Hello, Reader.

I hope your week is off to a great start! Keeping up with our walking theme from last week, I thought I'd share one of our favorite ways to explore new destinations. You guessed it... Walking!

Sometimes it's just wandering streets or trails, turning whichever way the moment strikes, but sometimes we're a little more strategic.

A while back we took a road trip to Pittsburgh, PA. We had a whole day to explore the downtown area and driving in we were struck by the number of bridges spanning the city. I looked it up and would you believe there are more than 400 bridges within the Pittsburgh city limits?! No wonder its nickname is "The City of Bridges."

In the heart of the city, three major rivers converge: the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers, with Point State Park nestled at their junction.

Heading out to explore

Wanting to get the most out of the day and learn something about this unique and historic city, we downloaded a self-guided scavenger hunt by Let's Roam. The description said it would take about 2 hours, but really it took us all day because we kept stopping along the way.

That wasn't a misleading misprint, taking longer was actually the whole point of the day. Each clue takes you to an iconic landmark somewhere in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, then gives you time to explore its surroundings.

One clue led us across the Allegheny, to Acrisure Stadium (home of the Pittsburgh Steelers), next to which sits a bronze statue of Mister Rogers, tying his sneakers, exactly as we remembered him from our childhood.

Another took us walking by the iconic Liberty Avenue Musicians. As an added element to the scavenger hunt, we could have made it a competition. At this stop, the challenge was to play air-guitar or drums, dancing for a moment to our own beat.

Yet another clue led us to the historic Fulton Building. Once significant as part of the 20th-century industrial boom, it's now home to the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel (soon to be renamed the Atterbury Hotel) and a beautiful place to stay in the heart of Pittsburgh.

Stops in between

Somewhere between bridges and Mister Rogers, we did what we almost always do on a walking day: we stopped for ice cream. No clue told us to. We just saw a shop, felt the heat of the afternoon, and gave ourselves permission to sit on a curb for fifteen minutes with a cone instead of rushing to the next stop.

Some of our best travel memories aren't the landmarks, they're the unscheduled stops in between.

That's the thing about walking a city instead of driving it: you stop being a tourist passing through and start being a person paying attention. The scavenger hunt just gave that attention a shape.

By the time we solved the last clue, we'd covered more ground on foot than we expected, and somehow knew the city better than if we'd driven every inch of it. Pittsburgh stopped being a skyline we photographed from a bridge and became a place we'd actually been.

Here's how to borrow this strategy for your next trip →

Pick a city with a walkable core. Pittsburgh, with its compact downtown and bridge-laced neighborhoods, was made for this kind of experience. You don't need a big, metropolitan city though. Most mid-sized cities have a version of that core that's easy to explore.

Let the hunt set your route. This is where Let's Roam earns its place in our travel kit. Their app-guided scavenger hunts exist in more than 3,000 cities worldwide, and the clues are built around real local history and landmarks, not generic tourist stops. You're not following a map, you're following curiosity.

Budget more time than you think. Remember, that "2-hour" hunt took us most of the day. We could have completed it quicker, but half the charm is stopping along the way to enjoy more of what each city has to offer. Give yourself enough time to stop and experience as much of the city as you can.

Leave room for ice cream. Or coffee, or a rest on a bench, or whatever your version of the unscheduled fifteen minutes is. On days like these, the detour is the destination.

Keep living with curiosity and we'll keep sharing unique ways to experience the world. Until next week...

With love,

P.S. Whether you're looking for a fun way to explore near home or somewhere you're visiting for the first time, consider doing a scavenger hunt.

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