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.
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.
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…
…And I then I stop and eat them.
Oh man, so true about the roads near I-93. Pick the wrong one and you’re headed towards the highway with no other options! That must be the Traveler St Bridge going westbound in the drawing. Once I was trying to get from South Boston to Back Bay. I crossed that only to find out that I couldn’t go straight under I-93 and had to go right onto an elevated road (over the rail yard) that feeds to I-93 but also goes to Stuart St near South Station. It didn’t have a sidewalk but it did have a wide shoulder, and I saw no signs prohibiting bicycles, so I rode on. I was really worried someone would honk at me but no one did!
Oops I meant Kneeland St not Stuart St.
Yaay Cake!
I love wandering Boston (on foot). I’ve never managed to get REALLY lost, but I did accidentally walk from the Financial District to Harvard Square!
With a GPS you can both see where you are and mark out the good cake shops. Just remember to take it off your bike when it is unattended.
The big + with them though is that you can go out exploring pretty much anywhere and still get back home somewhat within an expected time frame.
Ah yea. If you get lost in a hilly city, as long as you can do enough hills while lost and get back home…along the way. But stop at a nice cafe to rest. 😀