“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” Pat Conroy
Every one of a hundred thousand cities around the world had its own special sunset, and it was worth going there, just once, if only to see the sun go down. – Ryu Murakami
During our stay on Hydra island in Greece, we stumbled upon a lovely home décor store down one of the streets. We were walking to Flora’s Bakery and I spotted a cute sign for The Hydra Trading Company. I could already tell by the beautifully designed sign which featured a peacock and the lobby of the building that we were in trouble. You see, Meagan and I have this dream of opening our own global home décor store and are obsessed with finding sublime shops and buying home goods while abroad.
Since my husband was waiting for us, my sister, niece and I had to return the next morning for our shopping adventure. Our walk from our pension to the shop was a wandering one, my favorite kind, where we discovered new cobblestone streets, adorable donkeys, gorgeous homes, and blooming bougainvillea before arriving at The Hydra Trading Company.
A stunning display case greeted us as we entered the first floor of the former firehouse and made us excited for what awaited us on the second floor shop. When we entered the shop, my niece exclaimed “It’s like Anthropologie- for real!” and it’s a perfect description. There are amazing bowls, glasses, plates and more in the kitchen section. Fun gifts to buy include stationary, journals, olive wood stamps (including donkey and cat ones), French and Greek linen and cotton bags, and COOL SOAP, 100% natural olive soaps made in neighboring Aegina.
The shop also has a fantastic view of the church towers of Hydra town out its window. We enjoyed browsing global home decor items such as baskets, pillows and textiles including Suzanis. In addition to the shop, there’s a connected gallery that displays works by local artists. If you’re planning a trip to Hydra, make sure you find time to visit this charming shop to pick up a few gifts and souvenirs to take home with you. If you enjoyed this post, like them on Facebook or visit their site.
[This is not a sponsored post. We loved visiting this shop while in Hydra and want the world to know about it.]
After returning from the North Georgia mountains (hills) yesterday, I was looking through photos of old mountain adventures and stumbled upon this gem that my sister Laura captured. It’s of the famous Mormon Row Barn in Grand Teton National Park and was taken during an epic camping trip we took five years ago. I love this John Muir quote since it speaks not only to his love of nature, but also his passion for being a naturalist and a Father of the National Parks.
Have you ever just really, really needed a vacation, but traveling to a far-flung place, or even just a few hours away, was just not in the budget? Wanderlust always gets the best of me, but more often than not, a “quick weekend away” can really, really add up! Last fall, my husband and I planned the “ultimate staycation” in Atlanta. We took a Thursday and Friday off of work with relaxation and exploration in mind. Since we knew that we’d end up napping on the couch all weekend if we didn’t have a plan, we set up some ground rules, and they made our long weekend incredibly exciting! We saw our city of over a decade with entirely new eyes! How’s that for wanderlust?
1. No cooking! We set this rule so that we’d feel pampered all weekend and try out new restaurants. This was especially fun for breakfast! We tried new breakfast restaurants, new doughnut shops, and new coffee shops all around our neighborhood! [Ok… If you love to cook, set a rule to try new recipes. We just didn’t want to clean the kitchen…]
2. Eat at new restaurants! We didn’t eat at any restaurants that we had been to before. Atlanta is a huge city with an amazing culinary scene, and we had so many restaurants that we’d been wanting to try. We knew it’d be way too easy to just go to our tried and true spots, so we cut those out entirely.
3. Have a Progressive Dinner! Have you had a “Progressive Dinner” before? If not, it’s typically where you visit multiple people’s homes for different parts of a meal during the holidays. We changed it up to restaurants for our staycation, and it made Rule # 2 even more exciting! Be sure to add it to your plans!
First, pick a restaurant with great cocktails and small plates for your appetizer course. We headed to H. Harper Station, which we’d heard so much about, and noshed on their bacon caramel popcorn while enjoying an old fashioned. Then, head to another new place for your next course! We tried out The Pinewood in Decatur for dinner, and their fried chicken with cheddar and herb waffles changed our southern-food-loving lives! If you still have room, head somewhere with exciting desserts next! It was off to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream for our first taste of their amazing ice cream flavors. We hit up 3 new restaurants, had a much longer date night than normal, and had an amazing time!
4. Go where you haven’t been! We are rarely tourists in our own cities, which means that there are so many neat places that we never explore. We checked out historic sites like Oakland Cemetery. We did a tour of the Braves stadium and clubhouse. We found some new shopping destinations, and some great outdoor areas like the Chattahoochee Nature Center and new sections of the Beltline.
5. Don’t forget to rest a little, too! It is a vacation, after all!
I had an absolutely stunning stay in Greece! It’s such a beautiful place, and we had a fun time exploring a country that’s been on the top of my travel list for quite some time. I highly recommend a trip to see a couple of Greek Islands as well to explore the ancient sites of Athens and surrounding areas.
One of our favorite outings in Athens was a joint shopping and dining adventure. Before the trip, we’d read multiple places about visiting the Melissinos “The Poet Sandal-maker of Athens” shop for handmade, leather sandals. The store is located near Monastiraki, not that far from the Ancient Agora site we visited earlier in the day. The Poet’s grandfather opened the shop in the 1920s to make sandals for the working and upper class, including for theater productions, and later his son, the Poet’s father, sold them to tourists in the 1950s. The sandals became extremely popular when celebrities, including Sophia Loren, Jackie O., and John Lennon bought them. Even today celebrities still buy the sandals and signed photos of various ones are displayed in the stop!
It’s a unique experience visiting the shop and trying on sandals that are then fitted exactly to your foot. I also was commissioned by Meagan to bring her a pair back, and thankfully, she chose a lace-up sandal, the Sophia Loren, which was perfect since the laces can be used to fit them. I tried on several before I decided on the gladiator style Cleopatra for around $45. My sister and niece bought the John Lennon and Maria Callas (I just love the fun names!) sandals. Make sure you allow for plenty of time to try on and get the sandals fitted.
Special instructions that went along with the sandals included putting clear nail polish over the nail heads so that when you sweat it doesn’t bleed on you and using olive oil to turn the sandals are darker color. While at the shop for an hour, my husband enjoyed browsing on his phone and petting the dog in the shop. He did a little TripAdvisor research for lunch and found us an amazing deli (though not your typical American deli) for lunch, which ended up being one of our best meals of the trip. More on that dining outing another time! Are you drooling over our sandals yet?
“Will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?”
-Walt Whitman
Since wedding season is upon us, I thought I’d do a short post about my own wedding. When my husband and I got married, we tried to incorporate unique details that personalized our wedding and was very “us.” We didn’t set out to have a travel themed wedding at first, but much of our decor focused on our mutual love of travel and made it easier to have a common thread.
I love you from here to Ghana print
Ghanaian Hankies
Travel Sign
Our save the dates were postcards which we reused as wedding decor. We took the photo while he was visiting me in Ghana! Thanks to the help of some fabulous friends and family, we had handmade programs made from maps. Meagan let me borrow some of her National Geographic magazines to use as table decorations. I also borrowed my sister’s impressive floaty pen collection displayed in mason jars. She has been adding to her unique connection since we were growing up, and I feel invested in them since I’ve bought her plenty of them from my travels.
Globe Guestbook
Map Backdrops
Floaty Pens
We used maps again as a backdrop for some photos displayed of us. My aunt found an antique globe for us to use as a guestbook. My brother-in-law made us a wooden arrow sign pointing in all the directions of different places we’d been together. Handkerchiefs made in Ghana served as a gift for our guests to use during the ceremony and to take home as a favor. We used vintage luggage as decor and to hold our custom print made by Etsy shop HopSkipJumpPaper that reads “I love you from here to Ghana” with the names of places that are special to us also printed on it. There’s also a wedding guestbook alternative poster that’s also customizable with the idea that guests sign the mat, and then it’s a keepsake for you. Happy wedding planning and attending!
Nat Geos
Map Programs
Save the Date Postcards
Photo Credit: our amazing wedding photographer (Once Like a Spark) Photography
