The “vague notion” of travel
On both of my recent cycling vacations, I employed the “vague notion” of travel.
I’d set out with only a vague notion of where I wanted to go, or what distance I wanted to travel, or what I’d like to see. Then with a vague notion, I’d set off and let opportunity be my guide.
In Canada, one such trip began with a look at our 50 and 60-year-old topographic maps. The vague notion lead me on a 50-mile off-road ride that was the most enjoyable I’ve had there. I stopped twice to ask where I was, and where I was going.
I found that asking strangers turned into great conversations about the area and cycling. The people I talked with thought it was some kind of epic adventure that I’d set out on, even though I was riding roads they travel all the time.
In Denver, I set out twice armed only with a fuzzy black-and-white print of this Denver Bike Path Map. In fact, in Denver I made a conscious decision to not upgrade to the large, fold-out map available at BikeDenver or the LBSs.
One day I set out to explore the west side and ended up riding to downtown Denver with Ed, a retiree who rides 30 or 40 miles every couple of days. Wonderful conversations and a great ride.
Another day I set out to explore the east side and ended up riding to downtown Denver with Jean, a social worker who’d just moved from Boston to Denver with her wife. She was exploring Denver for the first time too.
I found the vague notion also works well on foot. In Chicago I had a few hours to kill between trains. On the first time through I asked an Amtrak employee what I could see in a couple of hours on foot without getting lost. He sent me to the Sears Tower, two blocks away over the river.
The second time through, all I knew was that I wanted dinner at a sit-down place where salad and vegetables came with the meal. The guy at Starbucks sent me two blocks away to Blackies, on Monroe, right on the river. Good meal, great views.
A similar request of the baggage guy at Amtrak’s Denver Union Station got me a seat on the sidewalk at Dixon’s, 16th and Wazee in Denver. I had a great meal and was entertained the whole while as Denver’s evening urban culture unfolded around me.
Getting lost is a nice adjunct to vague notion travel. Again in Denver, I navigated my way to the wrong side of the tracks from Union Station. Just ride around the block was the solution that entered my head.
Well that side turned out to be a very long block, that dumped me into a busy street filled with cars trying to get the Colorado Rockies baseball game. It was great to be in urban traffic again after a week in the Rockies. I rode around getting even further lost, just for the fun of it. Then, needing to get the bike to the baggage check before the train, I rode up to a cop, explained my predicament and asked directions.
“On a bike,” he told me, “cut through there, then turn right, go to the end and make a left. You’ll see it from there.” Now I know a shortcut that only locals know.
I’ve really liked my experiments with vague notion travel and will be employing it on future trips, and maybe on some closer to home too.
