What Kind of Urban Curious Traveller Are You?

I’m writing this from Vancouver International Airport, shoes scuffed, legs crossed, passport within reach, watching the quiet dance between business travellers and the casual tourist. In a couple of hours, I’ll be on my way to Asia to speak with students and faculty at the School of Architecture & Urban Planning at Shenzhen University. It’s the kind of trip that reminds me—again—why travel remains such a powerful classroom for anyone curious about cities.

But not all travellers move through cities in the same way.

Some chase landmarks and selfies. Some chase rest and Chardonnay. Some chase stories. Over the years, I’ve come to think of this as a spectrum of urban curiosity. So while I wait to board, here’s a question for you to tuck into your carry-on: what kind of Urban Curious traveller are you?

1. The Pattern-Spotter

You land somewhere new and immediately start noticing the rules—spoken and unspoken. Who yields to whom at crossings. Where scooters belong. How wide the sidewalks are, and whether anyone actually uses them. You’re less interested in the postcard view than in the choreography of everyday life. Cities, to you, are living systems, and travel is a chance to compare notes. Shenzhen, with its speed, density, and relentless experimentation, is a goldmine for pattern-spotters.

2. The Amenity Hunter

You travel with a mental checklist: libraries, markets, transit stations, playgrounds, cafés that seem to belong to everyone. You judge a city less by its skyline than by how well it supports ordinary life. Does it offer shade? Water? A place to sit without spending money? These travellers are often urban planners, parents of young kids, or people who know that civic generosity shows up in small, repeatable comforts.

3. The Time-Traveller

You’re drawn to historic layers. You want to know what stood here before—and before that. You read plaques, seek out old maps, and feel a little thrill when ancient street patterns survive beneath a transformed horizon. For you, cities are never a clean slate.

4. The Edge-Walker

You like the in-between places: the spaces just beyond the glossy core. Light industrial zones. Elevated walkways. Back-of-house streets. You learn as much from what a city hides as from what it celebrates. You’re curious about the informal economy, the back alleys, and how cities actually function when no one’s watching. 

5. The Reluctant Tourist (a.k.a. The Honest One)

You love cities, but you also get tired. Overstimulated. Lost. You need a quiet street, a familiar breakfast, a pause. You don’t pretend travel is always transformative; sometimes it’s just disorienting. And yet, even here, curiosity persists. You’re attentive to how cities care for people who are overwhelmed, jet-lagged, or alone. You find your favourite cafe, and become a regular, just for a few days. You find your “third place.”

6. The Translator

You’re constantly asking: What does this mean back home? You travel not to collect cities (you’re not saying, “I’ve done Paris”), but you want to bring ideas back—about housing, mobility, public space, governance, beauty and design. You’re interested in what’s transferable and what isn’t, and why. 

Speaking with students and faculty at Shenzhen University in three days’ time, this is the conversation I’m most excited about: not admiration or critique alone, but translation.

Most of us, of course, are a blend of all of the above. We shift depending on the city, the moment, our phase of life. That’s the joy of urban curiosity—it’s not a fixed identity, but a way of paying attention.

As boarding begins and the gate fills, I’m reminded that travel doesn’t just take us somewhere else. It sharpens how we see. The question isn’t whether cities will change us—but how closely we’re willing to look when they do change us. Let’s get at the why.

So: what kind of Urban Curious traveller are you?