Exploring vs. wandering

Exploring is what most people do when they take a vacation. They book a hotel at a fancy resort, decide ahead on what they want to see and do, and plan their trip around it. They spend most of their travel time moving from place to place—worried that if they don’t stick to their schedule, they’ll miss out on something they’d like to see.

Wandering is different. Wandering gets a bad rap, because, of course, if you’re just wandering, aimlessly, you’re not going anywhere. Which means that you’ll inevitably miss out on lots of cool and fun things to see or do or experience.

But wandering, as opposed to exploring, allows you to savor. Because instead of jumping from one location to the next, you can simply find a nice spot and soak it in. You explore with your senses, not with your feet. You taste the scent in the air, you feel the terrain against your feet, you experience everything fully and completely, and quite possibly make a new friend along the way.

I like to think of it as the difference between hiking and forest bathing. With hiking, you’re always on the move. That’s because the point of hiking is often to get to a destination. Forest bathing (or ‘shinrin-yoku’ as it’s called in Japan) is a little different. It’s more about relishing nature (experiencing all it has to offer) rather than moving through it.

So, while you can certainly spend a day in Paris hopping off the Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tour--to see the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Effiel Tower, the Chateau De Versailles, and the Moulin Roulin Evening Cabaret Show (and maybe make a 5-minute pit stop at Du Pain et des Idées for a chocolate-pistachio escargot pastry)--you can just as easily sit and enjoy yourself, perhaps at a local bakery (perhaps at Poilâne), and really(!) savor the ambiance, the people, the smell of fresh country bread, and maybe even a Punition cookie and a coffee.

You might find that even when you’re wandering (aimlessly, impulsively, serendipitously)—there’s still so much to see and do.