An Emotional Travel Guide

October 19-November 30, 2020

#moodylocales

https://www.reddit.com/r/MoodyLocales/

Invitation

Join us in writing an emotional atlas of the globe.

What’s the best place in your region to say, “Let’s Just Be Friends? What places seem to murmur, “You’re very special to me?” What exact spot feels like a dead end or a home field advantage? What’s the silliest place in town?

Places have feelings, too. From the heights to the pits, our neighborhoods are full of emotional topography: depressions, plateaus, and peaks. In this netprov, we will survey how the places around us make us feel to create our emotional travel guide: Moody Locales.

As yourself or as a fictional character, help us fill out a map not of sights but of feels. Where are your badlands? Your rocky patches and valleys? Where are your oases, your fresh springs, your refuges? Where did you reach a pinnacle moment? Where have you stretched out in your suburban sprawl? What are the twisted paths and trails that have helped you through the mountain pass?

Of course, one person’s happy place is another person’s gloomy gulch. That’s why we’re crowdscorching this atlas to get the full mix of experiences.

How to Play

1) Write a Guide Entry: (100-300 words)
Write a travel guide of the emotional geography of your area. Describe physical details that tie into these feelings. What are the emotional landmarks? What might have happened there to give the place its emotional resonance? Fictionalize as much as you wish.

Post a photo (without any people in it) that you take or that you get from a Google Streetview screenshot. (Caution: Post your image beneath the text of your Reddit post.)

Recommended: Link to the spot on a Google Map.

Each title has:
A descriptive title with mood keyword(s) in parenthesis
e.g., Parking Lot of Near Misses (vague regret)

Each post starts with:
Location, Name or handle of Travel Reviewer: Then just start typing your review.

2) Pretend you visited and review locale: (50-150 words)
Go to any Guide Entry, and write your response. What was your experience like? Tell a story of your experience that either complements or contradicts the story that has been told. Of course, these can be fictions as well, created from the point of view of an imaginary you or a character you create.

Each Review should begin with:
Name or handle of Travel Reviewer

Remember that emotions go well beyond happy, sad, and angry. Think of the full spectrum: goofiness, irritation, mischievousness, surprise, zoning out, eagerness, frostiness, unfocused anticipation, wistfulness — or even wistlessness. Identify and name subtle, new emotions.

Reddit: Recommendations.

Switch to the “New Reddit” interface for easiest formatting and adding links and images. You’ll find the option in your settings.