Getting Lost

My first city experience was when I interned for a TV production company in Boston for a summer in college. I knew nothing of Boston except for a few stops on the Red Line. Suddenly I found myself being sent to all ends of the city on foot, by car, driving the company van, and even by borrowed bicycle.

Getting Lost

At first I was overwhelmed  and terrified of not knowing my exact route. But then I discovered that getting lost was no big deal and learned to embrace it. I loved having an adventure.

Now that I mostly bike around the city, I try not to get intimidated by unfamiliar places and keep the same sense of adventure. I just take each street it as it comes.

Getting Lost

And I skip the ones I really don’t want to take. After all, on a bike I can just hop off onto the sidewalk.

Sometimes when I get lost I discover things that I would miss entirely in a car…

Getting Lost

…And I then I stop and eat them.

Getting Lost

 

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26 comments

  • David February 16, 2012  

    Sounds like a great attitude.

    Enjoy the ride.

  • John February 16, 2012  

    HA! If you’ve never gotten lost in Boston, you’ve never BEEN to Boston. 🙂

  • Edem February 16, 2012  

    Awesome! Love it.

  • Lovely Bicycle! February 16, 2012  

    OMG I want cake!

    The last time I got lost in Boston I discovered a tiny beautiful neighborhood that I haven’t been able to find since. I keep trying to get lost in the same area, but to no avail.

    • bikeyface February 16, 2012  

      That’s the opposite of my experience. No matter where I’m trying to go I always end up in the same square that somehow has 5 one-way streets feeding into it… and none going out.

    • Sarah February 16, 2012  

      I wonder if you’re thinking of Bay Village which is a tiny, beautiful neighborhood of 19th century houses between the South End and the Public Garden and Chinatown–kind of hidden. Definitely worth seeking out!

      • Wow could be, will have to check it out! I stumbled upon it when I got lost trying to walk somewhere from the Prudential Center. This was a few years ago now.

        • cycler February 17, 2012  

          I bet Sarah is right Velouria- that was my first thought when I read your comment.
          It’s mostly residential, and is squeezed between the pike, the south end, and chinatown/ the theater district.
          It’s really worth checking out for real, but there’s not much to do except check out cute houses.

  • cycler February 16, 2012  

    Zen navigation is the key to getting around Boston. You just have to meditate your way in the right direction, despite the twists and turns of the road. And getting lost a couple of times makes you know the neighborhoods so much better.

    I’m gonna call you though- I ride through that intersection with the statue and the curved pediment all the time, and there’s no store with cake there 😉

    • bikeyface February 16, 2012  

      I know, originally it was going to be more a joke image about multiple road intersections but then it evolved to cake so I “Hollywooded” it a bit.

    • cris February 16, 2012  

      “And getting lost a couple of times makes you know the neighborhoods so much better.”

      When I first started to get the hang of navigating the city, I’d randomly make myself take different side roads just to see where they’d go or if they would lead me to where I thought I might head to. More than half the time, I’d get lost and circle back, but there have been some magical moments where it’s like you’d find some interdimensional wormhole shortcut; but it’s really just coming to understand how so much of the city isn’t based on square grids, but triangles and ovals.

      I also used to believe that the only way I could get to Clear Flour Bakery in Brookline was to make random right turns in Coolidge Corner, no two of which were ever the same.

    • April February 21, 2012  

      Pfft. I do not get to know neighborhoods better by getting lost. I just get….more lost.

      My sense of direction is appalling though.

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