Even though some of my family has lived in the bay area for several years now, I didn't get around to exploring the city of San Francisco until last April after my niece's baby dedication.
I love exploring cities, and have had the opportunity to wander around American cities the past few years. With a limited budget, I haven't traveled overseas in the last several years, so I've made the most of travelling throughout the U.S. Let me tell you, there is so much to see and experience. It all started with a short trip to Seattle, Washington in 2012. I decided to check out a travel guide book, just so I could learn more about what the travel experts say about where I should go within the city for the best sights, and of course, food.
I've noticed that travel guide books sometimes provide recommended self-guided walking tours, where you follow directions throughout a neighborhood and learn about the history of the sights you're seeing throughout the tour as you read and walk. I fell in love with this type of walking, and I have called it "pilgrimage walking."
Pilgrimage walking is so much more than just sight seeing. This kind of walking allows you to be fully immersed into the history of a community or neighborhood while experiencing your own story and journey in the midst of it. There is something powerful about the visceral, embodied experience of walking, listening, learning, absorbing, and interacting with stories of physical places, and how it affects your own story.
One of the self-guided walking tours I decided to do was in Chinatown where I learned about the rich history of Chinese immigrants and the development of their community in the city. I was so caught up in pilgrimage walking in that story and community that I didn't even bother to take pictures, I just wanted to stay as present as possible with what I was learning, and how it affected me.
But I have plenty of photos of the beauty of San Francisco, with my usual favorites from urban street art as well. Cities are full of life and beauty. I often lose that or forget that since I've lived in South LA for so long. But taking time to wander and learn and absorb and interact in a community is a reminder that there is depth and so much more than meets the eye, and more importantly, how it becomes a part of you when you're intentional and paying attention while walking in it.
Peace,
Sharon
