5 things to help dream about faraway travel

January is when we start to plan summer travel. It’s cold in the northeast and so a little dreaming and planning of going to faraway places is the perfect escape. Since travel is still unknown, we still want to dream. I can’t imagine a life without a little dreaming, right? So my five favorites post with Cindy & Mary Ann this week is all about my favorite things relating to a little destination travel dreaming. 

Paris is always a good idea . . .

For the last several years, we have as a family of four traveled to Tuscany and or Biarritz each summer. We return to the same resorts in each place. Borgo Scopeto Relais in Tuscany and La Rēserve Saint Jean De Luz near Biarritz, France. There’s plenty of new places to explore in these regions, but the actual resorts are familiar and we have so many beautiful memories, that we keep going back and are never disappointed. 

Borgo Scopeto Relais

La Rēserve Saint Jean de Luz

1. Lizzy Love Art

One of our most treasured vacations was a trip to Tuscany after watching the movie Letters to Juliet. I did a little research and discovered that the place they stayed just outside Siena was in fact a resort in the hills of Tuscany. I booked two weeks for our family and we loved it so much that returned the next two summers. One of my favorite things was to chase the sunset. One evening we had spent a little too much time lounging at the pool and so the late afternoon sun was quickly setting. Instead of getting in the car in search of the best spot, we walked up the hill to the vineyards and it was magical. The light in Tuscany is just as beautiful as it is in your most wild imagination. I sent the photo (below) to Lizzy Love and she did a beautiful painting for us. It is one of my most treasured possessions. I highly recommend contacting Lizzy to commission a painting of a place you love. Hang it where you’ll see it often and it will bring you so much happiness every time you see it!

Lizzy Love in our New Canaan Kitchen…

…and in our current dining room

One of the photos I sent Lizzy of the hills and vineyards above Borgo Scopeto Relais

2. Travel Coffee

Try coffee from around the world. It arrives in a beautifully designed bag with a postcard and information about the coffee. Having coffee in cafes and hotels around the world is one of our favorite thing to do! So while we dream about travel, we are drinking coffee from Atlas Coffee Club.

3. A meal inspired by your travels

One of our favorite things to do is pick up a “feast” which is basically just a picnic from an outdoor market. When we dream of having picnics, we will pick up provisions at a gourmet market like Eataly and then take it home and set it up like you would a picnic while traveling. We will have meats, cheeses, cornichons, olives, and other treats from the region that has inspired this picnic, and then we will watch one of our favorite movies that we’ve watched too many times. Something like A Good Year, Under the Tuscan Sun, or Letters to Juliet. Over the holidays Madeline told us about the movie Before Sunrise. So charming! 

4. Books that Inspire us to Travel

There are so many books based on places I’ve visited or would like to visit. Here’s a list of a few favorites. Please tell me yours in the comments and I will add them to the list. 

A Year in Provence

The Year of Living Danishly

Love with a Chance of Drowning

A Month in Siena

Siracusa

While doing some research for travel-inspired books, I came across this article and realized it was by Madeline! That was a fun surprise! 

5. A diffuser blend – Amelia Island

5 drops Eucalyptus 

5 drops Peppermint

5 drops Lemon

5 drops Rosemary

Amelia Island, Florida

Another place that we visit often as a family is Amelia Island, Florida. It’s one of our favorite places to escape any time of year. It’s not as warm as we would like it to be in mid-winter, but it’s far warmer than Connecticut and New York. One of the things that instantly reminds us of being in Amelia Island is the scent as you walk through the resort on the way to the pool. It’s close to the spa and the aroma that embraces you as you walk out to the pool and beach gives you that feeling of calm like no other scent that I can think of that I associate with a place. I asked my husband to help me recreate it to use as a diffuser blend. We “worked” on it for several days, diffusing it in our home offices and after several attempts, I think we found it! We have been diffusing it in all of our diffusers throughout the house and now when I walk through the door after a brisk walk outdoors, I’m instantly transported to Amelia Island. It may last only a moment, but it makes me happy! What’s making you happy these days? Stay safe and keep dreaming!

Make sure to check out this week’s favorites from Classic Casual Home and Cindy Hattersley! See you on Thursday when we are talking about trends that are here to stay!