10 Ways to Explore in your Everyday Life

I love travel!! That is no secret, however, I also have a full time job and an apartment I have to pay for. Exploring and adventuring in my everyday life has become more important to me over the past few months because it's the first time that I've moved to an entirely new place on my own. When you're new and don't know many people, it's important to get out of your home and see what your location has to offer. Here are a few of my tips about how you can explore in your local area.

1. See what the locals are doing. Explore downtown in the morning and see where people are getting their coffee from. 
2. Pinterest your city. It's amazing how many pins are out there about even the smallest of towns. If your city has any sort of tourism industry, you can find some sort of article that has been written about the gems in your area.
3. Ask. This is one of the easiest ways to find out what are the most beloved attractions locally. I've created almost a string effect of going to the local museum and asking where else they would suggest I explore.
4. Wake up early. I am in no way a morning person, but I found two local farmers markets just by getting up a few hours earlier than I'm use to and going where the locals go. Because after all, you are a local too now, might as well find out what are the morning favorites. 
5. Stay up late. There are places that are only open for dinner, if you only go out in the morning you would never find them. 
6. Try it! I will google coffee shop and try a different coffee shop every day until I find one that I click with. My goal for a coffee shop is always a local feel and wifi!
7. Take one of your days off and drive for 30 minutes. This will get you far enough out to find new places you may not have seen before.
8. Watch the sunset from somewhere. If you're in a large city, you can go on top of a parking garage, or as high up in a building as you can get. If you're by the ocean, go there. If you're in the Mountains, go there. It's so relaxing to watch the sunset, try out a few places and see which is your favorite.
9. Find the "Historic District." This is more USA based, but most cities have an area where they still have the historic charm of the city. If  you're in another part of the word, the entire city may have brick streets, but in many American towns that part has been condensed into one section. All of the ones I've found have been wonderful places to walk around in and spend an afternoon window shopping. 
10. Smile! How is this a way to explore? If you go into each day realizing the possibilities it's amazing what can happen. Go, Explore!

What's your favorite place to go in your city? And what city is that?