The Art of Exploration
Back on the Regrowth Blog, we discuss the Art of Exploration. Aka — the ability to find all the cool new things around you, that make the world as awesome and unique as it is. It’s easy to get stuck in repeatable rhythms & routines; our daily journey to and from work, our daily walk down the road to the pizza place, etc. One of the great specialties of life is finding what’s around the corner. It’s probably something cool.
Many times I’ve visited Grandview Market in West Palm for a nice coffee. It’s a happening spot in a weird neighborhood — clearly developing from an industrial zone into something a little more bad & boujee, as the Migos would say. You can walk right up the road past the District to get there, or you can take this hidden path, found after a couple visits and a walk around the premises. Break routine. Find something cool.
Here’s another one. Behind the bus stop on Belvedere Ave, where it intersects with Mercer Ave (also West Palm) is this lizard, as well as a little forest grove. Not a cool spot per se, as it’s covered in trash, which is why I visited. Having said that — there’s hidden wildlife, there’s sometimes iguanas, and there’s a little river among the trees that can be checked out. All behind a routine bus stop that I’d bet a million (hyperbole) people drive by literally every day. Now, to be clear, incredibly sketchy spot to just be hanging out at. But exploration ain’t always for the faint of heart !!!
Time to break your ankles and take you to an entirely different location; the train tracks that border Fed Hill in Baltimore. In the distance you can see M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Ravens. Unless you live in this particular neighborhood in Fed, you’ve probably never seen this spot. You may have even been to Wayward, or Camden Yards or a Ravens game. You may have just lived up by Fed Hill Park, taken the area for granted, and never been. What’s so cool about train tracks disappearing around the corner in the snow, you may ask? The mystical nature of it. Next question.
Moving you further up along the coast, we now have this path, overgrown by weeds, wall covered in graffiti. Believe it or not, this is directly adjacent to I-95. The highway that goes all the way from Key West to Maine (it might end in Miami, to be fair.) If you’re from Westchester NY, you’ve driven this stretch of road before. But I bet you never knew this bad boy was there. It also happens to lead to Split Rock, a famous historical landmark in the area, which is now nestled between a highway on ramp from the Hutch to 95. Funnily enough, this exists right off the same I-95 that is adjacent to where the lizard picture was taken, and the District. Oh, and the train tracks? They’re all within half a mile of I-95? Yup.
I-95 is obviously a long road, but the point remains. Take a look at the world around you. Turn the corner. Find something interesting. From someone who used to play a lot of open world games as a kid — Skyrim, Runescape, World of Warcraft — my favorite part was the exploration. Exploring the world around you just turns out to be 10x better, if you can remember it’s there. Toss a follow here, on IG (same username) or subscribe on patreon if you’re into what we do. Till next time, which will likely be the May wrap up.
