Although we may have a lot more time on our hands with coronavirus keeping much of society on lockdown, what should we do with all that time when we can’t go to the places and people we love? It’s a conundrum many of us are dealing with, but it’s also a question that can be answered beautifully by shifting the perspective.

Yesterday, one of our staff came across a thought-provoking passage in an article originally published by CityLab. The author, Ariel Aberg-Riger, writes:

“A friend of mine once told me life is short, but it is wide. I’ve been thinking about that lately, less in terms of life, but in terms of space. Most of us aren’t going anywhere these days. Our circles are smaller, our paths closer to home. Space is short. But there’s a different way to go wide when you can’t go far, and that’s to go back.”

What Aberg-Riger is talking about is going back in time by diving into history—more specifically, the history of the neighborhoods we live in. To do this, the author offers us her City-Dweller’s Guide to Time Travel, a quirky guide that will help you discover and get lost in the hidden history of your own neighborhood via the Internet. Though a bit abstract, she beckons us to find the space we crave in past timelines by providing some clever ideas and tips for discovering the past, whether it be through newspaper archives, the Library of Congress, or postcards on eBay.

Want to take a trip into your neighborhood’s past? Follow the link here for your own look at The City-Dweller’s Guide to Time Travel.