Introduction
This is another short, light one, but I hope you'll stick with me. A little while ago I wrote a post on the benefits of walking, and today I want to talk about walking again — from a slightly different angle.
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In that post, I wrote about the "benefits" of walking: how ideas tend to come more easily when you mull things over on the move, how getting some sunlight is good for you, that sort of thing.
Separately from that, there's a way of walking I've come to enjoy lately: deliberately going out to get lost.
The Process, Not the Destination
I don't know the strict definition of a "walk," but the way I see it, it's less about getting to some particular place — that would be transit — and more about the walking itself being the point. So the interesting part isn't where you end up, but the process of getting there.
I feel that most strongly when I set out to get lost on purpose. The method is dead simple. Whether I'm traveling or just in the place I currently live, I start walking without deciding where I'm going. I don't open the map. Relying only on my own sense of direction and whatever signs happen to catch my eye, I turn down whichever way looks interesting. That's it.
When I do, the way the city looks changes noticeably. I naturally start picking up on the little details I'd normally walk straight past while staring at a screen — the bakery on that corner, a strangely steep hill, the flow of people. Not knowing where I'll end up turns out to be far more fun than I'd expected.
Why Do I Get Lost on Purpose?
Why do I do this? Honestly, there's no big reason.
For one, it's just a good way to kill time. For another, taking a different turn each time is somehow more exciting than walking the same route over and over. That goes double in an unfamiliar city — walking along with no idea what's around the next corner is a little bit of fun all on its own.
Thinking about it now, maybe it's a leftover habit from my backpacking days. When I was younger, I did a lot of backpacking abroad. Back then smartphones either didn't exist or were only just appearing, so I'd jot destinations onto a paper map in pen, walk by compass, and get lost all the time. But funny enough, what stands out most when I look back isn't the routes I nailed efficiently — it's the moments when I'd wandered somewhere by mistake. Though that's all reasoning after the fact; the truth is probably closer to "because it's just kind of fun."
Switching Between "Transit" and "Strolling"
That said, I'm not walking around ditching the map all the time. When I actually need to get somewhere — "transit," basically — I use the app fully, like anyone would. It's the fastest way, and I think that's exactly what you should do in that case.
What I'm doing, I guess, is consciously switching into a "stroll mode" now and then, separate from that transit mode. Not to reach a destination, but just to wander freely, I close the map for a little while. That alone makes even a familiar city look a bit different — and it's really not bad.
Wrapping Up
We've reached a point where you don't get lost anymore unless you make a conscious effort. Which is exactly why, every so often, I deliberately get lost and enjoy the situation when I do.
And on top of that, the "benefits" I mentioned last time — thinking more clearly, getting some sunlight, getting some exercise — you get all of those from this kind of aimless wandering too. You're still walking, after all. It's just that a little thrill of not knowing where you'll end up gets added on top.
It doesn't have to be somewhere you're traveling — even in your own familiar hometown, deliberately picking a street you don't know can turn up some surprising little discoveries. If you have the time, why not try getting "lost" — in a city you'll visit next, or in the one you already live in?
Thanks for reading.
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