I like to understand places by exploring place and land.
Sometimes that means trekking through mountains, hiking a desert trail or following a path until the landscape changes the scale of whatever I was thinking about. Sometimes it means urban exploration: walking neighborhoods, taking public transit, noticing where the sidewalks widen, where trees disappear, where people gather and where a city quietly tells you to keep moving.
My sense of direction is not especially reliable. North and south are more conceptual than operational for me. But I am perfectly comfortable getting off the subway in New York, walking one block in what I hope is the right direction and then reassessing with dignity.
That small uncertainty is part of what I like. Moving through a place on foot slows me down enough to notice how it works: who has access, what has been preserved, what has been displaced, how public space is shared and where geography becomes policy.
Maps can tell me where I am. Walking helps me understand where I am.
It also reminds me that place-based work requires more than arriving with a plan. It asks us to pay attention, adjust when our assumptions are wrong and accept that the most direct route is not always the one that teaches us the most.
I still prefer a visible landmark, a charged phone and at least one person nearby who looks approachable. Curiosity is useful. So is basic risk management.
#PlaceBasedLearning #UrbanExploration #Hiking #Trekking #Walking #Travel #SenseOfPlace #GettingLost
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