072 • The best way to spend time in new cities
True at least from my own perspective and experiences...
This year I've been travelling a lot more than I have done in the past.
I've been to London twice, Edinburgh and also a selection of places in Europe, from Lisbon to Porto, and a selection of cities in Belgium and Italy.
This means I've had to get a little more used to spending time in places that I'm not used to. It's not as easy as you might think either. Go wrong and you end up spending too much money and not feeling the impact or resonating with where you're spending time.
Now in the past, I've written about some things that I've noticed from traveling so if you want to check them out I thought I'd link them here...
But for this one, I thought I'd give some deeper advice about how to spend time when you're somewhere new, especially in large cities.
I think it's easy to head to a city without a set plan, compared to if you're going anywhere else, where you have to plan your trip a little more. But the lack of a goal can be detrimental - you're exposed to all the best and most engineered distractions designed to captivate the masses that mill through the streets.
When I went to London just last week (when I sent the previous issue of this newsletter) I experienced a lot of both sides of the effective and non-effective time-spending continuum.
The first reason I was heading to the capital was something that I'd worked out in advance - a Vincent van Gogh exhibition. That was where I headed the second I stepped off of my delayed coach. I knew where I was going, what I wanted to do and that what I was heading for had been booked in advance. There was a spectacle to look forward to.
And a spectacle it was. I'd seen a few van Goghs on the internet or printed out in the past, but I've not been that much of a fan. How far can you admire a man when you've just seen paintings of the inside of his bedroom and of his favourite chair? But I was completely converted after a little over an hour in the National Gallery. Not only by the exhibition and how perfectly van Gogh painted natural scenes, undergrowth and large vistas (something that I had no idea he did) but also by the sheer volume of completed work and the quality of the curation that the gallery had put on.
That was an example of a well-spent time in a city that made me think and that took me back in time inside the mind of one of the greatest artists that had ever lived. I could write about this exhibition for an entire issue (and I might still publish something separately) but I promised here to talk about better ways of spending time when you go somewhere new.
And these following points are what I failed to follow after I left the gallery in London…
First of all, I became distracted by notifications.
When you want the atmosphere and the energy that a city has to be something that you're completely immersed in then you can't afford to get distracted. I did. Notifications were left on in my phone's settings and (fortunately, after I'd seen most of the exhibition) got dragged back into my normal life by notifications interrupting me.
I silenced them and things became a little easier, but I didn't have anything else planned for the rest of the afternoon. So I ended up wandering which in itself has its own charm, but not as much as having something specific and fulfilling lined up. So I ended up heading back to catch the coach home over-caffeinated and significantly poorer.
To combat this I'm thinking of purchasing a small camera that I can keep with me at all times. Creating art makes me very happy, regardless of circumstance - this is one thing that I took away from my Portuguese and Italian travels in June. It’s generally much more fulfilling than consumption.
One of my saving graces in my recent London visit was that one of my purchases is something I see as a quality investment - a Traveler’s Company fountain pen that I can journal with for very many years into the future. A better buy perhaps than another item of clothing or something else similarly superficial, even though it cost quite a bit in the future.
If you can, speaking to the people in the places that you're visiting can be a fulfilling, meaningful and cheap use of time. Like I said in this issue, you can do things but if you have someone to share the experiences with then things can become so much better.
I can think of many examples but one good one is when I was in Rome in June - I needed a new wallet so I asked Perplexity.ai (one of my favourite AI tools) for the best leather boutiques in Rome that would sell authentic and individual items. After picking the best from the list, I ended up having a fulfilling conversation with the lady in charge of the shop (her English was fantastic). And I ended up with another quality item that will last me for a long time and at the same time remind me of this significant time that I spent in Rome.
Travel is something fantastic and you can pick up many great new experiences - I'm not trying to discourage trying new places out, just giving pointers that I've experienced that I think will make the visit better for you. I hope they help!
-- Theo
Last week’s issue (extended cut)…
What I’ve done this week…
I went to London a little less than a week ago (as I mentioned) but that was en route to coming home to attend my friend’s wedding.
It was a fantastic day and we were blessed with great weather, good food, dancing and celebrating the beautiful moment.
My friend is an amazing, kind, patient and caring person and it was very special to see him fully embrace such an amazing day.
My favourite pieces from the van Gogh exhibition
