On walking 🚶♂️
This week I’d like to elevate a daily task into the best way to understand a city, if practised intentionally: a walk.
Cars get you from A to B fast, but their aluminium cocoon is insular and sterile, and shields you from the world outside.
Cycling is fantastic way to understand the geography of a place, but the street moves by too fast for you to truly engage with it.
And whilst the subway has it’s own culture and is not short of excitement, it doesn’t reflect the character of the neighbourhood that you see above ground.
Only walking really allows you build a relationship with the city. It forces you to engage with the street, to acknowledge its people, and to recognise what makes a neighbourhood unique. If done well, walking turns the simplest mode of transportation into spiritual act.
Yesterday I walked from Chelsea down to the Lower East Side, took a short ride over the Williamsburg Bridge, and then walked from Williamsburg to Greenpoint.
Along the way I took roughly 12K steps, walked for about 2 hours, and stopped about 10 times to take pictures.
Here’s a rough rundown of what I saw on the route:
the frantic energy of Chelsea, it’s residents doing errands and preparing for the week ahead
the beautiful stores of SoHo, and a pianist performing in a public garden:
the chaos of Chinatown, with a bewildering array mushrooms and nuts I’ve never tasted before
a store dedicated to pickles (they had probably 20-30 different varieties), and a conversation with a regular who had suggestions
and an anarchist book and record store, with barely a single author I recognised.
In all, an afternoon well spent, with more intrigue and adventure than a month of Ubers or Lyfts.
A few tips for a good walk:
no music or podcasts — these only distract and take your attention away from the street1
walk alone or with someone you’re familiar with — this similarly focuses your energy on the street, and gives you opportunity to try a new route or explore an inviting store.
What truly makes walking great is that you can do it again. Each time you walk, the street will reveal itself to you in a new way: the light moves and changes shade, stores open and close, trees shed leaves and grow anew, it’s people change and morph. And serendipitous moments happen that you couldn’t foresee.
You won’t be bored - there’s always more to discover, and there’s always more to explore.
Till next week!