Something borrowed
What we take home with us
Dear friend,
Looking at photos from my last trip I kept thinking how much I learned from each city I visited so far. I love to go to the supermarket and see what people buy and eat. Or look at how they spend their time and how they interact as a community. It helped me understand the importance of investing in public transportation, green spaces, and building a strong community. I admire places where people feel safe to take a break, smile and be kind to each other. We need more spaces like that.
From each trip we bring back with us new ideas. Some are culinary habits like buying bread from local bakeries. Or updating our menu: we added vegetarian soups, polenta and risottos at lunch, spreads/hummus with fresh carrots or cauliflower at dinner. Also eating cheese with grapes is now a regular thing in our home (I eat grapes with pizza too 😄).
Others are habits we added to our routine. I loved seeing people picnicking and reading books in the park. So spending time in green spaces became a priority both in our travels and at home. We even implemented our own take on “siesta” - a one hour walk after lunch, in the park or around the neighbourhood.
Renting apartments we get to see how people live everyday, how they arrange their homes and even how they use lights to shape the mood. Now we always dine with a dimmer, warm light that helps us relax. It’s just one of those 3 euro lamps from Ikea, but it made such a big difference on how we end our day.
These are changes easy to describe, but immersing ourselves in other cultures made deeper transformations in the way we see the world and who we are. So I’d love to know more about your experience. What inspired you from your trips?
Here’s something to open at lunch break: my favourite songs from two bands I discovered on holiday, one from Deolinda and one from Sephardica.
Safe travels,
Irina
