Since I am traveling and haven’t had my own home since September I end up staying in lots of different locations. Even though I have been on the move a lot I still need time to adjust to every new place. Especially when I try to get into a meditative or creative space. The funny thing is that I can do that at any cute coffee shop that I come across. The question is – is it the vibe, the coffee, the nice surroundings, people or just something that is so heavily romanticized by movies that the subconscious does all the work? Coffee shops just have the tendency to get it right.
Right now, I am writing this from ´Griddle and Grind´ in St. Neots, England that won me over with a cute design, the best hazelnut oat milk latte I´ve had so far and vegan grilled cheese. Such a ´main character´ moment.
To be honest, I think when it comes to why I like coffee shops it´s all the above for me. I love pretty places, nice surroundings and of course a good coffee. Don’t get me wrong I can happily live in a van, a farm, a hostel or any other place - if it´s at least kinda clean, I´m good. But when it comes to being really comfortable and happy, my surroundings have a huge impact on me and I will prefer a minimalist, contemporary interior design with some boho chic elements.
Yes, I googled this to get it right and found it even has an own name - Japandi interior design. Good to know! I am also one of those people who always get pulled in by great design and will buy anything that’s cute (and vegan … and sustainable). I think my next deep dive google research will be about actual studies on this.
To give you an idea how i like my surroundings here are some pictures from my last apartment in Germany which I dearly loved.
I always wanted a perfect apartment like the ones you see on Instagram. When looking around on those accounts I always tell myself that I will get inspired and to a certain degree, I do. But mostly they just spark anxiety in not being able to create that myself – sounds quite weird when I write it down but I´m sure a lot of you can relate. Those places you see probably cost a fortune and have been designed by a professional with years of experience anyhow.
I thought I´m not creative enough and have no talent for interior design. Turns out it was more insecurity than missing talent that held me back – and during my university time definitely also money. It is a skill that only a few are born with and will only develop when practiced. The solution – just start and see what happens (that’s a great rule for your whole life btw.). I´m no pro at it but by now I can confidently say I can create my own space that I love being in. I left that apartment before it was what I would´ve considered done - lots more pictures, plants and some nice decorations were planned.
Another recent experience proved to me how important my surroundings are to me. I played around with the Oculus Quest 2 VR goggles and let me tell you – it absolutely blew my mind. Before actually using them, I thought it was a nice thing to play with but not really worth the money. The second I put them on and was surrounded with a 360° bubbly interface, I changed my mind. Just look at my smile:
I think I might be a little late to the hype but the things you can do with them is incredible! There are not only games which are quite cool but also yoga and meditation on it. A program called Tripp expanted my view on the possibilities for meditation even more. You just sit there with eyes open and let them guide you. From what I read it is also science based to do all sort of things with your brain. Here their promotion video if you wanna have a look inside -
You can also watch Netflix and YouTube on them and I’m sure there are tons of other cool things.
Coming back to my theory on how your surroundings impact you – they have a starting screen where you can choose to sit in a lovely cottage in the mountains, a house in a forest and some other places. These are designed so well that I got quite sad when I took the goggles off to find that I’m actually not sitting in those houses. I find this a dangerous feeling – VR with 360 view is a great place to hide from your real world with an addictive potential. The future will hold a lot of time in those areas I guess and I´m not sure how to feel about it – ´boring´ traveling time somewhere? Just get your goggles on and be somewhere else...
This leaves me with some questions for you:
How do you feel about coffee shops? do you get pulled in by pretty places as easy as me?
How important are your surroundings to you and does this reflect on your space at home?
And - omg, have you tried VR goggles yet??
So if you are like me, get yourself a lovely coffee while writing this blog, surround yourself with places and things you like, decoration might be expensive but it´s so worth it if it makes you feel at home and if you ever get the chance to try the Oculus Quest 2 goggles, do it!
