Monday 28 September 2009

A New Perspective for Familiar Places

Do you know people who have been to far flung countries in the world, but hardly visited different parts of their own cities? People who could tell you exotic details and histories of other culture, but might not know if anything significant happened where they live?
I am one of those people. It’s only since the last few years that I’ve realised it.

When you live somewhere, you think you’ve got plenty of time to go around and see things. There is no urgency to do something right now, because there is always tomorrow. It’s home. You will be there forever. No need to hurry. While for a lot of people that is true, in my case it’s not. Home is not a fixed place, or even a fixed country. So far I have lived in 3 countries, and no doubt there will be more in the future. So getting complacent about it means that when I do move away, I probably wouldn’t know much about where I live now.

From a superficial point of view, I am not really a big fan of Bristol. It’s not big enough or cityish enough to suit my definition of a city (think London, NYC, Berlin), public transportation is dreadful to say the least, and historical background doesn’t include the type and events of history that I am interested in. So I haven’t bothered exploring much.

But lately it has occurred to me that there maybe plenty I would like if only I see it as a traveller, and not as a resident. There maybe unexplored gems in the city somewhere, or fascinating stories that I have missed out on, by going only to my regular haunts and routes and nowhere else.

So a new goal then for the next year is to Explore Bristol. I don’t intend to get obsessive about it, but every once in a while, I will make the effort to go out and visit new places that I haven’t been to, and see how that effects my perspective of Bristol.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting!! many years ago I bought a guide, took a camera and every Saturday I played the tourist in my own city, Lisbon. Surprising, I tell you... ;))
    Great blog you've here!!
    Blogtrotter

    ReplyDelete
  2. I recently returned to my home city (Oxford) and decided to go to all of the museums - it was fun and I should have done this sooner. I live in Paris and never get tired of getting out there to see as much as I can, knowing that one day, I might decide to move away. I've made some incredible discoveries.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GMG,
    Thank you for visiting. I like your idea of going around the city with a camera, regularly. I will definitely have to do that.

    Pumpkin,
    Thanks for stopping by. I completely understand where you are coming from. We have to remember to make the most of the home town, as it may not be home town forever. Oh and I love Oxford.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You know, I was just the same about Bristol - until I became a travel blogger....
    Now I want to explore every nook and cranny - I'm seeing it with fresh eyes as if I was just visiting

    ReplyDelete