When I travel – especially only – I slide into a completely different rhythm. I wake up early, walk for miles without a destination, follow the scent of Bakery, the lines outside of shops or the sound of street music and make conversations with Strangers Event Chance that I get. Curiosity becomes my compass.
Whether it is a big city like New York, or a small village in Europe, I feel completely alive, open, unbound. But coming home always has important to withdraw into routine – comfortable, family, a bit boring. However, after my most recent journey, the subject shifted. After weeks on the road I returned home without desire to escape again. Insertion, I had the demire to stay and see, Real You see, my city as I see new oons.
Featured image by Michelle Nash.
How I rediscover my city with a passport mentality
I walk more. To much more. Swallow food alone in places I always wanted to try. Book tickets for exhibitions that sound interesting, regardless of whether I have a friend to go with me. I leave the same spirit that makes me brave and vast on the road, also guide me at home. I don’t rediscover my city as a local, but as a traveler – with carrots and a new perspective. It was a powerful reform to discover that the secret is not in where I go, but in how I show up.
Here are a few ways in which I explore my own hometown:
The coffee torch
What started as a practical walk for coffee, you have a ritual cherished a fair. Every Sunday I go off my sneakers with my New York Times and on the way on a five-mile walk to my favorite coffee shop is not his partition“ But scholars the journey there feels like a treat.
I give myself the luxury of wandering around, shopping, viewing people or taking another route to see what has changed. By the time I arrive, coffee in hand, I have had the city – and myself. It is a small adventure, but one that reminds me of it and does not have to be far away to feel complicated and present.
New neighborhoods, new eyes
Instead of walking in the same streets, I now choose neighborhoods that I have never explored Ornes that I have overlooked for years. I could walk my walk around to the vintage store that I heard about or investigated a Taco truck. Subtimes I don’t go on my way at all, so that curiosity can lead me as it does when I travel. I am constantly surprised by how much life and detail I missed in my own backyard-colorful volte murals, hidden-road neighborhood gardens and new for me pop-up stores. Exploring a tourist in my own city has let it feel bigger, richer, livelier.
Museum curiosity
I have always loved museums, but at home I was waiting to go unless I had driven, such as a visit to friend, date or a special occasion. Now I check museum calendars as I would look up events in a new city. I see an exhibition opening or by panel interview and time to go, just because.
I slowly wander through rooms and don’t have to explain my interest to someone else. It is a form of only traveling – every museum or installation visit becomes a portal in a different time, place or perspective. It reminds me how much there are to read where I am.
Only embrace adventures
For a long time I told myself that certain things were better with company – trying a new restaurant, going to a gallery opening, walking in an anfamiliar space. But traveling has spoken to me that doing things alone does not mean you do it Only. In fact, only experiences often bring more freedom, more connection with strangers and more coordination with what I actually want.
So now I go, even if nobody is free. I take my self out, just as I would do in Paris or Amsterdam or New York. And I don’t miss it -I am not Actually show More more complete for my life. I am surprised about how many others do this. It’s refreshing. I cannot emphasize how great it feels not to wait until Sub Subsone the things I want to experience in life.
I see my city through the eyes of my friends
I am a big fan of crowd-sourcing, so I started asking friends: “If you would plan the perfect day in Austin where we are going?” The answers never disappoint. Seeing the city through the lens of Subuone Otherwise helps me to break out of my patterns and reminds me that discovery does not always have to eat from the inside. It was a great way to fill spontaneous hanging, to get to know my friends a little better and enjoy a few solo days inspired by the people I love.
I cannot emphasize how great it feels not to wait until Sub Subsone the things I want to experience in life.
Bucket list making and ultimate use it
I have always been the kind of person who is investigating a new city before I visit. I book restaurants, research stores, walks, where to get the best cold brew, read NYTs 36 hoursAnd shed websites as if it were my job. But I rarely give my own city of Austin that kind of attention, especially after 15 years of living here.
So I started making an “Austin Bucket list”, in my notes app, full of places where I played to try, things I heard about and experiences I saved one day. If I have a free afternoon or an open weekend, I choose from the list – almost randomly – to prevent me from getting stuck in my spiral of indecision. It is a way to bring newness and spontaneity back to everyday, and to be honest, it gives life a little more cinematic. As if I play in my own travel assembly, only this time the background is at home.
If now I could only give the same consideration in my closet and stop waiting for the perfect moment to wear them, Id are Golden! Baby steps …
