Traveler, Not Tourist: Rule 2

2. GET LOST

Not all who wander are lost.

Don’t get me wrong: if you’re on a tight schedule and have to get somewhere quickly, by all means make the map your bible for a day. But if your afternoon’s not packed and you’re vaguely familiar with the area, give yourself some margin and a destination and then set out and see if you can find it after only that preliminary examination of the directions.

It’s great exercise; it’s a great cure for boredom; it’s a great bonding experience with whomever accompanies you; you’ll (hopefully) learn a little more about how to navigate the area; and you’ll usually end up discovering an amazing park, cafe, or urban rarity that you may not have run into otherwise (like in Rule 1). Traveling is about discovery, and wandering is a great way to discover new things: children from a young age learn via wandering. Hobbies stem from wandering. And wandering will take you a step closer to feeling like a native, because you’ll walk away with knowledge about some random aspect of that area that none of the other tourists (or even natives) might know, either!

BACKSTORY: Wandering has always been my cup of tea once I get the hang of a new place. I am a bit directionally challenged, so I tend to rely on others (or maps) so that I don’t end up four miles from my intended destination (those closest to me will know how true that is— I once got lost while driving to my college from home… after years of regularly driving there). But after getting introduced to someplace new and seeing everything that I knew I’ve wanted to see, it’s great to wander off the beaten path and just stroll along, finding sights that I didn’t even know were there before.

Most recently, I had some time to kill and walked through lots of Southern Manhattan. Not only did I find the section of town where you can buy your heart’s desire of fur coats (Cruella DeVille would have been proud), but I even ran into some places where I’d already been on my original tour (including that Bleecker Street pizza)!

"Eleventh and Bleecker?" (sniff, sniff) "Nope, this is only Ninth Street!.. Get it?"
- Michaelangelo
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Don't ask me how I even remembered that quote. I really couldn't tell you...

And last weekend, after seeing a show near Times Square right off Broadway, I was heading home and realized it would be pretty late for dinner by the time I’d arrive at the apartment. So I glanced around, wandered into a hole-in-the-wall pizza place, asked the server which pizza he’d recommend, and voila! Giant pizza, greasy paper bag, and a Friday evening in Times Square. Only a run-in with some ninja turtles could have made that night any better.