To all the girls’ trips I’ve loved before.
Where will you go? Who are you taking?
A background tune for reading this newsletter:
We’ve all had trips canceled due to COVID, most of which were mourned very briefly before our attention was absorbed by much larger emotional potatoes. Weddings were postponed, Airbnbs were refunded, friend trips were converted to FaceTime dates, and the empty hours in our calendars were filled with historic amounts of grief and stillness. The plans canceled feel saccharinely silly in retrospect, and exactly what I’m currently searching for.
I miss all of the light, laughter-filled travel memories that are the memorialized opposite of the pandemic year we’ve spent alone and inside. Remember when the biggest travel worry was whether the maid of honor picked a cute or economical Airbnb? Or if you could find a restaurant to fit everyone’s allergy needs? Or if the hiking trail had friendly pit stops to change a menstrual cup? These small, mildly adventurous worries sound laughably luxurious now.
But more than I miss the snapshots of those trips, I miss the vulnerability and camaraderie that comes with traveling with people I’m not quarantined with everyday.
Traveling with friends is a practice of tenderness, curiosity, and investment in people you’re willing to split expenses, share meals, explore, and stretch your comfort zone with.
In Aminatou Sow and Anne Friedman’s book, Big Friendship, they talk about the idea of group travel as a grand gesture in friendship, displaying that you a) like someone enough to spend entire days with them, b) are willing to explore the question mark of what emotions, annoyances, and adventures those days will hold, and c) are actively investing in quality time with each other.
These trips are filled with exercises of trust, self-expression, and generosity that couch hangs and after-work happy hours can’t always contain. I miss them dearly, and I’m also convinced that they’ll be much more necessary, intentional, and vibrant in a post pandemic world and with our post pandemic selves.
When the moment comes to safely book a friend's trip, where will you go? Who are you taking? And what will you cherish most about it?
Mara
Good Trip Contributing Editor
Local’s Corner
This week we’re heading to the beautiful and unique Outer Banks of North Carolina to chat with Jamie Raskin. Jamie is a Certified Sommelier and the Founding Sommelier of Eventide in Duck, North Carolina. He’s no stranger to the wine and restaurant industry (NYC and otherwise) and is absolutely who you should ask for help when you’re stuck in a grocery store trying to pick out the best bottle of wine.
The songs he has on repeat:
“Manhattan” and “Cherokee” by Cat Power. I listened to her Sun album on repeat when I first moved to New York. I’ve been nostalgic for those days as an early twenty-something wandering a big city.
His favorite local spot within a 15-minute drive of his apartment:
Eventide! This is partly a shameless plug, but also a genuine answer. My sister and mom created a wine and beer bar on the Duck waterfront. Their goal was to create a place that they would want to hang out – and boy, do I! I also created the wine list, so I know there will always be something I like on the menu.
His favorite local-to-Outer Banks snack or food he can’t get enough of:
Can I choose two? I’m going to choose two. Pimento cheese and Eastern Carolina barbecue. Every place does pimento cheese these days, but you’ll find the best at Eventide (literally no shame.) There should also be no debate that vinegar-based pork barbecue is the only barbecue worth having. I will die on that hill.
A book, movie or TV show should people check out to get a feel for the Outer Banks:
Well, definitely not the hit Netflix series Outer Banks. I’d first try the heartwarming The Peanut Butter Falcon. The director grew up here and used a lot of locals for small parts. If you’re more of a sappy romantic, there is always Nights in Rodanthe.
An ideal day for him in the Outer Banks (during non-COVID times):
Start the day with lunch at Kill Devil Grill for their steak and cheese eggrolls. Then stopping at Mom’s Sweet Shop to browse their well-curated vintage clothing and grab a decadent milkshake. After that I’ll head to Duck to bar-hop along the town's boardwalk, starting at Eventide and ending with sunset cocktails at the Blue Point.
The place he’s traveled to that he’d like to go back to:
Take me back to London! I visited for the first time in March 2020 (weird to think about now) and fell in love immediately. The millennia of history combined with the incredible food and cocktail scene make it the perfect city for me. I’d love to revisit the meals I had at Sabor and Pick & Cheese.
The place he wants to travel to next, post-COVID:
If I had to choose one place, I’d choose Alsace, France. The region looks like it was pulled from a storybook. It sounds like a dream to drink fine French wine amongst a fairy-tale backdrop.
Good Use of Screen Time
We’ve been devouring limited series The Serpent (Netflix) for its ‘70s travel vibes. Undeniably unsettling, it’s a based-on-a-true-story retelling of a string of murders on the Hippie Trail across Southeast Asia in the 1970s. What other show inspires equal parts wanderlust, outfit envy and horror?
Pulling up a chair right here…
