and many tell a story that includes how they’re much busier now than they ever were when working. Whether traveling, being a tourist in your own city or just taking a twenty-four hour period to exist, a day spent wandering a city never gets old!

If it’s your home city, you might just take the opportunity to experience a part you’ve never before explored providing your very own ‘travel day’. Perhaps there’s that special restaurant you’ve always wanted to try but never before took the time to do so. Maybe you’re just looking for a chance to meander by the water, through the park or down the busy streets to truly see the city with open eyes. It’s not often you can take the time to stop and look around or stop at the market you’ve just upon stumbled. Is there a museum you’ve wanted to check out or an event about which you’ve been excited? Take the time to just go. It’s not often you can sit or be or enjoy and taking that time to do so is revitalizing, reinvigorating and reaffirming.

When moving to a new place whether for a few weeks, months or years, I find it incredibly helpful to spend a day wandering. Really able to get to know a city through its pathways, its people, its sights, sounds and smells provides information that no online search ever could. Sure, you can Google map your way to the nearest whatever, but standing on the street utilizing all of your senses is much more authentic. The Internet search of the public transport map can tell you where the trolley goes, but not what it feels like to actually ride on it. The specific app search can give you the ‘best’ or ‘most visited’ hole in the wall café, but how do you really know until you get to taste the delights on your own palette?

A day spent wandering a city never gets old! Regardless of its size or location, a walk through an entire city, or a specific area is an eye-opening experience. You get a chance to see real life happening before your eyes. You get an opportunity to breathe in and experience and let wonder and curiosity lead your journey. This is a rare chance to let your choices carve your path and spend as much or as little time in one spot before moving on to the next adventurous avenue. It’s not often in life (traditional or travel-focused) when you can enjoy a prospect of no plans and a find as you go sort of day. This is a memory-making day.

Time is a gift. Time is talked about regularly in any arena as it feels as if there’s never enough. Travel embraces this view and breaks the mold. Travel forces its followers to take time to do, be, choose, embrace and explore. Travel flings your eyes upward away from the virtual world and plops you smack dam in the center of the real one. If you let it, travel shows the best and worst of people, the true character of cities and authentic everything. If you’re willing to let it-travel can teach, share, welcome, surprise, enrage, encourage, change perceptions and create anew. Who knows what can come from time, but what I do know is that a day spent wandering a city never gets old!

“You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So…get on your way!”

–Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go

For more of Stacey’s musings check out her writings here.