The one bit of advice I’d like
to lend is this - get lost. Get out there and get absolutely lost. This is the
BEST way to be a real traveler, find your way around discover things you wouldn’t
have otherwise seen had you just stuck to the so- called “straight and narrow”.
It applies to all situations, not just necessarily because I am studying
abroad, but in life at home too. Seriously. Feeling stuck in a rut? Take a
walk, and ditch the map. Maybe at home you know where you’re going, but if you
just let yourself wander, you’ll find things you never even knew about.
I’m not saying do this in a
stupid way and not to be aware of your surroundings, because of course safety
is important, but in no way should you be afraid to get lost. The best things
happen when you challenge your sense of direction, and quite frankly ingenuity.
I say that because it’s funny to think about yourself wandering around,
actually lost. And what you’d do to try and get to somewhere familiar again. Imagine
how silly you look to people who know where they are going… and then throw that
right out the window because it actually doesn’t matter.
The idea for this post came to me while I was lost yesterday, actually. And
I know for a fact that I looked like an absolute moron, one because I was
taking pictures of things everyone was ignoring, and because I’m sure that I probably
looked over whelmed at least a tiny bit once I hit Oxford Street. I quite like
the idea of taking pictures of things that people overlook, because I think
they often offer the best photographs and I find it easier to appreciate things
when I am walking around without a destination, so that explains that bit. But
being in a place you’ve passed through but never actually explored, is always a
bit over whelming, I won’t lie about that. But exploring and adventuring and
being lost is also one of the greatest feelings. BUT it doesn’t even come close
to the feeling you get when you finally figure out where you are, or make you
way back to where you started, or end up exactly where you wanted to.
This week alone I’ve
been lost at least twice, and I’d have it no other way. I’d like to explain to
the method behind my madness. I have been done with my classes for two weeks
now, and find myself not having very much to do, and being on a budget over
here, I am QUITE frugal with my money, unfortunately here it’s easy to loose
pounds, and not in a good way. So, when I get up in the morning, I come up with
a game plan. I choose a general area that I’d like to visit, if it’s close to
campus, like within a 40 minute walking distance, I will walk there, to add a
little bit more of an adventurous twist to my day. If not, because I have
generally been to all of the places to explore around campus, I will look up
the nearest tube or train station or bus stop and take my transit of choice for
the day there. Upon my arrival, UNLESS there is something very specific I am
looking for, I put my map away completely, and sometimes just hope that I’ll
stumble upon the place I was looking for.
Sometimes it works, and sometimes I become hopelessly lost. Fortunately
I have a very good sense of direction, and am quite vigilant in the fact that
once I’ve been somewhere I tend to remember my way around. But either way I wouldn’t
want it any other way. I wouldn’t want to know where I am going all of the
time. I love to discover new places and new things. It’s more exciting to
stumble upon something great, than to see something that everyone else already
knows and thinks is great.
I’ve attached some of the pictures that I have taken, that could only
come from exploration, pictures I took while I was walking around aimlessly,
with no real purpose or destination. So here’s to adventure, and getting lost!
Cheers!
xoxo
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