I remember the first trip Mike and I ever took together like it was yesterday. It was actually in August, 2014, and we had only been dating for four months at the time. We made the fourteen hour drive to New Orleans and spent three amazing days there. We had stormy afternoons, drunken nights, ran out of money, dealt with some car issues and endured what turned out to be an eighteen hour drive home. In short, we really tested our fairly new relationship. And I’m so glad we did. That trip meant a lot to both of us and we still talk about it frequently; comparing all other vacations to that first perfect trip to NOLA (even despite the bumps in the road). Traveling as a couple can make or break a relationship, but when it’s done right, it can really bring you closer together. Each trip Mike and I take together teaches us something new, whether about each other or how we travel as a couple. We’ve finally gotten a good rhythm. For example, I know not to drag him around to different attractions when he is hungry, and he knows to be patient with me when I am trying to take pictures, and so on. Though I do enjoy traveling solo, Mike will always be my favorite travel buddy. Here are our best tips for couple’s travel so far:
Always discuss the activities and attractions you want to visit beforehand: You would be hard-pressed to find a significant other that enjoys all the exact same things you do. That’s a good thing though, right? Opposites attract! When talking about what you want to do while you’re on vacation, make a list together and make sure both of your interests are equally represented. You will both be much happier to do these things together when you know it was a joint decision.
Stay hydrated and fed to avoid nonsense fights: This might be the most important tip I could give. I cannot tell you how many times Mike and I have bickered over nothing, just because one or both of us was hungry. It seems like such a small thing, but it will save you a lot of grief along the way, I swear.
Plan the financial aspects ahead of time: There is nothing that will sour your vacation together faster than arguing over who will pay for what. If you are splitting the costs, decide who is paying for what before you even leave. Make a list of potential costs and split it up however you want: pay for alternate meals, split the hotel bill at checkout, however you want to divide it up. Just stick with the plan to avoid awkwardness on the road.
Split the responsibilities: Whether it’s dividing the driving hours for a road trip, carrying the backpack, or being in charge of the map, don’t make one person take all of the responsibility. Splitting it equally means that you both have equal amounts of fun. I do not really enjoy driving, but I will take my turn so Mike can rest and enjoy the scenery too.
Always have a Plan B: No matter how much you plan or how evenly you split your costs, there’s bound to be something that doesn’t go exactly as planned. Always have a Plan B to get you through. For example, when Mike and I had planned to go to Toronto earlier this year, we ran into some unforeseen circumstances and had to cancel the trip. Fortunately, we bounced back and went to Grand Rapids instead. Things fall through, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be for the better.
What are your best tips for traveling as a couple? Where was your favorite trip together?
There is a delicate balance to planning a trip: under-plan and you might miss out on things you really wanted to do, over-plan and you’re apt to drive yourself crazy trying to accomplish everything. While there certainly is a benefit to creating a plan for your vacation activities, scheduling too many things to do and see is a sure-fire way to turn your relaxing trip into a stress-fueled nightmare. I’ll admit, I have a tendency to be a bit overzealous when it comes to making my vacation to-do lists, which can lead to a lot of running around and not a lot of enjoying the city I’m visiting. I learned the hard way what over-planning does to a trip once I arrive. Case in point: Washington, D.C. I booked my plane ticket two months before I was due to leave, so I had plenty of time to read D.C. travel blogs and compiled a two page, unedited, intimidating list of things to do and see while I was there.
Perhaps if I had more than three days to work with, this wouldn’t be a problem, but as it stood, I was working with a pretty limited time frame. As a result, I spent most of my time in D.C. running from museum to monument to restaurant and back again. So much so that when I finally retired to my hotel room each night, I passed out early from pure exhaustion. I put so much pressure on myself to do everything, see everything and eat everything, that I was more exasperated than excited, which isn’t really the desired emotion during vacations. I don’t mean to say that I didn’t enjoy my time in D.C., I really did! I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to explore this new city, and there were plenty of great moments during the trip. However, on the flight back home, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in myself for not enjoying it at a more leisurely pace. I missed out on a couple of things that I was really hoping to do simply because there were so many other things. That’s crazy, right? Travel should be freeing and exciting, not make you feel like you’re still at work. It was a hard/expensive lesson to learn but I’m glad I can move forward from it. The silver lining is, now I can work on not doing that again. For future trips, I will make my to-do lists more curated to my interests.
How do you plan your trips? Do you make to-do lists or just go with the flow?
If you travel often, there are certain things you look for in each city you visit. For some it might be themed bars or local cuisine or perhaps museums. For me, it’s bookstores. It’s no secret that I’m an avid reader, so of course I always try to seek out a unique bookstore everywhere I go. I love searching through each set of shelves and stacks to discover books that I’ve been wanting to read for ages, or books I never knew I needed. Whether they’re new or used, fiction or non-fiction, I’m happy as long as there are plenty to sift through. Though all these bookstores contain book selections for all types of bibliophiles, each shop has its own distinct style and flavor. Here are my favorite bookstores I’ve visited so far that are worth an entire vacation planned around them:
Atticus Coffee, Books & Teahouse, Park City, Utah: I was lucky enough to happen upon this delightful bookshop/café when I was visiting my best friend in Salt Lake City. We drove up to Park City one afternoon to explore and wandered into Atticus. The small-ish store was chock full of charm, with half the space dedicated to books and gifts and the other half café seating. I didn’t get to purchase any books because of limited luggage space, but I wanted everything.
The Strand Bookstore, New York, NY: The Strand is a bibliophile’s dream, boasting 18 miles of books in its selection. You could spend hours getting lost in the multiple floors of new and used books, gifts and assorted paper goods. I bought more books there than I probably should have and had to beg Mike to let me put half of them in his suitcase to transport them home. It was worth it. The Strand is located in the East Village with a bonus kiosk in Central Park.
Battery Park Book Exchange, Asheville, NC: What is better than leisurely browsing through books? Browsing through books with a glass of champagne in hand! Battery Park is the Café/Bar/Bookstore of your dreams, where you are free to sit and read and sip or wander the store with your beverage of choice. I had two glasses of champagne while I browsed and came away with a beautiful copy of “The Sun Also Rises”. The two-story store is located in the Grove Arcade mall in Downtown Asheville.
City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, San Francisco, CA: This Beat Generation bookshop is full of history and good vibes. It is a 3-level mecca of books of all kinds, from the top floor, which is full of poetry and beat generation classics, down to the basement, where the science fiction books are housed. The staff at City Lights are super friendly and happy to offer suggestions if needed. We bought a couple of books (“Indian Journals” by Allen Ginsburg for me) and headed next door to Vesuvio Café to start reading.
Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe, Washington, D.C.: Nestled into Dupont Circle, Kramerbooksred neon sign beckons to book lovers passing by. The bookstore/restaurant has an amazing selection of books catering to all tastes and genres. I particularly enjoyed their large travel book section. The restaurant has a beautiful patio to sit and read at. That is where I enjoyed my newly purchased book (“Medium Raw” by Anthony Bourdain) with a delicious slice of their Apple Crumble Pie.
Capitol Hill Books, Washington, D.C.: This gem is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood (obviously), right next to The Eastern Market. This used bookstore presents itself as a treasure hunt through its haphazard shelves and stacks. Its multiple rooms on two floors are a wonderful maze of every kind of book you could want. If you can spare the time, it’s worth it to get lost in Capitol Hill Books for a few hours.
Myopic Books, Chicago, IL: I may not have to travel far to get to Myopic books, but it is absolutely worth a visit for bibliophiles visiting Chicago. It’s located in Wicker Park, right across from Furious Spoon (ramen – yum!). Myopic has four floors of floor-to-ceiling shelves stocked with used books. I personally love the basement level, which is where they keep the Stephen King novels. I have spent many rainy days searching through the frequently updated selection here, and I can confidently say that is one of my favorite bookstores.
Where is your favorite bookstore? Have you been to any on this list?
Our second day in Grand Rapids started a little later than planned; we hit the breweries a little harder than expected the night before. As soon as we could drag ourselves out of bed, we packed up and checked out. Our first stop of the day was Cherie Inn for breakfast. This adorable European Style restaurant is located right near Brewery Vivant in the East Hills Neighborhood. There was a bit of a wait for a table which we spent exploring the flower shop next door (New Design Floral) and scheming for the rest of the day. Once we were seated, we quickly ordered coffees to shake us out of our hangover fog. Mike ordered the chicken and chorizo omelet for breakfast and I got the biscuits and gravy which was hearty and delicious. The Cherie Inn seemed to be an institution in Grand Rapids, and the crowd was a testament to its long standing status as the cozy breakfast nook of choice. From there we moved to the Eastown Neighborhood, parking down the street from Eastown Antiques. I don’t know if we were doing it wrong or what, but we never had to pay for street parking in Grand Rapids. It’s a good thing, but as a Chicagoan, I’m always a little bit suspicious of free parking. Eastown Antiques was amazing. It was a perfect mix of the messy treasure hunting and curated knickknacks from the day before. I probably could have bought out the store if I had the resources too, but got a small globe and vintage bracelet instead. The employees were wonderful and it was an overall fantastic antiquing experience. We walked around the block a bit, stopping in The Mitten State (Michigan themed T’s and such) and Flashlight Alley (an interesting store of oddities). We wanted to try one of the famous Yesterdog’s, but were both still pretty full from breakfast, so we split the namesake dog. I have to say…. It was just alright. Maybe we’re just partial to the mustard slathered, topping covered hot dogs from home. Our last stop in Eastown was Argo’s Bookstore, a used book shop with a solid comic book collection and an endearing haphazard organizational system. After we browsed through the books, we hit the road again and headed towards the Downtown Market. The market is housed in a huge, two story building. The first floor contained vendors, shops and restaurants and the second floor had a beautiful greenhouse, classrooms and a cooking demonstration room. We wandered between the rows of vendors, admiring the beautiful baked goods, smelling the handmade candles and flower stands and trying to stop our mouths from watering over all the amazing-looking food. Being more thirsty than hungry, we stopped into Grand Traverse Distillery to take a peek at their small batch vodka and whiskey.
The cheerful bartender/shopkeeper explained the company and offered to make us a summery cocktail of cherry vodka and lemonade, which of course we couldn’t refuse (especially at only $5 a pop). The cocktail was so good and we had fun chatting with its creator, comparing rents in Chicago and Grand Rapids and discussing all of the breweries in the area. Once we had our fill of the Downtown Market, we headed to Vertigo Music to celebrate Record Store Day. They had an excellent selection of new and used albums, as well as CD’s and DVDs. I appreciated the fact they decorated their store to celebrate the occasion. Soon we made our way to the intriguing shop next door: Woosah. I loved it immediately. It is a print shop that makes various clothing items, accessories and some paper goods. I got a Woosah patch and a notebook and ensured that they had an online store (they do, it’s here) before we left. We made one last stop before heading home: Madcap Coffee; a hipster’s paradise with a minimalist menu and fantastic coffee. I had the Café Miel, which was an amazing blend of espresso, milk, honey and cinnamon. We also got a bag of coffee to take home and enjoy. We made our way home from there, sipping our coffee and enjoying the afterglow of a great trip. Once we got there, we caught each other looking up apartments for rent in Grand Rapids. I don’t anticipate moving there any time soon, but it sure is a sweet dream.
Thanks for a beautiful weekend, Grand Rapids.
Have you ever been to Grand Rapids? What did you think? Where was your favorite spot?
I don’t always travel by myself, but when I do, I revel in the untainted freedom of it. There is a certain beauty to exploring a new city on your own. It’s not that I don’t love traveling with my friends or with my boyfriend, but there is a special place in my heart for travelling alone. One could argue that seeing a new destination is best when you have someone to share it with, but I feel like sometimes I appreciate it more when I discover new places on my own. It’s so gratifying to successfully navigate an unfamiliar destination without relying on anyone but yourself. I’ve done it well and I’ve done it not so successfully, but there is no doubt that I will keep travelling solo as long as it’s an option. Below are my favorite perks of solo travel:
Being in Control of Your Own Schedule: Your time is 100% your own and you can fill it with whatever you want. There is no need to compromise what you want to accomplish because it’s your trip. If you want to lay on the beach all day and read trashy romance novels, you can do that. If you want to eat at the same restaurant for breakfast lunch and dinner, you can do that too. Your trip, your decisions, whatever makes you happy is what you can and should do.
Meeting Amazing People: It’s always easier to meet new people when you’re by yourself than with a group; maybe because you seem more approachable or maybe because you’re more open to your surroundings when you are alone. Whenever I travel alone, I meet the kindest people who are always ready and willing to help with directions, give restaurant suggestions or chat for a while about the city we’re in, or anything at all.
Never Being Bored: I think my biggest pet peeve about telling people I’ll be traveling alone is when they ask, “Won’t you be bored? What are you even going to do there?” The answer to this annoying question: I’m going to discover a place that is completely new to me, I’m going to try exciting new foods, I’m going to get a feel for the culture and the people. I will be so busy enjoying these new experiences that I won’t even think about boredom. How could anyone be bored on vacation, alone or otherwise?
Gaining Confidence: When I took a solo road trip to Asheville, NC, I was testing a lot of personal limits. I’m not a super comfortable driver, but I made it there without incident AND once there, I drove up and down mountains. MOUNTAINS. This was a very large step outside my comfort zone, however it is kind of necessary to force yourself out of your comfort zone when you travel alone. There won’t be anyone else there to do the uncomfortable things for you. You have to count on yourself for the whole trip, but then again, that’s how you find out what you’re made of.
Never Waiting Around: How many times have you tried to plan a trip, but couldn’t find anyone with the time or funds to go with you? If you travel alone, you only have your own schedule and budgeting to worry about. This makes choosing when and where you’re going a whole lot simpler. There’s also the plus of not having to compromise where you want to go with your would have been travel companions.
Learning a thing or two: Traveling alone is a wonderfully eye opening experience. You’ll learn to be comfortable on your own, and that’s a solid life skill. You will also learn how to consistently budget, the value of a back-up plan, how many pairs of shoes is too many pairs to pack, and, not to mention, how amazingly helpful Google Maps is. If nothing else, you will come back with the knowledge that this is something you can do. You can travel alone, enjoy a new place and enjoy yourself in the process.
Traveling solo is really an amazing and invaluable experience that everyone should try, more than once if possible. Yes, it may change you, but only in the best of ways.
Sometimes, no matter how meticulously you plan, travel plans fall through. Maybe something unavoidable came up, forcing you to cancel, maybe you’ve found that you’re in a little over your head financially and need to dial it back, or maybe you just lost interest in that particular destination. Whatever the case may be, it’s okay to change plans. It happens. Heck, it’s happened twice to me in the past month. I’ve rearranged travel plans to better fit my budget, and I’ve done the opposite and splurged on a trip I will need to save up some more money for. They actually go hand in hand, really.
Back in December, Mike gave me a trip to Toronto for my birthday. Over the past three months, this thoughtful gift turned into a little bit of stress for both of us. First it was because we had to keep changing the date due to work conflicts (my fault), then we couldn’t decide whether we should drive or fly there; these little things kept nagging at us. Plus it was starting to get more and more pricey. It just wasn’t coming together. It felt like a sign that this trip just wasn’t meant to be, so we cancelled it. We still wanted to have a long weekend though, because we both had already taken the days off of work. We needed somewhere closer, cheaper, and with enough points of interest to keep us busy, but not enough to overwhelm our short time there. Enter: Grand Rapids, Michigan, home of Founder’s Brewery, Frederick Meijer Gardens, good food and antique stores galore! You might think, “that is the most random place for a romantic weekend getaway,” but it fit the bill perfectly for us. And to be honest, I’m actually a little more excited with this change because it came together so seamlessly. The fact that it will be a cheaper long weekend is a big plus for me due to my second change of travel plans this month. I’ve scrapped a budget friendly trip for the fall to splurge on a eurotrip to Iceland and Copenhagen (more on that later).
So the moral of this story is, someday, a trip that maybe you had been looking forward to will fall through, but that does not mean an equally great if not better situation might come up. The great thing about travel is anywhere you go is bound to have at least one great attraction, restaurant, book store, or whatever interests you. Every destination has it’s merits.
Has this ever happened to you? How did you overcome cancelling your plans?
There are an undeniable amount of fantastic restaurants in Washington, D.C. When I started planning my trip, I had a huge list of restaurants I wanted to try. There was such a large range of cuisines and so many well-liked and much talked about places that it was very hard to choose which ones to go to. If I could afford it and stomach it, I would have had at least eight meals a day. However, that isn’t a realistic feat for me, so though I know there are many other great restaurants that very well could have made this list, below are my five favorite Washington, D.C.Meals:
Le Diplomate – Scallops Nicoise ($29): This was the first restaurant I visited in DC and it made such a great impression. This upscale French restaurant is gorgeous inside and has dining al fresco as well. Because this place was a little pricey for my budget, I only ordered an entrée and stuck with water to drink. They had a very fancy looking wine list though, and had my budget allowed, I would have certainly ordered a glass or two. They brought out a basket of bread prior to my meal and I counted that as my appetizer; the breads were delicious, especially the cranberry walnut. The scallops were so damn good, perfectly cooked and very flavorful. They were served with orzo, tomatoes, onions, peas and pesto. I could have that meal every night and be so happy.
Ted’s Bulletin – Ted Tart ($3): Let me preface this by saying (again) I do not eat eggs, I don’t like them. So breakfast is always a little bit tricky for me: it’s usually a bunch of side dishes or pancakes. At Ted’s Bulletin, I ordered hash browns, bacon and a Ted Tart, their homemade version of a poptart. They had many different flavors (strawberry, brown sugar, lemon something, blueberry cheesecake…) but I chose the salted caramel tart. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. I wish I could take a dozen home with me, but I doubt they would have lasted more than an hour in my possession. The restaurant was really cute and the coffee was decent. Be prepared to wait for a table if you go on a Sunday morning (unless you go by yourself, like I did!).
Mandu– Mandu Dumplings ($4 for happy hour) & Chap Chae ($15): I read about Mandu in a Buzzfeed article featuring DC’s best cheap eats. I was instantly interested. They have a happy hour that’s available 7 days a week and has some great deals. The servers were really great and capable of explaining any of the Korean dishes you might not be so familiar with. I had dumplings for my appetizer, trying 2 of each dumpling: vegetable, shrimp and beef & pork. Chap Chae was my entrée and it was very good. I loved the Korean condiments (kimchee, pickles, bean sprouts…) that came with it.
Founding Farmers – Strawberries and Cream Waffle ($8) & Pork Sausage ($6): Founding Farmer’s is on a lot of “best of DC” lists so of course I had to try it. It was pretty bustling for a Monday morning, but I was seated right away. I ordered a latte straight away and was happy when it came in a big, cozy mug. For breakfast I ordered the strawberries and cream waffle and sausage links. The waffle was served with a small metal carton of syrup and a large dollop of dense, custard-y cream and fresh strawberries. The sausage was good as well and balanced out the sweetness of the waffle. It was a perfect meal and a perfect way to kick off a day of adventuring.
Momofuku Milk Bar– Crack Pie ($5.50): I knew I wanted to go to Momofuku Milk Bar, but arrived there completely by happy accident. It was my last day in DC and it was pouring and very cold, I rushed into what I thought was a cute bakery and didn’t realize until I was fully inside that it was THE cute bakery. I ordered the Crack Pie, a treat they’re famous for, and stood at the counter to enjoy it with my coffee while I watched the rain. The Crack Pie was mouth-wateringly good. It was caramel-y and sweet and rich and was the cure for my rainy day mood.
I know there are a ton of other great DC restaurants that I probably missed, which are your favorites?
On my second full day in Washington, D.C., I awoke early to start another busy day. My first stop was Founding Farmers, a farm-to-table restaurant downtown. I ordered the strawberries and cream waffle with a side of sausage and a latte to round it out. The food was delicious and fresh and the staff was really friendly. I ate every little bit of my meal, and it was the perfect amount to give me the energy to walk around for the rest of the day. I intended to head straight to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial, but I took a slight detour to the Renwick Gallery. I had passed it the day before and the line was down the block; this time there was no line so of course I couldn’t not go in. This gallery also had free admission, as it is an extension of The National Gallery.
Once inside, the woman at the information desk handed me a guide and sent me on my way. Each of the 9 featured artists had their own separate room for their installation, and I walked through them all in awe. The installations were beyond gorgeous and each had its own thought-provoking message. My favorite was “In the Midnight Garden” by Jennifer Angus, which was made mostly of insects a la 7th grade bug collection.
I also really loved Janet Echelman’s colorful piece in the main room upstairs which consisted of a colorful net strung up from the ceiling.
Once I spent a sufficient time admiring each room, I headed out into the sunny day and walked towards the U.S. Holocaust Memorial.
The Holocaust Memorial was obviously a very emotional experience. I choked up immediately upon entering the actual museum, and had to run into the bathroom to fix my face. Everyone walked through the museum in silence. There were three levels that moved seamlessly in chronological order. It took about two hours to make it through, and it was heart wrenching, but also informative. I certainly left with a different perspective and gratitude. Next, I went to the National Air and Space Museum to see the Amelia Earhart exhibit. The whole museum is very impressive.
There are airplanes and miscellaneous space ships and equipment everywhere – hanging from the ceiling, coming out of the walls, stretching from floor to ceiling. Amelia is one of my favorites and I was surprised to see her exhibit was relatively small compared to others. It was still great though. I also really liked the Time and Navigation Exhibit, which detailed compasses and GPS technology in all its stages. I wandered around the museum, peaking at things that caught my interested, like walking through the full sized Space Station and The Wright Brothers exhibit. Then I moved on to the Library of Congress. The outside of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library is gorgeous, much like most of the other buildings in DC, but the inside is stunning.
I viewed the jealousy-inducing reading room from above and checked out Thomas Jefferson’s personal Library, as well as the Civil Rights exhibit right next to it. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the ceiling and walls were. I spent most of my time in the library looking up. By then, my stomach was telling me it was time to move on to We, The Pizza just down the street. I wanted to go there because it’s owned by Spike Mendelsohn, one of my favorite contestants on Top Chef. Sadly, he wasn’t there, but I did thoroughly enjoyed my sausage and sweet pepper pizza. The restaurant was really cute, with the pizzas all lined up in front and a large seating area upstairs.
From there, I walked the few blocks to Folger’s Shakespeare Library, where I had just missed the last tour of the day. The section that was open to the public without a tour was interesting, but small. I’d say it’s worth visiting IF
you do the tour or if you get tickets to see a play in the beautiful theater there. I took a cab back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and check into the hostel where I was staying that night. The Hosteling International DC was just a short walk away, and the lovely front desk staff checked me into my private room (shared bathroom). I noticed that the hostel offered nightly group activities, which I unfortunately had to decline but it did look like a good time! I took the bus to Georgetown, which was about thirty minutes away. I was trying to do some off-the-beaten path things in DC, but it seemed that I was stuck firmly on the path. Oh well, they’re popular for a reason. I got off the bus at M street and found myself in a very ritzy area. Shops like Banana Republic, Tory Burch and Lululemon lined the streets. It reminded me of the Gold Coast back in Chicago. I waltzed around a bit, stopping into Olivia Macaron to grab a latte and a champagne macaron. The macaron was delicious and the coffee kept me warm as I continued to wander. The small macaron shop was kiddie corner from Georgetown Cupcakes, a bakery made famous by TLC. I didn’t go in. I worked at a cupcake place in college and haven’t
been able to stomach them since. The houses in Georgetown were beautiful and I had fun admiring them as I walked. I wanted to make my way to Washington Harbor so I walked down Wisconsin Street towards the water. There were some cute stores along the way that I’ve not seen back home, including Redz Trading thrift store and American/Holiday, which had cute clothes, jewelry, and housewares. As I walked towards the harbor, the sun bean to set and once I arrived at the Potomac River, the sky was a mixture of blue, orange and pink. There were restaurants and a skating rink at the harbor, but I walked along the river instead of partaking in them. I had planned on going to Right proper Brewing for Dinner, so I walked along the river and then up through the George Washington University campus to get to the metro.
The ride was quick and the brewery was close to the train stop, however, when I arrived I realized it was closed for a private event. I was pretty bummed because I was looking forward to trying a local brewery, but I moved on anyways. Shaw’s Tavern was one block away, so that is where I ended up. The restaurant featured upscale bar food and a lively atmosphere. I ordered a DC Brau Public Ale and the Shaw’s Burger.
It turned out to be trivia night there, so I stayed and listened to the questions. The beer and burger were so perfect and the bar crowd was full of good vibes. I decided to walk home from there, which was a bit of an unnerving experience. However, I did arrive safely, albeit very sore and tired from walking all day. I showered in the public girl’s bathroom, which was clean enough, with thin curtains separating the showers from each other. When I finally lay down on the bed to read, I realized that it squawked every time I moved even a tiny bit. This set the tone for the rest of the evening; I didn’t get very much sleep, especially because I very stupidly got to thinking about the movie the Babadook (have you seen it? Don’t watch it, it’s scary). Anyways, the next morning I opted out of the complimentary hostel continental breakfast and walked over to Astro Doughnuts.
It was rainy and cold, but luckily it was a short walk. I got a maple bacon doughnut and a coffee and sat under the awning to enjoy it. The doughnut was a perfect combination of sweet and salty. It was so good. The rest of the morning was a chain of unsuccessful attempts to see one more thing before leaving. Everything was closed, not reopening until it was time for me to head to the airport or under construction until 2017 (thanks a lot Trump). So I wound up at Momfuku Milk Bar for some of their famous crack pie and yet more coffee. The pie was aptly named and so delicious. It was sweet and caramel-y and almost too rich to finish, not that I didn’t.
Soon it was time to check out from the hostel and take the blue line to DCA. It took only 30 minutes to make the trip, only to be delayed for three hours. By the time we finally boarded, there were only twenty people who waited it out. On the other side of the flight, I took a different blue line back home, happy to be home but grateful for a fantastic trip.
Thank you, DC, for a wonderful time!
Have you been to Washington, D.C.? Where was your favorite place there?
Sometimes, no matter how meticulously you plan, travel plans fall through. Maybe something unavoidable came up, forcing you to cancel, maybe you’ve found that you’re in a little over your head financially and need to dial it back, or maybe you just lost interest in that particular destination. Whatever the case may be, it’s okay to change plans. It happens. Heck, it’s happened twice to me in the past month. I’ve rearranged travel plans to better fit my budget, and I’ve done the opposite and splurged on a trip I will need to save up some more money for. They actually go hand in hand, really.
Back in December, Mike gave me a trip to Toronto for my birthday. Over the past three months, this thoughtful gift turned into a little bit of stress for both of us. First it was because we had to keep changing the date due to work conflicts (my fault), then we couldn’t decide whether we should drive or fly there; these little things kept nagging at us. Plus it was starting to get more and more pricey. It just wasn’t coming together. It felt like a sign that this trip just wasn’t meant to be, so we cancelled it. We still wanted to have a long weekend though, because we both had already taken the days off of work. We needed somewhere closer, cheaper, and with enough points of interest to keep us busy, but not enough to overwhelm our short time there. Enter: Grand Rapids, Michigan, home of Founder’s Brewery, Frederick Meijer Gardens, good food and antique stores galore! You might think, “that is the most random place for a romantic weekend getaway,” but it fit the bill perfectly for us. And to be honest, I’m actually a little more excited with this change because it came together so seamlessly. The fact that it will be a cheaper long weekend is a big plus for me due to my second change of travel plans this month. I’ve scrapped a budget friendly trip for the fall to splurge on a eurotrip to Iceland and Copenhagen (more on that later).
So the moral of this story is, someday, a trip that maybe you had been looking forward to will fall through, but that does not mean an equally great if not better situation might come up. The great thing about travel is anywhere you go is bound to have at least one great attraction, restaurant, book store, or whatever interests you. Every destination has it’s merits.
Has this ever happened to you? How did you overcome cancelling your plans?
My very good friend, Adrienne, is a true creative, a great writer and a music enthusiast. She is the author and creator of the music blog, Nosferatune, which is chock-full of original and inspiring content. Recently, she joined the band Marrow on tour through the American South, mixing her loves of music and travel. I was lucky enough to be able to get the inside scoop on her experiences on the road.
This great adventure all started with another adventure in our home city of Chicago, where Adrienne performed in a burlesque variety show, The Fly Honey Show. A band called Homme was also performing in the show.
RebeccaWanderlusting (RW): How did you come by Homme in the first place?
Adrienne Thomas (AT): “I met them in underwear, singing on stage at the Fly Honey show. I talked with them briefly back stage, I really loved their song, and they were obviously well connected with the creators of the Fly Honey show. I heard about a show of theirs at the Hideout (we all went) and wrote a little piece on it and took some photos. After that I didn’t seem them until I emailed Sima to see if she wanted to wanted to make something in New Orleans. And then this all happened.”
Adrienne and her boyfriend, John, had been planning a trip to New Orleans, where, coincidentally, the band Marrow was playing a show. Let me explain the degrees of separation here: Sima and Macie make up the band Homme, Sima also performs solo and was the opening act for the band Marrow, which Macie is a member of. Adrienne did a photo shoot with Homme in New Orleans and went to the Marrow show there as well. Afterwards, they invited her to join them on tour. They had wanted her to join the tour the next day, but, because there were still three days left in her New Orleans trip, there was a decision to be made.
Photo Courtesy of Adrienne Thomas
RW: Initially, was there any hesitation to say yes, let’s go?
AT: “Before I realized that I could actually tell them when I can, I was thinking ‘Oh my gosh am I going to leave John early, do I have to make this decision?’ I thought about it, and thought no, they want me, so I’m going to tell them when I can, and if that works out for them, cool. So that was a little bit of a challenge, organizing that, and finding out where I would meet them in the country, but it worked out! That was probably the only thing, I didn’t want to end my vacation early but I also know that this was a super great opportunity, so I might have, if they said it’s this or nothing. I think it was definitely a lesson in understanding the value of my work, instead of thinking ‘Oh, I really want to go on tour with these people, I’m going to bend over backwards to make it happen and get payed by them’ instead of that, I had to flip it around and be like ‘Adrienne you’re really talented and you have a lot of work under your belt and you should be able to set the grounds for this’. It took me a day to realize that I didn’t need to be at the whim of them, they could be at the whim of me a little.”
With that, a plan was set in motion to meet them in Nashville and join them for the rest of the tour. Adrienne and John finished their New Orleans trip and drove up to Tennessee, taking a day to themselves in Memphis before heading to Nashville. The tour moved from Nashville to Jackson, MS to Houston, Austin, and Dallas, then Wichita, Kansas City and Columbus, MO, before ending in Champaign/Urbana.
Photo Courtesy of Adrienne Thomas
RW: How long did you spend in each location and where did you sleep?
AT:“The longest was two days, we spent two days in Austin and Wichita. The shortest was, one time we just stopped for the show, we spent 6 hours at the venue and then continued driving. Most nights we spent one night. We drove all day, got to the venue, did sound check, walked around the city, did the show, went to someone’s house to sleep, woke up and left. We didn’t stay at any hotels, it was all through connections. They arranged it every night staying with someone that someone knew that opened their house for us. Therefore, we met a lot of really nice people.”
One moment of the trip stuck out as memorable to Adrienne, it occurred at one of the many homes that they were welcomed into. This particular home was in Wichita, KS, and they had driven most of the night to get there. They slept most of the day, and awoke for dinner with the family. One room of the house was musically inclined, containing a piano and an organ. Adrienne describes one of her favorite nights of the trip like this: “Macie started playing piano, she’s the best at piano, she’s fantastic, and Liam came in and started playing the organ that was in there, Dorian came in and started playing the guitar and then Sima came in and started singing with Macie. And they all broke out into a David Bowie medley. It was the most special experience. When you think about music… most musicians know how to jam together, they can pick up on what someone is playing and add in their own. That’s just one of the coolest things about music that people can just come together in a second and create a song, a full song, and all add their own aspect to it. They’re not afraid musically, when they sing with each other or when they improvise, they’re not wondering if they sound good. They’re all confident in their sound, which is what made that moment so cool.”
RW: Which venue was your favorite?
AT: “Dallas was really cool because it was so warm out and all of the bars were open, and the music was so loud and it went down all the streets. I went for a walk four blocks away and I could hear them warming up. What a great natural marketing, talk about music leading you to where you want to be. That ended up being a really great show. Dallas was a lot of people that didn’t know them who became fans of them at the end of the show. People were dancing. For a tour that was relatively small scale, as in they didn’t have many fans come out, they mostly got new fans, that was the most rewarding to watch people have a good time and get into it.”
This tied into why she enjoyed the tour as a whole: “It wasn’t an all-star tour, they didn’t have a lot of people coming out, but there was still purpose to the tour. They were gathering a crowd and proving that they could tour together. And my role, as documenting the process, was to help them improve their image as a touring, successful band so they could get better booking agents, better management. That was cool, to learn why they wanted me to document a tour that wasn’t super popular. If I can have that direct of an effect on band’s being well known and respected, then that makes me feel really good.”
RW: What did your job on tour entail?
AT: “There were basically four parts that I filmed for every show. 1. Time lapse videos of load-in and set-up, 2. Film our walk around the city, because there was always a gap between the sound check and the performance, a couple hours. I would film us walking whether we went to get barbeque or ice cream, so I filmed them and we tried to make some fun situations, visually. One time we went past a car dealership with an old school Chevy in it, so they stopped and played house in this car for a minute, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to shoot. 3. Filming during the shows, I wouldn’t film every song, but I would film and make sure I would get enough footage to have a good recap of the show, get enough footage of each person. 4. I would film and record people’s reactions. After the show, I would ask people what they thought and for that I had a tiny task hand recorder. I didn’t have a whole mic set-up, so I tried to get enough audio clips of people saying “Marrow was awesome! This was great!” That definitely got easier as we went along. In the beginning, I didn’t really know what to capture and towards the end, I knew what kind of footage I needed so I didn’t have to film all the time, I wouldn’t film the same thing over and over and over again.”
Photo Courtesy of Adrienne Thomas
RW: What were the challenging parts of the tour?
AT: “There’s awkwardness to sift through before I find that comfort zone. That was the same with the tour because I really wanted it to be comfortable for everyone, and I didn’t want to be that person ruining all their moments. They were having a good time, I didn’t want to bombard them with a camera in their face and make them feel like they couldn’t be comfortable. But at the same time, I had to do that enough. I had to not be afraid to do that, and that was a really big challenge. Because I also really wanted them to like me, I really wanted us to be friends. We were travelling together for nine days, so tackling all of those things. 1. I’m afraid to bother them, 2. I’m not getting enough footage, so those two alone kind of clashed. It’s kind of hard to enter a situation like that where everyone is friends and family. They’re all related and all went to high school together so they all know each other very well and have worked on various projects together. So that was intimidating, they were in their element together.”
RW: Do you feel like that situation changed by the end of the trip?
AT: “Yes. I’m definitely more comfortable now around them, and I feel like if I entered that situation with them again, or with another group, now I know what I have to do professionally. I don’t have to get that confused with what I want personally. I’m not going to be afraid to shove a camera in their face. Once I started to get more comfortable in that role, they started being more comfortable around me too. There was a significant warming up that happened about halfway through. It wasn’t the warmest situation, part of that might have been in my head but I’m sure they were like, “who is this girl?” Sima, the tour manager, brought me on, she was leading the whole shebang of filming. But it was really cool to experience the warming up process on their end and on my end because it made the filming better too. My footage got better as the tour went on.”
This tour wasn’t the first time Adrienne mixed music and travel. In fact, music is what most often influences her to travel: “The past two trips that I’ve gone on, I’ve tied music into both of them. In Asheville I recorded an Asheville artist, in New Orleans I recorded Homme. It’s been really cool to make sure that everywhere I travel, I make something, record something. Make it be not just a for-fun vacation. I do have a dream to go to South America and record the music that I find there. I guess to some degree, I kind of just decided that I want to do it in America first, just to make sure that I could do it, and that’s kind of what these travels have been, to make sure that I’m comfortable recording.” When asked what comes first, the music or the destination, she said, “Probably the trip gets planned, because there’s music everywhere. It’s worked out surprisingly easy so far.”
RW: Where is your favorite place you’ve travelled to thus far?
AT: “Amsterdam. Amsterdam taught me that I can move somewhere, conquer a city, as in feel comfortable living there, and learn a whole new genre of music. Amsterdam taught me techno, house, and electronic music that I had no idea about before I moved there. That was really awesome. That kind of faded since I moved away from Amsterdam, but that was a really beautiful example of immersing yourself in a city and having music be a huge part of that. That’s part of the reason I fell in love with Amsterdam, aside from its blissful everything. Biking, freedoms, beauty, bricks, old, old everything… It’s really humbling to be in an old place to realize how new you are as a person.”
Photo Credit: Adrienne Thomas
Currently, Adrienne works at Revolution Brewery in Logan Square, while still working with musicians, writing and working on her website. When asked if Nosferatune is something she’d like to pursue full time, she said, “Yes. I work at a bar that financially and motivationally supports everything that I do. Every month that I work there is another month that I am working my way up this chain and starting to get paid more for certain things and getting more experience. The fact that I have a job that financially supports my growth as an artist or as a writer or as anything I try to be is a blessing. You can’t just make money right off the bat with this job, you have to learn. I don’t have a business thought process. I’m okay with not having it, I’m going about this in my own way.”
The struggle of knowing when to take a creative passion the next step into a full time career is something we have in common. On this topic, Adrienne has some sage advice: “As soon as I can make honestly, 60-70% of what I’m making right now in freelance work, that’s when I’ll know that it’s ok to jump off and make a little less money for a bit, but let that drive you. If you have a paddle slapping your ass, you’re going to move faster, you’re going to work harder and you’re going to pursue more. It’s definitely a hard call. I think you shouldn’t necessarily look at what other people do in order to decide when you’re ready. You have to really be in touch with what you need and what you’re ready for.”
So what’s next for Adrienne and Nosferatune?
“Video, a video portal that consistently has new videos on it, small or large. New design, something that highlights immediate music sharing, immediate and consistent media sharing versus extended blog posts. I want to make it more like a taste-maker site, than a blogging site. I think less writing, that’s been the problem, because I take a while to write and I think the consistency of my posts is slow. Instead of a feature piece on something, I’d like to have a design or a platform that supports quick sharing so that people can go there and know that they can find a lot of new music at once versus sifting through two new blog posts from the last three weeks. I have the whole design of exactly what I want it to look like and all the functionality tagged in there.”
Nosferatune.com
Personally, I’m just really excited to see what she does and where she goes next! To stay updated on Adrienne’s latest projects, check out her website.
And click here to listen to Homme or Marrow, their music is worth checking out!
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rebeccawanderlusting 