I like the idea of travelling the globe but it always struck me as something that takes the place you’re in for granted. A few years ago, my friend Kelvin and I came up with the idea of microtravel: picking an area of the place you live and seeing it. Apparently, that idea was already named, to an extent, but “urban exploration” isn’t quite what I’m aiming for here, because it only desribes a bit of the idea.
Microtravel, in essence, is taking some time to see a part of the area you live in as if you were an explorer. By ignoring the little part of your brain that tries to pull you down the streets you normally walk to get home, you can make yourself enter some pretty weird areas and see great things. Taking it a step further, it’s often a lot of fun to take your main arterial public transit route (be it subway, tram, or bus) to an entirely irrelevant stop off at which you’ve never gotten and start walking. While it’s not always interesting or englightening, you’ll often find inspiring little crannies in the sides of walls. Cameras are recommended, though I tend not to bring one (my distaste for taking my own photos is another topic entirely).
What’s weird is how few people I’ve spoken to have ever even considered this, given the games that we play (you knew I’d work it in at some point, didn’t you?). Even the most open-world games give us only a city, or maybe its outlying areas, or maybe even a couple of other cities (I’m thinking of San Andreas at the moment as the largest one that comes to mind). However, these games encourage you to work in and explore what amounts to a relatively small amount of space (small is relative to, say, everything between Montreal and Mumbai, for example). There are always rewards for finding little places in the environment, too; perhaps there’s an agility orb in this previously unexplored cove, or a radioactive pigeon to shoot.
For many, the reward only comes from finding those scattered prizes (and the corresponding achievements/trophies that they lead to). But, for others, including myself, the reward isn’t the prize; it’s the exploring itself. I jsut don’t get why this itch doesn’t extend to the real world for many: if you don’t need to find an easter egg to enjoy it, why not do it where your field of vision is 360º and there’s no polygon count? Maybe Ottawa and Montreal are okay places to do this because you can be pretty confident that you’re not going to get shot, which isn’t necessarily true of every city in the world, but I’ve found this a pretty rewarding activity.
I’m not saying you should break into sewers like in that previously mentioned urban exploration wiki entry. In fact, the wohle UE thing strieks me as pretty needlessly “extreme.” But, there’s nothing wrong with taking a day to explore a neighborhood you haven’t checked out due to its lack of buzzworthy restaurants or its distance from your comfort area. In fact, it’s Brilliam-recommended!
Wednesday, 21. January 2009
I’ve never really thought about doing this, but at the same time, I have. Having 5 hours between classes with an hour commute to and from school leaves me with a lot of free time, wondering what to do. Should I go to the beach? Maybe the Art gallery that looks a little shady? Maybe instead of dying in Contra 4, I’ll try going somewhere else that I normally don’t go.
Nice Segue, by the way, totally didn’t see it coming (or did I…).
Wednesday, 21. January 2009
I think this is wonderful and have practiced it on occasion. I loved doing this when living in Vancouver as there were so many interesting areas.
I also believe microtravel captures the essence more than Urban Exploration. It sums everything up (the idea of seeing your town in the eyes of a visitor).
Thursday, 22. January 2009
It probably fits under the umbrella definition of UE, which is really just leaving your comfort zone and exploring. You’re definitely bang on about infiltration being more extreme, but it’s also potentially more rewarding.
Either way it’s definitely a good way to keep the place you live interesting.
Monday, 26. January 2009
Actually there’s a pair of anthropologists, Tim Ingold and Jo Vergunst, who have done a tremendous amount of work on alternate methods of engaging with your environment. Part of it includes not only the actual physicality of walking and thinking and perceiving, but also the ways in which we perceive things differently when we walk. We had a discussion in my last term about ways of re-seeing your urban environment and they came up as one of the reading topics.
I’m sure they’ve also come up with a jargolitical definition of their own, I just can’t remember what it is.
Monday, 26. January 2009
I tried this the other day on my walk home from work: initially it was because I wanted to stop by Subway and so had to take a roundabout route, but I remembered this post and made it roundabout-er.
I didn’t find anything particularly interesting, but the novelty of new surroundings was more than enough to make it worthwhile.