Home AWAY from Home

Written By Monica Marie

Vacation Re-Invisioned

People are always surprised when I tell them I’ve never left the country, and up until I visited Toronto couple months ago -it was true [although, I don’t really consider that leaving the country]. Now, there’s multiple reasons why international travel doesn’t appeal to me. The obvious being -I don’t like long flights.

More importantly, I don’t care for being a tourist. The currency exchange, the need for excursions and all around disingenuous experience of traveling to a place that you don’t truly know -so you settle for the accessible. And for some people, it works but as a cozy creature of habit, I’ve found a way to explore that works for me.

For me travel isn’t about escape, because I genuinely love my life and all that’s available to me. Travel is about experiencing all that I love -in a new place. The alternate reality and worlds. The aesthetic indie coffee shop or cozy book store -every good city has one and this country is full of so many good cities.

Rather than filling the pages of my passport I LOVE traveling to different cities here in the States. It’s just familiar enough but still harbors the excitement of NEW. And, no matter what it’s home.

There are so many people who bring their dreams to life through small businesses. When I travel, I’m not looking for a guided tour. -I’m looking for the best local coffee shop. Because when you enter a small business, you’re actually entering someone’s dream. How magnetic, to see someone bring their vision to life and to be apart of that simply by enjoying a cup of coffee or adding a book to your library. If you haven’t noticed by now -I’m quite the romantic.

A home away from home vacation is a quick flight or reasonably long drive. A city small enough that you can learn your way around by day 3, with places that make you want to visit again and again. A place where your routine isn’t thrown off, but shifted into overdrive. You feel a safe and there’s a natural flow of things YOU LOVE to do.

A few of my favorite places I visited in the last year that I instantly felt that sense of peace:

  • Boulder, Colorado

  • Sag Harbor, NY

  • St. Pete, Florida

  • Absury Park, NJ

  • Ossington, BC

All of these places warmed me with their natural, effortless beauty and understated depth. They all felt like somewhere I could live, in my own alternate reality. And when I was there, I was living my own dream.

Check out my Home Away from Home vacation in my latest YouTube video where I vlogged 5 day’s in St. Pete, Florida.

Full Video Below

Monica Marie