Today I went and sat in this cafe I love -it does Italian pastries and coffee and sandwiches and I go there sometimes when I feel like transporting myself to Europe. It reminded me of another way I like to "travel" and thought I'd share it here too :) Whenever I feel a bit frustrated about not being on a travel adventure I try and do something to give me a tiny taste of it at least. I do some research and find the most authentic place to eat Italian or French or Thai or wherever it is I want to "return" to or choose the cuisine of somewhere I haven't been yet and try there. Or cook a meal from that place and invite people over. Obviously not as good as the real thing, but does something wonderful for me anyways :)
Love this a lot and try to do this as much as I possibly can. It's crazy what a change of scenery can do for you. There's something beautiful about returning to much loved places and spaces but equally as valuable to explore somewhere new, both alone and with others along for the ride :)
I sometimes just choose to drive to a different suburb to get a coffee instead of my local and I love that feeling, driving a new route, discovering beautiful places. Highly recommend.
I totally relate. I love what you mentioned, that it can be simple as getting just out of town or heading to a different part of town. Nicely done my friend.
As a friend of mine once wrote, “You'll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips. Airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else. You will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living breathing screaming invitation to believe better things”...I think Vegas in October ticks the boxes for me 😂
I love everything about this post. I knew nothing about Jeremy but just went to his website and watched his video “I’m possible” and it just might be the best thing I’ve ever seen. The Sleeping At Last music in the background kicked it up a notch too. His stories from Haiti and that he adopted his children from there makes me want to message my roommate during nursing school from 10 years ago. She is from Haiti and I learned so much from her at that time. I last saw her 5 years ago at her wedding but have not seen her since. My hero is Dr Paul Farmer who also did much of his work in Haiti. I liked your paragraph of questions and I will message her now to visit her soon in Lakeland. I want to tell her how much she means to me and to meet her daughter for the first time. St Augustine holds a special place in my heart. I am a constant traveler and my days are spent dreaming about where to go next. A short road trip in Florida to visit a dear friend is just the place to start. May we all keep traveling, dreaming and spending time with people we love.
Jeremy is a special one for sure! I’m glad you checked him out. Ryan (Sleeping at Last) is super special too. Thanks for sharing how you relate and thanks for sharing what might be on the horizon. 😊
There’s a hike here called St. Mary’s Glacier that i’ve always wanted to do. I was hoping to be able to do it before the move, but there’s just not enough time. When i come back to visit in a few months i think i might rent a tiny home airbnb and spend some time in the mountains and on the trail. mountains to me are what the ocean is to you and much like Nashville needed an ocean....Atlanta needs some snow capped mountains (Stone Mountain SO doesn’t count).
Ahh I love this. Not the part where you won’t get there before you head to Atlanta, but I love that you’re starting to daydream about what your trips back can look like.
St. Augustine is super special to me and my sister. She went to college and got married in that town. Cafe 11 and DOS are our faves. This is a great reminder to return to our sacred places periodically.
Thanks for sharing! I’m so glad you know St. Augustine. I somehow forgot to mention in my post that I got accepted to Flagler College but didn’t go! I’ve always thought it would be such a cool place to go to school. And I remember when Cafe 11 first opened! What’s DOS?
Yes, Cafe 11 had the best brunches. I remember the French toast fondly. We saw many shows there, back in the day. DOS is a cool wine and coffee bar on San Marco. Close to downtown, but not right in the midst of the chaos.
That’s cool about getting into Flagler. You probably know SA pretty well. Did you go to college in Fl?
Ah yes, I went to Stetson and also know central Florida well. Another life ago, I took road trips up the coast and stopped at Longdogger’s on Sunday afternoons. Road trips, even two, three or four hour ones, are refreshing.
Moved to NC nearly 2 yrs ago but haven’t explored much beyond Wilmington and Southport. Have definitely been wanting to explore more of NC! Like you said way more affordable than some other bucket list places. Maybe I need to make my way to Emerald Isle beach one of these days too 😀. I love the reminder that you can travel without spending a lot of $ it doesn’t always have to mean flying across an ocean 😀
This past month I actually got the chance to vacation in France. I have a cousin who lives there so my family and I went to see her and we also visited Paris. What amazed me most is how different the pace of things are and how nobody seems to be in a rush. It made me wonder why I seem to always be rushing myself. All of your stories do make me want to visit Florida sometime I definitely want to see Key West. What exactly is your favorite place to visit?
That’s amazing! Thanks so much for sharing. I’ve been to Paris, though only for a couple days, so I have to go back. I agree about the pace. Favorite place to visit in Florida might actually be St Augustine. Favorite places that I’ve visited around the world: Iraq, Australia’s Gold Coast, Hossegor & Paris, France, North Shore of Oahu, and Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. I like New York and LA a lot as well.
Love this! I’ve been wanting to go back to visit Charleston, SC lately. I lived there for 10 years and have so many amazing memories and friends to revisit.
I’ve actually been living just outside of Jacksonville, FL for a little under three years now and am ashamed to say I have yet to visit St. Augustine. (I have triggers surrounding travel that I’m working on currently).
I’d also love to visit London. This may or may not have a bit to do with my love for Ted Lasso :)
Today I went and sat in this cafe I love -it does Italian pastries and coffee and sandwiches and I go there sometimes when I feel like transporting myself to Europe. It reminded me of another way I like to "travel" and thought I'd share it here too :) Whenever I feel a bit frustrated about not being on a travel adventure I try and do something to give me a tiny taste of it at least. I do some research and find the most authentic place to eat Italian or French or Thai or wherever it is I want to "return" to or choose the cuisine of somewhere I haven't been yet and try there. Or cook a meal from that place and invite people over. Obviously not as good as the real thing, but does something wonderful for me anyways :)
Yes! This is such a good call. I love it. Thanks for sharing.
welcome!
Love this a lot and try to do this as much as I possibly can. It's crazy what a change of scenery can do for you. There's something beautiful about returning to much loved places and spaces but equally as valuable to explore somewhere new, both alone and with others along for the ride :)
I sometimes just choose to drive to a different suburb to get a coffee instead of my local and I love that feeling, driving a new route, discovering beautiful places. Highly recommend.
I totally relate. I love what you mentioned, that it can be simple as getting just out of town or heading to a different part of town. Nicely done my friend.
:)
As a friend of mine once wrote, “You'll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips. Airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else. You will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living breathing screaming invitation to believe better things”...I think Vegas in October ticks the boxes for me 😂
Haha oh man. Whether I’m there or not, that’s gonna be such an epic trip for you. And the thought of being there with you is definitely a good one!
I love everything about this post. I knew nothing about Jeremy but just went to his website and watched his video “I’m possible” and it just might be the best thing I’ve ever seen. The Sleeping At Last music in the background kicked it up a notch too. His stories from Haiti and that he adopted his children from there makes me want to message my roommate during nursing school from 10 years ago. She is from Haiti and I learned so much from her at that time. I last saw her 5 years ago at her wedding but have not seen her since. My hero is Dr Paul Farmer who also did much of his work in Haiti. I liked your paragraph of questions and I will message her now to visit her soon in Lakeland. I want to tell her how much she means to me and to meet her daughter for the first time. St Augustine holds a special place in my heart. I am a constant traveler and my days are spent dreaming about where to go next. A short road trip in Florida to visit a dear friend is just the place to start. May we all keep traveling, dreaming and spending time with people we love.
Jeremy is a special one for sure! I’m glad you checked him out. Ryan (Sleeping at Last) is super special too. Thanks for sharing how you relate and thanks for sharing what might be on the horizon. 😊
There’s a hike here called St. Mary’s Glacier that i’ve always wanted to do. I was hoping to be able to do it before the move, but there’s just not enough time. When i come back to visit in a few months i think i might rent a tiny home airbnb and spend some time in the mountains and on the trail. mountains to me are what the ocean is to you and much like Nashville needed an ocean....Atlanta needs some snow capped mountains (Stone Mountain SO doesn’t count).
Ahh I love this. Not the part where you won’t get there before you head to Atlanta, but I love that you’re starting to daydream about what your trips back can look like.
St. Augustine is super special to me and my sister. She went to college and got married in that town. Cafe 11 and DOS are our faves. This is a great reminder to return to our sacred places periodically.
Thanks for sharing! I’m so glad you know St. Augustine. I somehow forgot to mention in my post that I got accepted to Flagler College but didn’t go! I’ve always thought it would be such a cool place to go to school. And I remember when Cafe 11 first opened! What’s DOS?
Yes, Cafe 11 had the best brunches. I remember the French toast fondly. We saw many shows there, back in the day. DOS is a cool wine and coffee bar on San Marco. Close to downtown, but not right in the midst of the chaos.
That’s cool about getting into Flagler. You probably know SA pretty well. Did you go to college in Fl?
I went to Brevard Community College, which is now Eastern Florida. And then did one semester at UCF. 😊
Ah yes, I went to Stetson and also know central Florida well. Another life ago, I took road trips up the coast and stopped at Longdogger’s on Sunday afternoons. Road trips, even two, three or four hour ones, are refreshing.
Moved to NC nearly 2 yrs ago but haven’t explored much beyond Wilmington and Southport. Have definitely been wanting to explore more of NC! Like you said way more affordable than some other bucket list places. Maybe I need to make my way to Emerald Isle beach one of these days too 😀. I love the reminder that you can travel without spending a lot of $ it doesn’t always have to mean flying across an ocean 😀
North Carolina is such a beautiful state! Of course I love the Emerald Isle idea. I’m a big fan of Chapel Hill and Asheville as well.
Yes Asheville is definitely on the list!!
All the wanderlust! Hoping this whole Chicago thing works out 🤞🤞🤞
I really want your Chicago trip to be great!!
This past month I actually got the chance to vacation in France. I have a cousin who lives there so my family and I went to see her and we also visited Paris. What amazed me most is how different the pace of things are and how nobody seems to be in a rush. It made me wonder why I seem to always be rushing myself. All of your stories do make me want to visit Florida sometime I definitely want to see Key West. What exactly is your favorite place to visit?
That’s amazing! Thanks so much for sharing. I’ve been to Paris, though only for a couple days, so I have to go back. I agree about the pace. Favorite place to visit in Florida might actually be St Augustine. Favorite places that I’ve visited around the world: Iraq, Australia’s Gold Coast, Hossegor & Paris, France, North Shore of Oahu, and Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. I like New York and LA a lot as well.
THE best... this is amazing man. Makes me want to journal though I don't have the gift of writing like you do. Thanks so much for sharing!
Of course my friend! Thanks for making time during your vacation. Let’s find a way to do it again soon. 😊
Love this! I’ve been wanting to go back to visit Charleston, SC lately. I lived there for 10 years and have so many amazing memories and friends to revisit.
I’ve actually been living just outside of Jacksonville, FL for a little under three years now and am ashamed to say I have yet to visit St. Augustine. (I have triggers surrounding travel that I’m working on currently).
I’d also love to visit London. This may or may not have a bit to do with my love for Ted Lasso :)