Travel · 20 min
Take the streetyou never take
On a walk you already do, turn down one street you have never taken, and see where it goes.
This is the smallest kind of trip. It uses a walk you already make, and changes one turn.
The steps
Four small steps,in your own time.
On your next ordinary walk, to the shop or the bus or round the block, pick one turning you have never taken.
Take it. Walk to the end, or for five minutes, whichever comes first.
Notice what is different: the houses, the gardens, the sounds, the way the light falls.
Find your way back to your usual route, or carry on if you like where it is going.
The reason
Why it helps
Routes we walk every day tend to shrink to a line between two points. One new turning opens them out again, and puts a little surprise into an ordinary day. It is a way to feel you have been somewhere, in the time you already had.
A gentle variation
If you drive or take the bus, get off one stop early, or take a different road home once this week.
WE · TRIBE
Try itwith someone.
Do it with a child and let them choose the turning. Or do it with a friend and walk until one of you says turn back.
Try it today
On your next ordinary walk, take one turning you have never taken and follow it for five minutes.
More like this
More from VIVE Travel,for real days.
Travel · 30 min
Be curious close to home
Walk somewhere ten minutes from your door as if you were visiting, and find three things you never noticed.
Travel · 15 min
Sketch a one-page getaway
One sheet of paper: where, how you would get there, where you would sleep, and one thing you would do. No booking.
Travel · 20 min
Plan a small day out
Choose somewhere within an hour, one thing to see there, and a day this month. Write it on the calendar.