![\"mail.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stevepeer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/mail.jpg?w=1000\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Are we ever really lost?<\/p>\n
We know roughly where we are, be it a city, region or country. We are on the earth, from that point of view we\u2019re not lost at all. We have a place within the cosmos. I have been lost, literally and figuratively. Much of my time is now spent trying to get lost. Who\u2019s that? Shut up. Don\u2019t interrupt. <\/em><\/p>\n As long as I know which way is north and I have a rudimentary map I can find what I\u2019m looking for. Eventually. Knowing the compass points is key. When I first arrived at my digs in China I was confused. I had no idea where north was. It was good my faith (or total lack there of) didn\u2019t involve facing Mecca. After discovering north, navigating my new world became easier.<\/p>\n New world? Are you Columbus? North? Oliver North?<\/em><\/p>\n Shut up.<\/em><\/p>\n I learned lessons that day. Most involved stupidity, listening to others, and always carrying a compass. None of those have translated into my urban, Chinese, existence.<\/p>\n I stray from the path. A straight line between Point A and B is boring. There are too many alleys to explore along the way. I\u2019m never really lost, I know what city I\u2019m in and my approximate location on a map. I\u2019ll never have to worry about resorting to cannibalism if lost in China as I would in the Canadian wilds. Many varieties of street food are widely available.<\/p>\n If I hadn\u2019t had strayed from the path I never would have found Nui Xiang (translated: cow path) and the mailbox covered wall (above). Getting lost has advantages.<\/p>\n Sometimes it’s good to “get lost,” especially in an interesting city like Guangzhou, China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,19],"tags":[170,177,422,466,664,724,988],"class_list":["post-531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china","category-travel","tag-guangzhou","tag-guangzhou-travel","tag-lost","tag-mailboxes","tag-nui-xiang","tag-photos-travel","tag-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nBut you just asked if we\u2019re ever really lost?<\/em><\/p>\n![\"compass.JPG\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stevepeer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/compass.jpg?w=300\")
I was lost, really lost, only once. On a cold, rainy October afternoon some friends and I went hiking. After reaching our destination, the remains of an old uranium mine, we started back. One friend decided on a short cut. His error in judgment led to hours of walking in the rain, wading through beaver ponds, and generally being miserable. It wasn\u2019t a bad place to be lost, it was bordered on four sides by roads and the area was about 18 square kilometers. We would have been found before DNA was needed to identify our remains.<\/p>\noriginally published: November 26, 2007<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"