The Lazy Genius Podcast - #71: The Lazy Genius Goes to London

Episode Date: August 20, 2018

Traveling is new to me, but I never want to go anywhere but London again. What an incredible city. In this episode, I share seven regular life lessons I learned from my time in London. If you're interested in more travel details (what I did, what I packed, and how much I hated the flight), head to the show notes. Interested in the watercolor dessert postcards? Make sure you're on my mailing list to hear about the flash sale the minute it opens! And here's where you can download a transcript of The Lazy Genius Goes to London. This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's more to life than finding the perfect car. But finding the perfect car can help you get the most out of life. Like the SUV that handles everything from drop off to off road, and the car that hulls groceries and hockey teams, or the van that's gone from just practical to practically family. Whatever you want, wherever you're going, start your search at autotrater.ca, Canada's car marketplace. welcome to the lazy genius podcast. I'm Kendra and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things

that matter and lazy about the things that don't. We're taking a break from talking about school transitions and detoxing from summer to talk about my trip to London. Now it's not going to be a recap in the traditional sense. I'm not going to plug in a projector and make you look at hours of photos you don't care about. But a lot of you have asked about the trip and I want to share some things that I'm bringing home with me from this experience that will hopefully help you as well. I'll also share some practical stuff in terms of like my favorite places to visit and eat and what I packed. A little teeny bit in this episode, but a lot in the show notes. So if you do indeed want all of the like Kendra went to London information, then go to the show notes at the lazy

genius collective.com slash lazy slash London. In this episode, though, So we're going to kind of stay close to home, ironically. I want to share with you the seven things I learned from this trip that I hope will color my daily life back in North Carolina and maybe yours too, wherever you might live. Before I do that, though, I want to let you know that this week, I am doing a little 48-hour flash sale of some of my watercolor baking prints. They are the right size to be sent as a fun postcard. You can use them as little recipe cards to give as wedding shower gifts. You can just wash you tape them to your wall for a fun decoration. There are two sets available.

There is a celebration set and a bakery set. And like I said, it is a one-time flash sale later this week. So to make sure you don't miss it, make sure you're on my mailing list. You can join at the lazy genius collective.com slash join. And you will not miss a thing. I will let you know when the sale opens. They're so cute. They're so cute.

And I just love that you guys have been such cheerleaders through my 100 days of painting watercolors of desserts and bread. Like, what a life. So again, that is the lazy genius collective.com slash join to get on the mailing list so that you know when that flash sale starts flashing. Okay. So let's get into what I learned from my London trip. Now, if you're listening for the first time, hi. Or maybe you don't follow me on Instagram.

You might be wondering what this whole London trip is about at all. I will put a link in the show notes to the actual details of the trip, but essentially, Tish Oxenrider, who hosts the podcast Simple. It used to be The Simple Show, but now it's just simple. It's even simpler. A Simple. Not great. I co-host with her sometimes.

She wanted to try leading an international trip with friends to see if she wants to lead the same trip with strangers. there is there's actually place for you to join a list of interested people if you want and I will say from experience that Tish knows how to plan a trip like the pacing the variety of stuff we did the perfectly situated chunks of free time the little bits of information she shared to kind of invite us into a headspace before we visited a certain place it was just fantastic she's really good at traveling you guys um and then she's also wanted there to be an intentional spiritual component to this trip where women could have conversations

about things that matter in their work and their lives. And that is where the magical Emily P. Freeman came in. She was our spiritual director for the trip and was phenomenal. I acknowledge, I do, I acknowledge the ridiculous luck that I have of living in her neighborhood, going to her church, being in her community group and having her as my friend. But it was so fun to see her do. her thing in person around other people. If you don't listen to her podcast, the next right thing, you need to immediately. And if you ever get a chance to be in a room with her where she helps you think through your life, spend all of your dollars to do it.

She is worth every single one. So links to both of these amazing women and then potential potential potential future trips will be in the show notes. So all of this stuff, the lazy genius collective.com slash lazy. Lundy slash London. Okay, so let's jump into the seven things that I metaphorically brought home with me from my trip to London. Number one, enjoy the beauty of people doing what they're made to do. There were so many moments during the trip where I saw people doing the thing that made them come alive.

And getting to watch it and experience it was such a privilege. The actors at the Globe Theater. Oh my gosh. The bakers who have these tiny little shops of just bread. But it's the most perfect bread ever. The tour guide named Phil who made Jane Austen come alive in a way I never anticipated. Emily and Tisch resting in the center of what they're made to do. It was my favorite part of the trip.

But it doesn't have to exist just inside that trip. When we allow ourselves to exist in the space of our deal, deepest longings and passions and what makes us come alive. It is a gift to the people around us. It just is. So when we give our friends and our kids and whoever else the chance to go after, what makes them tick, what makes them thrive and they're gifting, it is a privilege to watch it. It just is. So I want to seek out opportunities to come alive myself and then to notice when I see it happening in the people around me. Let's keep affirming people in the people. gifts and let them know that we're honored to see it and that they're awesome. So that's number

one. Enjoy the beauty of people doing what they're made to do. Number two, always take time for intentional conversation. If the eight of us, it was eight women who went. If we had wandered around London and then come back to the guest house and we had just like chatted about nothing, it would have been great. Like it totally would have been great. But intentional conversation connects us. Being vulnerable and sharing struggles and crying in front of other people, whether it's in St. James Park, nice to Buckingham Palace, or in your own living room, is a sacred practice. You don't need tears for it to count. Some people just don't cry that much. But being willing to intentionally enter into a space where you say, let's talk about what we're carrying or what's

something you're afraid to start or any number of questions is vital to feeling connection. I hear from a lot of you that you feel lonely, that you have friends, but you don't always feel like they really know you. It is scary to move from conversations about where to buy your kids' shoes to what's happening on the level of your soul. But I often see, and especially saw in this trip, the value of bravely entering that space. And the more you do it, the easier it becomes. In fact, I think the more you do it, the more you want to do it. So take time for a intentional conversations. They don't have to be like sad. They don't have to be, you know, like your most broken stories. They can be. They don't have to be. But just be intentional and share who you are. It's

always, always worth it. Number three, London knows how to do bathrooms. Oh my gosh, y'all. I am still trying to figure out like a lesson from this. But I have to tell you, every bathroom I went into was fantastic. Like the doors went to the floor. There were not those inch gas. where people could see you doing your business. They were always clean. I mean, it was crazy. I kept expecting a bad bathroom, and I never got one everywhere. So what's the lesson?

I mean, I guess not everything needs a lesson, but I do love how whoever is in charge of bathrooms decided that they are important enough to invest in. I know there are things that I do every day. Rooms, I enter tasks I need to complete that could be more lovely than they are. I just don't give them priority. because it doesn't really seem worth it. But after paying for more than a week in thoughtful

bathrooms, I'm excited to notice places in my own life where I extend the same kind of thoughtfulness. Little daily things can be made so very beautiful without a whole lot of effort, I think. So I'm excited to discover what those are. So number three, London knows how to do bathrooms. Oh, they were so good. Okay. Number four, do new things with a friend. I haven't traveled out of the country in almost 20 years. I haven't traveled much at all in my adult life. I have definitely never been to London, never been on a city bus. I've ridden a subway like a few times, almost two decades ago when I was in New York and I don't really remember it. There were so many things I did on this trip that were new, brand spanking new. And while they would have been fine if I had been on my own and I totally would

have survived, I think that new things change color when done in community. When we're alone, new things can feel scary. But when we're with a friend, new things feel like an adventure. Aw isn't something we need to travel for. It's something waiting for us in everyday life, whether in a city street or a moment with a work of art. I'm Dr. Keltner, host of the Science of Happiness podcast. Join me for Cities of Aw,

a special series on how our public spaces can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. I did an episode back in June about trying new things. And this is something that I kind of want to go back and add to it. Do new things with a friend. The vibe around the experience is lighter and more fun. We can lean on friends who know more than we do.

We can depend on each other when we're both doing something brand new and feel like idiots. We can have someone next to us to pull us out of like a squirly headspace when we make a mistake in a new. situation. It's always better to do something new with a friend. Oh, it was so good. And I had like seven delightful friends with me. So it's such a treat, such a gift. Number five, do what makes you feel like yourself, even in a new place. So before we left for the trip, Tish told us that we would have an entire free day in the middle of the week to do whatever we wanted. And there were also like several large chunks of time, like free time to explore or nap or kind of whatever we wanted to do. And at first I felt the pressure of all there was to do and to see I didn't want to miss anything.

But then I realized that I just needed to do what made me feel like a person. And a lot of you, okay, so I asked on Instagram, like, what should I do in London? And a lot of you love museums and you recommended some to me on Instagram. But guess what? I'm not a museum person. I'm just not. It is not an activity that makes me feel like myself. Now, it's good, obviously, to try new things and experiences and kind of stretch yourself.

But when the time came for me to fill my free time and re-energize, you know, from like a day of walking around the streets of London, I chose to do what made me feel like myself. I wanted to walk around trees, not like in a circle like running around the rosy, but like walk where there were trees. I wanted to look at books and I wanted to visit bakeries. Those are three of my favorite things wherever I am. So why should I not do them in London? So I did. I visited a couple bookstores. I stopped in tons of bakeries.

I had one particular spiritual moment with a lemon tart. I'm a word. And I enjoyed walks, especially ones when there were trees. I would slow down and look up and it was delightful. Now I think if I had like push myself to see another landmark or another iconic London thing, or I went to museums because that's what I should do when I'm in London, I don't think I would have had the same experience. So do what makes you feel like yourself, even if it's in a new place. Which leads me to number six. This might not be as big a thing for

everybody, but one of my favorite things to do in all the world is to go on a long walk with the appropriate music in my ears. I am a big playlist junkie. So there is, there is definitely, I believe that there is the right music for the right setting, like all the time. I actually did a couple of episodes with Tish on her show, Simple, about music and making playlists. I will put those links to those in the show notes. But the queen of playlists is my sister, Hannah. If you support me on Patreon, thank you, by the way, and you listen to the lazy. Sister's podcast, which is a little gift that my sister and I do for patrons, you got a link to her quirky summer playlist, which was seriously one of the best summer playlist ever. Like,

all my word. I listen to it almost every day. It's really one of her spiritual gifts to make playlists. Anyway, the point is, she made me a walking in London playlist. And I wanted to save it for when I would actually be walking around by myself, right? So I could, go like full double earbud and really immerse myself in the experience. Well, I was having such a great time on this trip with the women that I never took that walk. And then it came to the day before we were going to leave. It was a Saturday. We left on Sunday. And on that Saturday, a lot of us went to high tea, which was so fun. We went for lunch and had our high tea. But then we were going to have like an open afternoon before our final dinner back at the house. So after our delightful high tea, I decided

I was going to walk alone for the rest of that afternoon. It was my last chance to do it. But it kind of felt right. It was like a goodbye walk to this city that I now adore. Like London is, it felt like home. Like Greensboro's number one, London's number two. I just loved being there. So after the tea, I put our like guest house address in Google Maps and I saw that it was

three and a half miles from where I was standing at the place where we had IT. And I was like, all right, man, I'm just going to walk home until I get tired of walking. And then if I do, I'll just get on a bus to get back to the house. And I press play. Hannah's playlist started playing in my ears. And I started walking. And I was in heaven. And then I didn't even have to think about where I was walking because Google Maps would be like turn right here. I mean, it was the best thing ever. I walked through, I happened to be in a part of London and headed to a part of London where I walked through Kensington, if you've been to London much. Like, it was just a straight shot down from like Kensington to like kind of around Battersea.

And it was the most beautiful walk. It wasn't like there weren't a lot of people. It was just sort of neighborhoods and these beautiful, oh, it was just so pretty. It was so, so pretty. So like, and I had this soundtrack in my ears. I just had this experience. Like it was, it was a very strangely simple experience, but it was so. rooted in who I am. I love walking. I love how music connects with what I'm doing. And I love the

low risk adventure. I just wandering and looking around. So I walked all the way home and it was the best. It was just the perfect way to end the trip. So I realize the takeaway from this one is a little trickier since it was like so specific to that music and that city. But I think that experiences, even simple ones like a walk, they have an anchor when music. music is involved. And I realized that I want to walk more often with a soundtrack and not for the purposes of getting my heart rate up, but just to look around. I would, when I was on this walk, I would stop. I would just stop. I would look up at a church steeple. I would peek in the window of a bakery I passed. I walked over the Thames on a bridge and I watched boats go by.

Like, it was so great. But I can do that at home too. Not with the Thames, but like I can do that home too. So it's really good to find something where we can experience what's happening around us for no other reason than to have that experience. So number six, take long lots with music or find something that helps you slow down and see. And then finally number seven, which connects very well to the end of number six, look around where you are. I often wondered how the folks who grew up in London felt when they passed St. Paul's Cathedral or Westminster Abbey or any number of the amazing places that we saw on purpose. Like, do they notice it? Do they feel the history on their streets that I felt? Did they see how pretty a building is or how like that sunset

through that side street is so perfect and we need to take a picture for the gram? But then I wonder if I do that in my own city. Now, my city, is definitely not London, clearly. But where I live, it has places worth noticing, too, as does your city. I want to look around and notice like I did when I was in London. The history of my city isn't as rich and old as London's, of course. But that doesn't mean it's not worth noticing. So I want to practice looking around seeing how that old church is right next to a Burger King and how there's a lot of history wrapped up in both in a weird sort of way. My city, your city has something to share. And I love that London taught me to start looking for it. So that's the lazy genius goes to London. If you want to see

details of what I did, there is a London highlight on my Instagram profile. It's labeled London. So you can follow me on Instagram at the lazy genius to see that. The highlights are like those circles across the top of my, of anybody's profile page and you just swipe until you see London. And then you click on it and you can see all the stories from that highlight. Somebody DM'd me on Instagram a couple of weeks ago asking for what to not miss when she visited later in the month. So in case you don't get to Instagram to do the highlights or you don't hop to the show notes, which I still encourage you to do. But if you want my super quick highlights, what I told her, you need to see a play at the

Globe Theater. You need to go to even song service at Westminster Abbey and you need to eat at De Schum. Oh my gosh. It was the most popular suggestion from you guys on Instagram before I left and you were right. You were right. It was one of the best meals I have ever had. So those are my top three things, I think. But it's so hard to even pick three because there were like 13,000. It was so, what a city, man. It was just beautiful. So you can head to the Lacey Genius. Collective.com slash lazy slash London for all the info that you might require. And then I will be on Instagram this Thursday live if you want to ask me any specific questions about the trip. So that's Thursday around 1215 Eastern at the lazy genius. And even though I want to visit London again and again

and again, it really is so good to be home. And I just want to thank you for being part of my home. You guys are truly part of my home. I'm so grateful for you. So, Until next week, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'll see you next time. Have you ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that. More dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life? Because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it.

You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A plus life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts.