An ode to travel nostalgia
If we’re staying inside, we might as well give in to memory lane
A background tune for reading this newsletter:
The thing about not being able to travel in this unanticipated COVID-19 world is that we can’t help but reminisce about all our previous travels—and dream about when and where our next trip will be. And while that nostalgia can be painful and a whole thing (cue Don Draper’s nostalgia speech), it also reaffirms what exactly it is that makes something a good trip, worthy of your attention and reflection when you’re sitting inside on a snowy day, full of pandemic-induced malaise. (Hi, I’m Natalie and I live in The Midwest™!)
In those times, my mind drifts to standing outside of a deli in Rome with my cousins and brother, completely entranced in eating fresh slices of prosciutto while fully aware the magnificent Pantheon is directly behind us, but hey, there’s fresh Italian prosciutto in our hands and we’ll get to taking pictures of the Pantheon in a second, okay? Other times it drifts to indulging a stray cat in a photoshoot it absolutely did not ask for by the sea in Positano, its orange fur perfectly contrasting with the pink sandstone wall behind it. (If you can’t tell yet, my last international trip before COVID-19 was Italy.) And sometimes it drifts to the summer of 2015, a group of us asking locals in Ohrid, Macedonia, directions to a tourist attraction after too many wrong turns up steep cobblestone streets, knowing they wouldn’t really know where it was either because, well, they were just five-year-olds but also the only humans in sight for what felt like miles.
So if I really examine my years of traveling, I probably couldn’t tell you the names of my favorite tourist attractions and restaurants. But I could tell you about the in-between moments; those seemingly inconsequential snippets of time that come together to make my good trip. They’re emotions, smells, flavors, conversations, surprises, jokes, people—things those Top 10 lists fail to mention. After all, as we like to say here at Good Trip, “Travel should be a feeling, not a checklist.” (And if that feeling mysteriously leads you to buy an overpriced moisturizer at the Berlin airport, just know you’ll be buying an overpriced moisturizer at every airport you go to from then on.)
It could be a while before we’re able to gather new travel moments to reminisce about. But in the meantime, write your future travel lists. Watch all the foreign language shows Netflix tells you to. Dig up old photos from your favorite trips. And get lost in a dreamy playlist that you’ll listen to on your next train or plane ride. Because I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to give up on those small travel moments—the glimpses of what are, what has been, what could be. I’m grateful to have had enough of them to know they exist, and hopefully, will never stop existing.
Natalie
Good Trip Contributing Writer
Local’s Corner
Londoner Cat Sarsfield is making our inboxes a whole lot tastier with her foodie newsletter Since No One Asked, dishing up cooking advice and thoughtful ruminations on how food fits into all of our lives, in big ways and small. (Go sign up for it—don’t worry, we’ll wait.)
The song she currently has on repeat:
“Fallingwater” by Maggie Rogers because the first time I heard it I was practicing yoga with great friends in a shala in Nicaragua, and I can still hear the jungle whisper. It makes me think of a challenging but breakthrough time of my life. Also it’s just really fun to belt out (thank you WFH).
Where she wants to travel next, post-COVID:
I’ve got a loose plan of spending a bit of time in Australia. My boyfriend used to live in Sydney, and I love being shown around people’s special spots. I’m really craving a road trip, a surf trip, and as much sun and salt my body can handle. If that falls through, Hawaii will do...
The place she’s traveled to that she’d like to go back to:
I used to live in a little town called Hopland, the first one in Mendocino County, California right on the 101. So I’d go back and spend some time with friends on the winery I worked on. And then take the trip I’d always been meaning to do, which is a road trip to Joseph, Idaho to stay at The Jennings Hotel.
Her favorite local London spot within a 15-minute walk of her apartment:
Jolene. It’s the restaurant that made me feel like a local. The food is casual and impeccable. The chalk-washed walls, the wine-lined bar, the homemade sourdough, the music, the Babak Ganjei artwork, the dimly lit bathroom, the stitched logo on the curtains, the hint of Cornwall. It’s perfect.
The movie anyone should check out to get a feel for London:
Closer, which was originally a play by Patrick Marber. It’s how I discovered Postman’s Park near Farringdon and every time I visit, I sit on a bench and think of all the scenes set there, remembering the dialogue and how it made me feel (affronted, shocked and jealous at Marber’s way with words).
Her ideal day in London (non-COVID times):
Either walking from my flat in De Beauvoir to Stoke Newington, stopping off at Newington Green Grocers for all the veg, a coffee and pastry at Jolene with good friends, then heading up to Stoke Newington to pop to the butchers (whole chicken, 1.3kg, always). Then back along the New River Path home. Reading the papers, watching an old movie, roasting a chicken and then having a hot shower before heading out to meet friends at a hotel bar (The Standard in King’s Cross is a usual go-to). Then martinis until our lipstick wears off and perhaps a boogie at Ridley Road Market Bar before stumbling home and ordering a burger at midnight.
Good Trip Tip:
Take advantage of work-from-home life and use a morning this week to pop out for a leisurely cafe breakfast (if dining out is an option, if not, there’s always takeaway and your comfy couch). It’s the quickest way to feel like you’re on vacation with no emails to attend to. Your boss doesn’t need to know…
Listen In:
Drive & Listen to instantly transport yourself to the city of your choice and hear what’s playing on the local airwaves. (We heard “Hey There Delilah” while driving through the Alps in Lauterbrunnen, which was… interesting).
