Sleepless in Seattle,...

Last year in September, Y and I finally made our trip to the Pacific Northwest -- a place I always dreamed of exploring. While we did not get to snowboard Whistler (this experience remains in the top 10 of my bucket list), we got lost in the authentic beauty of Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Y and myself rediscovered the outdoorsy side of ourselves and took in the fresh air, gorgeous views, and natural lightness of being.

Our trip came to an end when we took an early ferry to Seattle to catch a red-eye flight back to our home in Vienna. Taking a ferry from Canada to the United States was an experience in itself. After immigration and TSA checks, I sat down next to the window, hopeful to spot an Orca. I wasn't that lucky, unfortunately.

Arriving in Seattle during lunch time gave us the opportunity to spend an afternoon exploring the Emerald City of the The Evergreen State. Of course, we knew one afternoon would not do this beautiful place any justice so I became a bit paralyzed picking the things I wanted to see in such a limited time frame.

We left our luggage at a hotel near the harbour and started roaming. I quickly decided that, after taking a photo of the Public Market sign (I figured, you haven't really been there if you haven't taken a photo of this famous landmark) we should head to a neighbourhood and take it from there -- Capitol Hill.

Upon arrival, we totally lucked out stumbling over Oddfellows Cafe and Bar. Even though we were eager to just sit down for a quick lunch and plan out our afternoon, we spent way too much time relaxing at this cute spot, taking in the last strong rays of late summer sun, good food, and reading some newspapers.

Traveling is exhausting and after being able to travel slowly exploring British Columbia and emerging ourself in such a beautiful place for a longer period of time, just having an afternoon and evening in Seattle stressed me out quite a bit. It had way too much to offer to pick out the one special thing I wanted to see (the most).

So, when the fatigue kicked in and we found ourselves still hanging out at the cafe, I thought: It's the Coffee City of the United States -- life ain't too bad. And since I knew I want to return to Washington State anyways, spending an afternoon in Seattle like a real local (at least in my notion they all hang out in super cute cafes after finishing their daily morning hike), ended up not being too upsetting to me. I was just not willing to stress myself out over being relaxed and enjoying myself doing absolutely nothing at all.

And you know what? It just confirms my realizations gained over many years of traveling the world: Don't overload your schedule with too many different places, take it slow, and take it all in.