The Everywhere blog
Like We Said, Travel Is All Around You!
Here at Everywhere magazine, our motto is “Travel is all around you.” And we really mean it. Whether it's the deep-pocketed jet-setter who hops on a plane at a moment's notice, the intrepid adventurer seeking out the ends of the earth, or the urbanite on the hunt for hip lounges, the idea of traveling means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
How you explore your world says a lot about who you are, but it also can shape who you become. Think of the boutique hotel-hopper, and then think of the rough-and-tumble soul who treks to the top of Kilimanjaro. And then think of the boutique hotel-hopper who ditches the luxuries of a heated pool and room service for the unpredictable ways of the Kilimanjaro snows. They undoubtedly leave their experiences a changed person (for better or worse).
But what about the seasoned traveler who can turn a keen eye to all those wonderful sights and sounds popping up at them on their jaunt to the bus stop, in their backyard, or at the neighborhood park? They too can also emerge from the experience, a radically changed person.
Take a cue from San Francisco-based artist Kate Pocrass, whose Mundane Journeys series has been going strong since she began the project, 7 years ago.
An avid walker, Pocrass embarks every weekend upon, well, a mundane journey. She might stop into a dim sum house and order two different kinds of dumplings, or she'll carefully study a collection of random spoons advertised in a storefront window, or maybe she'll play hopscotch in the playground of a nearby elementary school. No matter how mundane, basic, or overlooked, Pocrass takes the greatest care to experience all those things that, most of the time, go completely inexperienced.
Pocrass then records detailed instructions for taking the journey on an answering machine. She changes the message weekly. Check it out: The phone number is (415) 364-1465.
Inviting quirkiness aside, what these journeys really offer is a chance to explore the furthest stretches of your neighborhood and/or city as a whole. In fact, it smacks of that lovely experience of entertaining a visitor in your hometown and taking them to those tourist traps you always forget to go to visit.
I went on a bout of these journeys when guest artist Michael Swaine took over the series for four weeks and kept his travels restricted to the boundaries of San Francisco's seedy Tenderloin neighborhood. Not that I recommend people leap to their feet and start journeying through their local skid row, but I have to say, I didn't see necessarily what Swaine saw, but I saw other things. And now, every time I find myself passing through that neighborhood, I have my eyes peeled for anything I've missed; eager to take on a new experience or adventure.
No matter where you are, keep a keen eye out for every day moments and experiences, that can turn out to be pretty extraordinary. These are the kinds of excursions that can teach all of us, in a sense, to be better travelers.
Go down that street you drive by every day, just to see what might be at the end of it. Make it a point to order coffee at that bodega you've always wondered about, and take your kids or dogs to new parks on a regular basis.
You'll never know what you'll find. See, we can all be explorers, even during our lunch hours.
How you explore your world says a lot about who you are, but it also can shape who you become. Think of the boutique hotel-hopper, and then think of the rough-and-tumble soul who treks to the top of Kilimanjaro. And then think of the boutique hotel-hopper who ditches the luxuries of a heated pool and room service for the unpredictable ways of the Kilimanjaro snows. They undoubtedly leave their experiences a changed person (for better or worse).
But what about the seasoned traveler who can turn a keen eye to all those wonderful sights and sounds popping up at them on their jaunt to the bus stop, in their backyard, or at the neighborhood park? They too can also emerge from the experience, a radically changed person.
Take a cue from San Francisco-based artist Kate Pocrass, whose Mundane Journeys series has been going strong since she began the project, 7 years ago.
An avid walker, Pocrass embarks every weekend upon, well, a mundane journey. She might stop into a dim sum house and order two different kinds of dumplings, or she'll carefully study a collection of random spoons advertised in a storefront window, or maybe she'll play hopscotch in the playground of a nearby elementary school. No matter how mundane, basic, or overlooked, Pocrass takes the greatest care to experience all those things that, most of the time, go completely inexperienced.
Pocrass then records detailed instructions for taking the journey on an answering machine. She changes the message weekly. Check it out: The phone number is (415) 364-1465.
Inviting quirkiness aside, what these journeys really offer is a chance to explore the furthest stretches of your neighborhood and/or city as a whole. In fact, it smacks of that lovely experience of entertaining a visitor in your hometown and taking them to those tourist traps you always forget to go to visit.
I went on a bout of these journeys when guest artist Michael Swaine took over the series for four weeks and kept his travels restricted to the boundaries of San Francisco's seedy Tenderloin neighborhood. Not that I recommend people leap to their feet and start journeying through their local skid row, but I have to say, I didn't see necessarily what Swaine saw, but I saw other things. And now, every time I find myself passing through that neighborhood, I have my eyes peeled for anything I've missed; eager to take on a new experience or adventure.
No matter where you are, keep a keen eye out for every day moments and experiences, that can turn out to be pretty extraordinary. These are the kinds of excursions that can teach all of us, in a sense, to be better travelers.
Go down that street you drive by every day, just to see what might be at the end of it. Make it a point to order coffee at that bodega you've always wondered about, and take your kids or dogs to new parks on a regular basis.
You'll never know what you'll find. See, we can all be explorers, even during our lunch hours.
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