There is a great thrill in discovering some new, discovering the unknown, venturing into a space you have not yet walked. Even though many have walked the very path you are about to discover, it is some-what fresh to you.

I am curious as to what I may find, intrigued of what may lie ahead. So as I come out onto the path trying to get my bearings, I see a small wooden staircase. The main path is either left or right and the staircase straight ahead, slightly tucked away covered by foliage. This is the obvious route forward.

At the top of the 16 steps, a small gate enters you into a field with long lush green grass and a track all the way round the edge as far as the eye can see. The decision of direction is yet again in my hands. I take in my surroundings, acknowledging the forms and lines in the landscape, the shapes and shades. I plant the seed in my mind like a memory-map of where I am and how to re-discover this place. I carry on walking, unsure of where exactly I am heading. I have a rough idea and am confident I will be able to make my way home, so despite my exploration I am not lost.

I walk out into a small clearing. There is murky pond with more floating branches than pond life, the noise of the odd car whizzing past, and several paths leaving the clearing in new directions. I perch myself on a wooden stump and look around, I feel very concealed by the towering trees that loom over me. My thoughts drift towards the jobs I must remember to complete, the people I must message back the upcoming deadlines. It is not long until I am forced to move on by the swarm of insects that are trying to eat me. I carry on in the same direction until I hit the road. I peer my head round and instantly recognise my whereabouts. Although I was not lost, for the time I was wandering and picking pathways like I was gambling, I could almost have been anywhere. I could have been in any part of the country as It was all unknown territory to me. Until I found a marker that concluded my location and ended the illusion, the woodland area could have been in any part of the country and it would have made no difference to me. It is a sad moment when you are taken back to reality, when you remember exactly where you are and have to recenter yourself. Its like your little bubble of exploration has been lost.