I don’t travel to explore new places. I travel to walk on their pavements

Some also do it to assimilate into a new society. For Pritesh Bhatia, a humanities student in Florence—crowned the most walkable city in the world—unfamiliar paths unexpectedly led to a sense of belonging. “When I first moved here from Mumbai, loneliness weighed heavily on me. Making friends was never my forte. The language barrier, cultural differences and my introverted personality only made it harder.” Florence’s cobblestone streets were so inviting that it was impossible for him to stay cooped up in his room. “Every day, I’d meander aimlessly. Before I knew it, I was devouring pizzas by Ponte Vecchio, exchanging stories with buskers and soaking in more Renaissance history than I ever did at university.”

Now, whenever I get the chance to pull the brakes on work, I travel to other cities to walk. Not to hike, not to join a walking tour, but for the simple purpose of experiencing the rhythm of a street, the freedom of moving at my own pace and the small moments through the eyes of a pedestrian. I journey not to scale mountains or dive into oceans. Instead, I search for sidewalks to walk on.

Crowds of people on the streets of Vienna.

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