Chicago, USA - July 2017

There is nothing windy about this city! They lie! It is in fact so hot & stuffy that windy would be very much appreciated!
I am in a another new city and that means NEW ART GALLERIES TO EXPLORE!

When I get into any new town I grab a street map and mark an ‘X’ for where I am staying.
Next I go to the global vegan directory Happy Cow and find all the awesome restaurants in the city I want to try. Then I mark all the galleries and museums and finally all of the independent bookstores, vintage clothes stores and occult shops.

Once everything is marked on the map I can make a plan for my days such as : breakfast – gallery – bookshop – lunch – gallery or breakfast – museum – lunch – bookshop – gallery!
I walk every where in a new city as I have learnt that you stumble upon so many hidden treasures as well as finding out about the real city rather than the generic tourist experience which is inevitably the same which ever place you are in.

I have also, in every city, managed to wander into the very poorest and in one locals’ terms ‘sketchy’ neighbourhoods. From Brooklyn (NY) Compton (LA) East Hastings (Vancouver) or Garfield (Chicago) I have seen the unimaginable poverty that our governments and media do not want us to notice or concern ourselves with; we are told that these neighbourhoods are dangerous and filled with predators, but I think that is just so we stay away. I do not recommend that anyone put themselves in dangerous situations to find this out for themselves but I can say from first hand experience that whether you live in a penthouse or whether you can’t afford shoes we are the same and that anyone who tells you otherwise has their own self-serving agenda -and division will not right the wrongs only compassion & understanding can do that.
In fact, always question a story that is being sold hard to you with with big holes in it, even if that is from a newspaper, classroom or museum…