During our visit to the Botanical Garden, me and Kelly had to wander off on our own adventure. As I walked around and explored the environment, I felt like I was walking down memory lane and revisiting my younger self. Not many people know this about me but as a kid I grew up loving maps. And it all started from a school field trip to the Longwood Garden, which is similar to the Botanical Garden. What made my Longwood Garden experience such a strong core memory was that we had to use a physical map and a compass to guide us around the garden to complete a scavenger hunt. It was a unique experience, although my group may not have completed the scavenger hunt in first place, I knew I gained something new that I would forever treasure. My trip to Longwood Garden had inspired a new habit of mine, which is to become aware of what direction I was facing (cardinal direction) and how easily I can navigate around different places.
During our trip to Dublin, I do admit that it’s the first time where I didn’t know where I was facing. It kept bothering me for the first few days, eventually I forgot about it up until my visit to the Botanical Garden. I haven’t revisited the Longwood Garden after that school field trip, therefore being present at the Botanical Garden felt so unreal to me. Reliving my experience made me realize just how much I love my navigation skills and how easily I can remember my way around cities and maps.
And as a bonus experience, I did a mini scavenger hunt at the Botanical Garden. Kelly texted me to meet up again and a little fun fact about Kelly is that she can easily get lost with her sense of direction, which apparently, I had forgotten. I had shared my location so that she could find her way to me, but after a few minutes I noticed that she was taking a long time to arrive. I checked her location, and she seemed to have gotten farther away. We then came up with a conclusion that I should be the one to find her. And this experience made me feel like I was my 11 year old self again trying to complete this scavenger hunt.
