Comfort of the Familiar or Excitement of the Unknown?

After mentioning how vibrant and alive the night life scene is in London on my previous post, I would like to touch on what I see as the two types of nights out – going to a familiar location or trying out uncharted territories.

Focusing on the first option, many people are happier at familiar places with familiar people doing familiar things. This removes almost all the uncertainties of a night out to ensure that every night is almost guaranteed to be a good one. It may lack a new atmosphere, but if you’re happy at where you are why change it? At pubs, bars and clubs, there are always the loyal customers who know the bartenders by name. This of course can come with some perks such as free drinks. This is truly not a bad option.

The alternative is to avoid reliving the same moment at the same location. You would miss out on perks that loyal customers may get, spend a lot of time exploring and have a few really bad nights. This sounds like the worse of the two right now. But trying out new places would mean different people, different atmosphere and different experiences. And seeing so many people wandering on the streets of Shoreditch or Soho, you can only imagine that there are many people who follow this doctrine.

You don’t have to be for one or the other. Most people sit somewhere in the scale. I am more geared toward exploring new places. Although the experience may vary from complete awful to surprisingly amazing, the unknown brings an excitement factor that is hard to replicate in familiar places. 

Where do you sit in this scale?