For this hometown adventure, you’re going to a happy place – your own happy place – from when you were a child. That’s right, you’re revisiting all those old and special spots that featured in your happiest childhood memories.
The challenge is this: Think back to your childhood. What where your favourite places to be and your favorite things to do there? Was it a set of swings near your childhood house? The local beach, a park or a corner store that sold your favourite treat? Ideally, you would return to your birthplace to undertake this mission. For those of you who may have moved away from your original hometown, we have some suggestions for you further down the page.
Once you’ve compiled your favourite memories, design your day and then live out your childhood.
The hardest part will be setting aside self-consciousness, but that’s part of the fun. It’s okay to disregard your dignity for just one day. You can do it!
If you used to feed the ducks, and eat half the bread yourself, then bread it is! Or if jumping on that swing set and screaming while you see how high you can go was a go-to activity when you were young, then start swinging! Wander down your old street or from place to place in your old neighbourhood, munching on the snacks that the ‘childhood you’ loved.
There is a major issue here, of course: what if I’m no longer in my hometown? Or what if things have changed so much I can’t revisit those favourite places? For you, we suggest choosing a memory rather than a place and including as many fine details as you can. If seeing the circus was a favourite memory of yours, the next time one swings by your new town, go, and make sure you get the same sweets or popcorn the little you would have loved. If you loved howling from the top floor of a building, or rolling down a grassy hillside, then it’s time to start looking for stairs or a soft slope!
If all goes to plan, you’ll go to bed happy, tired and, maybe, with a stomach ache from all the sweat treats you’ve consumed. But you will have had an amazing day – and a little tummy ache will be a minor price to pay for the fun you’ll have had.
This article was inspired by Lonely Planet’s Everyday Adventures, available at all good bookstores or from Lonely Planet.
Have you ever visited your hometown after a long period away? How was it? What’s your favourite childhood memory?
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Bar-hopping with a twist
A zero-dollar day on the town
Leave your travel plans to chance
