walking – For Wanderers and Wonderers

Why Walking is Important

Visiting a new place is scary, but here are some top tips to make the most of your travel experience.

That is what every trained media professional or influencer will tell you when trying to show you the beauty of a place through rose-coloured glasses, in which they show themselves on top of a mountain or walking through a bright, bustling market. The “but” obscures the actual process of arriving in a place and being faced with the fears and insecurities that come with being a foreigner, and the fact that you are usually being perceived by all those around you. Or that’s what my mind tricks me into thinking.

The truth is, people will look but won’t remember. The glance you think is judging you is extremely temporary before the person continues on with their day, since they are thinking of their own issues and tasks that need doing instead of considering your clothes, origin or when you last showered. It really is that simple.

The Art of Noticing

There is a sticker on a lamppost that reads “get lost”. The lamppost hasn’t been cleaned in a number of years so the sticker calls out to those who view it, as a blinding yellow circle. I listen.

There is a bench dedicated to a woman from her husband after her death five years ago and I sit there and wonder what she looked like when she was alive and if she would have liked to have a bench dedicated to her. Maybe she would have hated it. Maybe she wanted a plaque on a birch tree instead.