F**k Uber! A short story about wandering & serendipity

Why didn’t you get an Uber, he said.

In an Uber, you know where you’re going.

In an Uber, you want to get from A to B as smoothly as possible.

In an Uber, the driver follows a map.

Two years ago on a family holiday in NYC we did our favourite things. We wandered around. Walked for miles. Took photographs. Stopped for good coffee. Visited favourite bookstores. Discovered new independent shops.

One day we were walking through Washington Square Park. It was close to lunch. We were getting hungry. I decided to follow my nose and see where that might take us. My phone stayed in my pocket. I had no idea where I was going. Shall we go this way, I ventured. I took us towards 7th Avenue. Which way now. It was like playing a board game. Left, right or straight ahead? We continued on our make-it-up-as-you-go-along path. On a whim, we went across Bleecker St. Ahead of us I could see a side street, some pretty lights strung over the front of a shop. That looked worth checking out.

It turned out it was Buvette restaurant. There’s a handful of them around the world. This was their West Village outpost on Grove Street. Did they have a table for four? They just had one table at the back, sharing with others. Jazz was playing. Coffees were had. Lunch was ordered. It was perfect. I told my sons, ‘take this all in, because it doesn’t get better than this.’

When I got home and told my friend about our Manhattan meandering, he said why walk so much when you could get an Uber? But you can’t get an Uber if you don’t know where you’re going. That’s why sometimes - in life, in our careers, in navigating the day-to-day - it’s much better to ditch the map, to forget the plan, and to go with the flow. To take a wander. And see where you’ll end up.