Across the pond
On vacations, we can be a slightly different version of ourselves
Hi hi,
I’m writing from somewhere above the Atlantic near Greenland—I’m putting that in flight wifi to work and catching up on life, which includes making grocery lists for a crowd, curating restaurant recs, and reading several Jenna Lyons profiles (here and here).
Before today, I hadn’t looked at a laptop in days which felt so good! I was nervous to take PTO but my team was so supportive and the time difference helped me unplug. Being five hours ahead meant notifications were quiet for the first few hours of the day and staying busy and engaged helped (I also watched tiktoks before bed just like I do at home, it’s a comfort thing). I read a book and ate breakfast at a cafe, where I ordered a sweet item and a savory item because I couldn’t decide. I bought a leather jacket I know I’ll have for decades. I visited Brighton for the first time and made lots of jokes about taking to the sea a la Beth March.
I still stressed about making plans and about making too many plans. I struggled with jetlag, unfamiliar sets of keys, and the lack of air conditioning in England (we were there during a heatwave). While scrolling on my phone one day, I found
’s latest newsletter titled, The Myth of The Restful Vacation. I think there are multiple types of vacations and city ones tend to be busier, which I enjoy. But I also resonated with the stress of prepping for a trip and the stress of travel. I think there’s a lot of pressure to travel a certain way right now, to hit up certain hot spots, document everything (obviously guilty of that). But we all want different things out of a trip and travel and vacation are not equivalent.Anna concludes that “the answer is to spend more time doing nothing the rest of the year,” building in rest so we don’t get so burned out we need to log off for ten days. I support more rest and I think there’s great value in a change of scenery and love the experience of walking around an unfamiliar city or a city that feels like a home away from home. This was my fourth trip to London and it was so wonderful to return to old favorites, know my way around certain neighborhoods, see friends, and find new corners.
I’m diving right back into a busy stretch of life (what else is new) but I am so grateful for this trip and the agency I have to jaunt across the pond. It feels like something childhood me would have been very impressed by and I’m always trying to make her proud. Travel can be refreshing in multiple ways. I don’t usually arrive home well rested (jetlag and airports are not restful pals) but I arrive home with stories to share, new food ideas, memories with loved ones (it was so special to spend time with Teal and I loved returning to London with Dale) and new ideas for where to go next, even if it’s way closer to home. It’s like how there are multiple forms of exhaustion—there are multiple forms of being energized and some of them can coexist with sleep deprivation.
Thank you all for your patience as I took a week off from writing here. It was so great to truly unplug and it had been a while since I had done that. I also wanted to thank
from for the shoutout. As we discussed at Cherry Bombe’s Jubilee this past spring, writing these newsletters should be fun! And with moments to rest (Maria took a summer break and is now back to sharing wonderful recipes from her grandmother), it really is!Have a great rest of your week and I’ll be back with truly so many recs on Monday!
xo, Abigail
So glad you had a great time and welcome back. I resonate with what you said about there being multiple forms of being energized so much! I agree that while sleep obviously provides energy, so does exploring and being engaged with new and interesting surroundings. Like sure sleep is good, but have you ever walked around a city for 8 hours and discovered something cool? Your feet hurt at the end and you need to sit down, but it also feels amazing!