Is it just me or are the weeks flying by? And every day, we’re creeping closer to the longest day of the year. This is one of my favourite times of year. The weather’s getting warmer, flowers are popping their heads up and it really feels like the start of summer. Because we’ve been busy wedding planning recently, we haven’t been able to get away for as many weekend trips as usual. While I’m missing these, I’ve really been enjoying exploring our local area. This got me thinking about how often we overlook things that are right under our noses. That we travel in search of something different when there are often new and interesting places to explore that are literally just outside our backyards.
Last week I found a secret park. Of course, it wasn’t actually secret – it’s quite easy to find if you know it’s there. But when I came across it, after taking a small dirt path through the trees that looked ‘interesting’, it felt like I was discovering something new. Ok, so it’s not the Lost City of Teyuna, but it also didn’t cost me anything – other than half an hour of my time – to experience that feeling.
Human beings are creatures of habit. We like our nice, safe, boring routines. But this can lead us to think that the only way to break out of these routines is to go on a big adventure. To get away from home. It makes us stop exploring what we have on our doorsteps.
So, if you’re feeling like you’re stuck in a rut; that you go on the same walks, runs or bike rides, then here are some thoughts on how you can shake things up a bit. Even if you think you know your local area like the back of your hand, you may be surprised at what you find.
Take a different path
Do you walk the same route to the station/shop/office every day? Always take your dog on the same loop through the woods, or take your kids to the same park on a Sunday afternoon?
Rather than treading the same old tracks, next time, choose a different route. Take a more roundabout route to the station, or a detour off the road to the local shop. Instead of eating at your desk, take a lunch break and explore the area around your office. When I worked in London, I found hidden parks, peaceful churchyards and a host of blue-plaqued houses through doing just this.
Follow your curiosity
Do you ever see a road, or path and think, ‘I wonder what’s down there?’. Or spot a lake through the trees when driving that looks, well, interesting? Next time you see something that arouses your curiosity, rather than just thinking about it, go and take a look. Follow the road and see where it leads. Find a path that leads down to the lake (not if it’s on private land, obviously) and sit by it for a while.
As children, we are naturally curious and spontaneous. When we grow up, this may be trained out of us; we sometimes feel like we need to limit our curiousity. There are other more important things to be done, after all. But every once in a while, give yourself permission to be a child again and follow your nose down that path or road. You may be surprised at what you find.
Look at your local map
Even if you live in a town or city, there are often lots of small footpaths, linking different housing estates, leading through parks and woodlands or crossing fields. Often you may not even realise they’re there. We moved house about five months ago, to a different part of the same village. Even though I thought I knew the area quite well, when I had a look at the OS map I realised there were loads of paths and back roads that I’d never been down. I’ve been happily exploring them ever since.
You can often borrow Ordnance Survey maps from your local library. There’s also an option to view the OS map for an area on Bing maps. OS maps have a handy phone app where you can plan routes and view maps of different scales on your phone and if you subscribe to the fantastic Trail Running magazine, you get a whole year’s worth of premium access to OS maps for free (which is a bit of a bargain).
Go running without a map
This may sound a bit contrary to common advice, particularly coming from me. I mean, I’m an orienteer – I love maps! I also love knowing where I’m going. But sometimes it’s actually quite fun to lose yourself in a local patch of woodland or a large park and figure out where different paths may lead you.
There’s a wood near our house where we often go running. We’ve even done an orienteering event there and I thought we knew it pretty well. But the other week, when we headed out for an evening run, I chose a different path up the hill. That led to another path, and another and suddenly we found ourselves in a flat, open section of ancient woodland. A signpost informed us that this was the site of a neolithic settlement. If we hadn’t have chosen to lose ourselves in the wood, we may never have known of its existence.
So if you’re not able to get out into the wilds this weekend, don’t feel glum. Take an hour out of your day and discover something new about your local area.