Reflections on Wandering

I came across this little sketch by Keri Smith, courtesy Maura of Texturism, and it left me thinking about my own wanderings.

Wandering is by far my preferred way to explore a new city, to get the lay of the land and a feel for the people. I did an inordinate amount of wandering with Marisa in Geneva when we studied at the UN – but that summer, I was without a camera.

It’s been a long time since my last real wander in Boston, primarily because I bike everywhere and navigating traffic on a bicycle does not allow for much in the way of meandering or indecision. Nonetheless, this how-to for wandering took me back to my Boston explorations with Michelle in our sophomore year, in search of postal label graffiti. Street art, like so many things in our environments, begins to really shine when we’re open to paying attention to the details. I recall noticing one postal label on an outing with Jack that set off my obsession – I was shocked at how many were out there, if only you were looking for them. I took pictures of every single label I found for months.

Today I unearthed the images from those early wanderings; the following are some of my favorites. The moral of the story? I’m with Keri – pay attention to the details.

image credits: 1 – Keri Smith; 2-10 – Union Jack Creative