One of the best parts of moving to a big city has been just how much there is to explore. Growing up in a smaller city like Charleston is great because it provides you with a sense of familiarity, of knowing every nook and cranny, every good hole-in-the-wall restaurant or hipster coffee shop. Charleston is also great because you can walk or bike almost everywhere you need to go, and it was there that I got in the habit of using my own two feet as my primary mode of transportation. In New York, I’ve simply elevated that, walking not only around my little neighborhood of Morningside Heights, but to Midtown and Downtown as well.
Sure, it can be quite a hike; I have no problem getting my 10,000 steps a day in here. In fact, I usually average somewhere more around 15,000 a day, and walk anywhere from 5-13 miles in a day, depending on where I’m going. Yes, New York public transportation is great, and yes, I have a metro card, which I use to get down to places like the Meatpacking District or Greenwich Village. But, if it’s a feasible place to walk to, I usually do.
Why? What’s the point in putting myself through an 80 block walk just to buy coffee and head through Central Park? Maybe it’s still the thrill of living in New York that has yet to wear off. But getting out and walking around gives me the opportunity to explore my new home in a way that a cab or the subway wouldn’t. I’m able to make a list of restaurants I want to try, walk down gorgeous tree-lined blocks of brownstones, stumble upon coffee shops or musuems or shops to check out. I’ve cut through Central Park as a shortcut and accidentally wound up in places such as the Shakespeare Gardens or Strawberry Fields. I’ve found that some of my favorite restaurants from back home also have locations in the city. And perhaps most of all, I’m getting tons of exercise in.
When you really think about it, humans weren’t meant to be sedentary creatures. As a college student, I spend a large portion of my day sitting behind a desk, whether that be in class, in the library, or in my room late at night. And because I also live on campus, I don’t have to walk very far to get anywhere. If I didn’t choose to go take walks around and explore, I probably wouldn’t leave the five blocks surrounding the Columbia campus. But that’s not why I came to New York.
If I had wanted a traditional college experience, I would have picked a school with a sprawling campus and old buildings, perhaps a small college-town type of setting. And while yes, there is a part of me that craves that, there’s a larger part of me that’s always longed for the excitement of the city, of the endless opportunities that come with it. There’s an uncertainty with living in New York, a freedom of never knowing what’s going to happen that day (last weekend, I went with some friends to go grab dinner. We ended up getting those milkshakes with slices of cake on top and going to an improv comedy show at midnight). You never know what will happen to you here, and while that uncertainty can be unnerving, you just have to embrace it and go with whatever New York throws at you.
And I truly do believe that getting out and exploring on your own two feet is a key component to that.