on Google Maps and discovery

Welcome to midwinter, I thought this week as I watched the snow swirl down outside my kitchen windows. The lows each night have been in the teens; the sidewalks are alternately salt-crunched and ice-treacherous; and the mourning doves are frequenting my windowsill. And per my (not just winter) tradition, I’m reaching for strong black teas each morning.

This week, I’ve been dipping into a silver bag of Canadian Maple tea, bought at Sullivan Street Tea & Spice Company on my recent trip to Manhattan. I’d love to be able to tell you I found it via a friend, or simply through wandering the streets near Washington Square Park. But although that is true of McNulty’s, Mercer Street Books and other places in NYC, I found Sullivan Street Tea through a different means: Google Maps.

I can’t remember where I was originally headed, but a couple of summers ago, when I zoomed in on the map to determine a route, Sullivan Street Tea popped up as a business nearby. So I stopped in, chatted with the owner, bought some blackberry tea and a handmade blue mug, and thought: I definitely have to come back here. Now, if I’m in the neighborhood, it’s one of the places on my NYC rounds.

I try to leave space for analog discovery when I’m traveling: to put my phone away, look at what’s around me, see where my feet might take me. But I also – for the sake of convenience or safety – end up using Google Maps to plot my routes or find a place to eat. And I’m surprised, sometimes, by what I discover: a store selling both books and pickles, a book and wine bar in the East Village, even a Pret when I really needed one.

We live – like it or not – in a technology-connected world, and sometimes I moan about the ways in which our phones take us out of our real lives. But the reverse is also true: technology can spur real-life discoveries, if we pay attention and follow our curiosity. I’m glad I took the all-important step of actually walking to Sullivan Street with my feet, and checking out the physical shop for myself. It may have started for me on Google Maps, but now it’s a real-life fave.

Has this happened to you? Any fun Google Maps discoveries to share?

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#run31: running in a new place.

I mentioned last week that I love running on vacation: it’s fun to lace up my sneakers and head out to explore a new neighborhood on foot. (I seriously can’t wait to run in NYC again.) But today’s post is about something a little different: running a new route that I know I can come back to.

For nearly two years, I ran almost exclusively on the Neponset River trail: past the marshes and reeds, across Granite Street to the parks on the other side. I went as far as I dared until the path ended, and ran my first 5K there. As long as I lived in the neighborhood, I was entirely satisfied: my daily runs didn’t need to be anywhere else.

When I started dog– and house-sitting for friends in Eastie last spring, the days were still short: I didn’t want to venture out on unfamiliar streets in the dark. So I brought my running gear to work and began doing lunchtime runs on the Esplanade. That route – close to my office, and a favorite haunt of Boston runners – has become one of “my” places to run. And as the days lengthened, I began exploring new running routes in Eastie. Those loops along the harborwalk and the greenway are now, of course, where I run all the time.

Last week, I tried out another new-to-me route: the forest path along the river in the Brighton-Watertown area, close to where my guy lives. We’d been for a bike ride or two in that area, but I’d never run that path before. I set off on a stunning morning, the Highwomen in my earbuds, savoring the light and the way it filtered through the leaves.

Running that new-to-me loop felt both normal and refreshingly new. I kept up my usual pace, mostly, but I had to pay attention to my feet (so many tree roots!). Plus, it was kind of fun not knowing exactly where the path would go. I adore my normal route and all its variations, but I didn’t know how much I needed that dose of novelty. I ran all the way to Watertown Square, where there’s another bridge over the river, and came back down the other side. By the time I reached my starting point again, I was sweaty and smiling.

If you run, or exercise regularly, do you like to switch it up sometimes?

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