Thank you to Jessie Kwak of www.bicitoro.wordpress.com for contributing as the May 15th Travel Instigator. Stay tuned for a new feature on the 15th and 30th of each month from a new adventurous traveler.

The travel bug bit me early. We can blame my parents, who bravely trundled my sister and I along on road trips, camping trips and even to Venezuela almost as soon as we could walk. I eagerly embraced study abroad programs in university, and had trouble staying in country for more than 18 months at a time after I graduated.

Seattle Skyline (photograph by Beth Yost)

Lately, life circumstances have meant that I can’t just jaunt down to South America at the drop of a hat. When waiting tables I could take 6 months off no problem and know that I’d be able to talk my way back into a job when I got back to town, completely broke. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to work as well with an “adult” desk job. I mean, paid vacation is awesome, but I hear they want you to come back after your two weeks is up. Seriously.

I’ve always been the kind of traveler that spends a lot of time in one place, rather than trying to fill up a backpacker’s bingo card of destinations. When I returned solo to Venezuela in 2006, I had intended to backpack through the whole country for two months. I accidentally acquired a job in the tiniest little border town in the Gran Sabana, however, and spent six months in the same village. When I got home people asked me about Angel Falls, Los Roques, the beach. I’d seen none of those things, but I wouldn’t trade the friendships I made in Sta Elena for all the tourist hotspots in the country.

In a way, that’s what I’m doing now. My husband and I are putting down some tentative roots in the quirky strange enclave of “Georgetown, Seattle, WA,” and I’m trying my best to explore like a local.

What I miss about being on the road, however, is the way that I react to travel. The way my senses open up, and my curiosity is piqued by everything. Nothing is ugly when you’re traveling, nothing is boring, nothing is mundane. But when you’re putting down roots? It can be easy to let your sense of curiosity dull. I’ve found that at home I’m much less likely to ask “Hey, what’s that? Where does that road go? What does this taste like? Who is that person over there?” Familiarity with your surroundings can act like a pair of blinders, and it can be hard to keep your explorer’s mind limber.

Take a tour

I always cringed at the idea of joining a tour group when traveling. Being herded along with a group of camera-happy tourists twice my age is not my idea of a good time. A few months ago, however, I joined up with a tour put on by (http://localistseattle.wordpress.com) Localist Seattle, a tour company that specializes in planning personalized tours. This tour was of my neighborhood and promised Beer, History and Art. I was so in.

So on a sunny Saturday in March, my husband and I joined with a group of camera-happy tourists twice our age to learn about the buildings we walked by every day. I met my neighbors, and learned that the street I live on used to be lined with roadhouses during the Prohibition where upright Seattleites would come party. How cool is that?

That got me delving deeper into what types of tours are put on in Seattle. Sure there’s the Underground Tour, and the tour of Pike’s Place Market, but there are also groups putting quirky tours of haunted houses and grunge history landmarks, and there’s even a Georgetown Haunted History Tour put on every October with locals acting out scenes at Georgetown’s ghost hotspots. Cheesy? Sure. But it’s still a cool way to stay curious about your city.

Get on your bike and ride

One of my favorite ways to explore is through cycling. I commute by bike to work at least 3 days a week (barring hail storms and pouring rain), and it’s my main form of transportation for getting around town, too.

Traveling by bike forces me to take routes that are off the beaten path, which in turn has introduced me to parts of Seattle that I never would have run across otherwise. Driving on the highway might get me there faster, but if I slow down and find an alternate way to bike to my destination I always run across something new, whether it’s stopping in a cool foreign market for sausages on my way to a barbecue or just pulling over to photograph a neat old building.

When I’m traveling I’ll walk for hours just to see what I might run across. As a local, my cycling equivalent is to always work to discover new routes, new links between neighborhoods, new alleyways, new destinations.

Talk to the locals

There’s something about traveling that breaks me out of my introvert’s shell. Whether it’s drinking on the hostel patio or chatting with an unidentifiable-foods vendor in a local market, I’m constantly surprised by how much more open I am to making conversation with strangers when I travel.

Baker Lake Trail (WA)

Back at home, however, I often go about my day with blinders on. Seattleites are notorious for keeping to themselves, but my hesitation to invade my neighbors’ privacy often keeps me from making new friends and learning about my world. To that end I’ve made a resolution to treat my casual interactions in Seattle the same way I would in another country. After all, you never know who you might meet.

Make time to explore

My weekends all too frequently get eaten up by to do lists and chores. With so many irons in the fire it seems wasteful to do what I used to do when I first moved to Seattle—just hop on a bus to see where it goes, then spend a few hours wandering through a new neighborhood.

Don’t forget to treat regular trips like an adventure. Going to catch a show at your favorite venue? Instead of driving from your house to the adjacent parking lot, having a drink in the venue bar and then going straight home once the music’s over, try leaving early and taking the bus, riding your bike, or even just parking a dozen blocks away and wandering through the streets like you would do in a new city. Don’t forget to stop in that Assyrian Market that has always intrigued you. Don’t forget to talk to the guy behind the counter and ask about a weird product you’ve never seen before. Don’t forget to read historical plaques and take snapshots of cool architecture.

Don’t forget to have fun.

What to Read More From Jessie?

Jessie Kwak

Jessie Kwak is a Seattle-based writer who’s always looking for her next adventure. She especially likes ones that involve exploring cities, camping, discovering new and tasty brew pubs, and cycling. Together with her photographer husband she traveled through Peru and blogged about it at www.unpavedsouthamerica.com, although lately she’s been ranging a little closer to home and pursuing her adventures on two wheels. These days you can find her on her bicycling and crafting blog, www.bicitoro.wordpress.com and on Twitter (@jkwak).

Wait! Before you…ok…I’m sorry. I hope you’ll forgive my slip-up. I, myself, am a girl who gets around and was in much need of some girls-cabin-weekend-snowboarding-hottub therapy. The photo below is the reason we’re all deprived of a Featured Travel Instigator today. It’s all my fault. I was irresponsible. I mean, just look at that photo below. You know what I should have been doing? Sitting in the cabin plugging away at my computer getting that damn Feature up for you guys! I’m selfish. A horrible person. I’m glad we had this talk. The cabin weekend worked. I’ve really come to terms with myself.

(Girls board/ski weekend at Crystal Mountain, Wa.--Yes, Those are elk in the back yard.)

Noisy Creek Backpackers' camp (East Bank Baker Lake Trail, WA)

There are bears out here. The thought lurked in my subconscious while we frantically tried to light our few pieces of semi-dry firewood. The sun slowly and quickly slipped behind the mountain.

We’re alone. “I knew we should have carried more dry wood in our packs,” he mumbled. “Stop smothering it,” I snapped as we gently pandered to the fragile flame. We’re a team, but our frustrations were increasing.

Was this an emergency? Hardly. It was just our first night in the backcountry of the cool, damp, Pacific Northwest.

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Start Point: Seattle, Washington

End Point: Vancouver, BC

THE DETOUR: Chuckanut Drive (WA 11 instead of taking I-5 all the way)

How Much Time Will it Add? 19 min./ 2 hr. 43 min vs. 2 hr. 24 min

This is a short detour from I-5.  While heading North on I-5, take WA-11 (exit 231) toward Bow-Edison  just North of Burlington.  It will reconnect with I-5 in Fairhaven after about 85 miles.

Why the detour? Let’s assume there is a fork in the road and both end up in the same place.  One is boring and congested, while the other runs almost entirely alongside beautiful bays and coves, farm land, and state parks. You’re catching on, I can feel it.   Chuckanut Drive winds through Larrabee State Park and the Chuckanut Mountains on the East, and Samish and Chuckanut Bay on the West.  There are a number of picnic spots to pull off and enjoy the view of the San Juan Islands, antique stores, restaurants, and for those not in any big rush, a number of bed and breakfasts.

Who Recommended this Route to Me? An Alaskan boat captain with an obsession with whale dialects and flamenco guitar, who thinks swimming naked in ice cold glacier pools is perfectly normal but owning a T.V. will kill you.