I've done my fair bit of traveling. From my experience, there are two ways to go about exploring a new place: with no background knowledge whatsoever or with some knowledge, having done some homework in advance.
The former is a pure delight and filled with surprise, as was so the first time I wandered into the ruins of Petra, the Rose City of the Nebataeans in present day Jordan. So too did I share this experience roaming the bazaars of Istanbul east of the Bosphorus.
In those places, reading too extensively about a place spoils, as when you read a review about a movie that's too in-depth.
Yet, it helps to have some context about how a place fits in with world history so when you read the museum-like placards that dot Petra or breathe the spice-scented air of bazaars far away, you'll know how they came to be—how a rich trade route founded an ancient trade town and, on shifting, caused the demise of that same town and how hundreds of years of history created a place of exchange so rich and vibrant, it survives to this day in an era of mass commercialization and globalization.
like the time I explored Rome on foot with only a cursory glance of the map beforehand.
nothing makes travel as immersive as when I go exploring a new place with some background knowledge about it. it helps to have background knowledge before diving into a new place in exploration mode.
Wandering the labyrinthine alleyways of a medina in Fez, I'm more interested in finding buildings of architectural significance instead.
- A Global History of Architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- The Modern World, Part One: Global History from 1760 to 1910 from University of Virginia
- The Modern World, Part Two: Global History since 1910 from University of Virginia
- Designing Cities from University of Pennsylvania
- Smart Cities from ETH Zurich
- Future Cities from ETH Zurich
- Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics from Universiteit Leiden
- Cameras, Exposure, and Photography from Michigan State University
