Breaking the algorithm
In search of spontaneity, randomness and anything new when every day looks the same
A background tune for reading this newsletter:
I’m about to be one of those people. Yep, I’m about to mention something I talked about in therapy. Stick with me please 🙏
Through this yearlong pandemic when so many days contain the same routine and it’s hard to tell the difference between Monday and Saturday and March and September, my therapist and I talk a lot about “breaking the algorithm” of my days. Good advice especially for now, but also for always.
How can we not only get out of our routine and find some unexpected joys and surprises, but also get away from only being fed personalized information? I open up my Netflix, the movies and TV shows are catered to me. I open up my Instagram, I see images and ads picked for me (which are eerily effective these days). I open up my Goodreads, rate a book I finished, and am given ten more recommendations for books I may like.
Living within a highly personalized environment removes friction and aims to meet my needs faster, but are we really that predictable? Maybe yes, but in the past year, I’ve realized how much I miss getting music recs from Shazaming a song on a night out; rather than Spotify queueing up similar sounding songs, which lacks the emotions of discovering a song and loving it all the more because of hearing it in that specific time and place.
When you travel, even if it’s just to a new restaurant or neighborhood in your own city, you’re constantly breaking the algorithm. The people we pass on the sidewalk aren’t hand-picked for us by a set of computer-run rules. We’re outside our comfort zones; we may walk into a store or plaza we’ve never heard of; we stumble across books or foods that weren’t necessarily all over our social media feeds (I’m looking at you, TikTok pasta); we have conversations with friends of friends at dinner.
No wonder these trips can be our most transformative. They help us step off the path a little to let some randomness into our lives.
But, travel isn’t automatically free of the trappings of the internet. If we're all going to the same restaurants in New Orleans that we saw on Eater, booking the recommended Airbnb experiences, hitting up the famous photogenic beach in Greece that’s all over Instagram… are we all having the same trip?
A few ways we try break the algorithm while traveling:
Put down the guide book and friend recommendations and eat at the restaurant on the corner because the vibes and food look good (no Googling reviews allowed!)
*gasp* Talk to a local. I know, it can be scary, especially if you’re in a foreign country with a different language. But most people love bragging about their towns and will be eager to share recommendations and directions.
Don’t make plans! Know your can’t-miss attractions and make time for those, but otherwise be flexible. That museum on your list may be closed on Tuesdays, but it turns out the park you had your eye on around the corner is just as fun.
Bust out a paper map. It may not be as efficient as Google Maps telling you step by step directions, but if you’re in a safe place and can take a few extra twists and turns, the path will be more interesting. Plus, you usually learn the city better!
Do you have your eye on two beaches close to each other? Visit the one with fewer ratings — there’ll be fewer people and it’s probably just as beautiful.
What else? How do you break the algorithm, both while traveling and in your life these days?
xo
Brandy
Good Trip Founder
P.S. Thanks to everyone who’s shared the newsletter! We’re now at 169 readers and would love to bump up to 200. How to help? You can share on social media or directly with a friend you think may like it. Obrigada 🙃
Local’s Corner
This week we’re thrilled to venture to NYC for a check-in with bestselling author, illustrator and speaker Mari Andrew! You may be familiar with her work from her 2015 book Am I There Yet?: The Loop-de-Loop, Zigzagging Journey to Adulthood or her Instagram. She just published another reflective, heartwarming book: My Inner Sky: On Embracing Day, Night, and All the Times in Between, which couldn’t arrive at a better time.
Real talk: I’m a huge fan of Mari’s work, and her empathetic and often bittersweet writing has gotten me through some difficult emotions. See some of my past faves here: Types of Loneliness | Feeling Homesick | Timeline of a very 2019 relationship | To Miss | What I’ve Been Missing
Make sure to order her books. It’s impossible not to love them!
The song she currently has on repeat:
"It's All Right" by Jon Batiste
Where she wants to travel next, post-COVID:
Guatemala!
The place she’s traveled to that she’d like to go back to:
I attach very easily to places so I'd love to go back to everywhere I've been; they all feel like temporary homes, even if I stayed only a couple days there. But, most pressingly, I'd love to go back to Patagonia, Argentina, where I was staying when NYC went into lockdown and I had to cut a wonderful trip short.
Her favorite local spot within a 15 minute walk of her apartment:
Prospect Park has been a beacon of beauty and connectedness during this time, and it's a five-minute walk from me. I'm ashamed to say I've never fully appreciated public parks before 2020; I moved to New York because I love the visual density of buildings, not so much trees. But I've really appreciated the meadow, lake, and forests of Prospect Park this year and I've loved watching it move through the seasons so beautifully.
Her favorite local-to-NYC snack or food she can't get enough of:
Am I allowed to say pizza or is that too basic? (Editor note: pizza is always a right answer)
Truly, I can never get enough. A slice at Joe's is the best snack, and I order from Lil Frankie's or Table 87 at least once a week.
The movie and TV show people should check out to get a real feel for NYC:
The movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? and the TV show Russian Doll are both filmed in the East Village, which is my favorite neighborhood in the world and they capture it well.
Her ideal day in NYC (during non-COVID times):
A day prancing around the East Village is always full of wonder and delight! I love a brunch at Cafe Mogador, I love a browse through Book Club, I love an early weekend happy hour at The Immigrant and a dinner at Madame Vo. An ideal day would definitely have to include theatre as well. Right before lockdown, I saw Freestyle Love Supreme, West Side Story, and Hadestown, and I can't wait to see them again some day.
Good Trip Tip
Planning a travel splurge for when you’re venturing out into the world again? If you book a nice hotel or place to stay, make sure to give yourself time to actually enjoy it and spend time there. It can be easy to only use it to get some winks at night, but build in time to soak in the amenities, especially if, like us, you don’t always choose the more luxe accommodations.
Read all about it
We love Bookmarked, a newsletter that features a book from a different country each week. So far Tabatha, the writer, is up to 30 countries. The perfect way to widen your reading list!
Leaving you with a moment of stillness courtesy of this Peruvian waterfall:
