This article could be simple, I could tell you to eat the food, go to the monuments, and do the tourist-y stuff! These things are all good and fun, but my advice is a little different. When you are visiting a new city, there is a different way to approach it.

Get lost. Here’s how you do it. Go off the map. Go farther than the monuments you want to see or farther than the body of water you were hoping to hang around.

Start walking. Or take the subway to a new stop. See if you can walk somewhere where you don’t recognize the buildings! If you have a meeting, try to walk around the neighborhood where the meeting or event is taking place. Through my experience, I have found so many cool places by taking some extra time to just walk around. Some shops, some restaurants, and some hole-in-the-wall venues that I will keep visiting over and over again.

Don’t be afraid to explore somewhere new! Once you find your destination, you can get your bearings and go from there. Some of my best times in New York City came from me getting lost. But I never panicked, I simply figure out where I need to be and I figure out the best way to get there (usually the subway).

For instance, this past spring I was traveling to and from the city almost every weekend screening films for the Tribeca Film Festival. I have never visited Tribeca before, mainly because the shopping is expensive, it’s very residential, and I really never had a reason to. But when I went to the festival, I did some exploring. Between each screening I would try to grab something to eat and walk at least a few blocks in a new direction. Guess what? Tribeca is absolutely beautiful!

I did not know anything about Tribeca but I started walking and I saw a whole new side of the city. It blew my mind. After spending an entire summer in New York City and countless weekends during the year, I was so surprised to find a new spot. But this is just the first of many spots I haven’t seen! New York City is my favorite because there is so much to see and I want to see it all one day.

Another time that I was exploring was with some friends. We went to an alternative show at a place called The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. It is a small venue with a bar and standing room for the shows. After the show, we walked around Brooklyn and found some awesome places. Brooklyn has so many hole-in-the-wall places and they each bring something different to the table. There were book stores, record stores, thrift shops, coffee shops, and the famous Milk Bar.

What I want you to know is that new cities don’t need to be scary. They should be so much fun. Just remember that the tourist-y stuff is fun, but there’s so much more to a city than what the tourists see. Live like a local and find those cool spots.