I’ve never been the mountain man type, but huge malls and megacities don’t do much for me either. Maybe none of us really fit on this planet. We keep remodeling it to feel at home and then complain that it still doesn’t feel like home.
So every now and then we get this urge to go back to nature, some green to wash away all the gray, a bit of fresh air and a little silence. Then why not get off the chair and go do a real trail?
In theory, great idea. In practice most of us (me included) get stuck at step one, because we don’t know where to go and have zero experience, or because of that voice from the last time, “Dude, hurry up”. I’m always the last one, squatting in the mud to photograph some random weed while everybody else is already drinking water at the finish line.
To be honest, I like the way there more than the arrival. Nobody will ever hear me shouting “end of the trail, woohoo”, because the end of the trail is just the start of the ride back to regular life.
Before admitting I’m a rookie, I went to the dictionary.
trail
noun. a mark or a series of signs or objects left behind by the passage of someone or something.
And we humans are world champions at leaving marks behind, especially where we live and work. So since I’m not exactly a pro on wilderness trails, why not try an urban one? The idea is to pay attention to the small details of a city, the ones a tourist notices and the people who live there walk right past.
An urban trail, then
Sure, the air isn’t exactly fresh and concrete is still concrete, but walking around unfamiliar blocks can be surprisingly relaxing. On a weekend, swap the usual coffee for an urban loop, let the traffic turn into background noise and pretend it’s an adventure instead of a commute. Sometimes getting lost downtown even shows you more trees than you expected.
If you can’t beat it, join it. Cities always get painted as the end of the planet, new buildings everywhere and streets flooding with every rain. Maybe if we studied cities the way we study forests, we could push for smarter decisions.
I’m not inventing anything here, just pushing myself (and whoever wants to come) to explore the place where we already live, or at least to look at it from another angle. It’s perfect for people allergic to poison ivy or afraid of spiders. Bring a camera, the urban jungle is full of cats and rats playing on the same team.
If you still prefer dirt under your boots, no problem, my friends at Trilhas & Aventuras have a mountain of tips, with routes for every taste.
I’ll stick around here and once in a while put together some urban routes, walks to find the nature hiding in this stone forest, the corners we miss while running to meetings.
If you see me on some random corner, I’ll probably still be the last in line. 😄