Do you really know what your neighbourhood is like? Do you know where the nice bits are that you would enjoy spending time in and wandering around?

For years I have to confess that I didn’t and I missed out out on so much because of my ignorance.

These days I have learnt to make a point of getting off my behind and wandering around any place I am in to see what it has to offer so that I don’t make the mistake of missing out again.

Why explore?

I explored when I visited Tokyo and had the profound luck of witnessing a beautiful Buddhist ceremony in a quiet temple early in the morning, and throughout this summer I have wandered across White egrets, deer and bats all because I got up and got out.

What you find depends on where you are so you can find an epic bargain or figure out if you want to move to a neighbourhood or not or have an experience that makes your day that bit more special. Either way learning about the world around you is well known as the key to making the most of it.

Give me a practical example

To give you an example I will take you back to a wonderful holiday I had with my family in Weymouth, England back in 2015 where on the first day I made the effort to go out and explore the local area to see what I could find. I was tired from a hard day of packing and driving and parenting but it did not take long for this effort to pay off.

Just 10 minutes into the walk I get my first reward. You can never really capture the view on a camera but this scene on the left with a little flower in the corner, Portland in the background and the bay in the middle was just a treat to walk alongside.

The evening was warm and still, so the gentle sea air was lovely and I was really glad I had made the effort to get out. As is so often the case, now that I had got out and was enjoying myself my mood had changed and I did not want the walk to end because I was looking forward to what i would find.

Sandsfoot castle

A little further on I came across an epic find of Sandsfoot castle, which is a beautiful ruin built by Henry the VIII and finished around 1536. When I wandered by in the evening the castle was empty except for a few passersby so I had the joy of exploring it at my leisure relatively uninterrupted.

The beauty of a relic like this is that it gives you a different way to experience an area and a view. A beach is wonderful to wander along and this castle, set high up and acting like a cliff or rocky outcrop gives me a perfect opportunity to look sideways across the shore line to features much further away and even back to land and enjoy the view of Weymouth itself.

Go explore for yourself

You have heard my example so now I challenge you to have a think about where you want to explore, whether it’s your local neighbourhood or somewhere else? Let me know in the comments below what you did and how it felt. I look forward to seeing what ideas you come up with.

Thank you

Thanks for stopping by. If you liked this summary and want to learn more about improving your health then visit Day 1 of our holiday in Weymouth to read the full details