[dropcap]W[/dropcap]henever you are out and about living your daily life, do you ever come across a closed door or a hallway that sparks your curiosity to the point of wanting to see the other side? You might just be the perfect candidate for a hobby that can be enjoyed anywhere in our world. This hobby goes by the name of urban exploration, or urbexing, for short. It takes the certain kind of person that wishes to get out and see what surrounds them. It can be both beautiful and terribly scary. It is not for the ones who are afraid easily and it even has the potential to be quite dangerous.

Urban exploring, plain and simple, is going to any place you like and just exploring to see what you can find(as the name implies). It doesn’t necessarily have to be urban and can range from abandoned buildings, or caves, to interesting areas out in the wilderness. It’s all about what you want to see. You have free range to go out and feast your eyes with whatever environment you like. However, some places are a little riskier than others and should be approached carefully.Before going out to conquer the vast amount of settings at your disposal, keep in mind that urban exploring requires a few quick precautions before adventure time. Step One: make sure you have a group of people going it is highly inadvisable to go alone. If you are by yourself you have the chance of getting injured and not being able to call for help. Step Two: If you are going at night time when things could be particularly spooky, make sure you have a flashlight equipped. Step Three: make sure you aren’t wearing your best clothes because some of the areas you visit have the potential of being rather dirty.  Step Four:  Make sure you feel comfortable with what you are bringing along. You don’t want to be walking around for hours with a backpack full of things that are just going to slow you down. Finally, a water bottle is always handy to have in your arsenal. You never know when you could use a refreshing sip of H2O.About a year ago, a former south student, Gaghe Perez and I started becoming interested in urban exploration as a hobby. “You have to have a knack for adventure and you need to be able to use your body when something like climbing is needed.” Perez said. “It helps to be somewhat fit when you go out urban exploring because some places you visit aren’t necessarily a walk in the park.”

We have a few spots that we enjoy visiting in our area and we are always looking for more to expand our horizons. We are always looking for more people to tag along with us so we decided to introduce our buddy, Trevor Gariety, to the hobby. Trevor had not been urban exploring before, so we decided to take him somewhere a little less risky for his first time. There is a castle close to 18th and Vine that is covered with graffiti and trash within in its depths. Although it appears to be a castle, the building was actually a woman’s prison back in the early 1900’s. Gariety seemed to enjoy the location and even had a few things to say about it. “The most impressive looking buildings always have the most hardcore interiors.” said Gariety. “My first experience with urban exploration was a five-star experience and I would most definitely go again.”