Matt Gross on the art of getting lost

“The first thing you do when you arrive in a strange city and want to get lost is put your bags away. Getting lost involves — requires — intense wandering, and a suitcase or heavy backpack is only going to slow you down and make you long for a hotel, a shower, and a change of clothes. If you’re lucky, you’re already at the bus or train station, and the left-luggage office is perfectly equipped to care for your things as long as you like. And then, swearing never to glance at the map on your phone, you just set out.”

–Matt Gross, The Turk Who Loved Apples: And Other Tales of Losing My Way Around the World (2013)