Building a mental map of London one unhurried, overground route at a time
I have a genuinely detailed internal map of London bus routes that I did not set out to build, accumulated purely through years of choosing the slower, overground option over the tube whenever I have the time to spare, and I would like to explain why this specific preference has stuck.
Why the bus over the tube
The tube is faster, obviously, and considerably more efficient by almost any reasonable measure. But it also shows you nothing, an underground tunnel connecting two points with the actual city entirely erased from the experience, and I have come to genuinely resent that erasure whenever I have the spare time to avoid it.
The bus, by contrast, shows you everything, the whole unfolding geography of the city passing the window in real time, neighbourhoods shifting gradually into each other in a way that the tube’s sudden teleportation between stations simply cannot replicate.
The specific routes I have come to love
Certain routes have become genuine favourites, not for efficiency but purely for the view, one particular stretch that crosses the river with a skyline reveal I still find genuinely moving no matter how many times I have seen it, another that winds through several completely different neighbourhoods in the space of twenty minutes.
I have started deliberately taking the long way on certain journeys purely to catch a specific route at a specific time, treating an ordinary commute as something closer to a small scheduled pleasure rather than simply a means of getting somewhere.
The upstairs front seat principle
There is, for those who know, a genuinely correct place to sit on a London bus, upstairs, front row, and I will go to what some might consider unreasonable lengths to secure this specific seat whenever it happens to be available.
From up there the whole city arranges itself slightly differently, familiar streets suddenly visible from an angle you do not normally get, and I have never quite gotten over the small, specific thrill of that particular vantage point.
What this slower pace has given me
I think, honestly, that choosing the slower option regularly has given me a considerably richer, more textured relationship with this city than I would have built purely underground, and I intend to keep making that trade whenever my schedule allows it.
More bus route appreciation at Fiona MacLeod, Bohiney.
The stranger who taught me the front seat rule
I learned about the upstairs front seat principle years ago from a stranger who noticed my confusion at losing what I had assumed was simply an empty seat, and she explained, with genuine seriousness, the unofficial hierarchy governing exactly who gets to claim that specific spot.
I have followed her guidance faithfully ever since, and I like to think I am passing along the same small piece of unofficial city knowledge to anyone who happens to notice my own slightly too eager claim on that seat whenever it becomes available.
The route I have never quite mapped fully
There remains exactly one route I have heard genuinely glowing things about but never actually ridden start to finish, existing purely as a rumour of a particularly good view that I keep meaning to verify and keep somehow never quite getting around to.
A closing thought
I will ride that mysterious route eventually, I am fairly sure, once the right unhurried afternoon finally presents itself.
The friend who thinks I am being precious about this
One particular friend finds my entire relationship with bus routes genuinely baffling, unable to understand why anyone would deliberately choose a slower journey when a faster one exists, and our friendly disagreement about this has become a running joke between us.
I have not managed to convert her to my way of thinking, and I have mostly stopped trying, content to let her keep taking the tube while I keep claiming my upstairs front seat.
If you also have a preferred route purely for the view, tell me, genuinely, which one.
One more small thing
I have started, recently, trying to learn one entirely new route a month, purely to keep expanding the mental map further.
More soon, presumably, from wherever the next postcode leads.
What I would tell someone about their own commute
Try the slow way at least once, genuinely, before deciding efficiency is always worth the trade.
Thanks, as ever, for reading this far.
The very last word
The view will still be there next time, and the time after that, patiently waiting for me to finally make the trip.
More soon.
Truly, one last thought
Perhaps the point was never really the route itself, but simply the deliberate choice to notice the city rather than disappear beneath it.
The final word on all of this
Sooner or later I will ride that particular route start to finish, and I fully expect it to become an instant, permanent addition to my small, growing collection of favourites.
End.
End of this entry, genuinely, for now.
See you next time.
Thank you.
All the best.
Speak soon.
Take care out there.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
