Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great idea... in a safe city
It must be exhausting being this afraid of the world around you
Some assumptions there eh?
Some places are just genuinely scary. Some aren't. Let the stats be your guide.
Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
91–100 of 130 posts
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#92This is probably one of my favorite activities in foreign cities - walk or take public transportation aimlessly for a few hours. Buy a snack that catches my eye, or find a cafe or pub to linger at long enough to see the ebb and flow of foot traffic. Directed tourism is fine, but seeing a few randomly sampled slices of a culture and place gives the experience 'roots' for me in some intangible way.
Walking where locals walk, getting a feel of the buildings, finding your new favourite restaurant, and even visiting boring strip malls right outside the tourist zones makes for much better memories.
It’s even better when you unknowingly walk to an attraction—-the discovery and brief disorientation is so satisfying. “Is that really the Sagrada Familia above those buildings? It looks a bit small. Hmm, let’s walk closer. It’s huge!”
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Something tells me you spend very little time in cities, period.
On the contrary. I've never lived in a non-city, and have spent most of my life surrounded by 10m+ people. Check your biases.
And what of the bias that says "every city that I deem 'unsafe' is indeed unsafe"?
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the contrary. I've never lived in a non-city, and have spent most of my life surrounded by 10m+ people. Check your biases.
And what of the bias that says "every city that I deem 'unsafe' is indeed unsafe"?
You can look at the murder rate per 100k people and draw a conclusion, all without any bias.
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#95One aspect of flânerie is that it goes beyond strolling _for one's self_. The point isn't to stroll aimlessly with an empty mind. It in fact is to help one understand the city in which they are in, to better comprehend it, to feel it. You are in it in order to see it. I think the more often one practices flânerie the better they are at discerning what part of town they just wandered into, and can thus decide whether…
Flânerie is just idle strolling. I don't need to justify it to others by making it sound grandiose. I agree it is enjoyable.
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#96Conversations with Tyler (with urbanist Alain Bertaud)[1] COWEN: Next question from the iPad: “When you arrive into a city you’ve never been to, what and how do you prioritize what to see?” BERTAUD: Before Google Earth, I will just walk randomly through the city and usually start from the center, and to have a cross-section toward the suburbs. I will just walk for hours. Just as my father recommended, look with the i…
I used to call this "getting lost on purpose". In a foreign city, I would leave my hotel and just head out. Get on a bus without knowing where it goes and ride for a while. See something interesting, get off and take a look. Maybe walk a while, and get on another bus. At some point you either decide to try to get back on your own, or you look for a taxi and ask for your hotel.
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#97One aspect of flânerie is that it goes beyond strolling _for one's self_. The point isn't to stroll aimlessly with an empty mind. It in fact is to help one understand the city in which they are in, to better comprehend it, to feel it. You are in it in order to see it. I think the more often one practices flânerie the better they are at discerning what part of town they just wandered into, and can thus decide whether…
I had a wonderful time of my life randomly wandering around Paris. I arrived at the train station, wandered around, found a hotel, checked in, went out, forgot to remember where my hotel was, wandered around some more, decided to go back to the hotel, then realized I had no clue where it was, so wandered around a hell of a lot more, finally wandered back to the train station, then retraced my wandering steps to the h…
It’s because the artist is French. He’s quite abundant in Europe, but of course there are loads in France.
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great idea... in a safe city
The same behaviors will get you mugged in safe cities and unsafe cities. Wonder like a local. Look casually disinterested just like you're walking home from work.
Ditch the white shoes! Minimize staring at maps on sidewalks, and if you need a bit of time to regroup dive into a cafe or kebab/taco joint. If your random track gets you to a sketchy zone, increase your speed and outward sense of purpose.
I have wandered all over a bunch of Mexican cities, and still have only ever been mugged on a hiking trail in the N. Georgia (US) mountains.
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#99This is probably one of my favorite activities in foreign cities - walk or take public transportation aimlessly for a few hours. Buy a snack that catches my eye, or find a cafe or pub to linger at long enough to see the ebb and flow of foot traffic. Directed tourism is fine, but seeing a few randomly sampled slices of a culture and place gives the experience 'roots' for me in some intangible way.
After nomading on/off for 12+ years, this is pretty much what it boils down for me. I don’t care about any tourist traps anymore. Just want to get lost in the city and have fun. No point. Just aimless wandering.
Re: Flânerie: The Art of Aimless Strolling
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is my first comment but I have read this site daily since I created the account in March. I felt that my experience would be a valuable addition to the thread and I am not attempting to speak for all women. I'm sorry if it came off that way and I am genuinely happy that you haven't had this experience. This site seems to be a bit of an echo chamber sometimes so I thought I'd offer a differing opinion.
I hope you keep commenting! I think your experience brought a good balance to an otherwise one-sided viewpoint. I think a lot of people here haven't really been exposed to actual dangerous areas in the world, but even in seemingly safe areas, I know a lot of my female friends feel very unsafe walking there alone. All it takes is one drunk dude...
Thank you! I love seeing the technical posts, I'm such a nerd. I haven't had much to contribute, just absorbing. This post was different, I learned about flânerie in college, loved the concept and tried it, and got a reality check. Thought it would be worth a comment.