I feel like there must be something in the universe that calls out topics to us as writers, because I also wrote about this exact thing in my Substack a couple weeks ago. I loved reading your thoughts on this and laughing over the commonalities.
You are completely right about getting lazy with seeing when we know a place well. Recently a friend visited me here in glorious Snowdonia (which I don't for a minute take for granted) and saw details like the slate roadside kerbs I'd never even noticed (I've been here since 1983).
For my novel (out soon!!) I went on research trips to Paris, Cadaques, Lisbon and Lille and just grabbed detail after detail for my notebook: buildings. streets, people, plants, hats, everything!! It all jumped out at me and a lot of it made it into the book.
There is a writer's eye that gets switched on in an unfamiliar place, so maybe I'd have seen those fluted, flinty kerbs we have here if I didn't live up the road!
Trouble is, I hate travelling!!! But that's another story.
It's always a balance, isn't it? Congratulations on your book, Kathy, and well done making all those research trips, especially if you aren't a fan of traveling. I have found travel has gotten more frustrating in recent years, but even if I sometimes resist going, I'm always glad that I went afterward. How wonderful to have all those delicious details at your disposal for the book... but also how special to be able to see your home town like a newbie when you had a guest. Sometimes I find having visitors who see Berlin differently is almost as refreshing as going away!
I think about this so much. I’ve lived in Amsterdam for nine years now, and whenever someone new comes to visit, I realise how much of Amsterdam’s magic and uniqueness I’ve become so accustomed to I don’t even see it anymore. I do think there’s kind of a sweet spot around six months or a year into living somewhere where you hit that balance between the new and the familiar. I spent my twenties in so many different countries I think I was swimming constantly through the new, and now I’ve stayed put so long I barely recognise myself or remember what it felt like to move so much. Now I’m embarking on a new adventure of opening a bookshop in Italy. Hopefully I can get back a little of the wonder of the new while slowly putting down roots in my little town in Umbria.
Agreed on so many points — I was moving whenever I could in my 20s and now I love lingering.
How exciting about the bookshop! Where and when will it open in Umbria? (I already want to come see it)
And yes- there is a magic moment at six months. I remember having the basics down then, but still feeling like everything was coated in glitter. Loved it ✨
Having just gotten back from a holiday where all I did was write and notice t my surroundings, this is so relevant!
As a woman who grew up in the age of globalisation, I’ve lived somewhere other than my parents’ culture all my life, and move every few years to a new country. As a result, I can’t help but feel like a tourist almost everywhere I am, and every city I’ve lived in has seemed to be made of magic I don’t want to miss. But the ache remains sometimes - to know a city so well, you learn its secrets. I never write more than I do on holiday to yet another new place, my journals just filled with descriptions of the setting I’m writing in. I think travel presents us with the unique opportunity to write about the things we notice around us, as we write with the keen awareness we’re not coming back soon to notice it again. Should I decide tomorrow I’d be moving out of my city, I think for whatever time I’d have left here, I’d treat each corner with the kind of wonder I treated every road and building during my holiday. Maybe it’s the awareness of how short a time we have somewhere that produces the best writing on setting.
What beautiful awareness to have, Jo! I admire your ability to make the most of a place before leaving it when you move — I have mixed results with that and tend to get overwhelmed and miss those last poignant moments before going. I have no plans to move any time soon, other than within Berlin, but I‘ll keep these thoughts in mind for my next trip. 💖
I like both. I love to go back to places that I love that never leave my mind, and at one point moved to one that always had my heart. Alaska. I like to see new places because it opens my creativity up even more, but I also love the familiarity and getting to know more about the places I love. Costa Rica and Germany are my favorite to. I've spent time in both but not nearly enough. I've been in Alaska 7 years and I still spend a lot of time learning all about where I live. Alaska is huge and takes years to explore all it has to offer. But I also yearn to see some places I've never been that have always drawn me to them. The Carmague of France to see the horses. Russia in winter.
So many beautiful places. I know what you mean about always having more to learn. After six years in Berlin, our German is quite good, but fluent? That takes a lifetime. And between this history and the culture we feel we‘re just getting started. Even so, it feels good to have London as a counterpoint and other places I love, too: Scotland, Big Sur, Iceland… and the ones I‘ve still never seen but hope to… Finland, Norway, Costa Rica, Peru… I could dream of travel all day!
I am the daughter of a German citizen and still at my age trying to become fluent in my German lol. No easy task. Norway is amazing also. I have spent time there with my mother as well. Costa Rica is an amazing place. I don't like the heat but like Alaska I feel a pull there. Likely the vast expanse of jungle (like Alaska vast forest). Wide open space and there is just a feeling of "peace" in both Costa Rica and Alaska that I have never experienced elsewhere. I too could dream of travel all day!!
One of my closest friends is the daughter of a German father and Croatian mother and it is a great regret of hers that she didn't get to speak those languages from birth. She has been taking German courses and is absolutely enraptured with the process, which I have been so happy to see. I have such envy when I see little kids here in Berlin who speak 2+ languages from the jump. What a gift! But it's fun to learn as well.
So glad to hear Norway and Costa Rica were wonderful. I too do very badly in heat, but the peace you describe is a huge pull... plus I want to see the baby sloth rescue. Ah, travel. Magic.
Do you ever get to Germany? Where is your parent from originally?
I too regret that my mother didn't teach me when I was little. She didn't force it but I think she should have. Learning as an adult is harder lol. But I have a tutor I use and I also immerse myself in it whenever I can. I envy those kids too! Sloths are so cool. I saw a few at the one wild park I went to. Amazing and for me riding horses on the beach is un-describable. I ride wherever I travel and something about it brings me as close to heaven on earth as I can get. I have been to Germany 4 times but it's been a while. I'd like to go back again soon. I went to see family we have there with my mother when she was alive. She's from the Saarland area, near the border of France.
That border area between Germany and France is so fascinating as it feels like it went back and forth so many times. I love riding horses as well. It's been ages, but I do it as much as I can, too. Nothing like riding out in wilder nature either. The best! Hope you get back to Germany to see those relatives soon. Such good memories to be had and wonderful connections (as well as the chance to practice the language -- bliss). I'll think good thoughts about you being able to come before long.
It is a very fascinating area for sure. I've ridden in the area there as well. I have horses here in Alaska so you ever come this way be sure to look us up! Thank you! I'll think good thoughts for you to get to some of those amazing places as well.
So relevant for me right now as well! My spouse and I spent two months living in a different city this summer because we wanted to be in a favorite place where we can hike, be near water, and try a better balance of work and play. It’s been wonderful for many of the reasons you discuss, Caroline. We head home this week and I’m hoping to keep some of the vibe going there too.
I love to bring habits home from places I travel to. It‘s been a fun practice my husband and I have followed when we go on a trip. That and bringing back coffee from a cafe to drink when we return… I recommend something like that if you drink coffee or tea. It brings the memory back nicely.
Where did you spend the two months and where will you return to? Sounds like you picked a great spot!
We’ve been in Duluth, Minnesota- on the shore of Lake Superior. We normally live a couple of hours south of Chicago. A great but geographically flat and comparatively water-free life. It will be fun to come back to Duluth next time and feel like we know the city, revisit our favorite spots, etc. And yes we are bringing home local coffee and also gin from a local distillery! I’m also pondering historical fiction possibilities. Duluth has a fascinating history.
How wonderful! I do love a lake, or any body of water, really. Berlin is further inland than anywhere I've lived since college in the Midwest, but being near canals and having the Spree running through the middle of the city has quenched my need for water. That and how many lakes we have around, although they are teenie tiny compared to Lake Superior. Yay for coffee and gin to take home.
Love the idea of historical fiction as well... I have heard fascinating stories about the great lakes region from friends from that area, both on the US and Canadian side. Have so much fun with that!
I also keep thinking about „is a change as good as a break?“ after running all over the place packing in ten times the activity I‘d have at home. It was definitely a change, with fun moments. No jeep or driving, though, thankfully 🤣.
As always, thanks for sharing your experience (and a peek at your holiday.)
I feel like there must be something in the universe that calls out topics to us as writers, because I also wrote about this exact thing in my Substack a couple weeks ago. I loved reading your thoughts on this and laughing over the commonalities.
How funny! I‘ll read yours and see where we match up. ✨
You are completely right about getting lazy with seeing when we know a place well. Recently a friend visited me here in glorious Snowdonia (which I don't for a minute take for granted) and saw details like the slate roadside kerbs I'd never even noticed (I've been here since 1983).
For my novel (out soon!!) I went on research trips to Paris, Cadaques, Lisbon and Lille and just grabbed detail after detail for my notebook: buildings. streets, people, plants, hats, everything!! It all jumped out at me and a lot of it made it into the book.
There is a writer's eye that gets switched on in an unfamiliar place, so maybe I'd have seen those fluted, flinty kerbs we have here if I didn't live up the road!
Trouble is, I hate travelling!!! But that's another story.
It's always a balance, isn't it? Congratulations on your book, Kathy, and well done making all those research trips, especially if you aren't a fan of traveling. I have found travel has gotten more frustrating in recent years, but even if I sometimes resist going, I'm always glad that I went afterward. How wonderful to have all those delicious details at your disposal for the book... but also how special to be able to see your home town like a newbie when you had a guest. Sometimes I find having visitors who see Berlin differently is almost as refreshing as going away!
I think about this so much. I’ve lived in Amsterdam for nine years now, and whenever someone new comes to visit, I realise how much of Amsterdam’s magic and uniqueness I’ve become so accustomed to I don’t even see it anymore. I do think there’s kind of a sweet spot around six months or a year into living somewhere where you hit that balance between the new and the familiar. I spent my twenties in so many different countries I think I was swimming constantly through the new, and now I’ve stayed put so long I barely recognise myself or remember what it felt like to move so much. Now I’m embarking on a new adventure of opening a bookshop in Italy. Hopefully I can get back a little of the wonder of the new while slowly putting down roots in my little town in Umbria.
Agreed on so many points — I was moving whenever I could in my 20s and now I love lingering.
How exciting about the bookshop! Where and when will it open in Umbria? (I already want to come see it)
And yes- there is a magic moment at six months. I remember having the basics down then, but still feeling like everything was coated in glitter. Loved it ✨
Having just gotten back from a holiday where all I did was write and notice t my surroundings, this is so relevant!
As a woman who grew up in the age of globalisation, I’ve lived somewhere other than my parents’ culture all my life, and move every few years to a new country. As a result, I can’t help but feel like a tourist almost everywhere I am, and every city I’ve lived in has seemed to be made of magic I don’t want to miss. But the ache remains sometimes - to know a city so well, you learn its secrets. I never write more than I do on holiday to yet another new place, my journals just filled with descriptions of the setting I’m writing in. I think travel presents us with the unique opportunity to write about the things we notice around us, as we write with the keen awareness we’re not coming back soon to notice it again. Should I decide tomorrow I’d be moving out of my city, I think for whatever time I’d have left here, I’d treat each corner with the kind of wonder I treated every road and building during my holiday. Maybe it’s the awareness of how short a time we have somewhere that produces the best writing on setting.
What beautiful awareness to have, Jo! I admire your ability to make the most of a place before leaving it when you move — I have mixed results with that and tend to get overwhelmed and miss those last poignant moments before going. I have no plans to move any time soon, other than within Berlin, but I‘ll keep these thoughts in mind for my next trip. 💖
I like both. I love to go back to places that I love that never leave my mind, and at one point moved to one that always had my heart. Alaska. I like to see new places because it opens my creativity up even more, but I also love the familiarity and getting to know more about the places I love. Costa Rica and Germany are my favorite to. I've spent time in both but not nearly enough. I've been in Alaska 7 years and I still spend a lot of time learning all about where I live. Alaska is huge and takes years to explore all it has to offer. But I also yearn to see some places I've never been that have always drawn me to them. The Carmague of France to see the horses. Russia in winter.
So many beautiful places. I know what you mean about always having more to learn. After six years in Berlin, our German is quite good, but fluent? That takes a lifetime. And between this history and the culture we feel we‘re just getting started. Even so, it feels good to have London as a counterpoint and other places I love, too: Scotland, Big Sur, Iceland… and the ones I‘ve still never seen but hope to… Finland, Norway, Costa Rica, Peru… I could dream of travel all day!
I am the daughter of a German citizen and still at my age trying to become fluent in my German lol. No easy task. Norway is amazing also. I have spent time there with my mother as well. Costa Rica is an amazing place. I don't like the heat but like Alaska I feel a pull there. Likely the vast expanse of jungle (like Alaska vast forest). Wide open space and there is just a feeling of "peace" in both Costa Rica and Alaska that I have never experienced elsewhere. I too could dream of travel all day!!
One of my closest friends is the daughter of a German father and Croatian mother and it is a great regret of hers that she didn't get to speak those languages from birth. She has been taking German courses and is absolutely enraptured with the process, which I have been so happy to see. I have such envy when I see little kids here in Berlin who speak 2+ languages from the jump. What a gift! But it's fun to learn as well.
So glad to hear Norway and Costa Rica were wonderful. I too do very badly in heat, but the peace you describe is a huge pull... plus I want to see the baby sloth rescue. Ah, travel. Magic.
Do you ever get to Germany? Where is your parent from originally?
I too regret that my mother didn't teach me when I was little. She didn't force it but I think she should have. Learning as an adult is harder lol. But I have a tutor I use and I also immerse myself in it whenever I can. I envy those kids too! Sloths are so cool. I saw a few at the one wild park I went to. Amazing and for me riding horses on the beach is un-describable. I ride wherever I travel and something about it brings me as close to heaven on earth as I can get. I have been to Germany 4 times but it's been a while. I'd like to go back again soon. I went to see family we have there with my mother when she was alive. She's from the Saarland area, near the border of France.
That border area between Germany and France is so fascinating as it feels like it went back and forth so many times. I love riding horses as well. It's been ages, but I do it as much as I can, too. Nothing like riding out in wilder nature either. The best! Hope you get back to Germany to see those relatives soon. Such good memories to be had and wonderful connections (as well as the chance to practice the language -- bliss). I'll think good thoughts about you being able to come before long.
It is a very fascinating area for sure. I've ridden in the area there as well. I have horses here in Alaska so you ever come this way be sure to look us up! Thank you! I'll think good thoughts for you to get to some of those amazing places as well.
So relevant for me right now as well! My spouse and I spent two months living in a different city this summer because we wanted to be in a favorite place where we can hike, be near water, and try a better balance of work and play. It’s been wonderful for many of the reasons you discuss, Caroline. We head home this week and I’m hoping to keep some of the vibe going there too.
I love to bring habits home from places I travel to. It‘s been a fun practice my husband and I have followed when we go on a trip. That and bringing back coffee from a cafe to drink when we return… I recommend something like that if you drink coffee or tea. It brings the memory back nicely.
Where did you spend the two months and where will you return to? Sounds like you picked a great spot!
We’ve been in Duluth, Minnesota- on the shore of Lake Superior. We normally live a couple of hours south of Chicago. A great but geographically flat and comparatively water-free life. It will be fun to come back to Duluth next time and feel like we know the city, revisit our favorite spots, etc. And yes we are bringing home local coffee and also gin from a local distillery! I’m also pondering historical fiction possibilities. Duluth has a fascinating history.
How wonderful! I do love a lake, or any body of water, really. Berlin is further inland than anywhere I've lived since college in the Midwest, but being near canals and having the Spree running through the middle of the city has quenched my need for water. That and how many lakes we have around, although they are teenie tiny compared to Lake Superior. Yay for coffee and gin to take home.
Love the idea of historical fiction as well... I have heard fascinating stories about the great lakes region from friends from that area, both on the US and Canadian side. Have so much fun with that!
Very glad to have provoked these interetesting thoughts :)
I also keep thinking about „is a change as good as a break?“ after running all over the place packing in ten times the activity I‘d have at home. It was definitely a change, with fun moments. No jeep or driving, though, thankfully 🤣.
As always, thanks for sharing your experience (and a peek at your holiday.)
You need a terrible Jeep 🤣
🤣🤣🤣. I will work on it and report back.