Five Reasons to be a Tourist in Your Own City

It’s easy to be a tourist in a foreign place, but did you ever consider being a tourist in your own city? I’ve lived in Westchester County my entire life (minus my 4 years of college), but there is SO much of it I’ve never explored. Like most people anytime I have a few days off I jump at the chance to book a trip somewhere, but starting today I’m going to actually try and explore more of my surrounding areas and you should be a tourist in your own city too!

Lisa and I have been actively trying to visit more beautiful places in Westchester County to take photos for my blog and I’m SO grateful that she’s pushed me to do it. Like I mentioned before I’ve lived in the same 20 miles radius for my whole life and while I’ve known all of these historic and amazing places were just around the corner I’m a creature of habit and tend to always do the same instead of stepping out of my comfort zone.

So I thought it would be fun to put together a list of five reasons to be a tourist in your own city, not only because I wanted to encourage my readers to do it, but because I’m excited to continue exploring.

five reasons to be a tourist in your own city

1. It’s inexpensive and doesn’t take a lot of time or effort. No tickets, no passports, no packing, no hassle! You’ll truly get to enjoy your day because there’s no “traveling” or major planning involved. You can literally wake up on a Saturday or Sunday morning and decide to be a tourist and when you’re over it, home is just a few minutes away!

2. You’ll appreciate home so much more and look at it with a new perspective. How do you truly know who your are without knowing where you’re from? When you live just outside of a major city it’s easy to forget about all the hidden gems in your smaller hometown. I always like to remind myself that there’s a reason why I choose to live in Westchester and not NYC so why not embrace it more!

3. It’ll force you to venture outside your normal routine. Stepping outside my comfort zone is something extremely hard for me to do, but sometimes you have to force yourself and wake up at sunrise on a Saturday, walk half a mile on a bike path and stumble into the rose garden at Lyndhurst Mansion to take amazing photos.

4. When you have visitors you’ll know exactly what to do with them so they get your full hometown experience. For years I was bringing out of town friends to the same couple places in Westchester or taking them to the city when they came to visit, but since I started to venture out in my city I’ve made a list of the best things to do (and obviously places to eat). Now I just need more visitors!

5. It helps rediscover childhood memories. Lisa and I explored Untermyer Gardens last year and being there brought back so many memories of when my grandma used to take me there as a child. It looked a lot different then and they’ve restored it so beautifully. I’m so glad I got to see it and I know she would’ve loved to see it now too.

I’ve been trying to incorporate more Westchester related content (I even added a tab to my main menu on the top of my blog) and definitely plan on sharing my favorite places to explore in the county, but in the meantime if you have any questions or are looking for recommendations please email me! And if you have a suggestion I’m ALL ears and always looking for new places to visit in my own backyard!