Copenhagen

On the street, Elmegade in Nørrebro.

On the street, Rantzausgade in Nørrebro.

We stayed in the neighborhood of Nørrebro and we completely fell in love with it. This street, Jægersborggade in particular. Everything was stunning. Inspiration was abundant. So many local artisans making beautiful things. The girls at Ladyfingers were super on point and Tricotage had the best street display I've ever seen.

Best coffee. 

Kadeau in Christianhavn.  It was an incredible and delightful adventure into Nordic cuisine. If you go to Copenhagen and have some dollars to spare, I highly recommend this joint. 

Christiania. This place was totally crazy but equally full of inspiration. 

The random tile work had me scheming.

Copenhagen was a mixed bag. I'm at a loss for the correct words to describe it but it was essentially like the cool kids club everywhere. Take the coolest most design savvy cities in the states and then multiply the cool factors by about a million and then you get everywhere in Copenhagen. Inspiration was abundant here but Danish culture felt quite hard to break into. The city was absolutely incredible but I found the people rather cold. Cold but stylish as hell. 

Things worth noticing:

• bikes bikes bikes (oh, and no one locks them. amazing)
• it was like the cool jacket show.  the best jackets you've ever seen.
• acne
• white converse high tops (thinking of you jessie c)
• carhartt
• tights and shorts 
• knee high's 
• norse projects
• lots of black/ all black

Berlin

I fell in complete love with Berlin. 

Oh the colors of Berlin. Mixed patterns, textiles, graffiti, tattoos, vibrant gardens, contrasting colors and grit were at every turn.  I was inspired just standing still, watching everything move around me letting my gaze fall on something... that proved difficult, too much stimuli. 

Two of our favorite places; Schillerbar in Neukölln, and Tante Emma's in Freidrichshain. 

Incredible burgers were had in Berlin. 

Photo booths were everywhere in Berlin so of course we had to hop on in one. I love looking at this photo. It might be my favorite thus far. Photo booths have the ability to capture that candid, real, in the moment moment. Something we can't capture with our instant replay iPhones and digi cameras. There's no time for the puckering of the lips or doing the head tilt down thing to try to get the best angle, "c'mon no fat face." Berlin in essence is like the photo booth. The picture that comes out is never quite what you think it will be but it's better than anything you could have ever expected. I'm so glad I put Berlin on this travel list.

I had the best time. More walls down, and more freedom of the mind attained. 

Things worth noticing:

• nike high tops/ every color
• hammer pants are still kicking
• tattoos/ full sleeves and face tats
• so so so many burger joints
• so so so much kebab
• adidas (it's going to be a theme here in Europe)
• low rider jeans and midriffs
• mixed prints on prints on prints
• doc martens
• community garden/ green space (literally everywhere, sidewalks, medians, amazing)

** shot with the iPhone 5. (long story but I finally have my camera)

Paris

Things worth noticing:

• stripes on stripes on stripes
• patterned vans/ any low top sneaker
• every color of adidas gazelles
• cigarettes and baguettes (yes, I know)
• summer neutrals and pastels
• kimonos
• messy top knots
• macramé

**All photos shot on the iPhone 5 as my camera lenses got stuck in the states! AHH. Hopefully I have them by tomorrow!

What is this thing I'm doing again?

I doodled that there image while I was sitting in a bar in Dublin before I arrived in Paris. The journey at that point had literally just begun and my mind was all over the place in sheer freak out mode. The questions swirling; can I really do this three months virtually solo? Will I lose everything? Will I have an anxiety attack in the next long line of passport checks? Will my camera and laptop and iPhone get jacked in the streets of Bangkok? The nerves were setting in, my palms sweaty, my stomach in knots. So I ordered another cider and told myself what I have to keep telling myself on this here journey; You're doing this because you want to change your life.  I'm doing this because I want to conquer all of the fear inside, the billowing anxiety that I've struggled with since junior year of college. I want to conquer street maps ( I know, me and maps though, yeah ) and exotic cuisines, and long cab rides and not knowing where I will rest my head next. This may seem silly to the average Joe but for those with anxiety even the simplest of things (like a long cab ride into the middle of nowhere) can seem daunting, even terrifying.  So with this I go.